Tag Archives: black magic

Are Weather Spells Considered Black Magic?

Posted by Sephira in Reader Question, Spellwork, Witchcraft and tagged with , , , , , ,

Are weather spells (like a storm spell) considered black magic?

The short answer is… no.

The longer answer is more of… depends on what you are looking to do with it. If you are purposefully trying to be destructive, or cause injury or harm to others via the weather, then yes it could be. In general (and I’m sure I’m like a broken record at this point) magic is colorless – in and of itself it is neither black nor white (or any other color for that matter). It’s what you do with it that really counts.

Keep in mind too though, that even if you aren’t meaning to do harm with weather magic, it can still cause it. Forces of nature are called such for a good reason, and are not something to take on lightly, or without a lot of careful consideration and forethought. The following was originally re-blogged to our Tumblr page via Morgandria, but cross posting here as well, due your question…

Helpful Hint for Witches #6

LEAVE THE WEATHER ALONE.

Unless you have a meteorologist’s level of knowledge about the historical and prevailing conditions of your area, and how systems move in and out of your area, you have NO idea how your witching is going to affect OTHER areas, as well as your own. You are not just affecting yourself. You will be potentially effecting thousands or millions of other people.

You could be starting or encouraging a flood. Or a drought. And you are very likely not the only witch throwing pebbles into the weather pond. One pebble is a ripple – hundreds of pebbles cause a lot more disturbance. Ripples can become waves. Waves from different directions meet and crash – and you don’t want to live where waves meet.

We all love to complain about the weather. We’d all love to change it, sometimes. But it’s not a wise choice.

 

 

Are There Rules For Black Magic?

Posted by Sephira in Reader Question, Spellwork, Witchcraft and tagged with , , , ,

I’m the recipient of some pretty bad black Magic. For the past 5yrs, I’ve had scary things appear in my home. From hearing flapping birds in my kitchen, to having cold hands of dark shadows try to pull me out of my body. I’ve been living in fear for so long. I’m wondering what the rules are for the woman who has been terrorizing me? Why is she allowed to do this for so long? I know we have biblical rules to follow. What are the rules for such a person  who practices black magic? And who refuses to leave me alone? This woman I speak of, is my mother in law. I cannot get away from her, as  still married to her son. Any help will ease my mind that one day, she will stop.

Thank you!

 

The short answer, unfortunately, is  – not really.

The longer answer depends quite a bit on what tradition one is a member of, if they are solitary/have an eclectic practice, and in truth either way there really aren’t a whole lot of set “RULES” or “LAWS” in terms of magical workings – or at least none that are universal to every single witch or magical practitioner.  We wrote last year, on Magic: Energy and Cursing/Hexing and that might be worth a read, as it covers some of what you are asking about, at least in general terms.

For your situation specifically, and starting from a mundane (non-magical) perspective –

  • What makes you think that your mother-in-law is out to get you, or is sending these sorts of things your way?
  • Have you talked to your doctor to rule out the possibility of any medical condition that could be causing you to have auditory, or other physical type of hallucinations, anxiety, etc… which could potentially account for what you’ve been experiencing? (this is not meant to be offensive, or to dismiss in any way anything you have been going through – it’s a legit step in evaluating the situation, to determine if there really is something “magical” going on)
  • Is there any potential for resolving whatever differences there are between you and your mother-in-law? Even if you weren’t the one originally in the wrong, for whatever started her anger, sometimes it’s a whole lot easier to be the bigger person and apologize just to stop the situation from continuing to escalate (though to be fair it seems like it’s already past that point, it’s still worth mentioning).
  • Have you tried talking to your husband, to see if it’s something that he can help resolve, or at least get her to back off a bit?
  • As a last resort (and obviously hubby would have to agree), but have you considered moving and ceasing contact with her. It’s harsh, but sometimes necessary to get the point across, when someone is acting in a way that is inappropriate.

Magically (as I mentioned to begin with) there aren’t necessarily any sort of set rules. Even within those traditions that do have particular moral/ethical tenets, often the caveat is that if one feels that an action is justified and is willing to accept the consequences, then any action can be taken. More so, outside of those paths, if someone is just out to be malicious, then they may not have any particular code that they hold to, and feel that they can do whatever they want to.

From an energetic perspective though, magic – particularly strong magic, often requires a lot of hard work. Sustaining that sort of thing over long periods of time, is usually pretty exhausting. Though if there is an anger component to it, then that would go a long way towards “fueling” some of it. Which goes back to some of the mundane suggestions I mentioned earlier, about looking for ways to resolve the underlying issues. Not only in terms of just setting things to right, but it would potentially affect the magical side of things as well.

Other than that, look for ways to cleanse and protect your own space in ways that are in concert with your own faith. Do a deep cleaning of all areas, maybe look for items that your mother-in-law has given as a gift, or “accidentally” left behind that could be helping to amplify, or manifest her magical workings.  Assuming that you are Christian, since you spoke of the Bible, I would also suggest looking for scriptures that speak to protection – 2 Samuel 22:3-4 is a good one…

3. The God of my strength, in whom I trust;
My shield and the horn of my salvation,
My stronghold and my refuge;
My Savior, You save me from violence.

4. I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised;
So shall I be saved from my enemies.

Use it (or another of your choice) as a mantra, particularly when you are feeling that you are under attack. It can help to diffuse the situation.

One other piece of advice, when it comes to curses or malicious magic in general – the more time we spend dwelling on our fears, the more energy we are putting into that sort of thing. If your mother-in-law knows you are living in constant fear, it gives her confidence that her magic is working, and that much more incentive to keep doing it. If you can find a way to show her that you are not afraid of her, or (at the very least) that what she is doing isn’t affecting you, it may shift the “battle” your way, and cause her to eventually give up.

Most bullies like to feed on the negative reactions that they get from others, when we stop giving them the “food” that they like, they have to go elsewhere for nourishment.

Magic: Energy and Cursing/Hexing

Posted by Sephira in Paganism, Reader Question, Spellwork, Witchcraft and tagged with , , , , , , ,

Hello there!
I was curious about something I have heard of in pop culture as well as many ancient stories from around the globe, the usage of curses or “dark magic.” I have heard from many pagans that dark magic doesn’t exist and from others that it does exist but it is a double edged sword. the ones who say it exists say that if you tried to curse or hex someone you would also curse/hex yourself because the energy gathered to preform the curse/hex would first flow through yourself. The others say that it is impossible to use magic in that way. What are your thoughts?

It never fails… spend enough time browsing around any sort of Witchcraft related book, site, forum, etc…  and eventually you will come across comments that describe magic in terms of color. While there are a variety of shades that might come to mind, the most commonly seen tend to relate to “black” and “white” magic – which of course (more often than not), leads one into the “dark” vs. “light” conversations as well.

While labels are sometimes useful – in that they can help us to understand an idea or concept at a glance; the converse is, that one word rarely conveys everything, which then leads to misinformation or misunderstanding.  In this case, the truth is that assigning color to magic, shows a fundamental lack of understanding of exactly how magic works.

It probably shouldn’t be surprising that this happens, so many books out there are trying desperately to cater to the “rainbows and ponies” world vision when it comes to the Craft. So long as it’s presented with glitter and sparkles, then how could it possibly be wrong, or hurtful? After all, white/light is good, and black/dark is bad – right?  Ehh… not so much, as both are genuinely necessary “forces” in the universe.

At its most basic, magic is simply manifesting a desired goal, or affecting a desired change through force of will. The fundamental lack of understanding that I mentioned above comes in, right about here – magic has almost entirely to do with the intent of the person casting it. This means that a spell which might typically be considered “white”, can absolutely be used to cause harm, while one that could be considered “black” can be used to heal.  A good example of this is magic that can be used when working with someone who has cancer, in which banishment spells (considered “black magic” by many) are often used.

The point in all of this, is that magic is colorless, and if one is going to do magic (be it witchcraft, or any other form that one might choose), then it’s something that we all need to accept. Magic is what it is, and the only thing that really matters at the end of the day, is how we use it. And while there may be many people who will never cast a hex or curse in their life (or even consider the thought), the fact is that there may be times when one is justified, and in most cases there is nothing that prevents anyone from doing so, if they should choose to.

As to energetic issues resulting from cursing/hexing, there is always the potential for backlash (of a sort) if one doesn’t ground properly, but that is true of any magical working. In the same way that magic is colorless, when you are raising energy, it’s just “energy” – it hasn’t been shaped or focused to any particular purpose. When you do purpose it, it’s being directed into (or at) something/someone else, so even though the energy comes from you, or as a result of your actions, you are only the channel for that particular component, not the actual mixing bowl (so to speak). Sort of like baking – you gather up your ingredients, and mix them all in a separate container. So even if the milk comes from a jug, the jug doesn’t get dirty because you’ve poured just the milk you need into the bowl, and then sealed the jug back up to use next time.

Only real instance where such a thing could be plausible, would be if you ask deity/spirit/entities, etc… to work through you, or to use your body as a conduit of a sort – which potentially could leave “residue”. But it’s still more of a grounding/shielding issue, which typically isn’t lasting (unless you somehow manage to screw something up big time). Guess too though, it would depend to what degree (if any) someone holds to the Three-Fold Law, or similar concept. I could see where someone could find themselves regretting a curse/hex, and it probably causing them to feel like they were cursed instead (by the guilt).

Along with that though, if one does hold strongly to a concept like the TFL, (or something like the Eclectic interpretation of “an it harm none“) there could potentially be actual backlash if one verbally incorporates it as an oath in a working. If you always invoke some such as a part of your ritual language, for example, it will become a part of your magical practice that actually has impact. You would then have given this idea power to affect you through your own words and actions.

So… long story short, it really depends on the person, the Tradition/Path involved, and any number of other factors. It’s just not one of those things that is going to be the same for everyone, which is really somewhat typical of many things related to Witchcraft, and even Paganism in general.