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Author Topic: "Black versus White" Magick  (Read 11352 times)

GaiaDianne

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"Black versus White" Magick
« on: January 21, 2012, 02:24:51 pm »
"Black versus  White Magick"
By Gaia_d@yahoo.com – Please don’t reproduce without permission.


Someone posted the following in a discussion on “Darkness” and “Black magick” recently:

Quote
“Everything i have read thus far has taught me the difference between black magick and white magick -- black being used for bad...white for good…..
But others tell me to “embrace” Darkness.  
Can anyone explain?”



And here is my reply:

What a great question!

Yes, i’m afraid even some good authors like Cunningham, do use the terms, “Black / Dark” magick to describe “evil” or destructive magick, and do caution beginners to avoid practices that can be harmful both to themselves and others.

Unfortunately, though, this is an extreme over-simplification that only serves to re-assert and emphasize the Christian elements that are deeply embedded in our culture – and few if any try to sort it out, for beginners or others -- So i’d like to try, if i can.

The idea that “white = good” and “bad = black/ evil” is a very old one that (afaik) came out of Zoroastrianism (a very early middle-Eastern religion) – and it was absorbed into many other Middle-Eastern religions and philosophies – notably, Greek philosophy,  Judaism and later, Christianity.

Early philosophers split the entire Universe into sets of “opposites”, such as:

  • COLUMN A     -------           COLUMN B
  • Spirit          -------                  Matter
  • Light          -------                  Darkness
  • Good          -------                   Evil
  • Heaven                -------                   Earth (or Hell)
  • Culture               -------                   Nature
  • Sun          -------                   Moon
  • Logic          -------                   Emotion
  • Reason               -------                   Intuition
  • Mind          -------                   Body
  • Linear Time       -------                  Wholistic Time
  • Creation               -------                  Destruction
  • Birth          -------                  Death
  • Growth               -------                  Disintegration
  • Male          -------                  Female



-- Furthermore, they said that for the Universe to operate safely and correctly, everything in "Column A" must “rule over and hold in check” everything in "Column B".  This was the philosophical rationale for white males “ruling” over everything from the Earth, to Nature, to women.

This philosophical view entered Christianity by way of “Saint Paul” who (as a Roman citizen) was steeped in it  – and together, they became the foundation for Western thought and culture for the next 2000 years.  

It’s been picked up by NewAgers who pretty much hate, fear, and avoid Darkness.  If someone considers himself a “Lightworker”, it’s very likely he’s a NewAger rather than Pagan or Wiccan.

But consider for a moment:  There is ANOTHER way to understand / view the Universe, that is NON-dualistic.  This alternate way -- the more Pagan / Wiccan way -- views the universe NOT as a collection of dualistic opposites, but rather, as a collection of diversities within ultimate UNITY or BALANCE; and it is the BALANCE that is important, not one "side" or the other.

Wiccans (and many other Pagans) honor the Universe as a totality; they do *not* split it up into opposites (ie, "Light (Good)" versus "Dark(Evil)"; nor do they accept the Christian notion that there is some sort of great "battle" waging between "Good and Evil"; nor that they must take "sides" in any such battle.

Wiccans honor both “sides” or “phases” of the Cycle of Renewal:  the downward-or-inward turning, end of every Cycle is as important to the whole, as the upward-or-outward turning, productive part.  We MUST make way for death and disintegration, in order to create new space and opportuntities for new growth.

Consider a Garden:  If you want to have a productive garden, you have to destroy pests and weeds.  That’s destructive, but is it  “black” gardening?  To plant a seed, you must put it into the dark earth to sprout.  Unending light would be as dangerous as absolute darkness.  The “growth” principle without the principle of limitation or death, is what we call “Cancer”.  

Similarly, the tendency to split magick into concepts of "White (good)" versus "Black (evil)" is irrelevant to and has no place in Wicca; it comes out of Christian, NOT Wiccan, world-view and ethics.

And, there are other problems with such terms / ideas.
As mages and metaphysicians, we know that Words have power to create and sustain social systems, cultures, and even reality.  If we use word-concepts like "Black=evil" and "White=good" in magick, we support and encourage the dualistic world view that splits the universe into two opposite and opposing "camps";
-- The view that celebrates and idealizes Spirit over matter, mind over body, logic over intuition, heaven over earth, order over chaos, light over darkness, and males over females. It's a "packaged deal," y’see.

Furthermore, As long as we allow the word "black" to symbolize evil, we buy into, encourage and perpetuate its inherent racism.

Wiccans (and again, many other Pagans) see Magick as neither white nor black, good nor evil – but rather as a TOOL – like a hammer.  A hammer may be used to build houses, or tear down old ones – and a good, well-used hammer will eventually be used for both purposes.  

Whether magick manifests as positive or negative is dependent upon HOW it is USED, and the INTENT of the USER.

I hope that’s helpful – Blessed Be ~ GaiaDianne

BlazRa

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Re: "Black versus White" Magick
« Reply #1 on: May 01, 2017, 04:06:34 am »
You just stumbled upon more proof that Christianity is a religion seeking to control you and undermine you and tell you that you're not as good as someone else Christianity doesn't want you to know magic it doesn't want you to know anything other than servitude Christianity is an evil spell that has been cast on the World by Jewish witches, resist the lie embrace your world, self, &power. Praise Satan!

Altair

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Re: "Black versus White" Magick
« Reply #2 on: May 27, 2017, 03:42:06 pm »
"Black versus  White Magick"
By Gaia_d@yahoo.com – Please don’t reproduce without permission.

Someone posted the following in a discussion on “Darkness” and “Black magick” recently:




And here is my reply:

What a great question!

Yes, i’m afraid even some good authors like Cunningham, do use the terms, “Black / Dark” magick to describe “evil” or destructive magick, and do caution beginners to avoid practices that can be harmful both to themselves and others.

Unfortunately, though, this is an extreme over-simplification that only serves to re-assert and emphasize the Christian elements that are deeply embedded in our culture – and few if any try to sort it out, for beginners or others -- So i’d like to try, if i can.


For the most part I agree with your take, GD, although I'm more comfortable with duality than you seem to be. For me, the polarization is useful for understanding the forces at work, but the key is to embrace both sides, get comfortable with the apparent contradiction, and understand that everything has a little of both; to balance them and let them inhabit you each in their proper roles.

I find "good" and "evil" useful for certain socio-cultural norms (and even then, they're remarkably relative and context-dependent), but pretty much useless in a religious/spiritual worldview.

And I'll give massive affirmation to your critique of Christian values on this point. I flinch every time I hear "The Culture of Life" held up as some shining thing we should all aspire to; IMHO this fetishization of life is wrong-headed and even dangerous. (The number of times that misguided idea has been deployed as a club against various progressive movements is too numerous to count.) You're absolutely right that this has become so embedded in Western DNA that even those who don't count themselves as religious (and many who count themselves as pagan) buy into it.
The first song sets the wheel in motion / The second is a song of love / The third song tells of Her devotion / The fourth cries joy from the sky above
The fifth song binds our fate to silence / and bids us live each moment well / The sixth unleashes rage and violence / The seventh song has truth to tell
The last song echoes through the ages / to ask its question all night long / And close the circle on these pages / These, the metamythos songs

MadZealot

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Re: "Black versus White" Magick
« Reply #3 on: May 27, 2017, 10:15:00 pm »
Christianity is an evil spell that has been cast on the World by Jewish witches, resist the lie embrace your world, self, &power.

Bigotry duly noted.  But I think the greatest evil in the world is the run-on sentence.   8)
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And my shield
And my... um... slacks.

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Re: "Black versus White" Magick
« Reply #4 on: May 27, 2017, 10:22:11 pm »
Bigotry duly noted.  But I think the greatest evil in the world is the run-on sentence.   8)

That's why he got banned within hours of joining TC (not the record, though; I think that was under an hour). The bigotry (blanket condemnations!), not the run-on sentences; it generally takes much longer for someone to get banned for those  ;D.

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