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# Re: black and white

#### Message 03141 of 3835

- To: BardonPraxis@yahoogroups.com
- Subject: Re: black and white
- From: Ambrose Hawk <ahawk@...>
- Date: Wed, 06 Oct 2004 12:42:01 -0500
- Organization: Hawk Consulting
- References: <1097051933.1237.85159.m12@yahoogroups.com>

    Rawn's essay was quite insightful. I liked it a lot for the
    theoretical aspects and connotations it gives to "black and
    white" .... as an historian, however, I've always held to a
    different viewpoint .. which is reflected in this old post
    which I repeat here ...

    Red and Yellow, Black and White:
    It's all Magic in God's Sight

    The problem of defining "Black Magic" (an its purported
    opposite, White Magic)
    obviously lies in the prevalent confusions of definitions.
    Most modern writers seem to
    distinguish between "white" and "black" magic on the basis
    of the moral or ethical component
    of the mage's intent ( Ironically, most of the writers who
    make such a distinction also adhere to
    the modern fallacy that good and evil are basically chimera
    created by human perceptions and
    culture).
    Classically, however, this was not the case in
    technical treatises on the subject (such
    treatises today known as grimmories). Black magic implied
    either the forceful conjuration of
    spirits, entities, and energies ( It was assumed that these
    beings would be hostile, or at the very
    least extremely hazardous, to the conjuror) or the
    deliberate invocation and cooperation with if
    not submission to "demons" perceived to be malign powers.
    Thus, goetia and necromancy tend
    to be the most common foci of "black magic" works. Indeed,
    some writers speculate that
    "necromancy" by corruption into "nigromancy" is even the
    origin of the term "Black Magic."
    "White Magic," on the other hand, dealt with those
    mystical attributes and
    correspondences present and already active in nature. This
    would include the evocation of
    angels, faeries, and planetary intelligences, as the mage
    would simply be inviting the voluntary
    participation of those benign forces already at work in
    harmony with the mage's purpose.
    Typically, however, it relied upon the creation of talismen
    and amulets charged with sacred
    names, characters, magic squares, and so forth combined with
    herbs, astrological forces, and
    "charms."
    Notice, that this contains no moral qualifications.
    The medieval monk or the priest
    seeking to control and to banish the evil spirits would be
    doing "black" magic. Many medieval
    grimmories are clearly influenced by the Church's exorcism
    rites. Further, in their environment,
    such workings often tended to be a very effective
    psychological healing tool. On the other hand,
    the pharmacist mixing potions to drive people crazy, to
    overwhelm girls with lust, or to poison
    the client's targets was doing pure white magic!!
    Where I suspect, but cannot prove, the crossover into
    the moral criteria occurred lies in
    the nature of theurgic magic. Most Black Magic was also
    theurgic. However, the ultimate base
    of the conjuror's authority might not be the benign Deity.
    Indeed, many folks in every age are
    willing to make compacts with malign beings in order to gain
    power over others (which is the
    historical meaning of most words translated into English as
    "witch"). Furthermore, the "black
    magicians" inevitably filled their environment with the
    resonances of vile or disordered
    personalities. Thus Black Magic, to those outside the
    occult practice, took on the connotation of
    working with and for devils not binding or healing them!!!
    >From this, it is a small step to say
    that black magic has the intent of harming others.
    Alas, that's typical popular perception, and just like
    the hysteria over nuclear power is
    clearly illogical in many of its perceptions and
    responses. Moreover, it was fueled in historical
    times by racial and cultural prejudice. Much of the lore of
    goetia is derived from Arabic and
    Indian sources, both considered "blackamoors" by the
    Europeans. Further, their religions were
    portrayed by popular propaganda as perverse at best and evil
    at their core. Hence "black magic"
    implied one derived from these "evil" sources a "dark
    power."
    A further problem here lies in the fact that White
    Magic, as defined here, inevitably
    decays into technology. This has two major repercussions on
    the meaning given it in this essay.
    As folks tend to shy away from the deeper awareness and
    growth, fixating on the surface of a
    reliable procedure, as technology does, they tend to ignore
    the spiritual context and
    consequences of their actions. Violating a river spirit
    with pollution is dangerous to you, as that
    spirit will rise against it! Violating a mighty river with
    technologically marvelous bindings but
    not with spiritual covenants results in burst dykes and
    ruined towns. Violating the sacred union
    of the elements results in Atom Bombs .... and so on.
    Then, as folks rely on their decayed White Magic to run
    or to ruin their lives, they look to
    more of the same to fix the problems they're creating.
    Moreover, they tend to deplore those who
    present spiritually derived responses to the situation. To
    me, this seems like offering a drowning
    man a drink!
    Now, if you'll excuse me, one of the stray spaniels
    seems to have elf shot in her paw. I'll
    need to research the proper herbs, from which I hope to make
    a tincture to drive the elf shot out
    of the poor creature and to burn so that in their smudge
    will either drive off the malicious sprite
    or make it behave! A veterinarian would probably give the
    bitch a shot (whose active
    ingredients are probably derived from those herbs). Since
    he wouldn't be looking to the spirit
    realm, he'd give me warnings about the dangers of my other
    many tattered refugees getting
    infected the same way.
    Hey, that operation above combines white and black
    magic, Makes one think ....

    Be Blest,
    Ambrose Hawk

    --
    IN HOC MODO MILLIS FRANGITVR .

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