Black or White?

[headincloud]

After reading some disturbing posts on The Rights of Eleusis and incorporating tarot into ceremonial magic etc I'm wondering what others think about stating which force they're serving on a personal level so others can better navigate who they choose to associate with. I'm not referring to the 1.3 billion Catholics who have been duped into it but more those who openly choose to practice. I'd be happy to state my position, any thoughts?

 

[Zephyros]

There are many threads about the use of Tarot in magic and ritual. There's a sticky at the top of Talking Tarot just for that. The Golden Dawn forum is filled with such topics. I'm curious, though, what disturbing threads are you referring to?

As for the question, I can't say I "serve" anything but the Thelemic definition (or rather, my own understanding of it) of True Will, the idea that, roughly, you can attune yourself to a "perfect version" of yourself. This comes to the surface both in readings as well as in rituals.

Is that what you meant?

 

[prudence]

After reading some disturbing posts on The Rights of Eleusis and incorporating tarot into ceremonial magic etc I'm wondering what others think about stating which force they're serving on a personal level so others can better navigate who they choose to associate with. I'm not referring to the 1.3 billion Catholics who have been duped into it but more those who openly choose to practice. I'd be happy to state my position, any thoughts?

Did you read these disturbing posts here or on some other website? How do 1.3 billion Catholics fit in with this subject? Sorry, I'm confused. I've used tarot with magic for over 20 years now. Sometimes I have used the cards to create my circle, choosing certain cards that were related to the work I was doing. Sometimes a card or two was placed on an altar, as a focus. I practice Hoodoo nowadays and I must say, the terms black or white magic can and do have racially charged tones, even unintentionally. A lot of practices were deemed "black magic" because of their strong connection with people of African descent, not necessarily due to their inherent "evil". But the idea that it is evil is quite strong with a lot of folks who are not as informed as they could be.

Some ideas and practices would make a pagan or Wiccan freak out about the 3 fold law that a lot of them hold dear, but that still does not make it evil or black. It's just a different way of practicing magic and a different way of thinking about magic and how we want to employ our will.