the banishing power of skepticism

[Frater Mendax]

The very most effective occult banishing is skepticism. In the world of magic and spells, skepticism has a power akin to nuclear fire. This force must be harnessed by any practitioner if they are to compete in the thaumaturgic environment.

Learn cognitive bias. Learn logical fallacy. Learn rhetoric. Learn the scientific method. Learn Venn diagrams and truth tables. Learn that the answer to many questions is not "yes" or "no" but some measure of probability.

Learn these things and soon you will see the thick layer of hypnosis that rules the minds of so many. We all live in an ocean of symbolic interpretation, not seeing the true ground of reality, but only a convoluted hallucination. What comes to our mind through our senses is distorted by assumption, suggestion and pareidolia. Imagine that, at the bottom of everything we know, there is nothing but chaos and static. Imagine that to understand the amount of sorcery that makes up our momentary experience. Our lives are witchcraft.

But is this witchcraft our own? How much of what we think we know comes from outside of us? How much of our life is influenced by media, parenting and social pressure? Who are the sorcerers that summon the demons in our life?

It does not matter. Drop the bomb of skepticism. Burn up the fake atmosphere with an incantation of "says who?" Destroy unsolicited magic with a cry of "prove it!" Say "I don't believe you" and kill the witch. Watch the enemy magic wither away.

The pentagram is a banishing symbol. It represents the number five, the four elements of reality plus one more factor. That factor has been labeled many ways, but in our hearts we know that it is nothing short of consciousness. The spark of life, which animates the awakened creatures, receives the unmolded substance of the four elements and turns it into something new. As humans, through our consciousness, we create time and culture; we see nature and give it names. By the power of our consciousness, our world is made.

Some of us own our own consciousness. Others are enslaved. Still more stand between freedom and slavery, struggling against the witchcraft of the fallen world.

If you are one who struggles, find skepticism. Make foul foul once again, and make fair fair. Skepticism is Dorothy's bucket of water. It is the drinking gourd, the unmoving North Star, nuclear fire, the icy wind of Stribog and it is the solid ground at the base of all illusion. Skepticism is all these things, yet nothing more than the singular truth that very little can ever really be proven. Take skepticism up as both shield and sword so that you may cut out a space in which to cast your own illusions.

Frater Mendax
11.13.2016
Somewhere at sea

[Versling]

I refuse to believe in the power of disbelief! :-X ;D


Well said. :)

[arjil]

...   Though I understand the point here, and it was well said, Take Care with that sort of thinking, around here.   There are many here who might take anyone throwing down that argument to be "The Enemy", for that is precisely the notion we have spent a decade fighting in service of people finding their magick, and poking holes in concrete reality held stable by such minds.
I know what you were pointing at- the power of throwing down 'No". 
But I'd rather have a shipfull of Mages hoisting their colors at my back, rather than a bunch of reality auditors insisting that pirates don't exist.

I completely understand the Use and Benefit of skepticism and critical thought.
However, understand the crowd you are in the midst of at this moment, and take heed-  Here there be Dragons.
and we mean it.

I don't Think you were making an argument on the side of the Antimagick Agenda, but it crossed my mind.   Have a care there.

[Nes]

The study of Logic can only get you so far. I agree it has it's place in the mundane physical world, but the nonphysical is beyond human constructions like that.  And, I wouldn't be so quick to label everything an illusion. The way I see it, it's more the opposite. But, to each their own.
Don't give into blind faith like Christians or science worshiping atheists, but don't go the opposite extreme and disbelieve everything you experience. What was it Crowley said about skepticism again? I think it fits here. I totally see what you mean. Skepticism is the reason people are here right now, and the reason why people practice magic to begin with.

[too much ugly]

Stupid government thinks they can take down LS with a pipeline.  Lakota Sioux can suck it, amirite?

They're getting blasted with fire hoses in the coldest part of the country it's like Nazi Germany up there. Engineers realized they were violating old treaties so they sent in Homeland.

I can't wait for malachite bow.  In the meantime, everybody can support #NODAPL right in their hometown. Road trips are for muggles.

[Frater Mendax]

However, understand the crowd you are in the midst of at this moment, and take heed-  Here there be Dragons.
and we mean it.

It's a fair point.
Though you do seem to discern my meaning.
I have a feeling that the other Pirates here can also discern.
My only intent in this is liberation.

[Frater Mendax]

I wouldn't be so quick to label everything an illusion. The way I see it, it's more the opposite.

I'm curious to hear more about how it is the opposite.

[Nes]

I wouldn't be so quick to label everything an illusion. The way I see it, it's more the opposite.

I'm curious to hear more about how it is the opposite.

The way I see it, there are many layers of existence. Not like an onion. More like layers and spheres all on top of eachother and over lapping. The worlds within the mind are just as real as the physical world and the other spiritual worlds. All kinds of different occult/magical groups have different views on what is "real" and "not real". I'll use Dragon Rouge as an example. They say everything but their one goal is an illusion, basically. Which is, they aim to ascend out to chaos, the black void and the end of the Nightside, so they can create worlds, in the way the Demiurge is said to have. They say this world, the astral, and everything else between them and their goal is merely an illusion. Many other groups say everything but their goal is an illusion. It's a good tool to use to make sure things don't get in the way of their goal, but that's all it is. They all define what is "real" differently. There are no parameters at all, no rules that define what is and isnt. It is said that the "void" holds all that is and isn't and could be and never will be.
The way I see it, There is no creator or all god. The only demiurge lies within the human slave-like psyche. That is why they flock to gods like Yahweh. Every god that is claimed to be one is a sham. This is the void. We are already creators. Energy is energy. That's all. Conciousness can arise from it. Humanity is a tiny blip compared to what is out there. Calling everything an illusion because there is energy that everything is made from is pointless, IMO. It's just as pointless as worshipping this "all" energy. It's not concious, it's just energy. You can call it an illusion if you want, but it is just as valid to say it's not. A person can reach an infinite existence in the astral by consuming the energy of others, or by becoming a god by reaching Thaumiel on the qliphoth, or by reaching Kether and not dissolving into another power. There are infinite possibilities for spiritual growth. There are even those who collapse their entire existence into worlds within their own mind. Just about everyone has a path. And most think other paths are false or "not real."

This is really hard to explain. I probably botched what I was trying to say. I think I got my point across though.

[Frater Theodbald]

Disbelieve and disobey!


Liberate!