When creating a system of magic for a something wholly fictional (fantasy book, role-playing game), are there likely to be any real-life risks, material or spiritual, involved in the creation of that system? If so, is it "safer" to use concepts, practices, or names in the system that bear little or no relation to any magical systems or mythologies actually in use by practitioners? I ask mainly because I'm trying to work out a system of magic for a novel I'm writing, and in the course of my brainstorming was warned by a Chaos-magic-using friend to be very careful not to immerse myself so deeply in my work that I translated the forces I was "working" with into real life or someone else's consciousness, which I understand (vaguely) is something that Chaos magic concerns itself with.

On a slightly related topic, a conversation between the same friend and another friend who's currently researching equations involved in chaos theory led me to wonder: Does anyone here use higher math in their magical practices or rituals?

I was wondering if anyone would be able to give me some suggestions on where to start with the study of magic. I've read through a lot of this community and seen a lot of recommendations, but an actual STARTING POINT is uncertain.

Background: I'm basically apathetic to the nature of gods, with a belief system that varies from Discordianism to Judaism; I studied Celtic Reconstructionism for a while focusing on Manannan mac Lir but stopped due to personal reasons. I've read a little bit about a lot of things with no real overwhelming sway in any direction, basically. I'm very interested in magical theory in general, and magical history.

My practical experience is mostly limited to meditation, which I've studied in Hindu, Jewish, and secular incarnations, and I've kind of lapsed in my practice. I dabbled a little in grounding and centering, but I had a weird problem where whenever I tried to ground or center, I ended up getting rather dizzy, which seemed odd considering the purpose of the activities. There's also this...energy thing. I don't really know how to explain it, so sorry if this sounds stupid. I've done it since I was little. It involved summoning up 'energy' into my hands and doing various things with it, sometimes using it to make things that hurt feel better, or warming up. It kind of reminds me of reiki, maybe - my martial arts instructor who was trained in reiki and similar practices mentioned that he'd noticed something of the sort in higher-up students.

So what I'm looking for help with: Suggested reading, online and offline? (Obviously getting a teacher would be best, but that's not feasible at the moment.) Especially stuff about less formal practice; I like 'on the go' type of magic that works with energy and folklore and everyday items (I prefer playing-card cartomancy to tarot), I feel really ridiculous with ritual and spoken spells. I own "Earth Power" and "Magical Household" by Scott Cunningham, but I'm suspicious of how reliable those are. Advice on grounding weirdness and the energy thing would be wonderful, too. Any assistance for beginners/plotting out a course of learning would be highly appreciated!

Today was clean out day for all the various Pagan-related boxes and such, and we came across something that I was hoping someone here might have some insight on.

We have a beautiful mosaic mirror that was designed and gifted to us by a coven sister of mine. She has since slipped off the deep end and become a little odd to say the least and a little vindictive to say a bit more. The mirror was created back during her saner days and while she was still quite a good friend. We would hate to destroy it, but we would also hate to lock it away forever.

Does anyone have any suggestions on possible cleansing techniques that would not damage either the glass or the mosaic tiles, but would help sever any connection or loop-back-like energy? So far, the only thing either my partner or I can come up with is wrapping it and/or burying it for a while, possibly after the usual salt/water/incense/etc spritz, but I am still afraid the burying could damage the piece itself. We've already done a more formal cutting away of the person in question, but the item was made for us and our children and I would feel more comfortable with an extra cleansing before putting it into use again.

Thank you in advance for any suggestions!

Question for y'all, I'll venture out and make my first post. It's a question about intense experiences via your practice (whatever that practice might be) and how it affects your practice, and even your relationship with other practicioners of whatever magickally inclined path you happen to follow.

You don't even need to read behind the cut to answer this, actually.

The icon is chosen because it's what I needed back in the day - a good solid kick in the butt. And I got one.

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If you had an intense and scary experience, did you stay in your practice? Did you run screaming? Switch traditions? Could you talk to anyone about it? How do you regard others who have claimed to have intense experiences? How do you feel you *should* regard people who have intense experiences or claim to? How can you talk about such without being an attention junkie, and do you feel this stuff should be kept silent, and to what extent?

If you meet someone who is in the "magickal button-pushing" phase - "let's see what this button does!" followed by "BOOOM!" - how do you regard them and what do you feel is the best way?

I'm not asking for details of the experience. I barely share details of mine.

I'm looking for some advice dealing with a situation that's starting to become more and more disturbing.

I am afraid of the dark, specifically of lying awake in the dark trying to fall asleep, or waking up in the middle of the night and laying there. In addition, within the past 6 months, I have started having incredibly vivid and horrific nightmares.

(I'm taking the formatting in your rules to heart, here.)

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Any other advice on dealing with nightmares, and unspecified fear in a non-mundane way would be appreciated.


Edited to add:
As I read my own responses I've noticed that it looks like I'm shooting a lot of things down. This isn't my intent. I've just got some chemical limitations, and have already tried a whole bunch of things. Again, thank you!

I'm trying to find out all I can on 'Azoth' as a term, ideology, ect. I understand the word as it is used in alchemy and know the illustration of the 7 pointed star in Basil Valentine's Azoth of the Philosophers, but I can find almost NO information on the book itself or any copy of it.

I know of Azathoth/Azotharoth in the Cthulhu mythos, but it is my understanding that the name Azoth is a latter addition to the mythos by Gerry Conway, Roy Thomas, and Mike Docherty in the 1980s as a screen play that later became a storyarch for the Conan comics.

Can anyone give me any more information or a push in the right direction to into finding some more information?

While searching for another tarot card image, I ran across this:



Neither the image link itself nor the ridiculous site which should theoretically contain it but doesn't [and the patently idiotic meanings she ascribes to The Star] according to the google image link where I originally found it are giving me any clues.

Anyone recognize this deck? It's way non-traditional, but I really, really like this image.

[I'm crossposting to NFP and my own journal, sorry if you get this more than once.]

Hi, I'm a novice to magic, but I just purchased some resources, and I'd like to hear what the community thinks of them.

First, some background about me and magic. I am a Christian, and work within the Christian concept of a single God with three Persons. I tend to regard harmful magic as ethically dubious. I first learned of the idea that you could be both a Christian and a magic-worker through the novels of Katherine Kurtz, but did not start to learn magic in reality until I joined my current church and met, and eventually joined, a group of people devoted to healing magic. I also learned that spiritual energies were real, and that I was not a freak or insane for thinking that I could perceive them. Most of my fellow wizards at my church practice Reiki- I am one of only two who use other techniques. I am drawn to cartomancy, and Bibleomancy, especially Tarot and Quaballah. I recently decided to get serious about my magical studies due to some other changes in my life, and bought several books, and I would like some feedback from this community about their reliability. I've only been able to skim through most of them.

The books are as follows, I've also posted my openion of them, feel free to give me feedback or recommend other books I could use:
1. The Book of Sacred Magic of Abramilin the Mage?: This is an actual grimore from a mideval Jewish Cabalist. The manuscript it is from is not the best, and the translation is from roughly 100 years ago, but the book itself is sound, I think, if difficult to understand.

2. Pow-Wows, or the Long Lost Friend: Unfortunately, not everything old is reliable! Hoffmann seems to have been the $ilver Ravenwolf of his time, and his very random collection of home remedies, dyes, and spells, while of immense folkloric value, is probably of extremely limited use. If people have used his spells successfully, I'd like to hear from you.

3. The Use of the Psalms for The Physical Welfare of Man, A Fragment out of the Practical Kaballah: This is a fascimile of a chapter out of a genuine 15th century grimore, and very interesting, if difficult to read. Probably reliable IMHO.

3. Tarot For Dummies: Just what it says on the tin! A guide to reading the Tarot for people who have never picked up a deck before. It taught me all I needed to get started, and I like it a lot. My set came with a Rider-Waite tarot deck, which I had read was the best deck for learning the cards. I have found that reading with the deck works.

4. Tarot Basics: This is actually the first estoric book I ever encountered, and it actually wound up putting me off Tarot! I wound up selling the book and the tarot deck that came with it to Half Price Books, only to find the book alone in the bargain bin at Barnes and Noble when I was buying the Dummies book and the Waite deck. It has many more spreads then the Tarot for Dummies book, and I wound up using one of the spreads in this volume as my basic spread, so I guess that it was worth it for that alone, considering how cheap it was. Also, this book gets points for displaying the cards in the Waite, Crowly, and Marseilles decks rather then the Waite alone. However, the card meanings given seem quite narrow compared to those given in the Dummies book, and the book has a sinister aura for a reason I can't quite explain.

5. Meditations on the Tarot: From the first chapter, on The Magician, this seems like a wonderful book, full of lots of insights. The book blends hermeticism, cartomancy, and Catholic systematic theology to show how the Tarot reflects the universe. It is not, however, an easy book to read, and it only covers the Major Arcana. It uses the Marseilles tarot even though it was written when the Waite was available.

6. Bible Spells: The only book I am unsure about on my list. The author seems to be some sort of newage kook, but he does seem to work with actual historical traditions, and the candle burning rituals (the only part of the book I have actually tried), seem to work.

Edit: I stand corrected on the matter of Pow-Wows, and look forward to trying it out. Thanks

I'm posting this, upon request, for a friend. He's cleaning out his rather extensive bookcase and has tons of books on offer.
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Just curious, but I was browing the wikipedia article on the evil eye. I was impressed with how many different cultures have beliefs related to the evil eye. Makes me think there is something universal about it.

Does anyone have any experience with this? I can't say that I've ever experienced it or know people who have, at least who have talked about it with me. I have noticed something that I call "ill-wishing" (I think I picked up that term from somewhere), which is my way of saying "bad vibes" or "negative energy" or similar. A cleansing practice is part of my personal practice because I do think we pick up energies like that in day to day life. Many pagans, myself included, do wear protective charms (like a pent).

I'm starting to wonder if this just another way of saying the evil eye, although I never really connected with a person's eye. Just curious to hear if folks on here work with the idea of the evil eye or similar.