Let me begin by saying that I agree with you. In part. I made a mistake by using the word "human" instead of "person". Let me explain: My roommate and I were discussing this a few hours back and she said something interesting. Anything that has a sense of self (however broad the concept) will act like a "person". That what we consider "human" qualities (classically) are actually fundamental characteristics of sentience itself. No, they don't have the same behaviors as us. They won't sit down and have tea with us- as Radiant Star said. But they can still have their version of pettiness and moodiness. They can still get bored and play pranks.
Yes, we have the classic tendency to anthropomorphize. But to say that they're
completely alien to us is to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
Now, let me play the quote and respond game.
QUOTE
I can see where you are coming from but disagree with your delivery and motives. I'd've liked to say 'Old School' vs 'New School' but that would not give credit to either.
Most of our membership here would be dead within hours if left alone at birth, native ability(ies) notwithstanding. Two chunks of plutonium have amazing potential but without the proper tools/'exercises' they will not slam together and produce a nuclear 'explosion' or produce enough heat to boil water to turn steam turbines to produce electricity. There are a few rare, gifted individuals that can produce magic effects/phenomena at will without any schooling. If you are one of these people then you have a very marketable skill and should be feeding the masses. This is what I was refering to as being desireable.
Let me see if I can explain my approach: I'm a fanatical believer in sincerity. I believe that what entities respond to (favorably) the most is a sincere, child-like attitude. I believe that, although ritual has a very powerful effect on the mage, it's the sincerity that saves the day. Furthermore, I don't think that we should pretend that circles are anything more than declarations of boundaries. A good chunk of these entities, if provoked, could
unmake the very ground we stand on. So I don't think that it's irresponsible of me to promote attitude and manners over ritual. I don't mean to belittle ritual, here. Ritual is very powerful and has its place- even in an evocation. But I don't think that it should be stressed over what I think are common sense measures (i.e.- the sincerity bit and all that jazz). Now the tricky thing with common sense is that there's no standard. I may be wrong- and I'm
completely open to that possibility. Mostly because the feedback system in this art is mostly in hindsight. As in, you're looking back over your shoulder to see how much the irate Demon is gaining on you. A demon that has it's sight on.. well... your hiney. You are partially right- I concede that. But my original posting in that topic was geared toward a need to present a (what
I see as a) neglected aspect of the Art. There is a lot of practical wisdom in fairy-tales.
I'm going to skip over most of the next paragraph, because
I think I got it in the first part of this post.
QUOTE
Everytime we interact with others we do so by going thru what I call a 'filter'. Each of us views the universe in a unique way. This 'filter' is our "Tower of Babel". Telepathy can give us a more direct approach but is, in it's self, a very rare thing. As sentient beings (I'd like to think) we often change these filters in response to various outside stimulus...giving them easier visages (or whatever) to deal with according to need.
You will note that when you deal with various entities that they don't 'speak' at you but rather communicate either by pictures, telepathy or sense pattern. How would they know how to speak Chinese or Italian? Have you ever wondered why, in many grimoires, that the magician, whilst conjuring Umpty-Squat, will demand that the entity assume a pleasant and comely appearance? Why? We relate to people or human shaped things better than something that looks like the cat yakked up a mouse or a transdimensional cubic rhomboid with fur. Sometimes this is a very good thing! There are more than a few tales of madness induced by the 'shape' of a conjured entity.
Although I think that there is some aspect of "filtering" going on, I think that it's rude to put the proverbial "paper bag" over an entity's head. I actually find it interesting and stimulating to see entities in their "true form." Seeing and finding new and "alien" forms of life is partially why I communicate so much with these folks. I usually just tell them to be creative, if they feel the need to change things up a bit. This usually keeps
them interested... and less likely to play pranks out of boredom. Incidentally, more "cultured" entities will speak in an audible voice. Most of the entities from the Goetia will employ this with me- and it's in English. I suspect, though, that oftentimes it's my brain interpreting feelings and impressions into language- much in the same way that we translate sound into words. It's noteworthy, though, that they have very distinct "voices." But this is neither here nor there... (just a note: I spent about five minutes laughing at the furry rhomboid picture- that was brilliant... or was it
inspired?)
QUOTE
To sum up this ramble...I think that quite often people will paint softer pictures of entity interaction due to themselves dealing with themselves (or a variation thereof) or themselves dealing with an entity that has the ability to use telepathy or shapeadjustments (both spatial and spiritual). Not all demonic/angelic/devic interactions are really with those entities but rather with intricate manifestations of the human psyche. Be suspicious of entities that seem to be very human....they usually are!
It seems like you're trying to say that maybe reality and my perceptions don't match up. That I'm a bit delerious with fantasy. That's fair enough. I'm not quite sure what to say to that...
"I am not!!!!!!!" doesn't seem to cut it. (IMG:
style_emoticons/default/baby.gif)
This post has been edited by moonburn: Dec 20 2005, 12:45 PM
Dealing with Spirits/Entities, How Human are they?
bym Dealing with Spirits/Entities Dec 19 2005, 05:45 PM
Dec 19 2005, 05:45 PM
