Buying A Used Book On Magic?, Might I get cursed? Options

I thinking of buying my books on magic USED to save money and hopefully, maybe get some extra annotations on the side from the previous owner, but then, I starting to think, can a book become CURSED? Then what? What do you people recommend? Have you bought a USED magic book that was CURSED?

Aside from a wait-and-see approach, is there a way to tell if a book is cursed?

This post has been edited by myusername: May 24 2010, 10:03 AM

Quite a few of my books on magic are bought used to save on costs and I've never felt any effects whatsoever resulting from such purchases. For some out-of-print works, you will have to buy used too.

The situation could be quite different if you're buying used manuscripts or journals, in that case however, I doubt you'd be thinking about saving money.

This post has been edited by alkeides: May 24 2010, 10:36 AM

I thinking of buying my books on magic USED to save money and hopefully, maybe get some extra annotations on the side from the previous owner, but then, I starting to think, can a book become CURSED?

HAHAHAHAHAH
Only if you choose to believe it!
If you're worried that the previous owners energies are all over the used book, wipe it down with a cloth but whatever you do, don't start thinking a book is cursed, it will lead to ridiculous disasters!
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/wizard.gif)

HAHAHAHAHAH
Only if you choose to believe it!
If you're worried that the previous owners energies are all over the used book, wipe it down with a cloth but whatever you do, don't start thinking a book is cursed, it will lead to ridiculous disasters!
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/wizard.gif)

I agree with this. Do what you think is necessary to cleanse the energy from the previous owner so that you feel comfortable with using it. But don't think about it afterward. You will throw off your center and any ritual you use will not work the way you want.

HAHAHAHAHAH
Only if you choose to believe it!
If you're worried that the previous owners energies are all over the used book, wipe it down with a cloth but whatever you do, don't start thinking a book is cursed, it will lead to ridiculous disasters!
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/wizard.gif)

^This.

Actually, when I buy books used, I make sure to carry a d20 with me at all times. That way I can make a saving throw against magic. I have to do this every time I use the book, just in case.

Seriously, myusername, wtf are you getting/did you get these crazy ideas? Buying used books is often the only way to complete one's collection as OOP stuff is, by definition, not printed anymore. Good Lord. *facepalm* Even if the stuff is still in print you'll save a ton of money if you buy used as the used price is usually half the standard cover price.

If you feel this way about used books never ever ever go to antique stores or antique auctions, you'll lose it with all the used stuff.

This post has been edited by Darkmage: May 24 2010, 02:09 PM

A number of years ago, in the "Magickal Childe" bookstore a friend kept trying to buy
a copy of a book. Not used. Every time she picked it up she felt repelled and had to
drop it. She wondered if she was being strongly advised to avoid the book.

It turned out another copy of the book felt fine.

As near as we could figure - it was residual from the creepy guy who was browsing just
before we got there.

Buy used. Books like to circulate.
Use the force.
If you get a bad feeling about it - disinfect.

"Miskatonic. It is a great school, just don't read any of the textbooks aloud."

When I'm upset, the best way to make me feel better is to go into every single pagan bookstore and curse every single book in my sight. I've also found cursing legumes to go bad quickly and going into apparel stores and cursing ties and socks to fray to feel just as good.

A number of years ago, in the "Magickal Childe" bookstore a friend kept trying to buy
a copy of a book. Not used. Every time she picked it up she felt repelled and had to
drop it. She wondered if she was being strongly advised to avoid the book.

It turned out another copy of the book felt fine.

As near as we could figure - it was residual from the creepy guy who was browsing just
before we got there.

Buy used. Books like to circulate.
Use the force.
If you get a bad feeling about it - disinfect.

I'm buying it through amazon.com, so I don't have the opportunity to feel it for 'cooties'. As far as I know, I don't feel energy coming from things people touch.
I remember reading on the Internet that the Catholic Church has a 'anti-magic' department or something like that, where they deal, among other things, with cursed objects. Apparently, to them, an object can be cursed whether you believe it or not. I remember seeing a picture of a priest holding up a cursed object along with a card of Archangel Michael to 'negate' its opposing energies.

Now if its all belief, why doesn't he just stop believing in it being NOT cursed?

Because the Catholic Church, like any large entrenched organization, has a vested interest in fostering dependence on it for its own survival. Whatever spiritual truths they have access to (or not) they're no different than any other massive bureaucracy.

Seriously, (it's another of those nasty real-world newsflashes!) if you're buying used from Amazon, you're more likely to get crayon marks than a curse. Even that's unlikely if the vendor has decent feedback.

I cleanse my home and ritual area regularly. That's usually enough to remove any lingering energies, negative or otherwise


I rarely use pre-packaged magick (I prefer to write my own spells. I might draw inspiration from something I like -- something that appeals to me aesthetically -- and go from there).



I've personally found most store-bought magick books to be silly beyond words (I consider these books to be "toy books". Do you honestly expect to win the lottery by burying three beans in a graveyard under the light of a full moon? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dots.gif) )

This post has been edited by The Sorceress: May 24 2010, 08:27 PM

>>When I'm upset, the best way to make me feel better is to go into every single pagan bookstore and curse every single book in my sight. I've also found cursing legumes to go bad quickly and going into apparel stores and cursing ties and socks to fray to feel just as good.

dammit kaboom you made me spew my coffee! - the first good post on sm in quite a while!

that's it - i'm too old and unconcerned to take students anymore, haven't in years, thinking everybody should do their own quests and stand on their own 2 feet, otherwise you will eventually fail, but since that seems that these poor little 'teach me" neophytes is all there is now, i'll leave you guys alone to get on with it

come find me when you get to your dark night

poof!

Seriously, myusername, wtf are you getting/did you get these crazy ideas? Buying used books is often the only way to complete one's collection as OOP stuff is, by definition, not printed anymore. Good Lord. *facepalm* Even if the stuff is still in print you'll save a ton of money if you buy used as the used price is usually half the standard cover price.

If you feel this way about used books never ever ever go to antique stores or antique auctions, you'll lose it with all the used stuff.

I hate going mod mode, but darkmage this is uncalled for. OP is just very new to this reality, and is asking smart but uninformed questions. At least he's not asking for someone to teach him a spell that will open the ninety nine uber gates to the demonic realm and make him all powerful. Consider some of the actual crazies we get here before losing your patience with someone who just doesn't have the background in esoterica that some of us do. Let's not get elitist and cliquey. That goes for everyone. I'll be first in line to jump on the crazy ones, but some are just here to learn and grow.

That said, used items are not typically cursed. Most cursed objects are associated with a specific individual, and aren't general. The chances of acquiring a truly cursed object are so slim that there's little point in even considering it. And usually, in the case that you do, a simple cleansing, or wrapping the object in silk/putting it in a box (it's own space) until someone else can do so or you learn how, is sufficient.

And yes, handwritten books with a lot of personal energy, negative energy in the case of a curse, is more likely to have a radiating negative effect than a printed book, which is by it's nature generalized and non-personal. Now, in a magical reality, I strongly recommend you not ever steal anything. If you can handle an object beforehand, curses are not difficult to detect unless it was put there on purpose for you by a clever and talented magician. Just learn to recognize the difference between biased fear (it looks scary so I feel scared) and instinctual fear (I can't rationalize away my creeped out vibe or maintain objectivity about this object).

Checking for cooties! I actually had to put down the iPhone and giggle over that one.

Peace

I have a lot of books, 90% of them used and have never had one that was cursed if there is such a thing. There was one time I had a first edition of the Necronomicon and a handful of the sigils within it were hot, been used before and active, but every other book I have ever owned was just a book. So I really wouldn't worry about it.

Hold up! Stop press!

I've had a book that's been, "cursed", forget where I got it from but it was a book on "shamanism", quite a scholarly peice not as insulting or as shallow as others but anyway, it was/is secondhand... tend to read at night and leave the book by my bed, perhaps under a pillow within a few nights worth of ownership I got a distinct negative vibe from it and woke midsleep sharing my bed with a demon. Hardly scary, it didn't do anything it was just there floating around in my half awake state beside my bed near the book with the usual low vibration such things bring.... past owner obviously used it for that purpose, doubt its being cursed, as in purposefully but it came with a friend.

Hold up! Stop press!

I've had a book that's been, "cursed", forget where I got it from but it was a book on "shamanism", quite a scholarly peice not as insulting or as shallow as others but anyway, it was/is secondhand... tend to read at night and leave the book by my bed, perhaps under a pillow within a few nights worth of ownership I got a distinct negative vibe from it and woke midsleep sharing my bed with a demon. Hardly scary, it didn't do anything it was just there floating around in my half awake state beside my bed near the book with the usual low vibration such things bring.... past owner obviously used it for that purpose, doubt its being cursed, as in purposefully but it came with a friend.

Incubi/succubi aren't that bad bedpartners in my opinion. They can certainly be a bit much if there are more than three on you though. I've seen that happen with plenty of books, anew and old, and honestly, if you can't handle a curse, I don't know if you can handle the flu.

I personally curse my journals both when I'm writing in code and when I'm not. People know they shouldn't be looking in my journal, they pay the consequence. I don't know how worthy the curse will be after I'm gone but I do curse them. Save vs magic all you like. I don't think a used book would be cursed because of all the time it's in a bookstore unless you're buying a journal of some sort through a strange backwater bookseller.

Incubi/succubi aren't that bad bedpartners in my opinion. They can certainly be a bit much if there are more than three on you though. I've seen that happen with plenty of books, anew and old, and honestly, if you can't handle a curse, I don't know if you can handle the flu.

People can become crazy and die from curses. But even if "the flu" is all it is, why would you actually want the flu?


This post has been edited by myusername: Jun 1 2010, 11:54 PM

Incubi/succubi aren't that bad bedpartners in my opinion. They can certainly be a bit much if there are more than three on you though. I've seen that happen with plenty of books, anew and old, and honestly, if you can't handle a curse, I don't know if you can handle the flu.

Wasn't a Succubi, just some demon, left over from who ever had used it last.

People can become crazy and die from curses. But even if "the flu" is all it is, why would you actually want the flu?

I think you're American, so this comparison would work. Do you call the emergency room every time you throw up? Curses kill people. Running with scissors also kills people. Aging kills people! We run into curses big and small every day of our lives, what more would a few more make?

Incubi/succubi aren't that bad bedpartners in my opinion. They can certainly be a bit much if there are more than three on you though. I've seen that happen with plenty of books, anew and old, and honestly, if you can't handle a curse, I don't know if you can handle the flu.

When you have sex with an incubus/succubus, you're sleeping with everyone THEY'VE had sex with. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

When you have sex with an incubus/succubus, you're sleeping with everyone THEY'VE had sex with. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

Well, if you think about it, it isn't that bad. Joining with the universe means you're a part of Hitler and Miley Cyrus. They're somewhere in there.

I thinking of buying my books on magic USED to save money and hopefully, maybe get some extra annotations on the side from the previous owner, but then, I starting to think, can a book become CURSED? Then what? What do you people recommend? Have you bought a USED magic book that was CURSED?

Aside from a wait-and-see approach, is there a way to tell if a book is cursed?

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/banana.gif) hehe even though this thread is old I couldn't help myself. This post is really funny (IMG:style_emoticons/default/clown.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ac41.gif)