33: Black and White Magic

Before You Cast a Spell (from Roots of Ritual): http://rootsofritual.wordpress.com/before-you-cast-a-spell/

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• Wicca
• Wiccan
• witch
• witchcraft
• magick
• white
• grey
• colored
• black
• Pagan
• Paganism
• morality
• ethics
• ethical

[Afterfauve007]

From what I have been taught about magick, I have come to see the terms Black, White, and Gray not as good or bad but from the point of view of approach.

Black - entering unknown, difficult, possibly chaotic, Shamanistic Magick. facing fear danger. letting go. White - an enlightened position (not necessarily good or safe) to become aware and to reach out.

Grey - exploration discovery and learning, which most magick falls under

I'm still a student so its crudely put, any thoughts on it?

[fleurdelacour5787]

@Afterfauve007 I've never heard of this color system before and I'm not sure where it came from to be honest. I don't think it really makes sense, though. Or maybe I'm just confused, but white is the overall goal which wouldn't seem to contain magic...I'll have to do some research apparently.

[Mirkwood90]

Not only are the white and black racially endowed terms, but they impose a continued fear of the unknown/inner darkness. When taken to the extreme this makes metaphor a key for bigotry and misdirection of beauty attribution. For example many religious traditions can't fully appreciate beautiful and comforting metaphors of Night and Womb, because they are too dark and scary. Creation is a Holistic Whole, and only acknowledging the Beauty Wisdom and Power of half leaves us half a complete being

[fleurdelacour5787]

@Mirkwood90 Thank you for posting this. Somehow it was skipped over when I made this video.

[MephistophelesMyLord]

Whoa, hold on here,I do not connect "Black and white, good and bad" to be racially charged at all. Dark is associated with the unknown, or bad stuff because the darkness *is" scary. Darker months (winter) is associated with harshness that comes with it, and nighttime in general is considered spooky because we can't see in the dark. White would be on par with the light, because we can see our surrounding and feel more secure. I honestly don't feel race has anything to do with it.

[MephistophelesMyLord]

@fleurdelacour5787 And that was a very informative video. However, I don't think it's as simple as being racially charged words. The color black has many negative connotations for people outside of race. Before certain cultures were even exposed to Africans, they had negative (or positive!) associations for the color black for a myriad of reasons. There's complex psychological/environmental reasons for this that can't be simply chalked up to racism.

[GrimoireTV]

You're going to really love my "Black Magic & Dark Paganism" lectures from a few years back, once I've edited and uploaded them. We agree on much in this regards.

[Hope0Wong]

thats true, i dont see why people feel the need to label magick, i think it is useless.

[fem40trish]

thanks for this video, really needed

[fleurdelacour5787]

@MephistophelesMyLord I agree which is why I also discussed the other (non-racial) reasons I dislike these terms and their use in magic. I never said it was ONLY about race.

[Afterfauve007]

also any spell or practice can fall under any color or category depending on the point of view of the practitioner.

from my understanding.

[MephistophelesMyLord]

@fleurdelacour5787 Another thing brought to mind is polar opposites/ duality. Good is to bad, as black is to white. Completely different sides of the spectrum, and it would be up to the individual to decide which side the colors would sit at.

[MephistophelesMyLord]

@fleurdelacour5787 I'd also like to know if you view the correspondences for the color black, as is used in chaos magic, stemming from racism?