THE |
|
a cache of usenet and other text files pertaining
to occult, mystical, and spiritual subjects. |
To: alt.religion.wicca,alt.pagan,alt.magick From: PatrickVonRavenSubject: Re: A question about blood magick Date: 30 Nov 1995 00:43:21 GMT Ward Chanley wrote: >jsnead@netcom.com (John R. Snead) wrote: >>3) The HP of the same coven had an interesting observation about the >>use >>of blood in ritual: "Many modern magicians and witches use blood in >>ritual >>because it is the only socially acceptable bodily fluid (in this >>culture)." >> >>So, how have others used blood in ritual, and what advice (practical or >>magickal) do they have? >> >>Comments? > >Well, blood magicks for Wiccan Witches can be a touchy issue; I know >this is being crossposted outside of a.r.w. but I can't pretend to speak >for traditions outside of my own, and like all Wiccans, I speak really >for myself, rather than my tradition as a whole. If you'll excuse the >focus, here goes: > >So many traditions either expressly forbid the use of blood in ritual or >have unwritten traditions against it that we seem to lost the idea that >blood, like other bodily fluids and tissues (hair, nails, urine, etc.) >not only have a long tradition in pre-Wiccan "hedgerow" Witchcraft but >also that blood in and of itself is magickally extremely signifigant. >Red is the color of life because red is the color of blood, and blood is >life. Blood is also death; the most immedate psychological symbol of >death is it's visual representation, through blood, on a human body. A >clean, made-up, dressed corpse can look almost asleep. Indeed, many of >our Christianized funerals speak of the dead one as "resting". A body, >still bloodied lying either on the battlefields of our pagan antecedents >or on a hospital gurney in our modern age is undoubtedly dead, speaking >this fact to the subconcious at a visceral level. > >Since blood evokes both the Mother (menstruation) and the Crone >(physical destruction) blood magicks need be mindful of the signifigance >of using blood as a magickal agent. > >I can reconcile my own use of blood within the ethic of the Rede by >ensuring that any use of blood is understood well in advance of the >ritual by all parties involved, the taking of blood is wholly consensual >(which means that in a group setting the spell or ritual cannot *depend* >solely on the use of blood. Candles and so forth which may be annointed >with a few drops of the celebrants' blood can be annointed with a >magickal oil, patchouli or whatever works well, for members who choose >to abstain from participating in the blood rite) and no harm can be >allowed to come to anyone from the taking of blood. For myself in a >group setting this means that HIV and Hepatitis precautions are >observed, blood drawing is done with clean, sterilzed (or at a minimum >hospital-grade sanitized) instruments and the amount of blood taken is >never more than a few drops for the use of consecrating an item or >annointing a candle and so forth. > >For myself, it helps, I suppose that I'm into bodypeircing and >tattooing. Having an understanding of the sterile procedures involved in >those arts can help immesurably in helping to prevent harm in the use of >blood magicks. > >These precautions can be a bit overwhelming; I've taken them to ensure >that I'm comfortable with the ethic of "Harm None"; this makes using >blood in a group ritual rather more difficult than the classic >fingerpricking and recite the incantation school of ritual. As a result, >I've rarely used blood magick in a group setting. At home, in my >solitary practice, I do make a bit more common use of it, though. I'm >not as worried of infecting myself (in a solitary circle, this just >isn't an issue) and I know enough not to use dirty implements or cause >myself to have a lovely little tetanus infection. As I said, having an >understanding of the procedures involved in bodypeircing can help. > >I've used blood spells for love work (be careful: I don't know if it's >me or something specific in the type of working, but a love spell using >blood tends to result in great sex -- and little else), tool >consecrations, I once made an offering of my own blood annointed on a >candle after a spirit animal brought me a powerful vision that answered >a lot of questions... > >Anyway, my $.02 >Ward > ==================== Here! Here! Well said! ==Cuchulain SongRaven
The Arcane Archive is copyright by the authors cited.
Send comments to the Arcane Archivist: tyaginator@arcane-archive.org. |
Did you like what you read here? Find it useful?
Then please click on the Paypal Secure Server logo and make a small donation to the site maintainer for the creation and upkeep of this site. |
The ARCANE ARCHIVE is a large domain,
organized into a number of sub-directories, each dealing with a different branch of religion, mysticism, occultism, or esoteric knowledge. Here are the major ARCANE ARCHIVE directories you can visit: |
|
interdisciplinary:
geometry, natural proportion, ratio, archaeoastronomy
mysticism: enlightenment, self-realization, trance, meditation, consciousness occultism: divination, hermeticism, amulets, sigils, magick, witchcraft, spells religion: buddhism, christianity, hinduism, islam, judaism, taoism, wicca, voodoo societies and fraternal orders: freemasonry, golden dawn, rosicrucians, etc. |
SEARCH THE ARCANE ARCHIVE
There are thousands of web pages at the ARCANE ARCHIVE. You can use ATOMZ.COM
to search for a single word (like witchcraft, hoodoo, pagan, or magic) or an
exact phrase (like Kwan Yin, golden ratio, or book of shadows):
OTHER ESOTERIC AND OCCULT SITES OF INTEREST
Southern
Spirits: 19th and 20th century accounts of hoodoo,
including slave narratives & interviews
|