The “occult” community is an almost meaningless term denoting the vast numbers of Neo-Pagans, traditional “practitioners,” ceremonial magicians, root workers, card readers, Vitki, Bokurs, exorcists, Brujas, Witches, Warlocks and all the other people who delve into the practice of magic. As America in particular and the West in general has become more accepting of these practices they have become almost mainstream and indeed in the case of Wicca, crystal workings and other practices they have become less part of the “occult’ and more a part of the watered down “New Age” movement that is the bane of true practitioners.
For the past few years I have seen that proficiency in magical practice, familiarity with the literature of the occult and the ability to discern legitimate rituals and techniques from online role playing and media inspired fads disturbingly rare. Today’s “Witch” is more likely to be familiar with organic vegan recipes than the recipe for making the love philters. Today’s Magician will be more apt to sulkily skip dinner and rail on the Internet about a person who has crossed them than resort to the infamous Black Fast. More people have read Twilight in our so-called community than have read Elizabeth Butler’s excellent Introduction to the history of Western Magicians Ritual Magic.
When you do find people who claim to have actually practiced some form of the Art you’ll get wild tales of lightning bolts, levitation, or long-winded explanations about how “everything you do” is magic. And that’s if they believe at all; I’ve had more than one self-described Witch tell me rituals and spells didn’t work.
There was a time, my friends, when that Fraternity of Night called to a select few who, through painstaking research, long hours of studying and experimentation and the will to follow the path least tread, accumulate a few jealously guarded and (more importantly) effective spells that ended up scribbled in a journal and perhaps, if we were lucky, passed to trusted friends. But our own secretive nature and elitist mentality has created several new generations of unguided, unfocused and uninformed practitioners who do little but imperil themselves and those around them. For all our complaints it is we older generations, smug and separate, who have created the New Age by not being involved in it. Spell and Ritual is my small way of making up for the lack of leadership many of us have shown.
This will not be a place for moralizing, political debate or personal attacks. Spell and Ritual will only deal with the mechanics of magic and the literature you should be familiar with. Some of what we will be posting will be academic in origin, as this is an essential piece of a practitioner’s education which many people have missed out on. One cannot understand Necromancy, for example, if you are unfamiliar with the long history of Necromancy in Western civilization which is mainly preserved by classical scholars.
Spell and Ritual will not tolerate racism, sexism or any other -ism. There has been a movement among some young Witches to claim the African diaspora traditions (like Voodoo, Santeria, etc) are “evil” and there is quite a bit of bigotry experienced by Christian Practitioners of the Arts. This is not acceptable here. Likewise, since I was very young, there has been considerable pressure put on male Witches (even non-Wiccans) to refrain from using the term Warlock. I myself prefer the term but this will not be open for debate. How people describe themselves and their practice will be respected here. That includes those that practice the Left Hand Path. We are not here to debate what is right and wrong, only what does and does not work.
Spell and Ritual is in the process of actively soliciting spells and rituals that people can verify as working, and we are glad to promote books, services, or Web sites that will be of interest to practitioners.
As a quick aside, I have always found the use of “Magick” instead of magic a bit pretentious. It irks me, but if you must, feel free.
This site will be, I hope, a resource for everyone. Please leave your politics and pettiness at the door and use this site to discuss and learn the Mysteries.
Downloadable books (free):
Toby Hemenway - Why We Love The ApocalypseAnna Moonowl - Drugs Alcohol And The Pagan Community
Edward Smedley - The Occult Sciences
Charles Webster Leadbeater - Occult Chemistry
