Wednesday, May 11, 2011

DIY: Do work!


I had a conversation with someone recently that set me off a bit and inspired this post. This individual has already paid good money for an apprenticeship with a well known sorcerer which is a step in the right direction. However they continue to spend serious money on copious amounts of books, and charged items in search of a magic bullet that will make them the next sorcerer supreme. This person came to me recently asking if I could make a talisman or amulet charged with the powers of the Goddess Hecate to provide wisdom and guidance in the magical arts. I suggested that it would be more of a benefit if they made their own offerings to the Her and asked for guidance. There responses was that they"didn't have time". I "politely" pointed out that they had been conversing with me online for more than an hour, they could find the time. If they don't have time to do the work how would they benefit from an increase in magical knowledge anyway?I ended up telling him that if he couldn't find the time to put in the work then this may not be the art for him. He didn't take that too well.

On a recent trip to my local spiritual supply shop I had a long conversation with one of the shop's owners who is a long time rootworker. He tells everyone how important is that they do the work themselves. A petition to the universe or a particular spirit, deity, etc is much more powerful when it comes from the individual with the need. I couldn't agree more. I am of the opinion that conjure or rootwork is not hard work, but it does require work. One doesn't need to perform a daily meditation, LBRP, or middle pillar exercise to be successful at it. But when the time comes to get things done you roll up your sleeves and put 110% into it. The time put into study and more importantly practice does pay off. That is it, there is no big secret formula to it, just do work.

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9 comments:

lukaya said...

here here! great post!

Ocean Delano said...

The fact that this person is in an apprenticeship makes me wonder why i the world they're in it, if they claim they don't have time to practice.

You have an excellent point in this post. I can't tell you how many people I've known who get interested in magic and then they mysteriously never had time for it...even though they usually had time to sit and watch TV every night.

Robert Mitchell Jr. said...

Agree, agree, agree! One cannot be a witch without witching any more than one could get in shape without sweating or get informed without studying. Your counsel is sound, wise one.

Brother Ash said...

I honestly hope he does find his way. Maye I lit a fire under him.

Anonymous said...

Are there some handbooks of traditional rootworking?

Phoenix said...

Well... I don't really think it's a big deal. Everybody outsources these days, the little man, the middle man, the big man. I think if you can then why not ;)

Brother Ash said...

@ Anonymous, there are quite a few books available on rootworking. Charms Spells and formulas by Ray Malbrough is good as a starter book,You should certainly check out Catherine Yronwode's http://www.luckymojo.com/hoodoo.html as well as her book Hoodoo Herb and Root Magic, Mama Starr of http://oldstyleconjure.com/books.html also puts out great books on real traditional conjure. There are plenty of great books out there as well as blogs on conjure worth checking out. Too many to list actually.

Brother Ash said...

@Phoenix you can't outsource gnosis.

Phoenix said...

That's true I guess - You do need the experience.

What I think the real problem is, people will do the work. They just hate the preparation. They don't like buying the products, they don't like taking the time to bless the products, they just don't like writing out the steps clearly... (or am I the only one that does that? hehehe) but they would probably do the work if it was handed to them on a silver platter. Being lazy never got anyone anywhere. But I do often outsorce for work to be done on my behalf because magick isn't my full time job, so I can't always find the time for everything. It just depends on the situation. But I do like to have magick around me on a regular basis.