boxoftheskyking replied to your post “I’m staying up super late to go crouch in my basement like a weirdo to...”
I hope it went well! I just read about it today so I missed the boat
Oh it’s a monthly thing! Every waning crescent moon. There’s a Facebook page here to coordinate it. They used to have a schedule up but there’s so much crap I can’t find it again, but I know they were going by NASA’s charts of the moon phases.
And the June 21 one at Midsummer is supposed to be the big one. I’m ready for the long haul, I’m gonna get me a proper tarot deck and some real orange stubby candles (I made do with a pathetic mostly-burned pale orange tealight I found on the shelf behind my toilet). And maybe I’ll study the underlying principles because it was sort of cathartic and I’ve kind of given up on the religion I was raised in. (Don’t get me wrong, the current Pope is great and all with the soundbites, I appreciate those, but my faith in the institution is pretty thoroughly shook at this point.)
"This overlap between curses and erotic spells is, however, most dramatically illustrated in the use of paired effigies to bind enemies and force them into a subservient position. In the first century b.c.e., for example, Apollo’s oracle at Claros directed the inhabitants of Syedra, a Greek city on the southern coast of Anatolia, to set up an image of Ares, bound in chains and supplicating the goddess Dike (Justice), in order to prevent brigands or pirates from attacking their city. Here, in a magical binding ritual aimed at the brigands, a statue of Ares (representing their enemy, the brigands) is to be bound and placed in an inferior position to a dominating figure of Justice (who presumably represents the Syedrans)."
- Ancient Greek Love Magic by Christopher A. Faraone
This hasn't been the first time this sort of thing has come up.
Now and again, I get messages asking if I will either curse/hex/jinx someone for someone else or bind someone to something or someone.
The answer to that is always going to be no, along with, "And don't trust anyone who agrees to do something like that for you or to a complete stranger, especially if they're charging you money for it."
Casting any sort of negative or damaging magic on other people is generally not considered acceptable behaviour. The people I use it on or who use it on me are people I know intimately well and there is fully informed consent there.
It's not something I would be willing to use on strangers; most of it requires line of sight anyway.
I'm also not entirely convinced that anyone who asks for that sort of thing truly knows what they're asking or asking for. The fact is that that type of magic can still be incredibly damaging and cause long term effects, even to the point of death being used as an escape from those effects.
While most things can be removed, the damage they leave behind is often permanent or, at the very least, long lasting; even if it's a short duration, the effects suffered while under the spell(s) can and readily do leave psychological scarring.
As for binding rituals and spells, many of them are permanent which is perfectly all right if that's what the people involve wanted and intended but permanent is permanent. If you decide later that you no longer want to be bound to that person, you're out of luck unless you'd choose to die rather than remain bound to them.
Even there, some binding runs deeper and you're stuck, dead or alive, whether you want to be or not.
Spells, curse or otherwise, that revolve around the central theme of mind control are generally spells one studies but does not use on other people for the same reasons. Even if there aren't physical effects once it's removed or wears off, the majority of people find being controlled on that level to be extraordinarily scarring to the point that causes them lifelong mental health issues.
This typically happens because the people using aren't fully aware of how to control it or use it safely and end up consenting to something they're not equipped to handle due to that lack of experience or knowledge.
The thing with loss of control is that what most people are after is an illusion of loss of control, not actual loss of control; actual loss of control, especially over one's thoughts or actions, is intensely distressing for the vast majority of people, and often leaves lasting psychological and emotional damage, even if it was done under what at least one party considered informed consent. In those cases, it's on the person doing the casting to figure out whether or not the person consenting is able to consent and, in the cases of spells like this, being able to consent entails a great deal more than just thinking it'd be fun to play with.
Even for people who are experienced, handing over complete mental and physical control to someone else is a frightening and intense ordeal; I've done it numerous times with one of my partners and there still always is a flash of fear that runs across your mind even with knowing what it entails. There has to be complete trust that the other person will release their control and that you'll be able to effectively convey that you've had enough in a way they'll understand isn't part of the scene, as it were.
They and you also both need to fully understand what's 'play fighting' in terms of trying to wrench control back and what is actually a panicked attempt to break control; they look and feel extremely similar.
If they can't read you well enough to do that, having that control forcibly (and at that point it is by force, even if it’s unintentional force) maintained enters into more dangerous territory in terms of the target’s mental health.
Should someone you don't know be the cause of it, you may or may not even be able to express that; it would depend on what they allow and if they enjoy keeping you an unwilling puppet, you will absolutely tell people that you've given consent, that you're happy, that you enjoy it, that nothing is wrong, etc...you will say or do exactly what they want you to say or do and will have no control or say in the matter, and that is something that is far more distressing than just playing at it for a couple of hours in the bedroom, so to speak. It will permanently and irreparably damage your mind.
It's why you don't use those sorts of things, cast those sorts of things, or agree to cast those sorts of things on strangers, and you ought to be extremely wary of people who advertise being willing to bind, curse, hex, jinx, or otherwise use magic designed to inflict pain or distress on someone in general and especially for money.
You're likely to get more than you bargained for and may or may not have an easy way to get out of it, especially if whoever you convinced (or paid) to do it decides that they don't want to; that is a very high possibility, that sort of magic produces an almost addictive high in those who cast it regularly and, for some, ending it may also end the rush they're getting from it.
If they refuse, your avenues of recourse are slim to none unless you can find someone to confront or kill them (the latter being--not recommended, as murder is typically illegal and not considered self defence in that sort of case).
Magic in general isn't something to be played around with lightly by those with little to no experience or skill; having someone with experience or skill use it on you is just as dangerous and you'll find very few people would be willing to put themselves into that position because if you change your mind on permanent or you find the effects are much more unpleasant than you'd imagined, there may be little that can be done to reverse it, remove it, or make you forget it.
Even seemingly benign magic can be absolutely vicious if misused, either purposely or accidentally. If you don't know what it is, if you're not experienced in handling it, either walk away from it or spend a few years studying it yourself but don't approach strangers to do it for you.
You don't know their skill level, you don't know their mind, you don't know their personality, you don't know their intentions, you don't know anything about them; at best, they'd do nothing at all or would be ineffectual and you'd be out some money.
Even if it's someone ineffectual, even benign magic can go off the rails if it's handled by someone who doesn't know what the hell they're doing with it.
At worst, you've met someone deceptive and horrible who will ruin your entire life and possibly the lives of everyone around you or everyone you come into contact with--and you're out some money, but that'll likely be the least of your worries at that point.
If you're looking to cause physical pain for--recreational purposes for yourself, there are much safer, non-magical means to produce similar effects that are less likely to leave long term physical or psychological damage (though, as with anything, they could if misused) as they tend to be much easier to use.
If you're looking to cause damage, physical or otherwise, to someone else because you're upset with them about something I'd suggest not doing that unless you can be certain whatever you're using or whatever entity you're calling on to lend you a hand will be on your side in the matter. Magic itself frequently has a mind of its own and if you don't know how to handle it you may get a lot more than you'd bargained for.
If it's an entity you're calling on and that entity decides the problem is you? Good luck, you're going to need it.
