An Experiment

[ecosophia]

I have a favor to ask of you, dear readers... 

Several years ago, in a conversation with friends, one of them mentioned the way that their family members spent hours at a time in what amounts to a trance, staring blankly at a television screen, as though the jerky little colored shapes on the glass screen actually mattered. It occurred to me that there was a curious bit of folklore that paralleled this. 

In the folklore of the Celtic countries, glamour -- the ability to push illusions on people, which faeries are said to have -- can be combated in several ways, but the most important involves a knife or some other piece of sharp iron or steel. There are traditional reasons for this in occult philosophy, which we don't have to get into here. It struck me, though, that it was worth experimenting to see if the same thing would help counter the glamour of the television. 

The short form is that it worked. My friend put a small pocketknife, open, under the television, and the other members of his family basically lost interest in it. 

I've advised the same thing several more times, with equally good results. In one case, the television just up and quit working; in the others, though, having a sharp knife under the television seems to lead to a steady loss of interest in those jerky little colored shapes on the glass screen. It also seems to have a similar effect on obsessive interest in the internet. 

So here's what I'd like to ask. Those of you who are still unfortunate enough to live someplace with a television -- give it a try. See if you can hide a small pocketknife with the blade open under the television. Those of you who have home internet access, try hiding one under your router. Do this, and see what happens. 

If anyone wants an incantation to go with this little bit of natural magic, it's hard to beat Kipling's poem: 

"Gold for the mistress, silver for the maid,
Copper for the craftsman, cunning at his trade;
'Good!' said the baron, sitting in his hall,
'But iron, cold iron, is the master of them all.'"

Give it a try and let me know what results you get...

Comments

[grokrathegreen]

Will experiment. Thank you for the lead, any perceivable effect would be interesting and duly reported.

[ecosophia]

You're welcome. If this works, it could actually have a significant effect on things.

[robertmathiesen]

Wow! What a wonderful piece of ancient magic for a modern problem. John Michael, I am truly impressed! And Kipling, to boot.

I shall certainly test this one out for myself if ever I have the chance. Fortunately, none of or close friends even own a TV, so far as I've ever seen one while visiting them.

[ecosophia]

Thank you! That's high praise.

Since I haven't owned a television in my adult life, I haven't been able to test the working in the obvious way, either. With any luck, though, enough people will be able to put it to the test that we'll know whether it's an effect that can be relied on -- and if so... (cackles and rubs hands together)

[(Anonymous)]

Mellie here -
I wonder what would happen if a tech or janitorial staffer were to hide an open pocketknife in one of the desks or tables in the recording studios over at Faux News?

[ecosophia]

Good question. I'd like to see the same thing tried at NPR, for that matter.

[temporaryreality]

I'm in and will look for something suitable to put under my router as I doubt the phone-addled in my family want me taping knives to their phones.

[ecosophia]

I admit I haven't yet been able to think of a way to apply this to cell phones. One step at a time...

[robertmathiesen]

A couple of years back I had an interesting exchange at a Doctor's office that may highlight the problem with TVs. When the nurse showed me into the examining room to wait for the doctor, she apologized that the TV there wasn't working.
-- "That's fine. We don't have a TV at home."
[stunned silence]
-- "You don't? How do you watch your shows?"
-- "Since we don't have a TV, we haven't got any shows to watch.
-- "But what do you talk about with your friends?
-- "Things that aren't shows ..."
And then we actually had a thoughtful back-and-forth about why we don't have a TV. But the nurse's initial stunned reaction speaks volumes about our modern world.

[ecosophia]

Oh dear gods yes. I've been on the receiving end of this same sort of reaction more than once. It makes me want to shake people until their eyeballs rattle and say, "Have you ever heard of the concept of having a life???"

Will do!

[(Anonymous)]

Oh, I am _really_ hopeful about this... it's going to be a bit tricky for me, because we have toddlers who like to explore. JMG-- is the positioning underneath the machine critical? Could I experiment usefully with positioning over the machine or behind it (much more toddler-safe)?

Re: Will do!

[ecosophia]

At least in theory, behind or on top should also work. Give it a try and see what results you get!

what about an ipad?

[(Anonymous)]

My wife usually likes to watch shows on her ipad in bed. Do you think putting an open pocket knife between the mattress and the box spring would do the trick? We have a little one, so I am trying to think of places where he won't be able to grab it.

Re: what about an ipad?

[ecosophia]

Hmm. I'm far from sure that this will be close enough to do the job. I wonder if it might be worth researching other traditional ways to dispell faery glamour, and see if those might do the trick.

hmmm

[syfen]

Archdruid,

I'm planning on getting an internet connection soon, and have always had an addiction problem. I'll see how it goes using this as a defensive spell.

Wonder how this can work for mobile phones...

Regards,

Syfen

Re: hmmm

[ecosophia]

I'm not familiar enough with mobile phones to have worked out anything for them. Let's see if we can get a proof of concept in place for the basic effect, and in the meantime, if anyone can come up with a suitable trick...

[(Anonymous)]

I don't have a TV to experiment with, but I did spend some time thinking about ways I could apply this to my wife's cellphone. She happens to have a case on it, and I'm pretty sure there's be room for a razorblade between the case and phone... The trick would be making sure the case doesn't come off. And I assume razor blades are steel, though not positive.

[ecosophia]

They are indeed. As noted above, though, a sharp point is necessary to get the effect, so a needle or a small X-acto blade would be better than a razor blade.

[(Anonymous)]

I wonder if you could place it where the phone charges and work from there. This would be easier to do for an individual, and might not be possible to do to someone else, but I think it might work. It wouldn't be a permanent presence, but is that necessary, or would the interment nature of the contact just slow the process down? Or is this in the category of "try it and see"?

[ecosophia]

Very much in the "try it and see" category. This is a field in which, as far as I know, not even the most basic experimentation has been done.

[auntlili]

There is, as I write, an open pen knife under my router. I'll let you know how it goes.

[walt_f]

Testing it out on a set in the kitchen, where my wife (usually indifferent to TV) has recently taken to frequently watching the Hallmark Channel (they show mostly low-key "heartwarming" movies). We'll see what happens. The knife couldn't be hidden completely out of view, but it's behind the screen and concealed by the clutter of wires etc.

Many smart phones and tablets are carried in add-on protective (and/or decorative) covers/cases. An old fashioned disposable razor blade or a utility knife replacement blade could fit unobtrusively in between the device and the cover. However, I see some significant drawbacks: the possibility of damage to the device or cover; accidental injury if the owner removes the cover and forgets or was unaware the blade is there; and serious trouble if the blade is discovered at a security screening!

[ecosophia]

These are good points.

[(Anonymous)]

For what it's worth, I do store a Swiss Army knife under the keyboard I'm using now (though typically closed). I've also stored scissors down there, which are more likely to be left open. I don't think I'm addicted to the internet (in fact, I enjoy taking occasional 'vacations' from internet use). If I try this on anyone other than myself, I would prefer scissors over knives, since if it's discovered, I would be more comfortable with explaining the open scissors than the open knives.

[ecosophia]

Scissors ought to do just as well, as long as there's a sharp point on at least one of the blades.

Magical Ethics?

[(Anonymous)]

Now that is an intriguing idea JMG.

I have frequently left my retired parents' house with a sense of low-level despair, especially on my Dad's behalf, at the hours and hours spent transfixed by the enormous TV they have. When I bring my young kids over, despite being wary of seeming rude to my father, I make a point of asking him to switch it off.

My mum meanwhile, whilst more active than him during the day, seems frequently to lose herself in the internet from about 7 until 1 in the morning. And she used to nag me about spending "too much time on the computer" when I was a teenager...

I would like to try your spell, but what would you advise is the ethical dimension here of interfering with another's choices, even if you have a strong feeling that they are wasting precious hours of the last stage of their life to no benefit?

My father struggled for years with alcoholism after his retirement, but recently gained a new lease of life via an NHS liver transplant. Properly thought through, I'd consider actions like this to help nudge him at this crucial stage towards more constructive "retirementing".

Apologies for the personal ramble, and thanks.

Morfran

Re: Magical Ethics?

[ecosophia]

If I'm right, and what's going on here is akin to glamour, you're not interfering with their choices -- you're preventing someone else from having undue influence on their choices. I have an open knife on my internet router, and it doesn't stop me from using the internet when there's a point to doing that; it may explain part of the reason why I don't spend time on the internet unless I have something I actually want to do there!

Pinpoint

[(Anonymous)]

Safety pin or striaght pin under masking tape applied to back?

Re: Pinpoint

[ecosophia]

A sharp pin or needle might work. Keep in mind, though, that if it's in a noticeable place, you may have some explaining to do...

[(Anonymous)]

I've just placed a small knife under the Internet router for my home. I'll let you know what cones of it. I'be always fought Internet addiction myself. I see my stepdaughter beginning to succumb to it and my father-in-law, who is on the Internet for the majority of the day, will all be barometers of whether this works effectively or not. I will keep you posted.

Tim

[(Anonymous)]

I'll try this and report back -- my mother-in-law, with whom my family currently lives, watches far too much evangelical preaching.

I do have a thought for the "smart" phone-addled; if the user keeps their phone in one of those rubber carrying cases, it might be possible to slip a straight razor in-between the phone and the case, and leave them none the wiser. (I profess ignorance as to the magical effects of the rubber itself, or if a straight razor would work in place of a knife.)

-Graham

[ecosophia]

A razor isn't well suited to this, since you want a sharp point, but a needle or an X-acto knife blade might work -- so long as it doesn't get discovered!

Iron or steel

[(Anonymous)]

Would you care to elaborate about the differences in etheric properties, if any, between iron and steel?

Physically speaking, a steel blade would be more flexible and resistant to various mechanical forces, while a pure iron one would be both harder and more brittle. If you were to craft a ceremonial blade (not intended for the heavy use of physical work), would it be worthwhile to go pure iron if both options were feasible?

CRPatiño

Re: Iron or steel

[ecosophia]

None worth mentioning. Any alloy that's predominantly iron seems to work as well as any other.

[drhooves]

Your description of a trance, with jerky little images (and jerky bits of sound too) is very accurate. My dad, now in his late 80s, made a living from sales for TV stations, and continues to watch a boatload of ESPN daily. When I was down in Florida visiting him a few weeks ago, I scolded him about it, and told him I thought the providers could possibly be using subliminal techniques. The stories from the 1950s had movies being interspliced with a frame of a box of popcorn or a patch of sand to sell more concessions. His response?

"But I thought they outlawed that." I laughed. Rule of law?

Question - is it possible the media providers are using magic to promote faery glamour from their side?

[ecosophia]

I'd be surprised if they knowingly used magic -- but there could easily be some debased magic disguised as psychology, or it could simply be that the technology in some way duplicates the effect of glamour.

I am in too!

[(Anonymous)]

From Goats and Roses

TV addiction is one of the (multitude of) things that ended my marriage. I am headed for the pocketknife RIGHT NOW and will deploy it.

I wonder if an open safety pin, or bent paper clip, could be used on a cell phone. Tape it to the back.

Re: I am in too!

[ecosophia]

A safety pin, yes; a paperclip, probably not, since the effect requires a sharp point. If you want to give it a try, by all means!

[(Anonymous)]

Hmm, I'm not sure about this. Our television is in the craft room, and is mainly used to listen along to something while my husband and I work on our respective projects. Gives us a plot to talk about and enlivens the more tedious bits of the projects. The television is mounted right over the table where my husband works, and his crafts involve lots of knife work. So there is always at least one Xacto knife out under the TV. Maybe that isn't a suitable type of knife? Or maybe it is already working because TV is such a peripheral part of our lives.

[ecosophia]

If the TV is a peripheral part of your lives, then it's already working. The effect won't stop you from watching television if you actually want to watch television; it's there to keep you from being sucked into it, and watching when you'd otherwise go do something else.

[(Anonymous)]

the problem isn't necessarily the television set. i hate television, but my wife likes it (something about helping her unwind after stressful days at work), but we've got apple TV, which means that there are fewer commercials, and she can alternate between the huge flat-screen television in the living room, and her tablet, which she can take pretty much anywhere. if it was possible for me to put a pocket knife under her tablet in a way that she wouldn't notice it, that would be great, but it's not going to happen... i did put one under the huge, flat-screen goddam-noisy-box in the living room, though.

[ecosophia]

That should work. Let me know what happens!

[smwils1]

As far as mobile devices, I'm thinking that if they're on the WiFi, and most everyone uses WiFi if available, and the knife is under the router, then that would suffice, but I'd like to know your take, JMG.

[ecosophia]

I know somebody who seems to be getting good results from a knife under the router -- it's early days yet, so we'll see -- so it ought to be worth making the experiment.

Iron and carbon and steel, oh my

[(Anonymous)]

I will give the experiment a go, but only on the TV and not the router - we'll see if there are any interesting substitution or perhaps positively reinforcing effects.

"the most important involves a knife or some other piece of sharp iron or steel. There are traditional reasons for this in occult philosophy, which we don't have to get into here."
We don't have to, but there is nothing stopping us - or should this be saved for the next magic Monday?
A few additional questions from the point of view of a materials engineer and hobby blade-smith;
- Would an openly displayed knife or sword above the TV have the same effect,
- What about using any steel/iron display piece including a cheap knock off sword like object
- In my mind iron and steel are different things with different properties and internal structures, does using steel and the Kipling poem referencing iron still work?

Re: Iron and carbon and steel, oh my

[ecosophia]

I left it off the original post simply to avoid distraction. Here in the comments, why, if you're interested, we can get into the details.

Some magic is done with symbols, and some magic is done with subtle energies that don't seem to be symbolic in nature. This is one of the latter. According to occult teachings, a sharp pointed object of iron will "short out" forms on the upper etheric and lower astral planes, if those forms don't have a physical body to shelter them from the iron's effect. There has to be at least one sharp point, but that's all that's necessary; the iron doesn't have to be connected to a ground -- the form hits it, and disperses. Many magical traditions have iron or steel working tools (swords, daggers, sickles, three-pronged tridents) that are used this way to deal with hostile spirits. (Every initiate of the upper levels of the Druidical Order of the Golden Dawn, for example, prepares and consecrates a steel sickle, which can be used at need for that purpose.)

The point has to come into contact with the etheric forces, so a knife or sword above the TV would work only if the point is more or less in contact with the device. A cheap SLO -- well, it would have to be made of iron or steel rather than random pot metal, and it would have to have a sharp point on it, which in my experience most SLOs lack, but if it satisfied both those requirements, it could work well. I've had good effects with a Blasting Trident of Paracelsus I made by hand from cheap sheet steel from a hardware store, with a wooden dowel handle, and in material terms it was about as far from a real blade as you can get.

Iron and steel are very different things in many ways, but they have the same astral and etheric properties and can be used interchangeably for this purpose. Small amounts of other substances (such as carbon) in the substance don't seem to make any difference.

More ideas for hide-able objects

[(Anonymous)]

From Goats and Roses

For phones, or if you just want to be stealthy in your household, here are some ideas: Straight sewing pins or needles (wrap in a bit of cloth or masking tape so no one gets poked), or a razor blade (wrap in heavy paper like a piece from a grocery bag). Will an object work if it is wrapped? Or does it have to be uncovered to work?

More small sharp objects: nails, exacto knives, also scalpel blades are tiny and easy to hide somewhere. Are small things effective?

Re: More ideas for hide-able objects

[ecosophia]

Whether or not small things are as effective as large ones is one of the things that has to be worked out by experiment!