On Learning Curves in Magical Education
Oct. 23rd, 2024 09:47 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ecosophia
Regular readers will recall that I've been pointing out for years that effective political magic is done by building up what you want, not by trying to beat up on what you don't want. The idea's not original to me -- it was central to Dion Fortune's successful counterspells against the Nazis in the Second World War, and was accordingly detailed in her war letters (collected in The Magical Battle of Britain) -- but I tried to give it as much publicity as possible, in this journal and in a blog post of mine.
Until recently it really did seem as though I was wasting my breath. This post came as a breath of fresh air. Here we have someone involved in political magic -- on the side that spent most of eight years invoking demons and flinging around evil magic at people they hate, no less -- pointing out, first, that she's noticed that evil magic directed against Donald Trump isn't doing anything; second, that she's noticed that Trump thrives on attention, even hostile attention; and third and most crucially, that she knows of "a lot of people" who have gotten a clue and are directing their efforts toward positive ends.
This is definitely a good sign. I'll be pointing out in passing next week that one of the two main reasons that Donald Trump isn't a has-been these days is that so many people have been energizing him with their rage and hatred; negative attention is still attention, as any spoiled toddler knows, and energy is enerrgy. (The other main reason is that the current regime has done exactly nothing to deal with the massive systemic problems in our society, which are driving millions of people into Trump's camp, but that's a discussion for another day.) As ways of accomplishing what you want, hatred and negativity simply aren't effective; rather, they're useless emotional indulgences. It's good to see this starting to sink in at last.
Mind you, I'm no fan of the attitudes -- political and otherwise -- being marketed on forums such as r/WitchesVsPatriarchy. Nonetheless, as an operative mage, I appreciate seeing good (or at least less glaringly incompetent) technique, wherever it appears -- and there's another factor. One of the least recognized features of positive magic is that the success of one side does not have to mean the defeat of the other. That's something very often lost sight of in today's swamp of mutual hatreds.
Thus I'd like to pose a challenge to my readers, whatever their political alignment might happen to be. Can you imagine a positive future for your country, whichever that may be, that doesn't involve anyone having to be destroyed, humiliated, or brainwashed into believing the same things you do? Those of you on the left, can you imagine a positive future that, in its embrace of diversity, includes diversity of opinion about important issues? Those of you on the right, can you imagine a positive future that, in its embrace of freedom, includes the freedom to disagree with you about important things? Give it a try...
Edit 25 October 2024: And inevitably the first couple of people who posted positive visions of the futures they had in mind instantly fielded negative pushback: "I don't want that," "That won't work," blah blah blah. Is it that the concept of positive thinking is so alien to people these days, or is it simply that some of us respond to it the way vampires respond to garlic?
I have deleted the negative comments. There are plenty of other forums for that sort of thing, and quite a few of my posts here make room for that in the commentariat. I repeat my challenge: can you imagine a positive future for your country that doesn't requir anyone to be destroyed, humiliated, or brainwashed into thinking the same way you do? If that idea upsets you, in turn, maybe you should ask yourself why...
(no subject)
Date: 2024-10-23 02:52 pm (UTC)I am not an american citizen so I am neither on the left nor on the right (yes, I have had fun with that point irritating both sides, sorry...) but I work here so praying for the blessing of the United States became one way for me to deal with the harsh realities of the industrial world and connecting with the right places and the right people. Even though they are still citing Hughes frankly childish workings, and that's coming from a fairly childish person, I am glad they weren't all dragged down by their hatred. May the Gods bless the U.S and productive and peaceful reconciliation be had!
(no subject)
Date: 2024-10-23 03:57 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2024-10-23 05:13 pm (UTC)I would be delighted if all those witches who used to fling curses and summon demons suddenly switched to healing and blessing. I'm not holding my breath for it, though. And they still will have to face the consequences of their previous actions.
(no subject)
Date: 2024-10-23 07:29 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2024-10-23 05:14 pm (UTC)Heck, yeah.
I'm seeing signs of it everywhere: still in its infancy, dozens of departures, small and large, from The Program that has been the American Consume-Waste-Atomize-Repeat cycle for my whole life. So many interesting developments around family, community, religion-- I am seeing sometimes timid, groping, but also consistent, reachings toward an older model of the family/household as a stable unit of production (as opposed to the individual as a mobile unit of labor), of building something for the next generation, rather than a YOLO spending free-for-all.
A million ways it could get co-opted, crushed, or just go terribly wrong... but there are many hopeful signs.
(no subject)
Date: 2024-10-23 07:08 pm (UTC)It is easy to constantly get hypnotized by the horror of selfishness these practices induce however I have also noted that many of these people who are “groping” towards something different have produced a variety of many interesting results; some are more helpful than others but, still, it appears that they are able to try new things rather than fall into familiar patterns.
(no subject)
From: (Anonymous) - Date: 2024-10-23 07:52 pm (UTC) - ExpandImagine the future
Date: 2024-10-23 05:19 pm (UTC)I can very easily imagine both, it helps that I am an 80s to early 2000s liberal lol
I am going to look into reworking that blue wave spell to a red wave however, maybe some Mantras to Benten to promote artistic and creative freedom, a little Solar work to put the spotlight on Trump in the beat ways, a bit of road opener…
Smilsum in Ecnarf
Date: 2024-10-23 05:23 pm (UTC)Because
A/ part of the solution to my society's problems will have to emerge from there and not from the current "elite" (...). It's a breeding ground for the next warbands too, which will become popular since they will be cheaper and more effective.
B/ pretending to ignore that part of society while secretly demonizing it in the hope it will go away, is just as improductive a stance as treating any species imported from abroad as "invasive species" or groping for the next inclusivity medal. By slamming the door shut in our consciousness we could be just be giving it's dark side more power than it deserves.
It is a potentially dangerous exercise... But we are facing potentially even more dangerous circumstances anyway.
Sorry if it sounds strange or offensive. Not what I mean, at least. It could just be me
(no subject)
Date: 2024-10-23 05:31 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2024-10-23 07:36 pm (UTC)I feel that way too. I often see things from multiple perspectives and can empathize with why people hold the opinions they do without necessarily getting sucked whole hog into a particular viewpoint.
(no subject)
Date: 2024-10-23 06:40 pm (UTC)I spend a lot of time lurking in certain aesthetic-focused online spaces, several of them that claim to be utopian, like Solarpunk. I am frequently reminded when reading their discussions that I am not welcome in their utopias due to my demographic, ethnic, religious, and even economic backgrounds.
Admittedly, I'm reactionary myself, it's a lot easier for me to say I don't like some development than to articulate the good things I do like. Inspired by Retrotopia, I spent a lot of time for Etherwood (plug: https://tapas.io/series/Etherwood/info) imagining what a place would be like if it did have everything I wanted, and what the realistic problems and outcomes would be in implementation, what vulnerabilities might exist, and so forth. I'll admit a lot of that hasn't shown up in the narrative yet, but the vibes it manifested ended up being more compelling than the mostly negative post-apocalyptic failed projects I'd tried previously.
The results for me were also helpful in a non-artistic way - it helps to have a solid idea of what a better world, system, or whatever would look like instead of a smattering of vague recollections of other people's nostalgic memories informing an uncultured sense of The Way Things Were Before and Should Be Now. It sounds dumb to say it like that, but that's how I was operating prior to encountering your works eight years ago.
(no subject)
Date: 2024-10-23 07:45 pm (UTC)This is not dumb. This is something I have noticed also. I think one of the largest problems we face today is that no one, especially those in charge, is looking at the actual current conditions. They just continually shout that things ARE the way they remember them.
(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:Confederacy with Indegenous
Date: 2024-10-23 06:42 pm (UTC)A vision for Canada's future governance:
Shaping a confederacy with elected or appointed Indegenous Elders, inspired leadership from Canadian political spheres, and asking the British Crown to acknowledge the time has come to encourage this to happen.
Water magic
Date: 2024-10-23 07:27 pm (UTC)For what it is worth, on this side of the pond (France) some of us see in the US both an epic tectonic wrath, but also an organic whirling of live energies. The people I have been discussing this with, and myself, see the high potential energy that needs to discharge, but, please hear that, not only the doom that it could bring. We also are watching out for the possibilities of revival and greatness that we see sprouting from far away.
And, John Michael, while I know you are not inclined into talking about a stream you are not directly swimming in, sometimes a sight from afar can bring up interesting insight. It is not time to vote for anything like a post, but your view from your side of what France lows and downs are would be very interesting, at least to me.
With my best
Seb
With my best
Seb
Re: Water magic
Date: 2024-10-25 05:06 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2024-10-23 08:41 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2024-10-24 12:48 am (UTC)I gave up on trying to get folks to agree with me on important things quite some time ago. I'm happy to accept a mutual "live and let live approach." I think federalism, a genuine federalism, is the way to achieve that future. Well, part of the way. SCOTUS's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade is a fine example. I live in Indiana, and I'm quite happy with the law that our state government passed following that decision. Other states can do as they see fit. Others, including my fellow Hoosiers, can disagree with my assessment of the situation. To adapt and paraphrase Thomas Jefferson, it does me no injury, neither picking my pocket nor breaking my leg.
I think a key cause of the deep polarization we have seen over the last ten or so years has been the overreliance on the national government to solve problems (usually a one-size fits all policy/law/whatever), rather than letting (in the spirit of the 10th Amendment) the States and their citizens exercise their own respective sovereignty in most matters. At this point in my life, I mostly want to be left alone to tend my garden, work on my sewing business, enjoy my family and friends, and devote myself to the service of my gods. So long as leftists (and my fellow right-wingers) are willing to let me do so, they can individually and collectively do whatever floats their boat.
(no subject)
Date: 2024-10-24 05:06 am (UTC)However, while scanning the forum, I got the impression that a lot of them are wounded, fragile, and scared, apparently from various types of abuse. Some spoke of having recently left, or being raised in, "evangelical christianity". My heart goes out to them for that.
There were also some examples of incredible workmanship on various articles of jewelry, ceramics etc.
And I got the usual thacky Reddit vibe which I decided to wash off with a couple of good rockers (songs)-- tobyMac's "Move", and "Hard Love" from 'The Shack'.
- Cicada Grove
(no subject)
Date: 2024-10-24 10:11 am (UTC)Blue wave spell
Date: 2024-10-24 02:02 pm (UTC)Language
Date: 2024-10-24 02:07 pm (UTC)I remember from "Fiddler on the Roof" - the blessing for the Russian Czar. - "May God Bless the Czar and Keep him." pause, pause, "far away from us."
I think that was a positive prayer or magic doing, in that it offered a blessing of the Czar and a request of assistance. I wonder how a positive spell of the Progressives would be considering Donald Trump.
May the Powers that Be protect him from harm, so that Karmala Harris may fairly win the election.
Re: Language
Date: 2024-10-28 01:06 pm (UTC)I personally found my opposition to Trump very naturally in line with that. I can't help but feel for the guy. As much as he gets to me, I don't have a desire for retribution... I have a desire for him to find peace within himself.
There's a lot of media analysis of Trump's psychology along the lines of "he's a narcissist who's having all of his worst impulses confirmed." I don't think it's important whether or not that's true... but if you assume that it is, how can you not feel intense empathy for someone in that situation? I obviously have my own dark impulses, but I'm living life on an easier mode where the universe tends to correct me when I indulge them too deeply. If we're all on bikes with training wheels, Trump is wobbling down the street without them. May he make it to his destination.
Graciousness
Date: 2024-10-24 02:13 pm (UTC)I would like graciousness to return. I am a grey person in regard to politics. I wish I could have conversations with people without them calling me a Nazi. I wish I could have conversations with people without them telling me that I make them unsafe with my opinions. I wish could be more open in my thoughts instead of trying to fit into a narrow place.
Can we be decent neighbors?
(no subject)
Date: 2024-10-24 05:28 pm (UTC)It was kind of like that when I was a tiny child in the 1950s. College students then were so uninterested in politics that they were called The Silent Generation. I don't really remember, but I'm pretty sure the formula for creating a Silent Generation goes something like this:
1. Starting approximately 20 years beforehand, crash the economy good and hard, and keep it from fully recovering for a decade.
2. Take the young men who grew up knowing only hard times and fling them into a World War.
3. Make sure the war ends with the revelation of moral horrors, communicated to the whole population via new audiovisual technologies, that cause massive numbers to question their beliefs about the essential goodness of human nature, or at least the nature of people of their own ethnic backgrounds.
4.After the war and a few years of shaky recovery, bestow upon them a degree of peace and prosperity unprecedented in human history.
You'll end up with a population that, for a decade and change, is willing to live in relative peace. The only real complaints will come from minorities left out of the general state of tolerance and prosperity and from the people who miss the war years and want to start trouble with foreign governments.
(If that last group hadn't kept dragging us into land wars in Asia, I wonder whether the general atmosphere of tolerance might have persisted all the way to the first oil shock in 1973.)
(no subject)
Date: 2024-10-25 02:53 am (UTC)Let me offer a hypothetical. Imagine two neighbors. One is pro-life. The other is pro-choice. In theory the two should be able to get along so long as they're respectful. But now imagine that the pro-choice neighbor has personally had an abortion. From the point of view of the pro-life neighbor, the other is not just an ordinary neighbor anymore. That neighbor is a murderer, and the pro-life neighbor is not going to be comfortable accepting hospitality from the pro-choice neighbor and indeed might have a problem with the fact that this person is living an ordinary life rather than rotting in prison.
Is the dirt bike a harmless fun toy or a noisy, polluting, fossil-fuel-wasting risk of life and limb? Is the pollinator garden a positive contribution to a healthy ecosystem or an eyesore that lowers property values all over the neighborhood? If I, in an attempt to discipline my unruly son, kick him out of the house with the expectation that he'll spend a chilly night in the back yard and come to breakfast chastened and cooperative, am I within my parental rights or am I guilty of child abuse? If you, seeing him out there in the middle of the night, rat me out to Human Services, or simply invite him into your house and let him sleep in your guest bed, are you interfering in my family life or are you just being a decent human being?
Humans are always going to have rules about what is and isn't acceptable to say. The recent laws criminalizing hate speech in the UK also decriminalized blasphemy. One day, the law permitted Brits to say anything they wanted to about ethnic minorities but required them to be respectful toward the teachings of the Church of England. The next day it was the other way around.
We're in a time of rapid change and that means the long-established, comfortable habits of us older folks can be rendered suddenly unacceptable. The adjustment can be unpleasant. I'm still struggling with neopronouns. But except for the rare historical circumstances I outlined in the comment above this one, I don't believe there has ever been a time when people were free to say whatever they felt like saying, when tolerance for disagreement was infinite. Nevertheless...
I have some friends who are trans and very out and freaky-looking, who live on a farm that two of them own. When they were younger and more able-bodied, they had a small flock of milk goats. There were quite a few homesteads/hobby farms in the area, many of which had a few goats. Because none of them had enough goats for an adequate gene pool, they used to participate in buck swaps, where male studs were removed from their parental flocks and passed around so that, in effect, all the goat flocks in the region formed one big gene pool. One day I happened to be there for a buck swap. A van pulled up with a bumper sticker on the back saying "Guns don't kill people. Abortions do." The driver was a very conservative-looking man, clean-shaven, with his grey hair in a military style cut, though he had clearly been out of the military for some decades. He and my friends probably had opposite politics in a lot of ways, but they were united by concern for the well-being of their flocks, so they were willing to overlook all that.
(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From: (Anonymous) - Date: 2024-10-29 09:27 am (UTC) - Expand(no subject)
Date: 2024-10-24 07:17 pm (UTC)The other is that I don't think I "hate" any of those who destroyed that society and prevented it turning into a better one, though there are some people who made lots of money from the misery and deprivation of others who might plausibly stand trial in an ideal society. Hatred is a pointless emotion and it gets in the way of actual ideas for change. Hatred and vengeance can only destroy, not build.
Politics, in many ways, is the problem. Left to themselves, the majority of people would probably agree relatively quickly on the main characteristics of a desirable society: it would be perverse, for example, for most people to actively welcome unemployment and insecurity. (More polemically, perhaps, Leftists such as me would say that it is easier for us to imagine such a society because the Left's focus has always been on the collective, whereas the Right's focus has been on the individual.) But however that may be, the political system in most western countries at the moment artificially divides people into tribes over issues which are frankly peripheral, while joining together to loot the rest of us. That's the problem.
And in answer to your last question "diversity" as traditionally used on the Left is another name for "universalism," ie rights and legal privileges apply equally to everyone. Relatively few would argue against such a proposition these days, I think.
Aurelien
(no subject)
Date: 2024-10-25 05:18 pm (UTC)We could also have a conversation about whether you're right to blame certain people for destroying what you consider the halcyon period of the mid-20th century, or whether it might have been something more complex and nuanced than orcs under the command of Sauron ravaging poor innocent Gondor. Still, that's a conversation for another place and time.
a positive development
Date: 2024-10-24 10:32 pm (UTC)A heartening development here in California stems from the fact that it has dawned on the scientific community, the mainline old conservation/wilderness organizations, and the state government, that John Muir's concept of California as pristine wilderness was entirely wrong, that the remaining native populations know a lot more about how to keep forests and watersheds healthy than the white overculture does, that past government and business policies have made things worse than benign neglect would have, and that no company wants to write fire insurance policies in California.
That is not the heartening development.
The state agencies responsible for forestry, state parks, and (to a degree) water supply, along with some of the land trusts and ecological organizations, have done a 180 in their approach. Instead of pushing Indians out of their ancestral ranges and ignoring what the tribal organizations say, they are inviting these organizations as partners to undo the damage. The Indians are making it a condition of collaboration that they get an equal say in projects, both design and execution. They get to teach and direct work according to their ancestral outlook of respect for all life forms and to do the appropriate ceremonies in the traditional fashion as a part of the work. To have this tolerated or even supported by the scientists (some of whom are indigenous).
I got wind of this when I became a member of the California Native Plant Society. The CNPS publishes two glossy journals every year. One is oriented toward people who want to grow native plants. The other, Artemisia, is the science journal.
Vol. 49 no. 2 and Vol. 50 no. 1 were guest edited by tribal Californians and the articles were written by other tribal Californians from all parts of the state. The overall topic is Native Plants and Climate Change, Indigenous Perspective. The contents are descriptions of current ongoing projects and programs.
For instance, instead of "controlled burns" using industrial equipment and organization, "cultural fire" supervised by elderly women, as their own grandmothers did when the tribe put them in charge, at the times and in the locations surviving knowledge recommends, in traditional manner by traditional means.
A brief quote from the introduction to vol 50, no 1. "Working with ecoarchaeological research and [Amah Muntin Tribal Band of central coastal California] oral knowledge and ethnographic archival materials, formerly dormant information regarding cultural foods and fibers and endangered grasslands is being revived. This approach has informed collaborative stewardship practices with state and federal land managing agencies, and local land trusts."
PDFs of these issues can be downloaded from https://www.cnps.org/publications.
I happened to tune into the Nevada City community radio station KVMR on Indigenous People's Day midway through an interview with the new CEO of the Sierra Fund https://sierrafund.org. This outfit recently reformed its leadership structure and is now indigenous-led. They have money to give grants, and their aims strike me as both radical and practical. The home page of their website is very interesting.
Things like this are going on in some other states, but my state is what I know most about.
Deborah Bender
Re: a positive development
Date: 2024-10-25 05:19 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2024-10-25 02:23 am (UTC)My positive vision for the future is still kicking. Some others occasionally seem to see glimpses of it but there's so much out there that's clouding what others can see.
There's a different kind of diversity nationally than what I see locally, but I imagine it's the same truth. We have different views but we all want the same thing. We're just trapped in a cycle of giving power to those who want to stop us from seeing that no matter which team is in charge.
I hope when it matters we're able to find a way to snap out of it. To borrow a theme from the King in Orange, I'm probably contributing to his power with my fear, but I hope to change in a way that preserves who I am at core while avoiding becoming a deer left in his wake. And if we do collectively choose to make America great again, I hope it doesn't come at the expense of the parts that make it great today.
And if my fate is to become a deer, I'm going out my way. If I'm not accepting Donald Trump as president, it's because Grover Cleveland is special and deserves to be the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms!
anger management
Date: 2024-10-25 02:08 pm (UTC)but there is much about modern life that I really struggle with, it's as if everything is designed to piss you off and make you angry, it's more difficult to turn away from the things that irritate because the alternative has often been dismantled,
this is TINA world, "there is no alternative" (because we've blocked off all the alternatives people try)
I don't understand why people are so angry about Trump, does it mean that they are so content with the alternative?!
I hardly think of Trump as the messiah, but he seemed preferable to to Hitlery Kilton in 2016 and when he was elected I felt WW3 had been delayed by 4 years,
now I see Trump as 50/50, half good, half not so good, but compared to the last 4 years of insanity 50/50 is eminently preferable to 100% lunacy and evil.
there is a similar zeitgeist in the UK, after 12 years of dreadful neo-liberal rule by the Tories we get Labour back in, but only after the party has been purged of anyone with decent morals, ethics and standards, so it's a bargain basement Blair tribute act and incredibly they're already obviously much worse than the Tories!
I've simply ignored the Tories for the last 12 years, paid no attention to their bizarre schemes, but this Labour lot seem to be much more in your face, you can't ignore or dismiss them because their policies are intrusive, in your face, you can't sidestep them, they seek confrontation and seem to want people to either submit or get angry so that they can be singled out for punishment,
feeling sympathy for their misguidedness is going to be very difficult.
(no subject)
Date: 2024-10-25 06:44 pm (UTC)For now, I just happened to listen to a podcast from a few months ago that wondered aloud if the whole "Trump/JD Vance are weird" thing was a sort of spell from Walz trying to throw the election, or at least would have that effect. Based around the older meaning of weird as connected to fate.
Thoughts?
(no subject)
Date: 2024-10-25 07:40 pm (UTC)What was it JH Kunstler said? Most of the economy is a racket of one sort or another? Everyone's got their little 3 card monte scheme going?
I don't know if you can make things better without threatening someone's racket. And then you'd have to fight them.
But if you're looking for my road map forward, Ok. I'd divide the economy into three tiers.
Tier1: People who actually make things. Factory workers, farmers, miners, machine shops, chemical plants, oil drillers, power plant operators, construction, etc.
Tier2: People who support Tier1. Wal-Mart, gas stations, grocery stores, restaurants that aren't fast food, clothing stores, shoe stores, car repair, real estate, etc.
Tier3: All the stuff that the world wouldn't miss if it disappeared tomorrow. Casinos, vape shops, stock market trading, futures market trading, video games, tobacco, prostitution, recreational drugs, fast food, etc.
Tier1 would get government guarantees and a stable currency. Tier2 would not get government guarantees but otherwise would be treated like Tier1. Tier3 would be forbidden from transacting in Tier1/2 currency and would fend for itself. Stock market and casinos would be regulated the same way, no distinction. Fast food would be put on a medallion system to limit the number that could operate. I'd be inclined to put most universities into Tier3, they add no value to the world any longer.
None of this will ever happen, but you wanted a road map, here it is.
(no subject)
Date: 2024-10-26 12:44 am (UTC)(no subject)
From: (Anonymous) - Date: 2024-10-26 03:48 pm (UTC) - Expand(no subject)
From: (Anonymous) - Date: 2024-10-27 12:23 pm (UTC) - Expand(no subject)
Date: 2024-10-25 09:36 pm (UTC)KVD