Do you believe in magic?

[Ross PK]

No, I don't.

 

Magic implies that something happened for no reason.

 

I believe there is always a reason. I mean, how can the impossible be possible?

[pureinheart]

So, I'm curious as to (1) whether you believe in magic, and (2) if you do believe in magic, is it from God, gods, demons, the individual's will, etc?

 

I know there is a supernatural, a spiritual realm. I believe in miracles, and the working of miracles, operating in the gifts of the Spirit. There is also the counterfeit which I believe not to be a miracle, but from the demonic realm.

 

I believe we can speak things into existance, and those who operate in the prophetic seem to have this as one of their major gifts...calling those things that are not as though they are.

 

I believe that Gods miracles can be misinterpreted as evil and vise versa. For me "magic" could be innocently meant as miracles or demonic activity.

Edited June 5, 2010 by pureinheart

[SpanksTheMonkey]

This may be a strange question to be asking before Easter, but I've been thinking about magic lately. When I say "magic", I don't mean Harry Potter flying around on a broomstick--rather, I mean desiring something to happen, and it happening.

 

As a Catholic, I believe in a kind of magic (though, the church wouldn't call it "magic"): we have novenas asking the saints to intercede for us to do various things; we pray to various saints who are patrons of special causes; we believe in the grace of Jesus, but also His grace through Mary; we believe in the transubstantiation of the Eucharist, etc. So, although it is all done via God's will, there still seems to be some magical elements to the practices.

 

I know other faiths (i.e. Wicca, Druidism, Zoroastrianism, etc.) believe that the individual's will in accordance with the god/goddess/gods' power/will can manifest certain things; and then there's this whole craze of "The Secret" where we can manifest pretty much whatever we desire with our own will/thoughts, because the universe "hears and obeys", so to speak.

 

So, I'm curious as to (1) whether you believe in magic, and (2) if you do believe in magic, is it from God, gods, demons, the individual's will, etc?

 

I believe in energy its all around us good/bad if you try you can almost tune into it funney thing is im not a religious person so its strange.

[sheithappens]

I believe in it, there are some things in this world that we can not explain.... I have gotten a spiritual cleansing from a "bruja" and I felt at peace with myself after, The eggs she used had black yolk in them after. She told me it was from all the negative energy I had inside of me..... Take what you want from this, but before I was very skeptical about this whole magick and tarot card readings but I have seen some things that put me in shock. I do not consider myself an ignorant person. But , Like I say I am a believer in this as well as I am a catholic.

[Disillusioned]

I mean, how can the impossible be possible?

 

There are plenty of people who swear up and down that it is true...

[OpenBook]

Absolutely I believe in magic!

 

I'm also a Christian.

 

There are many ancient spiritual laws that're baked right in to Jesus's teachings. For example: "Hatred cannot cease through hatred, but by love alone. This is the ancient and eternal law."

 

There are also witches represented in the Bible. King Solomon consulted them. The Three Wise Men who followed that star to where Jesus was born weren't kings; they were warlocks or alchemists - magic men. Even the pagan worshipers recognized back then (and I believe they still do today) the significance of Jesus's life, His death on the cross, and His subsequent resurrection.

 

That "Dead Guy on the Cross" died for all of us - so that we could live our lives abundantly, even to the point of sitting here in front of the computer arguing about magic on LS. And He even did us one better - He came back from it. He is very much alive today.

 

And if that's not magic, then I don't know what is.

[sheithappens]

so whats the verdict? is it real or no? lol

[LucreziaBorgia]

It is real insofar as you believe it is real. The mind is an incredible thing - it can convince you of a great number of things, including magic if that is your thing.

 

There is a strong belief around here in the 'bone throwers' (hoodoos) and the curses they can throw or expel. It comes from a blend of cultures around here: where African slaves and free slaves mixed with the Indian tribes and created communities (which over time were eventually dispelled - if you look up Indian Woods, NC you'll see an example of what used to be one of those communites), and from those communities came a rich blend of Native American and African beliefs in spirits, curses, and the like. Mix that with a dose of Hatian voodoo and in influx of Mexican Catholic migrant workers (Mexican magical realism - Santa Muerte and the like) and you have the modern Witch Doctors who practice quietly to this day.

 

Given that, there are people who believe strongly in curses and will either cast them themselves, get a WD to do it, or you have victims of those curses. They are very real to these people. Their minds convince them of it and so they manifest symptoms, which can be expelled by the WD or by themselves if they know what they are doing.

 

I grew up near Indian Woods, have known it all my life, was best friends with a girl from there and got to learn a lot about the beliefs. My father was an agnostic with a strong interest in paganism and witchcraft (not Wicca - that is a whole 'nother thing), and we went to a Baptist church. So, mix all of that together and you have a pretty open minded person like myself who can tell you with confidence, that when a person believes it is REAL to them.

[Disillusioned]

Re Jesus... I'm digressing here, but in his book "Cows, Pigs, Wars, and Witches", sociologist Marvin Harris says Jesus and the Apostles were actually heading a secret revolt against Rome's tax system. Harris says it could have only 2 outcomes: Judas got cold feet and tipped off the Romans and Jesus got arrested and executed, or the revolt could have worked and broken the back of Roman power in the Holy Land. Rabbi Roy Rosenberg says Jesus never went around, telling everyone he was a savior. It was only after he died that a few Jews decided that he lived his life the way the scriptures of the time said a savior was supposed to live.

 

As the saying goes, WWJD?

[LucreziaBorgia]

Rabbi Roy Rosenberg says Jesus never went around, telling everyone he was a savior. It was only after he died that a few Jews decided that he lived his life the way the scriptures of the time said a savior was supposed to live.

 

That would go far in adding to how Paul is known as "The Mythmaker"

[Ariadne]

alternative medicine that utilizes rocks for various kinds of massage therapy as well as wearing magnates, rocks, gemstones, etc. So, there may be something to it…?

 

Thanks to this thread I learned something awesome today!

 

I learned that quartz not only generates electricity but it also generates light!

 

I have a piece of clear quartz at home that looks like this: (pic)

 

and if you strike it back and forth with a small quartz stone, it lights up completely in pink color!

 

It's amazing, I went to a dark room and just by striking it that whole transparent rock started to glare in color.

 

I read that they don't quite know what makes that light to happen. I also noticed that the cracks inside the stone would light up more intensely.

 

Cool.

Edited June 30, 2010 by Ariadne

[Ariadne]

Btw,

 

Interestingly, Australians aborigines inserted a piece of quartz in the body as initiation (wiki):

 

"Throughout Australia one of the most consistent themes in Aboriginal initiation is the insertion into the body of quartz crystals, or mabain. This procedure symbolizes the transformation of consciousness from physical to psychic levels. The Aborigines seek quartz crystals with internal fractures that produce vivid rainbow light refractions. These fractures signal that the stone resonates powerfully with the primordial energies of the Rainbow Serpent."

 

"A. P. Elkin compiled descriptions of Aboriginal initiations from diverse clans and distant tribes and found, beneath the innumerable variations, underlying universal themes. The most common was the implanting of a resonant substance in the body."