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charms, black or white magic?

To: alt.magick.tantra,alt.magick.tyagi,alt.pagan,alt.religion.wicca,alt.magick,alt.lucky.w,alt.magick.ethics
From: cyronwode@aol.com (Cyronwode)
Subject: charms, black or white magic?
Date: 8 Dec 1995 18:24:07 -0500

tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com (ny'rl'toth'p) wrote: 

> Frater Greywolfe  wrote: 

> | Is it black magick to make charms?  Under all (or no) circumstances?  

> Very black magick, yes, especially if you do so with herbs and if you
> learn about geomancy.  The darker arts are nearer the Earth, always.

> | Which ones?

> All charms qualify here, though those with oppositional energies and
> egotistical purposes may well qualify as more darkly natural.

Among folklorists the primary distinction seems to be a distinction made
between apotropaic charms (intended to avert malevolent turns of events)
and tropaic charms (intended to invite benevolent turns of events). 

How this distinction applies to what magicians call "white" and "black"
magic (or what chaos magicians call "grey" magic, which falls between the
two extremes) is not easy to discern, at least to me. 

Examples of apotropaic charms include blue glass eye, fica, corno, cat's
eye shell, and hamsa hand amulets to avert the evil eye. 

This is not "black magic," in that no harm is intended, nor
is there any magnification of the ego's selfish interests.

But apotropaic charms are not "white," either, in that they do not call 
upon what most religiously-inclined people consider to be "high" forms 
of spiritual energy.

Examples of tropaic charms include those which fall into the areas
variously categorized as "white" and "grey" and black" magic. 

     White: an "angel" amulet or a stone inscribed "peace;"
     
     Grey: an illa/canopa/chacra amulet to promote health and fertility 
           in herd animals;
           
     Black: hoodoo "Bend Over" oil used on a doll to bring another person 
            under one's control.

The making of charms is far more complex than the dyadic distinction
between "black:" and "white" magic would allow. Many charms -- especially
the collage-like "Mexican Protection Packets" sold in Hispanic-influenced
areas of California -- contain several elements that range from protective
to attractive. One can attract money while repelling poverty and these
packets aim to do so by utilizing an image of a Catholic saint known to
take pity on the poor as well as a sacred seed associated with prosperity,
and the mimetic magic of gold sequins, magnets, and magnetized iron
filings. 

Ultimately, the distinction between "white" and "black" is mediated by
religious beliefs. If one's religion embraces the making of charms, a
specified charm may be "white" -- but if one belongs to a religion which
legislates charms, a charm that falls outside that framework (e.g. using a
sacred seed instead of a saint image) may be seen as "grey" at  best and
as "black" at worst.  

In the end, i think that such distinctions convey more information about
the culture of the person making the judgements than they do aboiut the
charms per se. 

catherine yronwode
cyronwode@aol.com
alt.lucky.w -- the newsgroup of synchronicity, amulets, and talismans
sustag-principles@ces.ncsu.edu -- e-mail list for the sacred landscape
http://sunSITE.unc.edu/london/The_Sacred_Landscape.html

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