(The second installment of the collaboration between Miss Twist and I.)

I can claim no particular denomination.  I am not Wiccan. I am not Hermetic.  I am not of the Golden Dawn.  Rather, I am my own creature, a creation of my own research and abilities.  The combination of my beliefs are entirely my own, though most of them have been borrowed from other traditions.  This will ramble, and I apologize in the preamble.  It is easier to make a list of my beliefs as they come, rather than a concise list; it has been years since I looked at myself this in depth.  Things listed here are in no particular order.

What I believe is a combination of every ounce of knowledge that I have put my hands on in the past ten (now nearly eleven) years.  The things that have most shaped me are LeVay’s Satanism, Crowley’s teachings, Hall’s Magnum Opus, Cunningham’s ability to simply scribe information, and the things I found inherently wrong with the Bible’s teachings.

I believe in the Satanic sins. They always made sense to me.  I’ll quote them here for the sake of those reading:

  1. Stupidity
  2. Pretentiousness
  3. Solipsism
  4. Self-deceit
  5. Herd Conformity
  6. Lack of Perspective
  7. Forgetfulness of Past Orthodoxies
  8. Counter Productive Pride
  9. Lack of Aesthetics

Now, each of these, if you read the website, has its own explanation.  These explanations differ, but each of them holds the same idea:  they are harmful to the practitioner’s ability to truly have an effect on their world.  We’ve a world that’s intent on making us blind, senseless sheep… but there are those of us who refuse.  I am one of those.

I believe in the mirror ball concept of deity. Take a mirror ball and cut it vertically.  On the left, you have the gods. On the right, you have the goddesses.  Cut the ball horizontally.  On the top you have the good.  On the bottom, you have the evil.  On each and every facet you have a face.  Those faces have names, have aspects that they resemble, have pantheons that they belong to.  Any deity you can think of resides on their facet on the mirror ball.

I believe in the power of self. Anything with enough belief and energy put into it gains power.  That includes objects of fantasy and such.  Essentially, you worship the ideal of the person who created the concept.  Even with that knowledge, I have an issue worshiping my own deities.  The idea intrigues me.  I am intimately acquainted with their workings, dogma, and persona.  The sheer amount of ego associated with that is stronger than I can really justify. Currently, I smirk inwardly at invoking Rodrik when I enter a battle, or Nanami when I thirst for knowledge or understanding.

Psychology is also very influential in my practicies.  Heightened states, the ability for the mind to overcome nearly anything the body can hand it…  It is a powerful tool to employ.  Being able to bring yourself to a frenzied state, emotions heightened and then focused into your workings is invaluable.  That being said, I have always been one for tools.  The right garb, the right tools can help anyone get in the mindset.  The mindset that one approaches magical workings is paramount to the success of the endeavor.  If you do not feel it, if you do not simply know that your working will succeed, you doom it to begin with.  It is the doubt that is the seed of defeat.  I believe in the power of the mind and spirit. In my thoughts, that is why herbs work.  Part of it is what the power of the plant actually possesses.  But, what truly makes it magical is when we enhance it with our own will to amplify the effects and create magical remedies that are based upon the effects that the herbs and stones already have.

One particular point of my worldview is often in dispute with those I talk with.  I do not believe, strictly, in the concept of karma.  I do not believe that there is a cosmic scale that weighs our actions.  I believe that we are left to largely judge ourselves. When that fails, others are there to judge us.  They are the ones that even out the scales of justice.  If you do naught but ill, then the word spreads.  Liars are known as liars and reap the benifits of such actions.  I, also, do not believe in the Wiccan Law of Three.  Most religions have it.  From what I can see, that law and worldview was created to scare a largely sheep like populous into behaving properly. With that sort of thought, they were left to believe that if they were kind to others and gave freely, that others would do the same.  I find this a lie.  That can certainly help the wheels, but without pragmatisism, you simply learn the harshest lessons of all… humans are predators.  If you will do something, be it blessing or curse, I believe that it must be done without regret.  It is the regret that brings the force back to you.  If you chose to curse someone, do it completely and entirely without regret.  Do not look back.  Do not give into “what ifs” and “maybes.”  Allow yourself the deliciousness of your victory and get on with your life.

I believe that magical creatures live all around us. Most of us are too blind to see them properly.  Children and the insane seem to have the best views of them; their grip on what is ‘real’ and what is ‘false’ is so much more tenuious. These creatures can be simple, or elaborate.  Some of these creatures are our friends, those who walk and work and live beside us.  I have friends that seem to embody everything that there is to be, at least in the aspect of a particular creature.  There are wolves.  There are dragons, faeries, and nearly everything else you can possibly think of.  At least, in the abstract senses, they exist.  I believe that no one is completely and entirely human. We seek to be something else, to embody the traits of another creature.  So, we make ourselves more like them, akin to them… and become less human in the process.  This is not a bad thing.  In fact, it makes people more interesting.

I believe that we are the product of what we chose to be. We do not have to be what we are raised to be.  We do not have to succumb to the outside influences around us.  The choices we make are our own.  We are affected by them.  We are affected by our upbringings, what the people we care about think about us, and what those around us do.  However, we do not have to take a backseat to our lives.  We have the choice.  We are not the products of our parents blindly.  We always have the right to change how we are, even if the road is hard.

I believe that magic is not a pancanea. It does not fix everything.  It is simply part of a working life.  The ability to focus your will into something is important. If magic helps, then go for it.  If prayer helps, then do that.  If organized lists and numerated indexes help, then do that.  However, don’t do it alone.  Couple it with action and planning.  Pair it with foresight and forward movement.  Magic alone never fixes anything, just as the most well laid plans do nothing for us if we do not set them in motion.

I just may add to this. I know this is not all of it, but it is all of the concise beliefs that I can actually pin down.