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The Llewellyn Encyclopedia

Term: black magic

DEFINITIONS

Black Magic: Black Magick's aim is to harm yourself or another either purposely or accidentally. Some magicians feel that it would not be working to hurt someone else, except that they, themselves will suffer as a consequence. "As you sow, so shall ye reap" is not merely a philosophical aphorism to a magician, it is an actual physical fact. Most magicians do not want to chance getting "zapped" by the law of Karma for a foolish act of Black Magick.
source: The Truth About Psychic Powers, Donald Michael Kraig

Black Magic:

Magic performed to cause harm. Louis Culling’s point about "it is prevailing mental aberration of the ignorant to label as 'Black Magic' the pentagram with two points upward" is that it not the tools of magic that are evil but only the intentions of the magician. A pentagram is a pentagram no matter which end is up; a knife is a knife no matter how it is used, and a gun is a gun no matter it held by a policeman or a murderer. 



Also See: Black Magick

ARTICLES

Tarot of Metamorphosis Review
Tarot of Metamorphosis Review Summary: We are constantly going through various changes in our lives, but for the most part, that are beyond our conscious awareness and control. The Tarot of Metamorphosis aims to change this. Following the ...
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Animals of the Spirit Worlds
The Spirit Animal One’s personal animal guide is called the spirit animal or medicine animal. In shamanism, the spirit animal is the psychopomp: the escort of souls to the spirit world. It is the embodiment of the collective animal consciousness of ...
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Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram
This ritual, called the LBRP for short, is designed to clear your area (and yourself) of negative energies. It is composed of four sections. The LBRP has become a standard part of the Western Mystical Tradition, and has been adapted and altered by ...
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Review of The Fey Tarot
Summary: The Fey Tarot invites you into a world of joy and magic. The faeries in these cards are not traditional English spirits but altogether different and completely enchanting. Likewise, the meanings of the cards and the messages they give are ...
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Planets
The planets (including the Sun and Moon) are the actors in the astrological drama. They represent ten general categories of energy – ten sub-personalities – that reflect facets of your personality and ways that you function in the world. Each planet ...
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Beltane Ritual
Setup Items for this ritual include: Two white candles for deities; Four candles for the directions in pastel shades or colors of bright flowers; Chalice; Athame; Sweet juice such as peach nectar; Shelled sunflower seeds on a plate suitable for the ...
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The I Ching
(Also Yi King) A Chinese divinatory system of 64 "hexagrams" that express the dynamic flow of energies into their physical manifestation. Like most divination, it is a manipulative system calling forth the practitioner’s psychic abilities. The ...
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Enduring Beyond Oppression - The Truth About Vodou
Vodou is a religion born in slavery, which blends together a number of traditional African beliefs with elements from other faiths, notably Catholicism, the religion of the slave-owners, with which it has always been an uncomfortable bed-fellow. It ...
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Alchemy
The word alchemy is an Arabic term comprised of the article "al" and the noun "khemi." The later word relates to "Khem" the Coptic name of Egypt. Alchemy thus means, "that which pertains to Egypt." Thus the words alchemy and chemistry are a reminder ...
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The End of Time
Eschatology is the end of time in a religious system. Celtic eschatology is not "linear" but cyclical, like the Hindu and Teutonic cycles of time. The Teutons believed in Ragnorok, which would mark the ending of this age. The world would be ...
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Witchcraft: What is it?
Candles gleam. Incense smoke swirls. Robed figures, chanting in a long-dead language, whirl around a rustic wooden table. On it sit sacred images—a robust female wearing a crescent Moon on her forehead, a horned male holding a spear in his upraised ...
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Whatever your background is, it's bound to happen to you: the scary paranormal case. We're not talking about your run-of-the-mill haunting here. We're talking portal hauntings, negative entities, and bad earthbound spirits—in a nutshell, things that scare us! These cases usually start out as a seemingly routine investigation; then, somewhere... read this article
Evolutionary Astrology: How Our Nodal Axis Defines the Soul's Path
The Mibramig Magical Tarot
Cultivating Bliss: 4 Ways to Explore Your Inner Garden
Exercise: Asking for a Dream Visit from a Loved One in Spirit
The Final Secrets of Enochian Magick

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One of the questions I often receive is a request for contact with an occult group, order, coven, etc. As a policy, I don't recommend such...



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