Now if you want to continue this discussion I will be happy to do so. But, there will be no more calling people and the things they say “ridiculous†or any other personal judgements about people.
I think you are mistaking the posting of my opinion on an open discussion board as a personal attack on members. I did not respond to or quote anyone specifically in my post, or single out any members for the opinions they have held. I am replying to you critiquing my opinion, not the other way around.
I have yet to find an instance in which cursing someone is the last resort. I'd like to quote an article that says it much better than I:Serendipity wrote:I did a post in the Tips & Advice forum about ethics as part of my Spell Crafting series that I think pretty clearly spells out my position on this topic. Believe me I live in the real world too. To be a little honest I find your position of never doing a curse a little surprising. I’ve done exactly two in thirty-six years and in both cases the person I worked against had made threats against my person and one even went so far as to slash all the tires on my car (I had fired her for stealing from the company we both worked for). I of course took mundane measures to solve the problem, things like calling the police and filing a report and making sure my doors were locked at night, but given that I’m an accomplished magical practitioner I don’t see any reason why I shouldn’t back up my mundane work with magical workings.
There are other times when it is tempting to throw a curse. Perhaps your boss is treating you badly, or a lover is cheating on you. Someone could be slandering your name, stealing from you, or otherwise causing you harm. It is easy to allow emotions to cloud judgement, even in the best of circumstances. When anger is involved, it almost certainly does.
But hexing is not something to be used for every problem or annoyance that may come our wayPerhaps there are othe. Even in severe circumstances, we must ask ourselves what good we are trying to manifest through our actions, and just how we think a hex is going to achieve that. Are there better, more effective ways of dealing with the problem, magickally or not. Often, as in the case of revenge, we find that a hexing usually does little or nothing to solve any real problems. The thief may fall ill, but does that get your radio back? A curse might even feel satisfying in the short-term, but often we are left with a larger mess than what we started with. This is one of the main reasons why true curses are rare things indeed.
One of the things that I have learned, in my time studying the Craft, is that the ego is a tricky thing. It can lull you into thinking that you are doing something good, or righteous, while in reality you are just spreading more shit around. Take, for example, the religious right. In whatever they are doing, be it lobbying to remove human rights protections, picketing the funerals of gays & lesbians, or turning a blind eye to the violence caused by their views, they believe that they are the agents of righteousness. It is the absolute conviction that they are doing 'God's work' that causes them to be unaware that they are the cause of so much pain and suffering.
This is why righteousness is a dangerous state for the seeker of knowledge to be in. It can justify anything if the ego is aligned towards it. It can trap the seeker in a delirium of self-appreciating rationalization, preventing growth or true thought, leaving them blind to their actions and their results. When we are filled with righteous anger it is often too easy to allow it to flow into purely destructive forms such as tyranny and domination. With the conviction of righteousness coursing through our veins, we are too often inclined to use excessive force, especially if our reasons are justified. We must make certain that we are working responsibly or else we are not worthy of the powers and pleasures our Craft affords us. A spiritual system that intends to foster personal awareness and responsibility must certainly address this issue.
To me, someone slashing my tires is not a justification to curse them, especially when my needs had been met through mundane actions. We obviously differ.
As to how I would curse a drunk driver (which by the way was only one example of a great many I could have used)
Yes, I understand this. As you didn't provide any other examples, I couldn't respond to them.
I see this as a viable way of detering further trouble, and actually have no problem with it. Though it isn't exactly my definition of cursing.it would involve him/her running into (figuratively speaking of course lol) cops constantly so that it would be difficult if not impossible for him to evade detection. Or do you think working to bring law breakers to the attention of law enforcement is “bad†too? And yes I would consider that a curse.
And please keep replying to the posts I write with an attitude, and demanding that I answer to you for my opinion.Make all the *sighs* you want.
Why the “wild hope†that magical people won’t use magic to make their lives better?
Because, in my opinion, magic is meant to be respected. Used when other means are not available. It is a powerful thing, not a toy, or a tool. A witch is playing with the energies and the universal law. It's not a game or a parlor trick or your own personal pet. When is it acceptable, imo? When making sure Hitler fails at invading England, stopping the blood diamond trade. Not getting back at the girl who slashed your tires. Yes, to me, it's petty.
What I said was neither ridiculous or extreme.
You implied that I live in a world with no crime. If not ridiculous, it was at least snide.
In very, very few cases a person will curse someone just to do it. But as stated in the article above, the ego always thinks it has a good reason to curse someone, whether the person being cursed thinks they were in the wrong or not. When you curse the person back because you believe that you, too, are justified then you are no better, imo.You said, and I quote, “And if they are sending something out to you, then obviously you did something that offended them in the first place, and then you're sending it back because now they've offended you... and it becomes childish.†Where do you get off assuming that the only reason someone would direct negativity towards another person is because the second person “started it?†That is an insulting and a judgement on people and situations you don’t even know and I find that “ridiculously†sweeping.
But you aren't as discerning, and that is the difference.And that stuff you wrote about “real world†pffttt… I assure you I live in the real world as much as you do. I simply don’t see magic as a “placebo†as you labelled it, but as one of many options available to me.
The difference between you and I was that I posted an opinion that was in no way directed at anyone on the forum, and you have taken personal offense to it. I mentioned situations and observations based on my experience and you have become defensive and argumentative. You may like to think you give people the benefit of the doubt, but you surely haven't done so in my case.The main differences between you and I, I think, is that I don’t automatically assume that just because someone sees something differently than I do that they are wrong and I don’t automatically assume they are being petty or childish. Until and unless someone shows me that they are petty and childish I prefer to believe that they are acting in accordance with a well thought out sense of ethics that while they may not be exactly the same as mine might very well be responsible and thoughtfully applied.
I said that our methods differ and could accept that. Please quit making this personal.And FYI I do agree with you that we are different and I too am happy about that.
ETA: There is a real, and deep, tradition and practice here. We can demean it, and use it in our self-entitled ways, and we can twist it up until it means nothing more than a Barnes and Noble love kit. But I won't. The people I know won't. The sites I link won't. When I come here I offer what I was offered. A real, honorable, intelligent and respectful look at paganism/witchcraft/wicca. I won't teach them how to do a google seach like they're stupid. I'll challenge them, I'll ask to be challenged, and we'll all grow and learn. If that is an issue for you, than I'm sorry. But paganism, magic, history, and my ancestors mean something to me and I'll be damned if you try to twist who I am and what I believe into some crap that it's not.
But still it's seems to me, you didn't understand me right. I was talking about the category of curses, where you send back the energy you accidentally catched. Sadly I am not able at the moment, to protect myself and catch the full energy. I just send it back, it should have stayed there in the first place. I'm not a garbage can, you know. 
