Found These Interesting

[jarandhel]

I was browsing Witchvox and thought these were really interesting.

1. We've all heard the idea that humans do magic and kin/elves are magic... but this essay might change your mind about that.
http://www.witchvox.com/words/words_2003/e_mpr16.html

2. This article interests me because of it's focus on synchronicity... don't know if I quite agree with the interpretations made in every case, but overall I like it.
http://www.witchvox.com/words/words_2003/e_mpr14.html

3. This article makes me think alot about the kin community, and the parralels between the otherkin community and the pagan community. I know some of the specific examples given are things I have heard echoed exactly within the kin community.
http://www.witchvox.com/wrenwww/backtozero.html

Comments

[zaecus.livejournal.com]

Hmm, the first article is very interesting. When I was first being taught, I was taught that magic has to first be practiced within. In my case, it was a matter of control more than of getting results, but I thought that basic lesson was one that everyone was taught. (Making me guilty of the same error others have made when dealing with me. Thanks for the wake up call. :-)

I don't know if this refutes the idea that kin are and humans do, though. Aside from not knowing this person and not having any way to determine if he is some type of kin, especially at his age, I've seen many kin essentially 'push' magic out. I've seen this in beginner kin, but only seen it in fairly advanced humans who have learned how to 'store up' large amounts of magic for long periods.

By pushing the magic out I mean that they don't cause an effect in the magic around them by doing something (a spell). They change themselves causing a ripple effect outward.

However, I have not seen this capability in every kin I've met, so the whole idea of 'are magic' vs 'do magic' is very much debatable.

[jarandhel.livejournal.com]

>Hmm, the first article is very interesting. When I was first >being taught, I was taught that magic has to first be practiced >within. In my case, it was a matter of control more than of >getting results, but I thought that basic lesson was one that >everyone was taught. (Making me guilty of the same error others >have made when dealing with me. Thanks for the wake up call. :-)

I don't think there are really any basic lessons that "everyone" is taught. Even stuff like grounding and centering and shielding is not learned by everyone, and in many cases these same concepts are even understood to mean entirely different things. For example... I have seen grounding used in an almost electrical sense, where one grounds excess energy into the earth. I have also seen it used in the sense of rooting oneself to the earth, as a kind of anchoring connection which can steady you against external disturbances. I have also seen it used to mean connecting to the earth and passively allowing energy to be vented or taken in as necessary. And lastly I have seen it used to mean connecting with the earth on an elemental level and sort of basking in the properties of earth and stone or even becoming one with the the element. (All of which can overlap with the other uses for the word I've mentioned, making it all the more confusing.)

>I don't know if this refutes the idea that kin are and humans >do, though. Aside from not knowing this person and not having >any way to determine if he is some type of kin, especially at >his age, I've seen many kin essentially 'push' magic out. I've >seen this in beginner kin, but only seen it in fairly advanced >humans who have learned how to 'store up' large amounts of magic >for long periods.

*nods* Aye, I know that it's hard to tell if someone is or isn't, but going just by what I can see of the person from his bio, he doesn't mention or strongly allude to being nonhuman so I assume he considers himself human. To assume otherwise also opens up the whole can of worms about how you can say anything about what humans are like, since you can never be sure it's not really a kin in a human body that you're talking about.

>By pushing the magic out I mean that they don't cause an effect >in the magic around them by doing something (a spell). They >change themselves causing a ripple effect outward.

I'm unclear on why this technique would require a large buildup of magic to achieve the effect... the technique is based on the understand that the self is either a) a microcosm of the universe, or b) at least fundamentally connected to the larger universe, regardless of whether they resemble each other or not. Thus, a change in oneself would naturally be reflected out into the universe in some way. But that is true even of "mundane" changes in oneself, requiring no magical energy whatsoever... for instance, if someone who was formerly a total asshole changed one day and started being nicer to the people in his life, those people would have happier lives overall and may in turn be nicer to others, spreading the effect. Sort of like the whole "Pay it Forward" thing.

>However, I have not seen this capability in every kin I've met, >so the whole idea of 'are magic' vs 'do magic' is very much >debatable.

*nods* I just thought that the article would cast some doubt on the amount of actual division between the two groups... at least, if we assume that the author is truly human, which we really have no reason not to assume save for possible bias on our parts. He's definately talking about something that I would describe as being magic, after all, which is something that might make a lot of the propoments of the "kin are, humans do" argument stop and think twice.

[jarandhel.livejournal.com]

... that was supposed to say proponents.... I really wish we could edit comments.