ON POLITICS

 

Many magicians adopt individualist, libertarian approaches to politics and I believe there is an uneasy relationship with the magical world and the political far right. I abhor this. You will never hear me call people who don’t practice magic the herd, or clay, or sheeple, or mundanes, or even muggles. I value humaneness and compassion. We all have our struggles and we are all on our way somewhere better. I work to eliminate my own racism and I attempt to own the privilege I have as a white cis woman.

I use Runes for divination, and I am aware of the use of Runes by Neo Nazis. I see this as its own form of cultural appropriation. There is no evidence that the Northern and Germanic cultures were any more racist than anyone else. The far right has always misunderstood history and the reconstruction of a race-based spirituality is a prime example.

I am a fan of Black Metal music and it has influenced my magical practice. Beherit’s chilly and powerful album ‘Drawing Down the Moon’ is the best thing for the darkest ritual, for example. There is power here and it was Black Metal music that inspired me to ask the great Left Hand Path question: What is out there in the primordial darkness and what can I know about it? However I am very aware of how the BM scene has used far right motifs and at times has promoted far right ideas. I do not hold with these ideas. I do not listen to the fash. The metal scene is a contested space and I am happy to contest it along with left leaning or anarchist BM musicians. 

'Illumined' is a word describing the view of history that sees hidden forces behind public events or trends. Conspiracy theories are obviously illumined, as is the new age idea that the earth is ascending in its vibration and that humans can help or hinder that. Some occultists such as the uber-fascist Julius Evola have used occult means to influence the course of  history. On the other side (whatever that is these days) there have been some fun stunts, for example the attempt by chaos magicians in the 1960's to levitate the Pentagon, or the 'spell to bind Trump' in 2017. I am not big on illumination. For me the world is already thoroughly wondrous and magical. I also have little relationship with the new age/conscious/wellness communities. I think magic is a different thing, although it uses similar language at times and there is obvious crossover which I will talk about later. There is a cultish tendency in such communities and as I have leftist and anarchist leanings I find this completely scary. 

So there is no grift here, I am not selling anything, I am not special and I have no particular insight. Just information and ideas. 

Blessings on you, gentle reader.