Teaching Magic to Teenagers

[Tylluan Penry]

This is an article I wrote back on the old PF forum and Thalassa has very kindly found it again for me.


Teaching Magic to Teenagersad nauseum

[Corvus]

Re: Teaching Magic to Teenagers

I have a question. You know how kids have imageinary friends is it normal to be able to bring them to life, like createing I'm not sure what to call them.puppets?
I make them they do what I say then they fade away or I give them energy and they stick around. Sometimes ill make a couple tell them to make the flowers grow or gaurd the house.I can use them as a focus for my power.they do the task like its the only thing they think about,unless I tell them to do something else. Am I crazy? And is this magick?

[Tylluan Penry]

Re: Teaching Magic to Teenagers

[quote author=Corvus link=topic=571.msg7963#msg7963 date=1288336693]
I have a question. You know how kids have imageinary friends is it normal to be able to bring them to life, like createing I'm not sure what to call them.puppets?
I make them they do what I say then they fade away or I give them energy and they stick around. Sometimes ill make a couple tell them to make the flowers grow or gaurd the house.I can use them as a focus for my power.they do the task like its the only thing they think about,unless I tell them to do something else. Am I crazy? And is this magick?
[/quote]

Thought forms - a type of imaginary friend - normally linger round for only as long as the originating thought is active. However, there are exceptions to this, the main one being when they meet up with something called 'elemental essence' which helps to give them a form. Basically, in order to create a 'proper' thoughtform (and this isn't the only method, just the one I use) you need thought + emotion + elemental essence. It's perfectly possible to make a guardian thought form (which is was I think you are describing here) and set it up on guard for quite a long time.

So no, you're not going crazy. It IS aform of magic. The only thing I would advise is to set up a cut-off date for your thought forms because sometimes they can get a bit out of hand otherwise. You can always renew the date if you need to.

I hope this helps to answer your question, but if you have any others, please ask!

[Corvus]

Re: Teaching Magic to Teenagers

Thankyou! Just something to add to the other question,first is it bad if you create thought forms by accendent? I've told them to hurt people and they do I haven't in a while but I can are they supposed to be able to do that?
This could be something else but limited controll of small minded animals such as flys? If I concentrtate really on a fly on the table it moves where I want it to,It only works for afew minutes then its like it fights me off.oh and when their flying it won't work.it could be a series of coincedences but I've done it a lot.
This may seem weird but I can feed on strong emotion. Especially when a group of people feel that way.only one emotion at a time but its kinda creepy it feels almost like I'm eating them. Its like I'm a glass being filled with other peoples emotion, and when it overflows I'm super powered I see aura and energy paths my spells are extremely powerful.
I don't start to feel the emotion I eat, other people (except the extremely sensistive) don't notice, they don't seem to feel bad afterward,I can go months without feeding so I don't think its absolutely nessicary. I think the term for this is psychic vampire but it dosent quite seem right.

[StellaMorganna]

Re: Teaching Magic to Teenagers

At what age do you think people lose the power they have as teenagers? (I guess it's not the obvious "when they stop being teenagers, because normally people develop in a different way and pace).
And most important, why is that? I mean if someone is immature when most powerful, what could possibly be the point of that?

[Tylluan Penry]

Re: Teaching Magic to Teenagers

[quote author=Corvus link=topic=571.msg8061#msg8061 date=1288367721]
Thankyou! Just something to add to the other question,first is it bad if you create thought forms by accendent? I've told them to hurt people and they do I haven't in a while but I can are they supposed to be able to do that?
... This may seem weird but I can feed on strong emotion. Especially when a group of people feel that way.only one emotion at a time but its kinda creepy it feels almost like I'm eating them. Its like I'm a glass being filled with other peoples emotion, and when it overflows I'm super powered I see aura and energy paths my spells are extremely powerful.
I don't start to feel the emotion I eat, other people (except the extremely sensistive) don't notice, they don't seem to feel bad afterward,I can go months without feeding so I don't think its absolutely nessicary. I think the term for this is psychic vampire but it dosent quite seem right.
[/quote]
It's not necessarily a bad thing to create a thought form by accident - I suspect that about 98% are created in this way anyway. If you know you're doing it however, I would advise a little caution, particularlyl if you are setting up something to go and hurt someone else. I am not going to spout the 'an it harm none ' line here because that's entirely your business. However,, bear in mind that thought forms need to feed in order to keep existing. And if they don't find anything suitable to feed on, then they will probably come back and feed on you. Or at least try to damage your aura. So... don't get too carried away with what you're doing. That's not me being a spoilsport, it's being practical. Control is the basis of all successful magic. And please, under no circumstances start playing around with your Etheric Double at this stage because that is something that really can have some nasty fall-out.


What you are describing does sound a little like psychic vampirism : again, be careful with this because like hexing, it's highly addictive. You don't need to drain power from other people - you have quite enough of your own, you just need to learn to control it properly. Nobody has unlimited energy - not even the most powerful magician. Therefore you have to control and contain it so that it doesn't leach away. You need to be able to conserve it so that it's there when you need it.

[quote author=StellaMorganna link=topic=571.msg8090#msg8090 date=1288372723]
At what age do you think people lose the power they have as teenagers? (I guess it's not the obvious "when they stop being teenagers, because normally people develop in a different way and pace).
And most important, why is that? I mean if someone is immature when most powerful, what could possibly be the point of that?
[/quote]
Very good questions. As you say, people develop at various speeds. So losing power is going to affect some people later than others. I think of it not so much as losing power, actually, as turning one's back on it. If you are encouraged - as I was - to develop certain skills, you never really lose it. Unfortunately many teenagers have this initial surge of power (along with hormones, acne and angst) that fizzles out just as abruptly.

So in a way, that brings us to your second question - what is the point of having it in the first place?

I think it's probably there in most people. And if they choose to develop it, then it never goes away, although it becomes more controlled and contained. If they choose not to develop it, or worse, if they are made to feel that it is 'wrong'' in some way, then they shun it, and as you rightly point out, there is little point in them having had it in the first place. Of course, many people do return to their teenage roots in later life and rediscover these missing skills - so perhaps they never really leave us. Personally though, I am coming more and more to believe that it is better to channel those skills during the teenage years, rather than bury them and then have to go and dig them up again!

[Corvus]

Re: Teaching Magic to Teenagers

What's an etheral double? You said not to mess with it I'm not sure what it is

[Tylluan Penry]

Re: Teaching Magic to Teenagers

[quote author=Corvus link=topic=571.msg8126#msg8126 date=1288379343]
What's an etheral double? You said not to mess with it I'm not sure what it is
[/quote]

The Etheric Double is very similar to a thought form. It can be created accidentally (but this is rare) and it can also be created deliberately. Sometimes it is used in psychic attacks (as are thought forms).

The biggest differences between the etheric double and are thought form are:
1. The Etheric Double uses ectoplasm whereas the thought form doesn't. (Ectoplasm is a rather old fashioned term, but it's the one I'm most comfortable using.)

2. If a thought form is banished, harmed in any way, its creator is unaffected.
But if someone harms your Etheric Double they also harm the creator. Therefore this is something you should really avoid.

It's one thing to know how something works, and quite another to use it. I know how to use an axe to chop wood, and presume that it works in much the same way if I want to chop somebody's head off. However it's not something I'm tempted to try just to check whether I'm right. ;D

[Corvus]

Re: Teaching Magic to Teenagers

Of what use are etheral doubles and does everyone have one? Also ectoplasm is like goo right?

[Tylluan Penry]

Re: Teaching Magic to Teenagers

[quote author=Corvus link=topic=571.msg8278#msg8278 date=1288416955]
Of what use are etheral doubles and does everyone have one? Also ectoplasm is like goo right?
[/quote]

Etheric doubles have many functions. Some of these are independent of our intention. It's a bit like our lungs. Their function is to help us breathe, we don't have to actually be aware of breathing in order to do it. In fact, most of the time we aren't. It's the same with the Etheric Double (and note that it's an Etheric, not an Etheral Double. ) Sometimes we are aware of its existence, sometimes we will it into existence. Just because we aren't thinking about it doesn't mean it's has gone away.

Now with regard to ectoplasm, yes, it appears like goo. Victorian mediums used to claim to produce tons of the stuff, were even photographed doing it, although to be honest it tends to look like someone attempting to vomit a pair of net curtains. But although ectoplasm looks like goo, it doesn't behave like it - or at least, not the way I think of goo.

It's specific function - for this particular topic - is that it manifests the unmanifest. And it certainly isn't essential (or even desirable, according to some) for producing thought forms.

From the point of view of this topic, I don't think either the Etheric Double or ectoplasm are really suitable topics for teenage (or beginners) magic - there is far too much that can go wrong and far too many variables.

I(t is quite possible to perform perfectly good magic over one's lifetime and never need to use either an Etheric Double nor manipulate ectoplasm.

Hope this information helps.

[Corvus]

Re: Teaching Magic to Teenagers

You said good beginer stuff is like makeing plants grow.after that what? I can already do that.

[Tylluan Penry]

Re: Teaching Magic to Teenagers

[quote author=Corvus link=topic=571.msg8343#msg8343 date=1288450847]
You said good beginer stuff is like makeing plants grow.after that what? I can already do that.
[/quote]

ON other threads you've mentioned your interest and practice of necromancy... are there aspects of that you want to develop? Have you read about it in classical myth? Or the Greek Magical Papyri?

[Corvus]

Re: Teaching Magic to Teenagers

I've read some of the works of dr Dee, traditional greek and egyption myth. I found a couple sites made by advanced necromancers. I visit places with hold death. I haven't read the greek magical papyri that's next.

[magusphredde]

Re: Teaching Magic to Teenagers

A spendid writing ... I would like to ask a boon of you ... May I repost the article on another site? ... It is a small contingent of mainly Wiccans but I think anyone might take a bit from it ... The site is one of my Tagged groups ...

[Tylluan Penry]

Re: Teaching Magic to Teenagers

[quote author=magusjinx link=topic=571.msg8417#msg8417 date=1288486852]
A spendid writing ... I would like to ask a boon of you ... May I repost the article on another site? ... It is a small contingent of mainly Wiccans but I think anyone might take a bit from it ... The site is one of my Tagged groups ...
[/quote]

Of course, Magus, I would be honoured. Thank you for suggesting it.

[quote author=Corvus link=topic=571.msg8410#msg8410 date=1288479821]
I've read some of the works of dr Dee, traditional greek and egyption myth. I found a couple sites made by advanced necromancers. I visit places with hold death. I haven't read the greek magical papyri that's next.
[/quote]
Dr Dee is very much later and I would strongly suggest you start with the Magical Papyri first.

Now, for other things you can do we're back to plants again. It may seem boring, but this is where the real stuff begins, trust me. You will need to start keeping records of what you do with them... the dates you plant the seeds, the types of seeds (try for a wide variety, including simple things like beans and sunflowers, and more difficult ones like parsley.) They won't all require the same technique - and no, I'm not going to tell you more than that because I believe you are intelligent enough to work these things out. Also note down the moonphases and anything else you feel may be relevant. Make a note of when the first primary leaves appear, then the secondary ones. Then fruit, flowers, etc. It's not just about getting the seeds to germinate, you have to see how far (and fast) you can take them along. You will also need to have a control group that you are not trying to affect. Some people like to try a third group where just the water is blessed.

And once you get them growing... see if you can arrest their growth for a while. It'll take time, but your magic will be so much stronger for it in the years to come.