Ecology-magick-recycling items-Goodwill

Part One

I’d like to talk for a bit about a few topics that are interrelated in my mind, and  important to me and my view of the Universe- Magick, Recycling items, and acquiring as much as possible of my needs, for both magickal and mundane purposes, 2^nd hand.

      When I first read about magick, reading the books available to me at the time, (70’s) at the library, (A.E.Waite’s “Book of Black Magic”, De Givry’s “Illustrated Anthology of Sorcery, Magic and Alchemy”, and “the Modern Witch’s Spellbook” by Sarah Lyddon Morrison) I was lead to believe that magick was complicated, dangerous, expensive, gruesome, loud, noisy, and probably smelly.  This Magick was filled with activities such as killing a kid goat at a specific hour of the day, to make your own parchment for talismans, or having jewelers make you rings of a particular metal set with particular stones to affect various circumstances.  Most of the activity also centered on summoning something way bigger than your head, which was probably cranky about being summoned, for purposes that they probably didn’t want to do anyway, such as finding buried treasure.  Kind of sad and pathetic activities, I’m sure for Dukes and Princes of Hell, who probably would much rather be out corrupting entire countries, or something.  Since I was on a $10.00 a week allowance, and living upstairs of my parents at the time, I thought better of most of it, and scaled back most of my experiments at the time.  So much had to be acquired New, Unused and Unhaggled for, in the way of supplies, and actually done not through your own power, your own skills, but through the attempted forcing of another being to work for you.

     I then got to college, found religion in the form of Witchcraft, and found also the earlier folk magicks.  This other paradigm of thought revealed a value and reliance in me, learnable skills, and cooperative, not coercive relationships with the rest of the Universe.  Both Kitchen witchery and Hoodoo stress the fact that one set of tools can be used for both ‘magickal’ and ‘mundane’ ends.  A broom sweeping your floor clean can also be used next to dispense a floor wash to spiritually cleanse a room.  Your knife cuts vegetables for dinner, and also cuts the circle between the worlds.  The mundane, your everyday life, is as sacred and as close to the Gods as being inside the circle.  This beauty and specialness is everywhere!  Handmade art with ‘flaws’ (variations) is More sacred and alive with energy than the machine identical ‘flawless’ pieces of goods sold at  Wal-Mart, inert, plastic-inexpensive, but at a high price.

     When I was younger, society in general taught that desired things were new and shiny.  I fell for it. The only good presents were the ones that came in a layer of wrapping paper (ripped off, flung, and then thrown away) covering up the cardboard and plastic packaging, sometimes in multiple layers.  Things people gave you that came to you without the protective stuff carapace was obviously covered with cooties from strangers, un-clean, and USED.  People who loved you bought you new stuff, the more the better, as proof of their love.  I had partially challenged that thought myself, with my greed for books.  Used Bookstores helped me get my fix of more books, as did the Library (guess I thought these venues sterilized the books when they got them in or something).  Meeting John pretty much smashed the rest of those thoughts flat.  He introduced me to whole new worlds of inexpensive-stuff 2^nd hand possibilities- Flea Markets, Swap Meets, Goodwill, Dumpster Diving, Trash picking (especially good at the end of a semester on campus) trading stuff with friends…Yes, some stuff was grimy when acquired, but almost Anything can be cleaned.  Vinegar, or Lysol, or Rubbing alcohol, or a good trip through the washer will cure most funk.  And if it can’t be cured, THEN you throw it away.  You didn’t spend much, if anything on it, so no risk, really.  Books can be a little trickier, as some sad books get mold, just look at them a little closer before committing to giving them a home.

Look for Part Two on Sunday!