Path: shell.portal.com!svc.portal.com!sdd.hp.com!swrinde!newsfeed.internetmci.com!in2.uu.net!news.ios.com!news From: PatrickVonRaven Newsgroups: alt.religion.wicca,alt.pagan,alt.magick Subject: Re: A question about blood magick Date: 30 Nov 1995 00:43:21 GMT Organization: Internet Online Services Lines: 85 Message-ID: <49iun9$ofq@news.ios.com> References: <496gud$csi@dub-news-svc-6.compuserve.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: ppp-14.ts-4.nyc.idt.net Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Mailer: Mozilla 1.1PE (Windows; I; 16bit) Xref: shell.portal.com alt.religion.wicca:17218 alt.pagan:134743 alt.magick:59830 Ward Chanley wrote: >jsnead@netcom.com (John R. Snead) wrote: >>3) The HP of the same coven had an interesting observation about the >>use >>of blood in ritual: "Many modern magicians and witches use blood in >>ritual >>because it is the only socially acceptable bodily fluid (in this >>culture)." >> >>So, how have others used blood in ritual, and what advice (practical or >>magickal) do they have? >> >>Comments? > >Well, blood magicks for Wiccan Witches can be a touchy issue; I know >this is being crossposted outside of a.r.w. but I can't pretend to speak >for traditions outside of my own, and like all Wiccans, I speak really >for myself, rather than my tradition as a whole. If you'll excuse the >focus, here goes: > >So many traditions either expressly forbid the use of blood in ritual or >have unwritten traditions against it that we seem to lost the idea that >blood, like other bodily fluids and tissues (hair, nails, urine, etc.) >not only have a long tradition in pre-Wiccan "hedgerow" Witchcraft but >also that blood in and of itself is magickally extremely signifigant. >Red is the color of life because red is the color of blood, and blood is >life. Blood is also death; the most immedate psychological symbol of >death is it's visual representation, through blood, on a human body. A >clean, made-up, dressed corpse can look almost asleep. Indeed, many of >our Christianized funerals speak of the dead one as "resting". A body, >still bloodied lying either on the battlefields of our pagan antecedents >or on a hospital gurney in our modern age is undoubtedly dead, speaking >this fact to the subconcious at a visceral level. > >Since blood evokes both the Mother (menstruation) and the Crone >(physical destruction) blood magicks need be mindful of the signifigance >of using blood as a magickal agent. > >I can reconcile my own use of blood within the ethic of the Rede by >ensuring that any use of blood is understood well in advance of the >ritual by all parties involved, the taking of blood is wholly consensual >(which means that in a group setting the spell or ritual cannot *depend* >solely on the use of blood. Candles and so forth which may be annointed >with a few drops of the celebrants' blood can be annointed with a >magickal oil, patchouli or whatever works well, for members who choose >to abstain from participating in the blood rite) and no harm can be >allowed to come to anyone from the taking of blood. For myself in a >group setting this means that HIV and Hepatitis precautions are >observed, blood drawing is done with clean, sterilzed (or at a minimum >hospital-grade sanitized) instruments and the amount of blood taken is >never more than a few drops for the use of consecrating an item or >annointing a candle and so forth. > >For myself, it helps, I suppose that I'm into bodypeircing and >tattooing. Having an understanding of the sterile procedures involved in >those arts can help immesurably in helping to prevent harm in the use of >blood magicks. > >These precautions can be a bit overwhelming; I've taken them to ensure >that I'm comfortable with the ethic of "Harm None"; this makes using >blood in a group ritual rather more difficult than the classic >fingerpricking and recite the incantation school of ritual. As a result, >I've rarely used blood magick in a group setting. At home, in my >solitary practice, I do make a bit more common use of it, though. I'm >not as worried of infecting myself (in a solitary circle, this just >isn't an issue) and I know enough not to use dirty implements or cause >myself to have a lovely little tetanus infection. As I said, having an >understanding of the procedures involved in bodypeircing can help. > >I've used blood spells for love work (be careful: I don't know if it's >me or something specific in the type of working, but a love spell using >blood tends to result in great sex -- and little else), tool >consecrations, I once made an offering of my own blood annointed on a >candle after a spirit animal brought me a powerful vision that answered >a lot of questions... > >Anyway, my $.02 >Ward > ==================== Here! Here! Well said! ==Cuchulain SongRaven