Y’all, I backed out of a book before the first chapter was finished! Those of you who know me are aware of how unusual that is for me.
The book was about Prayers and Protection Magic. I need to brush up on that, so I thought, great! Just what I need!
But y’all, what I read was basically about how Evil and Darkness are around every corner, and how with enough prayers and positivity, Good will triumph over Evil and Darkness will be destroyed.
Yeah, I noped out of that.
But really, I was wondering, do people really think that Evil and Demons are just waiting on you in the Spiritual realm to pounce on you and drag you into darkness? I’ve never thought, nor felt that.
I’ve never felt like I was under attack or anything. I thought the protections I have in place did the trick. One time, I kept seeing stuff out of the corner of my eye, and I did some banishing, but it wasn’t a big thing.
I have never had anyone send a curse at me. And I know I’ve made some people mad enough to have gotten just a general feelings hex from them! Never felt a thing.
I’ve never felt the need to call in Angels to fight Demons either.
I mean, whatever you believe, that’s okay. I’m all for it. And the more protection, the better! But I can’t help but think that a beginner in magic would get scared by reading this book!
So what do y’all think? Is there an Evil force in the universe just waiting for us to shine a light so it can snuff us out?
First of all, love the title to this discussion But sillies aside, I’m sorry the book wasn’t what you were hoping for!
The very rigid lines between “good” and “evil” is something I’d expect in a children’s story book. It makes it easy for the reader to want to support the hero and hate the villain without needing to do any character development, world building, or deep story work at all. That’s why it works in children’s stories - it makes for easy storytelling! Real life, however, is understandably more detailed and complex than a children’s book.
The world, the forces, and the people in it are so much more than what two simple categories could hope to contain. Maybe there are things out there that one could consider “purely good” or “purely evil”, but, at least for me, there’s a whole lot of stuff that falls somewhere in between. Grey magick would be one example
Are there things out there that I call “evil”? Yup. But do I think there’s some evil entity lurking out there like a BBEG waiting to foil the hero’s plans? I’m inclined to think not.
Personally, I see “evil” as an energy accumulated through harmful choices. It’s something that is fed over time, just like how good energies can be nurtured and developed over time, too. I think evil is caused by a lack or refusal of empathy. And the potential for both “good” and “evil” is inside all of us. The direction we go in may be influenced by outside forces, making one path seem more appealing than another, but it is ultimately our choice where we decide to walk on our life journey.
Just my two cents on the table. It’s a very thought-provoking question! Thanks for putting it out here Amethyst
I hope your next read will resonate more with you!
Sounds to me like someone has leftover issues with an abusive belief system. Mom taught me that this earth plane was the only Hell out there, which in her mind seemed to be the reason we can’t escape the boundaries of our atmosphere. To her, life was punishment, but we aren’t allowed to die to escape it.
I always wondered: if Evil could be destroyed by Good, why hasn’t it been done yet? It wasn’t a matter of good and evil being two sides of the same coin for me, just a choice of personal lifestyle. If I could, I wanted to stop what had happened to me from happening again to the next generation, but then I learned that my experience wasn’t as singular as some had made it out to be. Still, I want to live my life avoiding the spread of abuse as best I can. That is why I have gone quiet around here: I know none of you can help, and watching me spiral into the black hole would only harm others.
I love the question too, seeing as I’ve done a lot of thinking about this lately!
Personally, I feel as though it’s less about good vs evil, and more about balance - I believe you cannot have one without the other, and without one, you can’t appreciate the other. I believe there is good energy, and bad energy; likewise, I believe in “good” beings and “bad” beings. I’ll clarify that by saying that I personally do not automatically assume that the stories told about certain beings are true, I base my views on my experiences with them. For example, I do not view Lillith as a dark energy, even though most stories depict her as a demoness or temptress etc.; as we all know, in the early days of “man”, any woman who dared to think for herself was, shall we say, not treated very nicely.
Up until a few months ago, I honestly would never have entertained the idea that someone would hex or curse me - who on earth would waste their time hexing me? I literally believed that there was no one on Earth who cared enough to curse me… given the past few months, it’s something I am still considering. Looking back, and even now, there have been and are times when I just sort of stop and think WT actual beep is going on.
Do I believe there is evil out there? I know there is. I’ve felt it, I’ve experienced it’s manifestation, and I’ve seen it in different people and it always looks the same. So do I believe there is some overarching evil being/energy - well, yes, because negativity has to come from somewhere. I feel as though I can’t believe in God/Goddess/AllFather/AllMother (insert pantheon/belief equivalent here) and not believe that there is nothing which balances out the good. I don’t think that Evil wants to snuff us out though, I think evil wants evil, and what better way to put a good person on that path, than to bombard them with negativity until they snap and decide they don’t want to be good anymore.
As for beginners being scared by the book.. shouldn’t they be? I think they should, because let’s face it, we’re dealing with the energies of the cosmos and beyond; it could be a little naive (or arrogant?) to think of ourselves as these powerful beings who can do what we like with these forces without consequences. Whether one believes in evil/bad energy or not, we can all agree that bad things happen, otherwise we wouldn’t bother with any protection.
Now, if you’re asking whether I think a person is good or bad, or even born good or born bad, then yes; Mother Theresa vs Hitler, we can all agree on how we view them. I will always argue that the environment of an individual will play an important part of how they turn out, and I agree that most of us have the potential for both within us, but yes, I think there are some people who are born more on the negative side or on the positive side. Again, without one, how would we recognise the other?
I’ve done this before. I used to feel bad about doing this, but life is too short to continue he to read a book that you dislike especially a book of THIS NATURE!
WHATTTT IN THE WORLD?
Unfortunately some, NO MANY PEOPLE THINK THIS! I know BECAUSE I AM RELATED TO A FEW OF THOSE PEOPLE !
Just so much evil and darkness waiting for you at every turn, have to turn everything into something negative. But then I’m the martyr for trying to make something good out of each situation.
I have been living with this my whole life!
I’ve been called a Martyr my whole life by my family!
I am sorry that you had to read this book. This is unfortunately a very troubled human being projecting outwards onto others!
I am so sorry you had to go through this dear heart! I know how you must have felt!
Good and evil are usually in the eyes of the story teller. I was going to go down the lines of logic that @BryWisteria traveled but she did a better job than I would have.
For me, the discussion fits well in the Chaos realm. What someone strongly believes is valid for them but it may not hold for others.
If a significant number of us believed there was a blanket of evil covering the world and it is barely held back by the shards of light called good, then I would be really interested in it. Right now, I accept that some believe it but it is not something I will explore anytime soon.
Mmm good v evil. I’m going to answer this from the perspective of a course I went on when I was considering being a medium. Here’s what I learnt about Spirit.
There are several types of spirit.
Deity
Angelic/Demonic
Guides
Ancestors
Earth bound
Feeders
All are energy of one type or another, Deity interact with us as do angels/demons but on their terms. Angels and Demons are the same energy, not one good and one bad, but the same signature. That blows a hole in the good v evil theory.
Would be a waste of time, they’d probably have tea and cake together.
The Guides are assigned to us and are normally people who have passed over with centuries of experience, my guide is a 12century French Nun.
Ancestors are family.
Earth bound are human spirits that are stuck. None are evil but all are independent and the Deity and Angel/Demon group don’t share our worldview or moral compass. Something to remember.
Then there are feeders. These are negative in the way we react to their energy. They aren’t evil but their energy signiture has an adverse reaction to our energy signature. These are few and far between but they do exist. Hence if we encounter one, we feel off, unsettled, scared etc but it’s not their evil intent, we just don’t gel with them. They too are independent and again don’t share our worldview.
If we meet a feeder, it’s normally because our energy is needed by them, much like a friend who needs your support. It can be fine in the beginning but over time becomes exhausting. If I think about my night demon that’s visited me over the years, he could be a feeder
The tutor went onto say there are probably more spirits/entities/lifeforms that we don’t know of. Evil is a concept we use to define what’s right and wrong, and most evil deeds are done by humans. Food for thought.
It was an interesting course. If you fancy it, it’s with The College of Pyschic Studies.
Thankyou for raising such an interesting topic, I’ve loved all the views and it was nice to go over my course notes. Makes me want to do another course.
Here’s a video that I think explains feeders quite well, and how to deal with them. It’s about 3 minutes or so.
Yeah, I backed out of that book so quickly it wasn’t even funny!
Exactly! I don’t think that the evil forces in the universe are just waiting for good people to come along and pounce on them or something.
Yeppers. To me, it’s sort of like people. You have good, neutral, and the butt holes. Then you have the really bad people, the psychopaths. But you’re just as likely to run into a neutral type of entity as a psychopathic one.
Free will! Our choices are what define us. One person doing a good deed can make a big difference. Just like one person can throw the whole thing into whack.
But indifference alone can make the world a terrible place. Saying it’s not my job to help, or it’s not my place, and not doing anything can damn you just as much as going out of your way and doing something bad.
You’re welcome! I’ve been thinking about it lately and thought I’d post it.
I started The Way of Fire and Ice, and just by the first chapter, it’s looking much better!
Could be.
I’m sorry that must have been difficult growing up with.
Right. If Good is Good, why let bad things and Evil happen? Doesn’t make sense.
We’d still love to be here and support you, dear heart! Anytime you need a virtual hug, let us know!
Thank you!
Yep. In nature, the wolf isn’t evil, he’s just hungry!
What is it Obi-Wan says, the truth from a certain point of view? One person’s evil can be another’s savior. And yes, Lilith was railroaded with half the evils of women.
See, if anything, I have cursed myself. Now that I think it can happen. You get so down on yourself that you don’t attract anything positive. Then crappy stuff happens, and you get more down on yourself, and you get in a rut.
Cause if anyone else had cursed me, it would have been back in my first week of working telemarketing. LOL! I’ve been cursed verbally in so many languages it isn’t even funny, and I’m sure after selling one credit card which had annoying rules, there’s been a poppet with pins in it with my name attached!
That’s true. But I don’t think it’s like a big thing. Like anything else, it starts slow, and they test you out. If you’re a positive person in general, they go for easier prey.
But this person said they prayed to an Angel for good fortune, and the Angel turned out to be a demon, and everything in their life went to crap in three months. Not sure about that one. I mean, if that’s what they believe, okay. But I don’t see that happening with one spell.
Yep. Bad seeds. Some people just have brain chemistry that is messed up, and they have no empathy or care for others.
Thanks for sharing them!
Yeah, I’ve done it before but my cut off is usually three chapters. This one I backed out of in one and a half. Nope, not going there.
Yeah, it’s like they’re Debbie Downers from SNL. But if you try to make things positive, they tell you that life doesn’t work that way, and accept it being crappy.
Eh, I’m mostly annoyed that it was about five days past the return date at Amazon. There’s a Stephen King book on sale that I could have bought with that money! LOL!
Yeah. And their thoughts may draw the negative forces to them, if they’re putting the light out for them in other words.
That reminds me of the just of A Wrinkle in Time. Not Earth yet, but the planet the kids found their Father on.
Same here!
That’s kind of what I’ve always thought. I mean, if Demons are just Fallen Angels, they can’t be that different.
I mean, Crowley and Aziraphale get along and have tea together! LOL!
I actually wrote the above line before reading this one! So… great minds think alike!
That makes lots of sense. Some entity that’s just never really been near humans probably wouldn’t even understand what we think Good and Evil is, no more than a shark that’s never been out of the depths of the ocean knows which shadows on the water are seals and which are humans on surfboards.
Thank you! It sounds interesting! Don’t know if I’d be too good at it. While I get some feelings and things with my intuition, I don’t get a lot.
Besides, I’d never save the money to do it. I end up supporting my Amazon habit. LOL!
You’re welcome! I’ve been thinking about this lately and thought I’d ask and get a discussion going!
Neat! Thank you! I’ll have to watch that in a bit!
Thanks to everyone who has given their opinions! And hey, if you have a thought, join in!
I loved this video! And it explained some things to me. I used to joke, back before I knew witchcraft and paganism is a thing, that the telemarketing place was a psychic vampire sucking our wills to live out.
There was over two hundred people on each shift, so that was a lot of negative energy. I bet some sort of thought form or larva did form around that place and fed off of us!
There is definitely evil out there! I k ow because I have been head to head with it! My mom has done unspeakable things to me. Things mothers should never do to children.
I definitely believe thst people can curse or hex you!
But sillies aside, I’m sorry the book wasn’t what you were hoping for!
good v evil. I’m going to answer this from the perspective of a course I went on when I was considering being a medium. Here’s what I learnt about Spirit.
If you fancy it, it’s with The College of Pyschic Studies.
