Magic/Magick, Paganism, Religion, Witchcraft

Concepts in Magic: Will

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In a previous post, I wrote about how an understanding of Creation as an ongoing process is a powerful concept in magic. In this post, I wish to look at another powerful concept, the concept of the will.

Most people who work with magic are familiar with the definition of magic offered by Aleister Crowley:

Magick is the science and art of causing change to occur in conformity with will.

Despite the fact that I am in no sense a Thelemite (which is one of the reasons I don’t add the K to the end of the word “magic”), I find this definition quite useful. Furthermore, it demonstrates that will is central to any magical act. Without will, there is no magic. So this begs the question: What is will?

The American Heritage Dictionary, Fourth Edition (as reported by Dictionary.com) includes the following definitions:

1. a. The mental faculty by which one deliberately chooses or decides upon a course of action: championed freedom of will against a doctrine of predetermination.
b. The act of exercising the will.
c. Diligent purposefulness; determination: an athlete with the will to win.
d. Self-control; self-discipline: lacked the will to overcome the addiction.

It is clear from these definitions that will is that part of the psyche that initiates action. It is that which takes a desire that we have, and focuses our time and energy to accomplish or manifest that desire.

It is important to note that desire is not the same as will. In my experience, this is an increasingly common misconception in the magical community and our society in general. Far to often, we express our desires thinking that doing this alone (or even having those desires in the first place) is sufficient to have them met. I’m reminded of the joke about the devout Christian who goes to church daily, only to ask God to let him win the lottery. After many weeks of this daily routine, God finally decides to respond to this request in a very personal day. As the petitioner makes his request one day, he hears a rather annoyed voice from heaven proclaim, “You could at least buy the ticket!”

Truly involving one’s will in the satisfaction of a desire requires both effort and action. Without this effort, this act of will, the desire never comes more than a vain wish. It is the act of making sure that the “rubber meets the road” that makes magic.

Since Crowley offered his definition of magic(k), some have tried to improve upon his definition. Most notably, people have tried to add such qualifiers to the end of the definition as “by means not understood by ordinary science.” This is often done in an attempt to identify the “mystical” aspect of magic and to distinguish it from “mundane” effort. I am convinced that this is a mistake, as it creates an artificial boundary between “mundane” and “magical” effort.

Truth be told, to someone who walks a magical path long enough, every act of will becomes an act of magic. The boundary between the “mundane” and the “magical” dissolves completely, and an individuals conscience efforts blend together seemlessly. The witch who is looking for a new job is working just as magically when she writes her resume as when she is lighting a candle or praying to her gods for their blessing on her search. All of these acts and the power channeled into them work together to accomplish her goal and manifest the job that she needs.

Understanding all conscientious acts as magical acts also explains why so many magical attempts are shipwrecked by “mundane” activities. Consider for example a less experienced witch who does magic to get a new job, but doesn’t not pay careful attention to the creation or modification of her resume. Or perhaps she submits her resume haphazzardly, not putting much effort into the seach process. Understanding that these choices are magical acts in themselves demonstrates that her will is not fully behind her stated outcome of finding a job. As such, her efforts and energies become unfocused, scattered, and less effective. Perhaps they become totally ineffective.

Love, Rants, Religion

Profanity masquerading as spirituality

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A while back, while I was in one of my desparate “I want a boyfriend” states of minds, I created profiles on a couple of online personal sites. One of the sites I joined was not to my liking, and I pretty much gave up on it. This was mainly because while the site catered to gay an bisexual men and women, it seemed like almost every other gay man on there was just interested in sex. Being a hopeless romantic, I decided to quit wasting my time there and looked elsewhere.

Apparently, I forgot to disable email notifications, however. The other day, I got an email from the site to tell me about a potential match. The guy lives in Buffalo, which is a bit far away. But if that had been my only objection, I would’ve at least considered it. However, the excerpt from his profile that they included was the ultimate deal-breaker. In fact, I found it reprehensible enough that I decided it was worth a bit of a rant on my part. So let’s take the sucker point by point.

Almost always have sex on my mind.

Now, I’m not generally one for faulting someone for having sex on their mind a lot. I will be the first to admit that it can consume a large amount of my thoughts, too. But to make such an admission the first thing you tell someone strikes me as insane. This line alone tells me that to this guy, it’s all about the sex. If I’m looking for romance, love, emotional intimacy, or anything other than a wild ride in the bedroom, I’m just plain out of luck. So on second thought, maybe I should thank him for letting me know right up front that I’d be wasting my time on him.

I am a spiritual person that sees a real connection to the power of an orgasm and a spiritual experience.

Now, given my patroness, I’m all for seeing sex as a sacred thing. But you know, this doesn’t sound like seeing sex as sacred at all. This sounds more like someone mistaking self-gratification and self-serving sex for a spiritual experience. I find myself wondering if this guy even thinks about his partners during the road to his so-called “spiritual experience.” I mean, if his spirituality is just about him getting off, that’s what his hand is for.

I am always ready to cum.

And entirely too eager, if you ask me.

Wanna cum with me.

To his credit, he actually takes a moment to think of his potential partner’s needs here, even if only as an afterthought. But again, I’m interested in more than just getting my rocks off, too. (After all, I have a perfectly working hand as well!) I want someone who’s going to be attentive. I want someone who is going to look to share the entire experience with me, not just the “squirt at the end.” I want tenderness, strength, and many other qualities that this man just hasn’t shown.

All this man has shown is that he’s an egomaniac with enough smarts to throw some pseudospiritual comments into a personal site profile.

Paganism, Religion, Religious Discrimination

Religious Discrimination in Oregon

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Earlier in the week, I came across a story about a Wiccan who is suing Starbucks for religious discrimination and wrongful termination. According to the original story, Alicia Hedum was asked to remove her “Wiccan cross.” When she refused, she was held back from being promoted or transferred. Her hours were cut, and she was eventually terminated.

I originally didn’t post about this matter due to the lack of information. The article was quite brief and details were scarce. And to be honest, I was a bit concerned about the fact that the article mentioned that Starbucks management had “scrutinized her ‘minor tardines.'” I will fully admit that I was concerned that this was a case of a rightfully terminated employee crying foul. As such, I decided to see if I could find more details about the situation before offering an opinion.

Today, my choice has paid off both for myself and Ms. Hedum. OregonLive has offered an update to this story, this time including details that has done much to alleviate my doubts about Ms. Hedum’s claims. (And on that count, I offer Ms. Hedum my sincerest apologies for ever doubting her.) In this update, the writer reveals that the lawsuit also covers the matter of an improperly handled workers compensation case:

She alleged that after she hurt her wrist at work in August 2005, the store failed to provide a workers’ compensation claim form. She alleged she was dismissed after she refused to come into work because a store manager would not assign her to light duty work as recommended by her doctor.

Failure to allow an employee to properly document an injury received at work is a serious matter. As is terminating an employee for absences caused due to such an injury. The complaint that Hedum’s lawyers filed with the court alleges that Hedum asked for the paperwork necessary to report her injury on two separate occasions, once to her shift supervisor and once to the store manager. On both occasions, she was informed that either the necessary forms could not be found or that the store was out of said forms.

Now, my question is this: What kind of employer “runs out of” workers compensation forms? I’m certainly no expert on labor laws, certainly not those in Oregon. However, it seems to me that providing an injured employee with such forms in a timely fashion would be a legal requirement. I would also imagine that not having said forms on hand (or at least being able to receive new forms via fax or other method within the hour) must either be a violation or border on it.

Also, the legal document sheds more light on Hedum’s injury-related absences. It appears that she contacted the store manager and explained the need for light duty, even describing her doctor’s restrictions. When the manager informed her that no position was available that would meet those requirements, Hedum did the only thing she could: She informed the manager immediately that she would be unable to return to work until her doctor changed her restrictions. The manager’s choice to hold those absences against Hedum and terminate her employment because of them is against the labor laws of the two states I have lived in (Pennsylvania and New York). I cannot imagine the labor laws in Oregon view the matter any differently.

It will be curious to see how Starbucks chooses to handle this matter. Based on the description that the legal complain gives of Starbucks, it sounds like the corporate office is on the hook for the lawsuit. If that’s the case, I suspect that they will probably look for a way to settle out of court. It not only would be the right thing to do, but it would probably save Starbucks from an even bigger blackeye in terms of publicity.

Of course, to me, the bigger question is this: Will store manager Anna Hickey have a job when the dust settles? And if she remains, how will corporate impress upon her the importance that she never pulls a stunt like this again?

Gender and Sexuality

Imagine what parents could do if they knew

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I recently discovered Seething Mom’s blog. I’ve enjoyed reading her thoughts, and particularly loved her testimony concerning how she found out her son was gay because of an essay he had written two years earlier. Their stories, both as individuals and as a family, are moving and easy to identify with.

However, this entry is actually inspired by another post Seething Mom wrote, this one about her reaction to hearing Rush Limbaugh point out that a test to determine if an unborn baby was gay might lead parents to have an abortion. Her reaction was quite powerful, heartfelt, and completely understandable. Indeed, the very idea fills me with similar feelings. I’ve even also considered that even many parents who choose to have the child might take this knowledge as an opportunity to get their child into reparative therapy as soon as possible to overcome their natural sexual orientation, a possibility that I find equally disturbing.

But as I thought about testing fetuses for sexual orientation, I considered a more hopeful possibility, too. I think it stems from spending the last ten (nearly eleven now) years thinking about the difficulties I went through when coming to terms with my sexual orientation and realizing how much of those difficulties were unnecessary, if only I or others around me had made different choices. Because of those thoughts, I find myself thinking of what a parent who is both loving and supportive could accomplish if they knew right from the start that their child would be gay. I find myself thinking of how they could prepare for those challenges that might come up, or even find ways to get around them.

I think of my own experiences when I first started learning about sex. In the time and place I grew up, there was no talk of including “alternative lifestyles” in the sex education curriculum. Sex education consisted of explaining the mechanice of vaginal intercourse and the process of sexual reproduction. That was it. So those of us who were gay were left out in the cold, wondering what we were supposed to do. Indeed, we had to first even learn that there was such a thing as being gay before we could even find out what it meant or what to do about it. Instead, we were left wondering what was wrong with us and why were weren’t “normal,” like the rest of our classmates.

This is the reason why some schools are updating their curriculum (or why some individuals and groups are trying to convince schools to do so) to at least mention about the other possibilities. But imagine if a child’s parent already knows their child will need to know about those alternatives? I can envision a conversation that goes something like this:

Johnny: We talked about sex in school today.

Mom: Really? What did they tell you?

Johnny: Well, they talked about how a boy sticks, well you know, into a girl to make a baby.

Mom: I see. And what do you think of that?

Johnny: Well, I don’t know….

Mom: It didn’t seem right to you, did it?

Johnny: Well, I don’t know. I just can’t imagine doing that. I mean, all the other guys seemed to be fascinated by it. But it seemed weird to me, like I wouldn’t want to do it.

Mom: Well, you know, not everyone likes that kind of sex.

Johnny: Really?

Mom: Really. Not all guys like to be with a woman. In fact, I think we need to talk more about this. There’s something I’ve been waiting to talk with you about…

Imagine the months or years of confusion and inner turmoil Johnny’s mother could spare him. Imagine how well equipped she would be to deal with those times when Johnny’s peers teased him for being gay. Rather than wondering why Johnny’s having such a hard time in school because he won’t tell her what’s really going on, her knowledge can prepare her so that already she has a good idea of what might be going on.

The possibilities of how a loving and supportive parent could make a gay child’s life that much easier simply by knowing about their child’s sexual orientation ahead of time are endless. And while I certainly wouldn’t change a thing about my past, even to go back and make them easier (after all, they made me the person I am today), I’m all for making the next kid’s journey through the coming out process easier than mine was.

Arts and Entertainment

The Human Canvas in Review

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The Human Canvas, an art show directed by Rochester resident Rebecca Coleman and sponsored by Naturist Rochester, took the stage at the Visual Studies Workshop on Sunday, January 21, at 2:00 pm. The show derived its name from the fact that the artwork was painted onto the bodies of seven models by Coleman and a fellow artist who wishes to remain anonymous. The designs ranged from the amorphous and swirling patterns that were painted on the models representing Fire (Cinnamea Sweet) and Water (Joe Piazza), to the intricately detailed patterns that were painted onto Mother Earth (Ginger Wilbert) and Death (Grace Kellie).

The painting was performed in stages, and each model traversed the length of the catwalk after each stage was painted, allowing audience members to view the work as it progressed. Performance art was also incorporated into the show, as each model not only worked to portray the life event or elemental force they represented, but also interacted with the Man (David Burmingham) as the show progressed.

Unlike all other models, the artwork for Man was not painted in stages. This artwork had been completed prior to the beginning of the show, allowing it to be far more detailed and complex. Instead, Man entered into the show clothed and the underlying patterns were revealed in parts as the other models removed parts of his attire throughout the show.

The show moved at a smooth and captivating pace, a tribute to the artist?s talent, as they worked hard to paint each new stage of artistic development quickly enough to keep the show moving. The length of time each model spent traversing the catwalk gave the audience plenty of time to appreciate the patterns while keeping the show moving along. Music, mostly dominated by powerful rhythms and percussion instruments, added to the primal nature the show was designed to convey and helped draw those watching into the experience.

When the final stage of the progression had been completed, the house lights were brought up and Coleman announced each model?s name and presented them with a bouquet. As each model accepted their bouquet, they then made one final traversal of the catwalk, giving everyone an opportunity to see the artwork more clearly under bright lighting conditions.

Models not already mentioned were Birth (Rhoda Brown) and Metal (Micha Callan).

Introspection, Memories, Personal Development, Writing

I feel like a writer

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I’ve been keeping a copy of Harald’s Story in a Word document. Tonight, I printed out a copy of it so I could share it with a couple of local friends. I’m amazed at how long it’s getting. It already spilled onto page eighteen, and the hero and his associates haven’t even set sail yet.

Of course, I also have to admit that I’m a bit nervous. I have no only the vaguest idea of how the story is going to proceed once Harald and company set sail. So I currently feel like I’m glibly writing my way off the edge of a cliff, so to speak. But I do take some comfort in the knowledge that when I originally started thinking about the story, I only had the first couple scenes planned and a very basic premise for the rest of the story. And since I’ve started writing, I’ve already developed that kernel into the seven “chapters” I’ve written so far, and I have a good grasp of the contents of at least three more chapters. So hopefully, the rest will come as I progress just like the current material has slowly developed.

But more importantly, I’ve rediscovered my love of writing fiction. I haven’t felt this excited about a story I was working on since I tried to work on the series of stories surrounding my characters Keylar and Amira. That was back just before Zech and I broke up (the break up that influenced my choice to abandon that story). Here I am, eight years later, and I’m feeling quite accomplished. Who knows, maybe I’ll eventually be able to “rediscover” Keylar’s story and return to it. I’ve always felt sad that I could never get myself back to a point where I could continue it. But in the meantime, I’m happy with my current project. Here’s to hoping things continue to go in such a positive direction.

Religion

Are Virginia Christians heading for a repeat lesson?

Bill Carrico, a state legislator in Virginia, has introduced HJ724, a proposed amendment to the state constitution that is designed to protect religious freedom, particular one’s right to express religious those religious views or participate in religious activity on public property. The exact paragraph that would be added to Section 16 of Article 1 is as follows:

To secure further the people’s right to acknowledge God according to the dictates of conscience, neither the Commonwealth nor its political subdivisions shall establish any official religion, but the people’s right to pray and to recognize their religious beliefs, heritage, and traditions on public property, including public schools, shall not be infringed.

Now personally, I don’t care if this resolution ultimately passes or not. However, it does strike me as needless and repetitive, which is apparently the same criticism the ACLU made of this legislation when it was originally introduced in 2005, according to the Galax Gazette. Truth be told, there is already legislation to uphold individual’s rights to participate in non-mandatory religious activity on public property. This right has been backed up in several court cases, as well. As such, one must wonder what good adding yet another piece of legislation to protect an already-protected right will do.

Of course, one must wonder about Carrico’s reasons for reintroducing this bill, and whether it will accomplish what he proposes. Carrico explained the need for the bill to the Galax Gazette as follows:

The amendment is needed to stem challenges against things like the words “under God” in the pledge of allegiance and “in God we trust” on U.S. currency, Carrico said of his renewed efforts.

Now personally, I find the argument over the phrase “In God We Trust” on U.S. currency to be rather silly. But I want to specifically look at the matter of the pledge. The challenge to the pledge that I have seen is that students in some schools are expected to recite the pledge every morning. Some people, particularly atheists, have objected to this practice, as it requires them or their children to recite a pledge which currently includes a phrase affirming a certain belief aboout not a Supreme Being’s existence, but said Being’s relationship with reguards to our country. The challenge is that being required to say this pledge forces students to verbally endorse a particular religious belief — or even any religious belief.

This is where Carrico’s proposed amendment will not sufficiently address that challenge. Notice the last statement in the resolution’s summary:

The current constitutional provision parallels the federal free exercise and establishment clauses of the U.S. Constitution and provides for the free exercise of religion “according to the dictates of conscience” and prohibits the General Assembly from compelling persons to participate in religious activity.

Noticed the italicized portion. No part of the resolution proposes to change that prohibition. So if requiring a student to say the pledge requires them to affirm a particular belief — or any belief at all — then such a requirement can still be challenged as unconstitutional. So Carrico’s resolution is not only needlessly redundant, but doesn’t even have the effect he intends. One might find oneself wondering what the point is, then.

Of course, to me, I find myself wondering if Virginians have considered that they are yet again opening a Pandora’s box. After all, it was only this past December that numerous Christians become upset when they realized that Liberty Counsel opened the door to allow Pagans to distribute invitations to their Yule festivities through the Albemarl County school system’s “backpack mail” when they championed the cause of Gabriel and Joshua Rakoski’s desire to use the same flier distribution system earlier in the year. I find myself wondering if Carrico has had the foresight to advise his Christian supporters that his amendment will similarly strengthen the (already well defensible) cause of any Wiccan students who wish to hold ritual on school property outside of school hours. After all, it would be quite embarassing for Christians to realize this too late and cry foul after the fact once again.

Introspection, Meta-Blogging

The problem with sources

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At some point in the last twenty four hours, one of my favorite liberal Christian bloggers made an update to a post he made about claims that the National Park Service staff were prohibited from giving an answer about the Grand Canyon’s age. This claim was made based on a statement issued by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, aka PEER. Bob’s update was to let everyone know that these claims appear to be unfounded and to apologize for being duped. He also provided a link to a lengthy explanation and retraction posted by Skeptic Magazine, who had also been duped by the story.

This is a clear case where some relatively simple fact checking (namely calling the National Park Services and asking whoever answers the phone whether they could comment on the age of the grand canyon) could have saved both Bob and the folks at Skeptic Magazine the trouble of wiping a considerable amount of egg off their face. Both parties admit this. But I don’t wish to be critical of them, as I can completely empathize with their position. Truth be told, this could have happened to me as easily as it happened to them. I’ve been known to trust sources without much fact checking as well, and I certainly don’t want Bob or the folks at Skeptic Magazine pointing their fingers at me and laughing should our roles ever be reversed.

Instead, I want to focus on the frightening (to me, at least) reality that this could happen to anyone. It’s easy to spread information simply because a source we trusted had an off day or otherwise got their information wrong. Perhaps their source was incorrect. After all, misinformation can get spread even when there’s no deceitful intent on anyone’s part. I’m reminded of Bogaert’s statistical study that I blogged about back in August as a prime example of that. An aquaintance had blogged about an LA Times article on the topic. After searching for the original study and reading it, I concluded that the newspaper article was somewhat misleading about the conclusions of the study. Granted, that writer hadn’t gone as far as repeating blogus claims, but I feel it’s still an issue.

So I find myself wondering what level of responsibility I, both as a conscientious individual and a blogger, need to take on when it comes to verifying my sources? The ultimate solution would obviously involve me checking every fact for myself as directly as possible. Unfortunately, I’m not a paid journalist. I have another full time job. And even my free time is split between multiple projects. So while the ultimate solution is attractive, it’s simply not feasible. So what would be a more reasonable solution?

Another obvious albeit vague solution would be to only use reliable sources. But how does one determine what sources are reliable? And don’t even reliable sources make mistakes? (I suspect Skeptics Magazine and any other journalistic group whose had to publish a correction or retraction would answer that question with a resounding “yes.”)

I don’t think I have an answer to my questions. I’m not sure anyone does. (Though I’m more than willing to listen to them if they do). But I suspect I will struggle with those questions for some time now.

Religion, Witchcraft

Concepts in Magic: Creation

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Back around Christmas, I read a blog entry by Mark in which he describes the difference between magic and miracle. While he was mainly investigating the topic while examining literature, particularly Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, it got me to thinking about the nature of magic as I understand it. This line of thought was further stimulated this past week while working on my Review of the movie, “The Covenant.” As a result I’ve decided to start a small series of posts on various concepts I consider important to the practice of magic.

For those who find this and any future entries while searching for spells or practical advice on casting spells, I must inform you that you will be severely disappointed. This is not my intent, as I generally do not believe that a public blog (or most other forms of Internet communication, for that matter) is an appropriate medium for disseminating that kind of information. Instead, this and future posts will be theoretical in nature, covering concepts whose understanding will, in my opinion, at least, enhance a witch’s ability to ply her magical craft.

The first important concept to understand is that creation is not a “done deal.” While many religious traditions teach that God or some other Divine Source created the universe like a “master clockmaker” who assembled everything and wound everything up enough to last for the rest of its existence, a witch understands that the creative forces are still in progress. They see the universe not so much as a mechanical wind-up toy, but as a living thing that has a more organic life. Under such a paradigm, both creation and desctruction are ongoing activities. In Norse mythology, this is represented by Yggdrasil, the world tree which holds up the nine realms. This tree is constantly being nourished so that it grows. That growth is then controlled by the harts which feast on its leaves and the wyrms that gnaw at its roots.

Norse mythology further corroborates that the creation process was not a “one time deal,” at least indirectly, when you consider that there is not a single creation myth in the lore, but a series of stories describing different aspects of creation. In one tale you have the uncovering of Ymir and Audhumla when the fires of Muspelheim and icy waters of Nifleheim combine, while in another tale, you have the creation of man and woman from trees by Odin and his brothers. (Indeed, one might go so far to ask who or what created the trees that were turned to human and when they were created.) This all suggests that the universe unfolded over a period of time.

More importantly, it suggests that there were a great number of players in the creation process. Creation was not done by a single Supreme Being all at once, but was a process where many forces and beings built upon one another’s part of the process. This brings us to the next part of the creation concept: We are participants in the process of creation as well as part of the outcome.

To underscore this concept, I again draw upon Norse mythology. As I mentioned earlier, Yggdrasil is nourished daily. The task of providing this nourishment is left to three giant maidens known as the Norns. These Norns are the embodiment of the Norse concept of wyrd, which can be roughly described as a hybrid of the more familiar concepts of fate and karma. (This is naturally an oversimplification, but a more careful examination of wyrd deserves its own post, which I hope to offer at a later date.) Upon applying this understanding to the myth, the symbolism becomes clear: The universe itself is propagated and nourished by the actions of all who are a part of it. In effect, the universe and its constituant parts, through their actions, guide its own own development and the creative process that is unfolding.

Magical work involves understanding this basic principle and applying it by acting in ways to influence the continuing process of creation in specific ways. Or as Crowley put it, it’s a matter of “effecting change in accordance with will.”

An understanding of creation as an ongoing process addresses one of the issues inherent in Mark’s characterization of magic. Under a paradigm in which creation is a completed process performed long ago by a single Creator, it’s hard not to see any attempt to alter that creation as a “twisting” of said creation. Furthermore, it’s inevitable that one sees that “twisting” as a purely negative and evil thing. The perfect clock cannot be enhanced, and therefore any changes are obviously bad.

An organic understanding of a universe that is still going through the creation process, however, allows for a universe that can be changed both for the better and for the worse. In such a system, especially a system which recognizes every individual as a co-creator anyway, influencing the process becomes natural and understandable. The question of whether said influence is negative or positive becomes a matter of further ethical consideration.

Movies, Paganism, Witchcraft

Movie Musings: The Covenant

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Seeing as I’m still only working part time, I had today off. One of the things I did to pass some of my day off was to watch the copy of The Covenant that I had rented. It was an interesting movie, and I mostly enjoyed it. I’m certainly glad that I did not waste the money to see it in the theater, however. It would not have been worth the extra expenditure.

The basic premise of the movie was actually quite good, and the special effects were about what you’d expect in such a supernatural thriller. (Though to be honest, I’m not sure it deserves that designation.) There were certain plot elements that were rather noteworthy, such as the idea of one person being able to will their power to another with the caveat that doing so would mean death for the one giving up their power. Unfortunately, these concepts were underdeveloped in many cases. Also, the concept of a darkling was introduced, but never sufficiently explained. Indeed the appearances of the darkling in the movie served little purpose, other than providing a convenient way to let the main characters know someone was “using.”

The other poorly emphasized plot element was at the end where Caleb’s mother visits her aged and dying husband. As a result of that meeting, Caleb’s father wills his power to the younger man, enabling him to defeat Chase. Such a sacrifice deserved much more attention than the brief blip in the final battle.

Of course, like any good thriller, they left the obligatory opening for a sequel. In the end, no sign of Chase was never found, leaving the characters and moviegoers alike to wonder whether the power-mad youth was truly gone or merely biding his time for another attempt at his goal. To be hoenst, I think that such a movie that shut all the doors on the possibility of a future sequel would be a refreshing change of pace.

When this movie originally came out, several friends in the Pagan community expressed their concern about it. They were concerned that this movie would create an insurge of youths with warped ideas of what real magic and Pagan spirituality was about looking to form “covenants” and gain the kinds of power wielded by the characters in this movie. And this concern is not unfounded. After all, I’ve fielded my own share of requests for spells to change one’s hair color or eye color from girls who had recently watched The Craft.

However, I think that the life-threatening aspect of “the power” in this movie might mitigate the tendency for boys and young men looking for the fast path to power after watching this movie. After all, I don’t know of many youths who are prepared to sacrifice their youth, let alone their lives, in the pursuit of power. So as long as said youths don’t try to separate that aspect of the movie’s premise from the rest, I’m hopeful that we won’t see an upsurge of “Covenant wannabes” in the near future. Indeed, in some ways, I’m thankful that Hollywood imposed some “price” on these characters in exchange for their powers, as I’m tired of magic being presented as a “get everyhing for nothing” ventures.

Personally, I think the bigger concern is that too many people will take the cautionary message in this movie too much to heart. I can see this movie reinforcing popular images of magic and the occult arts involving some sort of pact in which a person gives up their lives, youth, soul, or other “thing of value” for power. Unfortunately, this notion is no more realistic than the “something for nothing” concept expressed by other movies.

Of course, the underlying problem behind both concerns is the simple mater that we no longer require our youths to develop the ability to distinguish between fact and fiction, espcially when that fiction is presented to them via a large screen and surround sound.

The thoughts of a gay witch living in upstate New York.