Uncrossing Yourself

I can’t begin to tell you how many times I open my email to find someone panicked, thinking they’ve been cursed. Fortunately, 8 times out of 10, it turns out the person doesn’t know any magicians and they haven’t done anything to harm anyone. They’ve just had a run of bad luck and they automatically jumped to the “I’ve been cursed!” scenario because they either have wild imaginations, or they’re attention seeking. If there is actually anything metaphysical at play here, it’s often a self-created thoughtform causing the havoc. People who are always in crisis, are always emotionally volatile, and whose lives are always in upheaval of some kind, tend to routinely create these negative thoughtforms. Basically, they bring the bad luck on themselves, making the “curse” seem that much more real. It’s akin to a self-fulfilled prophecy.

That leaves the 2 out of 10. 2 out of 10 times it’s witch wars. Mary Sue Satanist got in a fight with Jack And Jill Luciferian and now they’re lobbing curses at each other because they have a difference of opinion on whether or not Lucifer and Satan are the same being (or whatever other dumb shit people fight about online because they seem to think magick and the occult are competitive sports rather than solitary spiritual pursuits). Hey, if you think that’s ridiculous, I’ve had people harrumph and stomp off just because I told them that I think thanking Daemons on online forums is tacky and attention seeking. It’s amazing how easily butthurt occultists are for all their alleged enlightenment.

That said – instead of freaking out and running to a teacher, elder, or friend for reinforcements every time you piss off some online grand poobah, there are a couple of things you can do.

And this goes for all you folks self-creating your own bad luck, too.

1. For non-magicians, home and self protection magick is easy to do, and you should regularly clear your house of negativity a few times a year. For magicians – your home should be warded from all negativity from others, and negative energy feeders. You, too, should be regularly clearing your home of negative vibrations/energy. Especially if you are an emotionally volatile person who tends to have a lot of drama in your life.
2. Don’t be a dick on the interwebs. While I believe MOST of the vocal online occultists are completely inept magickally (i.e. all talk no action, or occult enthusiasts with a lifestyle obsession), that doesn’t mean that you can run around being an asshole. Being a dick or cursing random online people will eventually earn you a magickal bitch-slap. I have wards in place that whenever someone lobs their vitriol my way, it bounces right back at them. So they suddenly think I’m cursing them, when in actuality, I’m not doing a damn thing except going about my business. By attacking me, they’re attacking themselves. You can learn how to make that kind of protective ward in The Preeminent Curse. It’s quite handy and makes for a nice, quiet, magickal life.

Ultimately, try the following to get rid of curses, negativity, etc…. when it rears its ugly head.

DISPEL NEGATIVITY

Sit down in front of a black candle (black is the color traditionally linked to absorbing negativity) and shove all your fears, worries, and anxieties into the candle via energy work – then light the candle and let the sucker burn down to nothing. Symbolically you are giving all that negativity to the flame so it can be burned away. Simple, but effective.

FUMIGATING/SMUDGING/ASPERGING A SPACE

Another common method is to fumigate your space by lighting a bundle of protection/banishing herbs (sage, dill, lavender etc.) and allowing the smoke to get into every corner of the space you’re clearing. The theory there is that negative spirits and nasty energy doesn’t like the properties (or smell) of the herb and will evacuate the space. For asperging – dip the herbs into blessed water and use the herbs to disperse droplets of blessed water through the space. (The herbs work best if you grow them yourself with the intent of using them to fumigate or asperge your space, and if you thank them before harvesting them.)

WARDING

Daemonolaters also practice “warding” which is a precautionary, proactive way of keeping negative shit out of your space to begin with. This means invoking protective Daemons at every quadrant, placing warding symbols or sigils of protective Daemons in those quadrants, and anointing above every door and window with a protection oleum. See Wortcunning for Daemonolatry for recipes.

EXORCISMS (for extreme circumstances only)

We even have rituals for exorcising negative (non-Daemonic) spirits from one’s home. See Keys of Ocat. This can remove “others”, feeder spirits (leeches), and negative thought-forms.