Communicating with the World
Jan. 12th, 2008 11:51 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kokopelleA wonderful LJ friend recently wrote about the relationship between human and the gods/entities. The discussion reminded me of a portion of an article I wrote several years ago. The article was focused on the ways of magic and mentions earth elementals, but I believe that the thoughts here can be extended to many workings with gods/entities beyond our mortal coils.
Consider an analogy. A person calls your name and motions you to come to where they are. You do so. Is this magic? Yes. They performed magic on you. How is this different from summoning an earth elemental? Summoning an element is an action of calling them to where you are. Their name is called. When done properly they arrive. The keyword here is properly.
We will continue the analogy of calling a person. If a person is not in a room with us, and we call their name, will they come? Perhaps not. If they are out of the range of our voice they will not hear us and cannot respond. What if we shout or use a megaphone? We would be heard across a larger area. What if they were in a different town? We could use a telephone and they could come. The use of the telephone requires we know their number and requires that they be available to receive the call. There is the possibility that the person is deaf and cannot hear us even if they are in the same room, or they may be capable of hearing and choose to ignore directions.
Considering the potential difficulties in calling a person to come to your side, what of the summoning of an elemental? First they must be a “real’ entity. They must be available, and we just have the means to communicate to them. Lastly, they must have the desire to come when the command to arrive is given.
What do the calling over of a friend and the summoning of an elemental have in common? The person creating the magic has:
Awareness of their surroundings – who/what is there and where
The knowledge of how to communicate
The understanding of how to combine the awareness and knowledge
A relationship with person/elemental that will facilitate a response
These four building blocks are just as necessary while operating a microwave, driving a car, operating a VCR, or drawing down the Moon. The harmonious or effective combination will make things happen. The improper combination will result in nothing happening, or worst, an unwelcome outcome.
Lets work with the analogy of the microwave. Putting a metal dish in a microwave, the incorrect awareness of the surroundings, can be very dangerous. The microwave must be programmed for the appropriate amount of time; this is the knowledge part. Lastly, the person working the microwave must bring together the awareness (proper dish, food) and knowledge (correct amount of time) to properly heat a dish. What about the relationship? If the person cooks beets and they don’t like beets, than their properly executed magical act still has an unwelcome outcome.
Consider an analogy. A person calls your name and motions you to come to where they are. You do so. Is this magic? Yes. They performed magic on you. How is this different from summoning an earth elemental? Summoning an element is an action of calling them to where you are. Their name is called. When done properly they arrive. The keyword here is properly.
We will continue the analogy of calling a person. If a person is not in a room with us, and we call their name, will they come? Perhaps not. If they are out of the range of our voice they will not hear us and cannot respond. What if we shout or use a megaphone? We would be heard across a larger area. What if they were in a different town? We could use a telephone and they could come. The use of the telephone requires we know their number and requires that they be available to receive the call. There is the possibility that the person is deaf and cannot hear us even if they are in the same room, or they may be capable of hearing and choose to ignore directions.
Considering the potential difficulties in calling a person to come to your side, what of the summoning of an elemental? First they must be a “real’ entity. They must be available, and we just have the means to communicate to them. Lastly, they must have the desire to come when the command to arrive is given.
What do the calling over of a friend and the summoning of an elemental have in common? The person creating the magic has:
Awareness of their surroundings – who/what is there and where
The knowledge of how to communicate
The understanding of how to combine the awareness and knowledge
A relationship with person/elemental that will facilitate a response
These four building blocks are just as necessary while operating a microwave, driving a car, operating a VCR, or drawing down the Moon. The harmonious or effective combination will make things happen. The improper combination will result in nothing happening, or worst, an unwelcome outcome.
Lets work with the analogy of the microwave. Putting a metal dish in a microwave, the incorrect awareness of the surroundings, can be very dangerous. The microwave must be programmed for the appropriate amount of time; this is the knowledge part. Lastly, the person working the microwave must bring together the awareness (proper dish, food) and knowledge (correct amount of time) to properly heat a dish. What about the relationship? If the person cooks beets and they don’t like beets, than their properly executed magical act still has an unwelcome outcome.
