NEGATIVE ENTITIES PART 2
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The most basic protection is the magick circle. Those
magicians or Wiccans who work without a circle are worse off
than an aerialist who does his trapeze act without a net.
If you fall down, you bite the dust REAL HARD. The circle is
a line drawn in the dust of matter that says to beings of
evil to stay clear under pain of intervention by the forces
of Good.
If you cannot draw a circle in the earth or with chalk or
with a line of corn meal or (better) cattail pollen (called
Hod'nt'n by the Teneh), you should smudge the area where a
ceremonial or a healing will take place, or use one of the
good banishing rituals in MAGICK8.TXT, or if all else fails
or if you cannot do anything else without drawing too much
attention (like in a public place) visualize yourself
encased in a shimmering globe of white or violet light, or
wrapped in white or violet smoke or fog.
Under no circumstances should you feel or show fear. Fear is
a way these entities can get to you.  Affirmations against
fear are a good way to combat these feelings.  I like the
"litany against fear" from the Frank Herbert S-F classic
"Dune."  The book is a work of fiction, but the actual
litany sounds like it was taken from an old Wiccan Book of
Shadows.
"I will not fear.  Fear is the mind-killer.  Fear is the
little death that brings total annihilation.  I will face my
fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me, and
when it is gone I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.  Only I will
remain."
If you must invoke a spirit, even if it's identified as an
angel, DO NOT invoke it without being well situated in a
GREATER THEURGIC CIRCLE.  This is well documented in books
on high magick, and I will not detail it here.  Invocations
are truly risky business, not the province of dabblers.
This kind of working is something I encourage you not to
attempt, and do not do myself, even though I have been
active in the occult for years.  Unless you are especially
adept and power-FULL, this is something extremely prone to
backfiring on you.  I also believe that the practice of
automatic writing and ouija is far too risky to be fooled
with, as well as direct consultation of spirits for
divination.  Symbolic divination like Tarot and casting
runes should be done after protecting yourself as I have
detailed above.
And most importantly, stay well away from the rituals that
allow discarnates to possess a person who desires to become
a channel.  You will quite possibly put your mental health
and even your soul in grave peril if you do this.  It is my
belief that Aleister Crowley, who was a giant in occult
philosophy up to the point where he seemingly went crazy and
dissipated himself in debauchery and drug abuse, was pushed
over the edge by his contact with Aiwass, a discarnate
entity whom he allowed to possess him.  It may not have been
the only thing that did it, but it was certainly one of the
major elements in his fall.
I will conclude this series in the next post.