Following my post a week ago about the importance of both complexity and simplicity within a magical context, today we've got something of a double feature. This article focuses on a new topic of equal weight and importance, as will the next that I post in relation to Serpent Sorcery.
For now, we're here to discuss labels in a spiritual context, their importance, their relevance, and where they fail to make the mark. Societal interactions are both as complex and as simple as we need for them to be.
When we engage with others, we speak to them about any number of subjects as a general rule. These social engagements can range over a broad spectrum of topics and an unlimited number of foci, but the specific discussions we choose to have with a specific person tend to come with a label attached. This can, at times, lead to a greater sense of community and a feeling of being more supported by those of like mind, but the opposite can also hold true.
What happens when we choose a label that's unlike anything else another person has ever experienced? When this occurs, we tend to ostracize ourselves from social engagements with this person who is equally foreign to us, and that can essentially render us "othered" by extension. That is to say that labels are as much like garments for one's personality as sunglasses can be a social statement or a Gucci handbag can be an indication of worth.
We define others by and through our engagements with them, and the labels we wield and wear become an extrapolation of who we are. When we claim to be a Wiccan or a Druid or a Satanist or a Buddhist or a Ceremonial Magician, we automatically claim some manner of affiliation with others who identify in a similar way. This can be a beneficial identification or a harmful one depending on the attitudes of others.
If the group with which you're affiliated by label does something wonderful, then hooray for you, you get a social "like" and folks appreciate your presence more thoroughly. When that group does something dubious or heinous, however, the opposite occurs and those so labeled are treated with fairly equal disrespect across the board. This is the exact process by which Islamophobia became a thing here in the USA, and its for that very reason that being mindful of one's image is crucial.
Without discussing the moral quandaries associated with assumptions related to such blanket statements, its important to understand that this is how human beings work. We've grown very good at including those we feel are good for us and absolutely horrendous about othering those we fail to understand, and this happens each and every day.
Knowing this, I would urge you to consider what your labels say about you. You can be Chrissy the Gardnerian Witch or Samantha the Satanic Daemonolatrist without some circles batting an eye, but do be mindful of the opportunities you gain by identifying as such and, more importantly, the opportunities you lose as a direct result.
If you find that you may be rejected more readily because of one label or another, I would strongly suggest you consider your brand and how you present yourself. It does make a substantial difference, and there are times where interacting with others without a label attached can be advantageous. You never know when that label will follow you into a job interview or a spiritual engagement.
This brings me to the other side of this particular coin: labels in spiritual context. Just as we might be othered because we don't fit cleanly into someone else's paradigm as a result of our own adornments, we might fail to properly interact with spirits as a direct result. This sounds ridiculous at first breath, but why should a spirit behave any differently than us? Many spirits are simply dead people to begin with, and we know how judgmental the living can be!
Our own espoused religious and spiritual views can lead to us being accepted or rejected by spirits, and when this occurs the results can be either incredibly beneficial or absolutely devastating. Some spirits will refuse to work with us if we work with another being they hate, fear, or disrespect, and there are times where they'll harass us as a direct result of that affiliation.
For instance, I had a client contact me when she was travelling through the Midwest here in the US. She'd been getting harangued by the spirits of Native Americans as a result of performing Christianized rituals in their view. These entities took it as another instance in which white folks were trying to take their land and they were none too happy about it, leading to the client in question being tormented by tricksters seeking to throw her off and send her packing. It wasn't until she dropped the Christianized flair from these rites that she was respected and treated as a regular human passing through, as the Christian trappings of the rites themselves offended these entities immensely.
This is not a one-off experience, either. Each class or group of spirits, be it defined by tribe or by location, have their own rules, regulations, social taboos and enemies. The label you wear and the spirits you work with tell them a great deal about who you are as a person, and they will most definitely treat you as such. Entreating with these beings with mutual respect and little to no extravagant airs will get you the best results, so leaving the label at the door is often significantly advantageous.
The takeaway from this is that I'd advise you to concern yourself more with the nature and skill of those you regard as brother and sister, as the labels associated with those social engagements do trap and hinder as much as they assist. There's nothing objectively wrong with having no label, and there's nothing wrong with approaching different groups of spirits to learn. Learn from a variety of different entities and let the layers of awareness they inspire within you then influence how you interact with others going forward.
Use labels as sign posts and then, once you've found your bearings, ignore them. This sounds counterintuitive, but you'll only ever get so far by following paths others have carved. ;)
Blessings,
Chris
For now, we're here to discuss labels in a spiritual context, their importance, their relevance, and where they fail to make the mark. Societal interactions are both as complex and as simple as we need for them to be.
When we engage with others, we speak to them about any number of subjects as a general rule. These social engagements can range over a broad spectrum of topics and an unlimited number of foci, but the specific discussions we choose to have with a specific person tend to come with a label attached. This can, at times, lead to a greater sense of community and a feeling of being more supported by those of like mind, but the opposite can also hold true.
What happens when we choose a label that's unlike anything else another person has ever experienced? When this occurs, we tend to ostracize ourselves from social engagements with this person who is equally foreign to us, and that can essentially render us "othered" by extension. That is to say that labels are as much like garments for one's personality as sunglasses can be a social statement or a Gucci handbag can be an indication of worth.
We define others by and through our engagements with them, and the labels we wield and wear become an extrapolation of who we are. When we claim to be a Wiccan or a Druid or a Satanist or a Buddhist or a Ceremonial Magician, we automatically claim some manner of affiliation with others who identify in a similar way. This can be a beneficial identification or a harmful one depending on the attitudes of others.
If the group with which you're affiliated by label does something wonderful, then hooray for you, you get a social "like" and folks appreciate your presence more thoroughly. When that group does something dubious or heinous, however, the opposite occurs and those so labeled are treated with fairly equal disrespect across the board. This is the exact process by which Islamophobia became a thing here in the USA, and its for that very reason that being mindful of one's image is crucial.
Without discussing the moral quandaries associated with assumptions related to such blanket statements, its important to understand that this is how human beings work. We've grown very good at including those we feel are good for us and absolutely horrendous about othering those we fail to understand, and this happens each and every day.
Knowing this, I would urge you to consider what your labels say about you. You can be Chrissy the Gardnerian Witch or Samantha the Satanic Daemonolatrist without some circles batting an eye, but do be mindful of the opportunities you gain by identifying as such and, more importantly, the opportunities you lose as a direct result.
If you find that you may be rejected more readily because of one label or another, I would strongly suggest you consider your brand and how you present yourself. It does make a substantial difference, and there are times where interacting with others without a label attached can be advantageous. You never know when that label will follow you into a job interview or a spiritual engagement.
This brings me to the other side of this particular coin: labels in spiritual context. Just as we might be othered because we don't fit cleanly into someone else's paradigm as a result of our own adornments, we might fail to properly interact with spirits as a direct result. This sounds ridiculous at first breath, but why should a spirit behave any differently than us? Many spirits are simply dead people to begin with, and we know how judgmental the living can be!
Our own espoused religious and spiritual views can lead to us being accepted or rejected by spirits, and when this occurs the results can be either incredibly beneficial or absolutely devastating. Some spirits will refuse to work with us if we work with another being they hate, fear, or disrespect, and there are times where they'll harass us as a direct result of that affiliation.
For instance, I had a client contact me when she was travelling through the Midwest here in the US. She'd been getting harangued by the spirits of Native Americans as a result of performing Christianized rituals in their view. These entities took it as another instance in which white folks were trying to take their land and they were none too happy about it, leading to the client in question being tormented by tricksters seeking to throw her off and send her packing. It wasn't until she dropped the Christianized flair from these rites that she was respected and treated as a regular human passing through, as the Christian trappings of the rites themselves offended these entities immensely.
This is not a one-off experience, either. Each class or group of spirits, be it defined by tribe or by location, have their own rules, regulations, social taboos and enemies. The label you wear and the spirits you work with tell them a great deal about who you are as a person, and they will most definitely treat you as such. Entreating with these beings with mutual respect and little to no extravagant airs will get you the best results, so leaving the label at the door is often significantly advantageous.
The takeaway from this is that I'd advise you to concern yourself more with the nature and skill of those you regard as brother and sister, as the labels associated with those social engagements do trap and hinder as much as they assist. There's nothing objectively wrong with having no label, and there's nothing wrong with approaching different groups of spirits to learn. Learn from a variety of different entities and let the layers of awareness they inspire within you then influence how you interact with others going forward.
Use labels as sign posts and then, once you've found your bearings, ignore them. This sounds counterintuitive, but you'll only ever get so far by following paths others have carved. ;)
Blessings,
Chris