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November 17, 2006Supernatural, Perhaps… - UPDATEDBut I had to take a second to hit the blog because my Li’l Bro Thom sent me this story: A renowned black magic practitioner performed a voodoo ritual Thursday to jinx Most “magic” is illusory. Some magic is real only because it can take place in the mind and become a “self-fulfilling prophecy.” Other magic is simply real, and there is white magic and black. I know this story is pretty amusing, but it is also interesting because it touches on something most folks probably haven’t noticed at all, and I’ve noticed probably too often: we’re living in an age where the supernatural is both very much to the fore, and barely registering as blips on our radars. Much of what is going on in the world - for good and for evil - is being brought about by people who are deeply involved and committed to a supernatural idea, and those sorts recognise each other very clearly. Many others who are playing on the world’s stage are oblivious to it, or have simply rejected the idea that a supernatural plane exists. Or, if they acknowledge supernaturalism’s existance, they consider it a benign sort of force - one that can be shrugged off, lip-served or kept in expedient service. It is an ancient knowledge: there are things visible and invisible. Many of us realise that forces of dark and light have always been engaged and that for the past 6 years that engagement has been greatly intensified in ways we cannot always comprehend. And a great deal of the battling has centered around George W. Bush, and - to a lesser but still apparent extent - Tony Blair, two men who have deeply embraced supernaturalism (in the form of Christian faithfulness) and been very public about it. It’s interesting, that’s all. I draw no conclusions; feel free to draw your own. I simply know what I know. Bush knows it, too. So does Blair. So does Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. So does Benedict XVI: there are no accidents, everything is engaged, all the time, and while most of us are not looking - while we’re fussing deadlines, banging out our pithy opinions, cleaning house or watching Stephen Colbert sing, whole worlds are at play - battles are being won and lost - and prayers and curses are breathed and go constantly forth. Jacob wrestled the angel…we all wrestle still, but there is a sense of growing intensity on that other plane we don’t see, a sense that is affirmed by a public performance of voodoo in a so-called “enlightened” age, as once again a human engaged in supernaturalism recognises another human also so engaged, and reacts. “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” UPDATED: Stingray is watching what’s going on with the Bush entourage and family and wondering about things. Clinton Taylor has more thoughts. http://theanchoressonline.com/2006/11/17/shhh-im-working-no-really/trackback/ 11 Responses to “Supernatural, Perhaps… - UPDATED” |
November 17th, 2006 at 2:35 pm
I see the events described a bit differently.
On one level, it is not surprising that there are those, when confronted with the reality that most people do not see things the way they do, invoke the ’spirits’- as if somehow, that might make their position more substantive.
Spirituality- and credibility- on demand. Now that’s narcissism!
November 17th, 2006 at 2:45 pm
You should expound on that, siggy.
Okay, I’m going back to work.
November 17th, 2006 at 2:51 pm
“I am doing voodoo, because other ritual would not work,”
. . . which ought to have told him that maybe, just maybe, nothing would.
During my time in New Orleans, I remember overhearing a conversation between some anonymous person and a man I knew as a practicing occultist, and in response to something the anonymous person said, he exclaimed: “Seriously, if there’s one group that I don’t want to be on the bad side of, it’s the little old ladies mumbling over their rosaries at the back of the church!”
This was probably the truest statement ever to come our of his mouth. He recognized something this man in this story has yet to discover: It doesn’t matter how many chickens or goats or whatever you kill, the heartfelt prayers of those who do the work of God (and the people who love and care for them) will easily trump. Resulting to animal sacrifice for your cause –*after something else apparently failed*– is a good sign that God/ the Universe isn’t exactly working with you, and maybe you should reconsider.
Of course, those of us in the western world who are esoterically inclined always consider anything “black”–like this attempted magical murder– to be a Very Stupid Idea to begin with. And Icky besides. >_
November 17th, 2006 at 3:47 pm
Did you see him sing the National Anthem with John Hall?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p21egk7xQJo
Very nice harmonies!
November 17th, 2006 at 4:13 pm
“Many others who are playing on the world’s stage are oblivious to it, or have simply rejected the idea that a supernatural plane exists. Or, if they acknowledge supernaturalism’s existance, they consider it a benign sort of force - one that can be shrugged off, lip-served or kept in expedient service.”
.
I wonder how many of those who ostentatiously reject the supernatural are, in their heart of hearts, whistling past the graveyard? They know–or suspect–in the deep fibers of their soul the supernatural is real. But to admit it means they would have to make some personal changes. And change is scarier.
.
Just a thought…
November 17th, 2006 at 6:14 pm
Greetings from another writing-avoider…but when I read about the voodoo guy I immediately thought of Robertson Davies’ novel, “The Rebel Angels” - have you read it?
I won’t try to summarize it but there is a terrifying scene in which a college professor goes to a Gypsy woman (who happens to be the mother of one of his students) and tries to buy a curse from her. He pretends it’s just a joke, just a bit of research, “let’s try it and see if it works” sort of thing - but the woman sees through him:
“Suppose I sell you a curse? I don’t hate your enemy; he is nothing to me. So to curse him I have to be very well in with –What?– if I am to escape without harm to myself. Because “What?”…does not deal in the Sweet Justice of the civilized man, but in Balance, which is not nearly so much concerned with man…
“And the Lord of Balance is “What?”, and if I call down a curse just for your benefit, believe me, Balance must be satisfied…I do not think I want to stretch my credit with “What?” to oblige you, Hollier. I do not want to call on “What?”, who lives down there in the darkness where Cancer dwells, and whose army is all the creatures of the dark…to get an old book for you. And do you know what frightens me?…It is your frivolity in asking such a thing of me…
“You don’t need me for a curse; you have already cursed your enemy in your heart, and you have reached “What?” without me. Man, I fear for you! I have seen terrible hate before, but never in a man so stupid about himself as you are.”
These are only snippets of a very long speech but I think the point is made: that kind of hatred is as big a danger to the one who hates as to his intended target. The guy with the goat may think that his ritual didn’t work, but it probably did, but if he wants to see its eventual victim, he should look in the mirror.
November 19th, 2006 at 11:17 am
I think many of us struggle with the presence of black magic in daily political life. After all, what other possible explanation is there for a Godly, brilliant man like George W. Bush, the very Churchill of our age, stumbling over simple English he reads from a teleprompter like a stuttering, held-back twelve-year-old? Clearly, vodoo is at work.
Don’t get me started on the demon-driven media. 50 killed in Iraq this morning? Christian, please. How many schools have been painted?
Those of us in the know, however, Anchoress, when we’re not having hot (but strictly missionary) Catholic sex, rest assured that Doctor Strange, sorcerer supreme, will never let the demon-vodoo islamofascism black magic triumph.
I’m reminded of a Noam Chomsky comment about the number of Americans who believe in supernatural events like angels. It’s unheard of in a modern society. To find corresponding percentages in a population, you have to go to interior Africa or the like.
Do you suppose this is responsible for our downward slide in the international arena, or is it that we don’t pray enough? Heh, indeed, as a great man once said.
November 19th, 2006 at 3:59 pm
Mr. Pamungkas (voodoo guy): “My curse will make him bloat like broccoli. Bush will feel unease during the visit,” he said.
Um, really?
Broccoli, yep that’s a common cultural touchstone in a tropical country, a vegetable that thrives in cool, fog-shrouded coastal areas such as Northern California. Broccoli rots, turning brown, squishy and shrivelled.
So Gee, why ever would a publicity hungry idiot mention broccoli in a curse on the Bush family, and be ignorant of any of the properties of broccoli?
I think Mr Pamungkas’s core beliefs revolve more around the power of publicity and the weak-mindedness of its gatekeepers.
Anne B: “The guy with the goat may think that his ritual didn’t work, but it probably did, but if he wants to see its eventual victim, he should look in the mirror.”
Mr. Pamungkas is looking in the mirror, and he sees a man who is about to experience a booming business in removing money from ignorant people.
Our Hostess: “Most “magic” is illusory. Some magic is real only because it can take place in the mind and become a “self-fulfilling prophecy.” Other magic is simply real, and there is white magic and black.”
And here’s an argument for Mr. Pamungkas’ expanding his practice to the United States of America. Sheesh.
November 20th, 2006 at 11:45 am
The Greatest Trick the Devil Ever Pulled. .
I write all this today because of several posts I’ve seen here and there the past coupla days. Most recently is this from Ace, who talks about the pictures smuggles out of Indonesia to Atlas. The supernatural aspects of the current situation were aga…
November 21st, 2006 at 9:34 pm
Living with the Supernatural, Part 1
One of the inspirations for me starting this blog, the Anchoress, wrote today on the supernatural. She took her article from this news item that appeared on Drudge and other news outlets a few days ago: A renowned black magic practitioner performed a v…
November 23rd, 2006 at 11:00 am
[...] ANCHORESS: “I simply know what I know. Bush knows it, too. So does Blair. So does Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. So does Benedict XVI: there are no accidents, everything is engaged, all the time, and while most of us are not looking - while we’re fussing deadlines, banging out our pithy opinions, cleaning house or watching Stephen Colbert sing, whole worlds are at play - battles are being won and lost - and prayers and curses are breathed and go constantly forth” …. (theanchoressonline) [...]