Taking Power Out of Gossip

In Magic, our word is our power. Misusing our words by lying, or not keeping our promises chips away at our own magical effectiveness.  But another insidious way that we lose our power is by abusing our words through participating in gossip.

We have all witnessed plenty of gossip and slander in our lives (and I'm sure we have all participated in it to some extent or another as well). I used to care rather obsessively about what people thought of and said about me. As my name and my work got more exposed to the greater community however, I had to finally come to the realization that gossip was just part of the package. These days, I care less what people say about me.

No matter how we slice it, it hurts to hear mean things being said about us, especially when they aren't true. The people who know us, are usually aware of what is true; and those who don't know us, have the choice to be adult enough to make up their own minds when they hear rumors. If they are so childish as to believe every bit of gossip that comes their way, are they people we really want to spend any time with anyway? We don't have power over what people say about us, nor do we have power over what people think of us.

We do, however, have power over our own actions and words. We have power to realize that gossip is very addictive; we also have the power to put our foot down and avoid participating in gossip and slander ourselves (and that includes speaking up about it when it is being spoken in our presence). We have the power to keep our own sides of the street as clean as possible. We have the power to know our own minds and our own beliefs, and to avoid indulging in obsession over others' words about us or our characters.

It is a natural reaction to want to defend ourselves against gossip, but what does that do other than keep it alive? It's best to allow ourselves the moment in time to find forgiveness and understanding for the perpetrators, and realize that happy people don't gossip. Miserable people do. Ultimately gossip doesn't speak about the victim of the gossip, but about the perpetrator.

Sometimes the truth hurts. If we ever find out that someone says something awful about us behind our backs, we might try first asking ourselves if there is any truth to the rumor. If so, it can be a painful, but excellent opportunity to upgrade our own lives by starting to change the things that were being spoken of.

If, however, there was no actual truth to the trash talk, we must try to remember that the gossip doesn't have anything to do with us, and has absolutely no power to harm us. Trying to stop others from gossiping about us is a losing battle. If we can let it go and let our lives be the examples of the truth of who we are, then we are in the driver's seat. We can remain poised, serene and powerful in the face of gossip, if we recognize it for what it is and for what it is not.

Results Are Your Proof

Since magic requires that we think for ourselves, make choices for ourselves and take responsibility for ourselves, it is not compatible with any religion or thought system which thrives on controlling the minds and desires of others. This is why magic has been maligned by many organized religious institutions and governments through the years.

A practitioner of the Magical Arts must be able to train their minds and emotions and be willing to forgo rationalizations and excuses for their circumstances and behaviors.  They must be willing to uncover and re-channel hidden fears, hatreds, beliefs and thought patterns which are contrary to their desires.  This kind of work constitutes a very deep and profound journey that gives real and tangible results, yet magic is not for the weak minded.

Over-complexity of praxis is unnecessary and can often yield little more than intellectual muscle flexing and posturing; on the other hand, systems that are too simplified run the risk of degenerating into mere superstition.  Effective magical systems are, therefore, complex enough to engage actual magical currents that give real results, while simple enough to be usable.

The current popular idea that magic is like making a stew, where a practitioner takes a little of this and a little of that on a whim is unfortunate.  While it is true that a seasoned practitioner has at their disposal a palate that allows for a great deal of artistic expression and improvisation, they have usually trained very diligently and have great clarity of what it is they are doing and why they are doing it. In my experience, a person with no magical training rarely gets results from this type of "make up our own system as we go along" approach, because they lack the discipline and understanding of how magical currents operate let alone how to direct them. 

While these self-styled "magical-looking" activities and communities can be enjoyable for the participants, they often fail to bring actual results, and the practitioners therein tend to rationalize and make excuses for their lack of results which thus perpetuates and reinforces a cycle of self-deception. These home-grown "magicians" and "witches" will then often start to teach others and as a result, entire hierarchies are sometimes built out of these ineffective systems that consistently fail to produce results.  

A magical system that is built on effective principles and practices tends to produce effective results with a fair amount of consistency.  This, in my opinion, should always be the benchmark by which a student of the Art judges the system they are considering.  If the leaders and teachers of a particular system are living lives that, at least in general, demonstrate that their magical system actually works, that is a good indication that the student may want to investigate things more closely.  If the student is able to achieve some tangible results from the very beginning of their studies, that is even further proof that they are studying an effective system.  If, however, everyone involved seems to be merely mired in the "trappings" of it all, but with no meaningful or consistent results, then it may be time to look elsewhere.  

Not everyone is in a position to commit as an apprentice with a good teacher, but there are quite a few wonderful self-study and correspondence courses available. Since students will tend to resonate with certain systems and currents of magic over others, it's a smart idea to try a few systems, if possible,  to see where there is a feeling of kinship; but until the student has reached a level of proficiency in a particular system, it is really best to ultimately find one road and stick with it for a while, rather than trying to create a system for themselves for reasons already stated.

It should go without saying that there is no single person, system or group that is the one true system in magic. In fact, there are many wonderful and different magical roads that can lead to great magical success. Any teacher or group that claims that their way is the only way is usually a teacher or group to be avoided; but by the same token, it is important to remember that there are people, systems and groups that, as sincere as they may be, are on roads to absolutely nowhere at all when it comes to actually producing anything worthwhile, magically speaking.  Keep your eyes open for results.  Your time is too valuable to waste.