When is black magic justified in your opinion and what are its limits?

[Tylluan Penry]

Re: When is black magic justified in your opinion and what are its limits?

When I was young (I was brought up in a family that practised witchcraft) the following was drummed into me: Wishes and curses are like old hens, they always come home to roost. (In other words, if you make a magical mess you can clear it up. And all types of spells have the potential to go wrong.)

I won't use a method that involves pain or sacrifice to others, in other words, I will not kill or harm an innocent creature in order to perform any spell.

However, I reserve the right to perform whatever spells I deem necessary. Hexes aren't often required, but I have hexed and no doubt I would do so again in certain circumstances.

And if I make a magical balls-up, then I'll clear it up.
And no sniggering at the back, thank you!

[Siloh]

Re: When is black magic justified in your opinion and what are its limits?

I've had a terrible time understanding what individuals here are referring to when they refer to "magic," but my generalized working definition is that magic can be defined as basically anything that is not a direct physical action yet seeks to bring about significant (apparent?) change.

And in this sense, I think I personally use black magic all the time, and often it works, and sometimes it doesn't, but it's often worth a try. When I intend ill will and put that into the form of words, gestures, body language, eye contact, etc., I usually couldn't care less about my target anyway. Besides, I'm a believer in karma in the sense that if I feel I deserve comeuppance, I will usually get it mostly because I anticipated retribution for doing something that obviously violated my personal values in a way I didn't forgive myself for.

I have to say, when I first joined here I was waging a very psychological against someone and just plain felt cursed by her in a way that was uncharacteristically superstitious of me. Part of me wished there were some alakazam spell that could hex her out of my life. But in the end, and in retrospect, I know I was working on casting my own sort of spell. I knew that she, as a self-destructive person, would ruin her own image faster than I could ever manage. I simply waited for her to run herself into the ground before virtuously offering my pity for her. I have to say that the result was more satisfying than if I could have made her burst into flames.

I know, I know. I'm a b*tch.