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

[Ula]

What people choose to do is their business. As long as you understand that things can come back to you. I would say if you feel bad at any point you should stop and not do it. The guilt will eat you up more than anything. I had no problems doing a spell on the morons at the public school my son once attended. They lied in some hearings we had so I put them all in the jar and asked Tyr for justice. I only put in the ones who lied. Don't really care what happens to them if anything. It was as much about letting go as giving them what they have coming (at least in my opinion).

[OfTheWorld]

To me, Magic is magic, energy is energy. It's the intent that makes in "black" and from how I have been taught, how i see right/wrong. Black magic is merely using magic on/towards someone without their premission to change their state (for good or bad) for example my priestess told me once she did a binding spell to keep a friends husband from drinking and becoming violent. Even if the intent is "good" in your eyes. It was still black magic, and wrong.

[Medusa]

What people choose to do is their business. As long as you understand that things can come back to you. I would say if you feel bad at any point you should stop and not do it. The guilt will eat you up more than anything. I had no problems doing a spell on the morons at the public school my son once attended. They lied in some hearings we had so I put them all in the jar and asked Tyr for justice. I only put in the ones who lied. Don't really care what happens to them if anything. It was as much about letting go as giving them what they have coming (at least in my opinion).

Well...as a Satanist I don't believe in karma. And lots of people have done things and nothing comes back to them, they sleep well at night and go on with a wonderful life. It sucks to know this, amirite?

[Ula]

Well...as a Satanist I don't believe in karma. And lots of people have done things and nothing comes back to them, they sleep well at night and go on with a wonderful life. It sucks to know this, amirite?

I think at some point we all get what we deserve, good or bad. We don't always know what people have going on and somethings are not what they seem. It's not so much karma as wyrd, so I don't let it bother me too much.

[B. de Corbin]

If you feel a need to justify doing something, then you should think real hard before doing it.

When you act with a clear conscious, you can do a thing without fabricating an excuse for yourself.

[Tylluan Penry]

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]

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.