black magic!

[Amorphos]

black magic

black to white or white to black - what course does wisdom take?

i had a conversation with a friend about black and white magic, she seamed to think that the path begins with black magic then ascends towards the light becoming ‘white’ magic. i suggested that if anything [i am not really into this way of seeing things] it probably goes white to black!
i wont go on to much but heres the basis of that view:

light = fluffy clouds, ribbons, bunnies and the fool
dark = deep, sensuous, frank, ‘been there got the t-shirt’ and the wiseman.
i entered this into the conversation too; ‘hate has a way of seeing things clearly’.
and...
some witches/wizards/black magicians were perhaps as people saw them, bitter and full of curses, they may have had really hard lives and been treated very badly & all that. generally speaking, life doesn’t get better it gets progressively worse, one just gets older and more ill, loved ones die and one can increasingly see people for the ridiculous morons that they are.

so what is the direction of wisdom; towards the light or the dark? [metaphors not equivalent to good and evil so much]

[Sosobra]

If ( and that is a big if) there are supernatural forces I think like most things the thing itself (magic) is neutral and depends on how its used.

[Drexxus Maximus]

If ( and that is a big if) there are supernatural forces I think like most things the thing itself (magic) is neutral and depends on how its used.

Yeah, I look at it the same way pretty much. But wisdom could be achieved equally from both sides. There is the whole redemption factor though, in which someone who gained "dark" wisdom might someday seek it or hope for. (redemption)

[Amorphos]

very good points sosobra and drex!

redemption? - if people are being taught things that aren’t always nice, isn’t that just being truthful. what if there is no god, but there is aether, which can be used anyway one wishes, i mean sorcerers were simply thought of as like warriors in ancient times. one is good with the sword the other with magic!

[Kythras]

I tihnk the mistake we should try to avoid making, is assuming the Magic = The Force, if magic were to exists, I think it would be totally different to George Lucas' Zen-inspired philosophy. IMO "magic" would be more along the lines of the "Dark Side's" view of the Force, a tool to be used, not something to be used by. That being said, I think it would largely depend on the person using the "magic" naturally people with darker mentalities would be drawn to "black magic" and, dare I say, people with more normal mentalities (thought still quite strage, to pursue "magic") would be more likely to choose "white magic".

Again, I think comparing magic to wisdom is a bit of a misconception, a "black magician" would be, in my opinion, just as likely be attain wisdom as a "white" one, or a sprinter, a police officer, or an artist. "Magic" would be a tool, a profession, but unless specificallytaught/told otherwise, I don't think it would be an instinctive "way of life..."

[DEXTER]

I dont thise thing is real

[Bokks]

spiritually I personally would say that life is meant to be lived for the sake of joy, but joy is fleeting, so you must be in constant search of it, while on that search you must, naturally, endure pain, but pain is everlasting, scars may heal but they always exist. That is what separates the different mentalities, there are those who look beyond pain and see the joy, and there are those who are consumed by the pain, sometimes so much so they gather joy from it, and that is where I gain our conceptions of light and dark "magic"... sort of. I could go on a much more philosophical tirade, but it would take up a lot more space.

Now for other philosophies on what others value, I thought the mantality of a martial arts style a friend of mine took and explained to me would work nicely here. He is taught something that looks to me a lot like bits and pieces of Xiaolin, so let's call it "faux-Xiao" for this discussion. Occording to his teachings, the belt that is valued above all is the white, because the pupil who has the white belt has complete purity of mind. As they earn their colors and move through the ranks, of course their skills are enhanced and developed, but they lose that purity because of the experiances they have gone through. Eventually they reach the black belt, after much time and arduous training. But in my friends style, this "faux-Xiao", that isn't anywhere near the end. That individual must now leave and experiance all the world, and understand the majesty of all life. As he goes onto this journey, this pilgrimage, his old black belt begins to fade, and eventually, after many years, his belt is again white, with purity that he has earned through wisdom that he has accomplished. I thought that ideal might be relavant.

[EDIT] @ Jankren: Black is seen as absolute wisdom in some cultures, but mostly it is seen as "evil" because it symbolizes the unknown. We are afraid of the dark, generally speaking, (though I have found many reasons to be more afraid of what you can see) and so in many cultures that fear is equated with evil.

[jankren]

Why is black always equated with evil? lol

[Ummon]

Magic is never wise.