Taboo, my understanding of how I live within them.

Nonfiction literary compositions

Moderator: The Madame X

Taboo, my understanding of how I live within them.

Postby VodalokNightkiller » Mon Nov 05, 2012 10:35 pm

Taboo’s.
We all know what they are in our own minds and souls, for the record I will write what is found in the dictionary, as my opening.
ta•boo
   [tuh-boo, ta-] Show IPA
adjective
1.
Proscribed by society as improper or unacceptable: Taboo language is usually bleeped on TV. Synonyms: prohibited, banned, forbidden, proscribed. Antonyms: allowed, permitted, permissible; sanctioned.
2.
prohibited or excluded from use or practice: In art school, painting from photographs was taboo.
3.
(among the Polynesians and other peoples of the South Pacific) separated or set apart as sacred; forbidden for general use; placed under a prohibition or ban. Synonyms: sacrosanct, inviolable.

noun, plural ta•boos.
4.
a prohibition or interdiction of anything; exclusion from use or practice: One of the strongest taboos in all modern societies is against incest. Synonyms: ban, proscription, embargo, interdiction; no-no.
5.
(among the Polynesians and other peoples of the South Pacific)
a.
the system, practice, or act whereby things are set apart as sacred, forbidden for general use, or placed under a prohibition or interdiction.
b.
the condition of being so set apart, forbidden, or interdicted.
6.
exclusion from social relations; ostracism.

verb (used with object), ta•booed, ta•boo•ing.
7.
to put under a taboo; prohibit or forbid. Synonyms: prohibit, ban, forbid, proscribe. Antonyms: allow, permit, sanction.
8.
to ostracize (a person, group, etc.): While he is tabooed, no one may speak to him.
Also, tabu.

Origin:
1770–80; < Tongan tapu or Fijian tabu ‘forbidden, prohibited’

Synonyms
7. Forbid, inhibit, prohibit, taboo indicate a command to refrain from some action. Forbid, a common and familiar word, usually denotes a direct or personal command of this sort: I forbid you to go. It was useless to forbid children to play in the park. Inhibit implies a checking or hindering of impulses by the mind, sometimes involuntarily: to inhibit one's desires; His responsiveness was inhibited by extreme shyness. Prohibit, a formal or legal word, means usually to forbid by official edict, enactment, or the like: to prohibit the sale of liquor. Taboo, primarily associated with primitive superstition, means to prohibit by common disapproval and by social custom: to taboo a subject in polite conversation.

Dictionary.com
It’s a lengthy entry, but it clearly states what a Taboo is, something we do not do as accepted by a common mind reality, or social dictate.
But what I want to talk about here are the taboos of magic, at least for myself, and why I hold them, where I became informed of the reasoning for these Taboo’s and how I hold to the practice of honoring said taboo’s.
Over the years I have been exposed to many taboos, the rule of three, do as you will as it harm none, bragging is its own reward, and so many others. Almost all of us hold to the Rule of three, which states, “What we give out to the universe is given back times three according to our intent.” If we hate someone for any reason, that hate comes back onto us with three times the venom and so on. It’s a good rule to hold. For many, breaking this rule is a strong taboo, which holds a fear in and of itself that can be seen by some as a prison of will. As for me I walk a line in this that is somewhat different, it is a belief called “Orlog”, which states as long as your intent is strong and you know what you do is right and for the good of all, no harm shall come to you. To date, I can say rather honestly that this has held true.
Another personal taboo I have that when I talk about it, brings me no end of grief from others due to my view of the ideal of what is and is not selfish. For me Selfishness is itself a taboo that I fight with every day. And when the practice of magic comes into question, whether it is the casting of spells, creation of runic charms, or using my runes for divination, I simply “Can Not”, do it. This is my greatest taboo. It is tied to my person ideals regarding selfishness, and what comes of being selfish.
Where this started was back in my teens, I had forsaken the Christian religion, it had as I saw it then and still do, failed me utterly. After years of torment and abuse at the hands of my “Family” I was finally free of them at the age of 16, alone and on the streets. Both my mother and my father had turned me out into the cold. I prayed for any god to help me, any one of them I didn’t care. In the spring I was walking to where I was staying, and found myself begging the powers that be to help me, and I was stopped by a man that handed me $50. I looked at it and looked up to thank him. He was not there, I was standing in a parking lot with no cars, coming, going or standing. There was no one there. I got to my friends home where I was crashing on the couch and told everyone of my great luck, that my prayers had been answered. I had had that 50 in my hand only minutes earlier looking at it and everyone there had seen it, but it was now gone. It was suggested that it happened because I bragged about having a prayer answered. This pattern repeated itself, I would help someone with something, a complete stranger and tell people about it and what I helped them overcome would fall on me after bragging about the aid I gave. It took a few years to realize, that the bragging was an act of selfishness, an act to gather to myself everyone’s envy. In time I learned to know when it was ok to talk about my good deeds, or the fortunes that fell upon me, and when not to.
This reality also plays itself out in my magic, my craft seldom fails when I do work for others, but every time I attempt it for myself, the opposite of what I want will fall upon me. Let me tell you, just how hard that is to deal with and survive in some cases; it’s painful, disheartening, and upsetting beyond reason. So to this day I do not cast, work, or read for myself, I simply can’t handle the stress of it.
Another of my taboos is how I charge for my services as a practitioner of magic or for readings of divination. And this is simple, nothing in the world is free, everything has a value, I cannot set the value of a thing for another person for I know not how they see the world. So I tell them this, “I don’t care what you pay me with, as long as it has value equal to what you feel my work or reading means to you. I don’t care if it’s a million dollars, or a blade of grass, as long as it has value to you.”
I do this because when I started doing readings, when the call was put upon me, I was still young and somewhat selfish. So I would have a set price for my work and or readings like so many others. In the beginning this worked ok, but over time it began to sour my readings and work. I by this time had started calling upon Odin and Frigga for guidance in all things, and had done just that in this time of my life. I asked for some sign as to what I should do to make my connection to my runes healthy again. That very day, I saw read a section in an anthology that touched on this very thing. It was a discussion between a main character and a sub character, on the merits of the value of gifts of magic. And it touched me and I knew I had my answer, after that day my pricing stander was set as I have laid it out above.
When dealing with anything in life, be it taboo, oppression, depression, hardship, runs of good or bad luck, soured faith, whatever, when you ask for guidance, be ready for it to come from any number of the most unlikely places. From sources that one would never expect and answer to come from. Then be ready to understand what you are given, and if it sets a taboo, or breaks a taboo, hold to it with all your faith, with all your might and will, because you never know who is watching or why.
I am all that is left of life, I am Vodalok.
User avatar
VodalokNightkiller
 
Posts: 239
Joined: Tue Sep 04, 2012 12:30 pm
Location: Burton Mi.

Re: Taboo, my understanding of how I live within them.

Postby LadyGigiFrost » Wed Nov 14, 2012 9:48 am

Vodalok Nightkiller - I really enjoyed reading that.
I would agree deeply with you on the bragging of a good deed. Many-times those close to us sometimes have a way of just knowing without us saying a word.
I use to ages ago try to read for myself only to end in chasing mice- lol
Do not get me wrong I love my deck, but I do not really use them.

I struggled for a really long time with charging for my services. However, no matter what I charge I must give back to the betterment for the greater good at no charge. It's a price I pay for in many ways, but at the end of the day, it's all in the name of the great good as I am just a servant. (You get me? )
BlackSwan to Master Deacon
Dreaming of Dreaming ~Lady Frost
User avatar
LadyGigiFrost
Black Swan
 
Posts: 365
Joined: Fri Feb 17, 2012 9:08 pm
Location: Emmett, Id

Re: Taboo, my understanding of how I live within them.

Postby The Madame X » Wed Nov 14, 2012 10:05 am

Vodalok, thank you for cross-posting your article here :)
I particularly appreciate your point on selfishness and 'Orlog'. I never realized this had a name. Thank you. I have always believed that if the intent is pure righteous and for the good of all, only good can come of it, even if it is disguised as something other. Having a clear conscience and knowing you did the honorable thing is certainly the higher path...not necessarily the easiest.
I think this is a concept many struggle with. I know I have. Sometimes taking the higher path is tiring when you know that others around you are being deceptive, duplicious, fudging the truth and just waiting for you to turn your back.
Such things do not sit well with me. I see them unfolding and I can only smile and brace myself, because ultimately people will follow their own path and I cannot expect them to do as I would or take my personal brand of the higher path.
There is also the case of a good intention being misinterpreted, case and point the adage "The path to hell is paved with good intentions"... It is certainly a cutting blade.
Thank you again
Ex Somnius Scientia
Madame X
Matriarch, House of the Dreaming

https://www.facebook.com/madamex.dreaming
User avatar
The Madame X
Member / Matriarch
 
Posts: 7268
Joined: Tue Feb 17, 2004 10:48 am
Location: Portugal / NJ US

Re: Taboo, my understanding of how I live within them.

Postby VodalokNightkiller » Fri Nov 16, 2012 4:53 pm

i do understand gigi, i really do.
I am all that is left of life, I am Vodalok.
User avatar
VodalokNightkiller
 
Posts: 239
Joined: Tue Sep 04, 2012 12:30 pm
Location: Burton Mi.


Return to Articles (for the Outer Circle)

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 14 guests

cron