shhhh! don't tell anyone

[Zarklon]

My guess would be karmic law.. maybe it wont be as effective if you tell others about how you do it.. I mean.. at least thats the gut feeling I get when that question arrises "Why shouldnt we tell people about it". I dont practice magick or anything but I've always had that feeling that if I could do anything special , I shouldnt tell anyone because it may risk me not being able to accomplish the stuff with much effectivness if I had told someone.

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I believe I can do anything. I believe I just have to learn more before I can make it happen. http://www.mutedfaith.com/images/spirit.jpg">

[kakkarot]

because people still don't understand these things and, more importantly, don't believe in them. so when you go around telling people you practice magick, you might get people looking at you as though you are telling them that you are an alien from outerspace.

it is still on the fringe of society, so it is said to not tell anyone so that they don't extradite you from them.

i find this to be, unfortunately, a true sentiment of what society thinks. but if you don't care, then tell everyone you want to; there won't be another witchhunt (i'd hope). it is for the "safety" of your personal relationships.

~kakkarot

Secret of Secrets

[Tom]

Most of my practices are also supposed to be kept quiet. The reason is not just that other people would not understand. They could also make any doubts in my mind more substantial. They could keep me from being able to invest myself fully in them and that could be enough to keep them from working. Then there is the matter of dissipating the energy. When people talk about their problems the problems feel lighter and less difficult. It is the same with good things. Until it is too late to dissipate the good energy, sharing information about your intentions can dissipate it the way a problem when shared will dissipate. Finally, having a secret practice like that can be a real ego boost.

[James S]

My thoughts about this agree with Kakkarot's point.

More than that, you tend to be labelled if you hold views that are outside of mainstream. As an example:

I believe in higher powers, especially an earth mother/goddess. I meditate and work on raising energy or attaining a trance state, and I have experienced forms of astral projection.

In other words I'm a delusional pagan new-ager religious nut, who needs to stop wandering about with my head in the clouds and get back down to earth.

General society seems to only want to believe in what they can physically see or feel. Traditional science seems to need to support this by providing empirical data on everything. Anything outside of this is just make-believe, children's tales.

If you don't wish to have your state of mental health or character put in doubt, it's easier just to keep quiet. The silly thing is that there are so many people out there that secretly believe in a lot of the things we do, but keep it strictly to themseves or will only talk about it in private for fear of being seen as "one of those wierdos".

Aside from that most ancient arts require a great deal of mental discipline. It is this discipline that would tend to have you err on the side of caution and not speak or act in a hasty or boastful manner.
Mind you, this is coming from someone who has the mental discipline of a Budgerigar.

[kakkarot]

and also, there is the possibility that any of are insane or wrong, and so it is easier to continue believing what we choose to believe when others aren't saying that we are nuts.

for example, on another forum, someone once posted that he had a huge field of negate-ive (not so much negative as negating) energy, but some other people on the board started calling him some very nasty words claiming that they had remote viewed him and what he said wasn't true. now their argument becomes who is the more credible, or the more believable, or the more manipulative rather than what is truth.

or like when people disagree on what IS true with regard to the paranormal. some people say one thing, others say another. who is right? we can't tell, but the only way to keep people from trying to belittle you is by keeping what you know a secret.

but, there are always multiple answers to every question.

~kakkarot

Secret of Secrets

[Tom]

Someone I met told me that after years of study and meditation, suddenly she was given perfect enlightenment, the ability to see auras, and the ability to interact with spirit guides. The whole room had been filled with light and she was told that she was not from this planet, but instead that she was from a much better world and that her mission in life consists of two things: (1) Identify the only 100,000 beings who will go to heaven and cause them to see their true nature as beings of white light from her home planet. (2) Literally destroy this planet. She said that the 100,000 have all been born, so all babies and small children are automatically evil. Other than the 100,000 she must find (and many are animals) everyone else is trying to kill her, so she must hide her identity: she is the Archangel Michael most of the time. She has also been Jesus Christ, God, and the mother of Jesus Christ. You might be interested in knowing that He is back on this world and living in Burlington, Iowa, usa. Her teeth are rotting and falling apart, but she cannot go to a dentist because all dentists are trying to kill her. She has frequent migraine headaches but cannot see a doctor because they are all trying to kill her. It would take too long to tell everything and even the basics of what she has to say would take too long. When I say that she is not right in the head, I invite destruction upon myself ... according to her. You see, initially she decided that I am one of her 100,000 that she is seeking. She changed her mind. Now I am an incredibly powerful demon who must be killed at any cost. She thinks that she has accomplished this already. Really. I am no longer living, and so unable to type this.

[James S]

Ok Tom, and she's wrong because.....
http://www.astralpulse.com/forums/images/icon_Smile.gif" border=0>


James.

[Tom]

I never said she was wrong about anything. I just mean to say that she is psychotic. Everything she said she experiences, she probably does. It is probably perfectly real for her. That does not mean that I should go bury myself or sell my organs.

[fredhedd]

well i don't have to worry cause i'm fairly confident that im one of the one hundred thousand myself.

[Ides315]

Hey, Lysear.

As far as I know there are two main reasons not to tell anyone. The first is people are generally jealous of things they do not posess (actually, we all posess it, just not everyone accesses it). This causes them to create resitence for you, even if unintentional. The second is most people are not  ready for the reality of many things, and need to discover them on their own. If someone has not learned the proper life lessons, and has access to a lot of power, they will not use it properly.

It is hard not to talk about your progress, especially if you are not being directly taught by a person. I would not throw to much into the ego catagory, as you are really not any better or worse than anyone else, just more experienced, or made better life decisions on your way. Ego will limit what you can achieve, and the rate you achieve it.

Best to all

[jilola]

Ides is on the right track there, imho.

When you tell people of what you do it is because you wish to impress or be noted.
In such personal and intensive an undertaking as magick this wish for acknowledgement very easily becomes a goal in itself thus undermining the Intent necessary for the working.
A magickal working is all about Intent, Will and Concentration. All of them have to be sololy directed toward the goal of the working and toward one's center of being.
If the reward comes from anything else than thhe working itself then one of the 3 pillars are strong and will fail the working.
Which is why I suck at the whole thing http://www.astralpulse.com/forums/images/icon_Smile_sad.gif" border=0>
2cents & L&L

jouni

[dazy mable]

 Tom's point about dissipation of the energy makes sense to me regarding the Why of keeping quiet...Isn't that what you're supposed to do when you make a wish and blow out your candles?  Or throw a penny in a fountain?  

 Keeping it to yourself keeps it sacred...rather than secret.

[Rob]

I have been thinking about this too, and can come up with two reason:

First, well it is funny you should say this - I was talking to a skilled level mapper for my favourite game, action quake 2 (online) just the other day. I asked if he has written maps for other games, and he said, to sum up
"No, why should I? I make the maps for myself, that I am proud of them and that is all that matters. So many people get into it to try and be cool, and thats just the wrong reason. Also, when people think you are good at something, you are only setting yourself up for it" - ie there is then pressure to continue on that level, and the motivation stop coming so much from inside but from an outside controlling force (and in this situation ego also steps in, unless are a practical Gandhi!). This can also change motivations which were once pure, so while you may not have initially have cared about other peoples attitudes, you might end up only trying to play up to them. So really there are two good reasons there.

The next idea I have had ie waaay more metaphysical! People, on the whole, exert a strong "negative-psi" because of their beliefs. This means that because they don't believe in these things they form barriers against it, and tend to manifest that reality around them (why scientists supposedly never see ghosts, or come under psychic attack)  Ironic really! And quite amusing in a sad way, that they are still using the forces they claim don't exist, but only to reinforce their beliefs.
But anyway, then you can say that if they think you are doing things which are "impossible", their opinions will put a damper on your effects.
And to go a step further, it may be possible that this effect is not bounded by time, so that by telling someone of an event in the past, that event will subseuqntly be dumbed down from that present. You never know, someitmes things may fail entirely because you tell someone about it in the future!! I know, headf**k material! But interesting. I read about a scientifically controlled study once on the retroactive effects of prayer once which was great! About 5 or so years after the event, they formed a list of want-to-be-mothers in a random clinic, then randomly split the group in two, prayed for one half to become pregnant and have kids but left the others alone. They then checked to see the results. Significant difference!!!
- btw I am going to test this theory very soon, doing an experiment my brother doesn't believe will work, and then presenting the findings but ONLY should it work. I will continue trying until something comes out. Maybe I will see if keeping the results to myself will make any difference.

laters

Rob

[Tom]

Secrecy and the need for it are based on the expectation of conflict. If everyone were to be in agreement about a thing and to have similar goals about it then they could openly support each other. This is not the case. More people disagree than agree about most things. It can often be helpful to not express thoughts. It can be helpful to avoid working openly toward goals. Some things are more likely than others to attract opposition.

It is also possible to go crazy. It is good to have a method of continually checking one's beliefs and attitudes against an objective reality of some sort. Please consider the person I described earlier who says that my rotting corpse is no longer available to type this. It does not have to be so extreme to be incorrect.

[Lysear]

I just wanted to put this to some of the more experienced ones among you. I have been practcing ceremonial magick for about 8 months now and among the many things there is one that bothers me the most. Why do most all forms of magick tell you that you should keep quiet about what you do. I would understand if it was just for your own safety because people can be a bit irrational. However I get the impression its much more than that, that its a specific reason for being quiet that i'm not getting! anyone any theories on the matter?

"man makes his own history, but he does not make it out of whole cloth; he does not make it out of conditions chosen by himself but out of such as he finds close at hand. -Karl Marx