Trolling as a magickal tool.

The idea hit me earlier that maybe the time-honored tradition of Internet trolling could be used in magickal practice.  It would, of course, probably be better suited to those of a "left-hand" path as it could be morally dubious and it also utilizes strong emotion.  I believe the difficulty might be in channeling all of that Internet rage into your work, but using a computer in your working shouldn't be that complicated for those with enough ingenuity.

This is essentially co-opted group focus, in a sense, similar to an ordinary magickal group working.  Instead of having a group focusing on your magickal goal, they are focusing their strong emotions towards you.  Your job then is to channel all of that attention being given to you into your working.  Since I'm becoming so fond of sigils I'll use that as an example.

You would need to prepare your sigil (or ritual, etc.) beforehand.  Once you have everything set up then you can begin co-opting the energy you need to make your sigil particularly potent.  I figure that there are two ways of charging a sigil in this way.  The first one would be to use your sigil as your avatar or display picture in a forum or chatroom so that the energy is flowing directly to it.  The second way would be to devise some method of channeling the energy into your working such as keeping the sigil on your computer or using your computer in the ritual (if you're taking the ritual path).  This is where your ingenuity comes in.

How do you incite the strong emotions though?  If you're dealing with Wiccans then point out how Gerald Gardner plagiarized Aleister Crowley (see this previous post for more info).  If you're dealing with followers of Crowley you can call him a deviant drug addict.  Obviously this only works on specific groups.  If you're working with a more eclectic crowd then you'll probably need more general triggers.  I would avoid things like "Magick isn't real," as this could work its way into your own subconscious and potentially subvert your goals.  Anyone that's had much experience in these types of crowds should be able to come up with something to stir emotions.

All of this is morally questionable, perhaps reprehensible, but I thought that it might be interesting to folks even if they never actually try the idea out.  I enjoy thinking of new ways to look at old things and solve problems.  With this much negativity on the Internet, someone may as well try to put it to use, right?  If anyone does try this then please let me know how it turns out.  This is frontier stuff right here, I think.  Exploration and experimentation is encouraged.

I also apologize for the flood of magic(k)-related topics lately.  I know that probably not everyone enjoys reading about this stuff but I've been getting back into it lately and I feel that the best writing comes from personal experience.  So there you go.  I'll try to post about more diverse topics in the future.

Something I learned today about Wicca.

I learned that if you really want to make Wiccans and their supporters very upset all you have to do is mention that Gerald Gardner plagiarized Aleister Crowley.  Bonus points for providing specific examples.

When I first learned about all of this plagiarism business I was very surprised.  At the same time I was rather amused.  It becomes even more amusing when you look into the deeper history of Wicca and Gerald Gardner.  This says nothing towards the validity or efficacy of that particular path, but I think maybe Wiccans should lighten up a little bit.

Wiccans can always say that the Outer Court teachings (the plagiarized stuff) are not as valid as the Inner Court teachings which are oathbound (meaning you take an oath not to reveal them).  The "real" Wicca being oathbound makes it very easy to defend it as no one is able to discuss it.  There's really nothing wrong with any of this at all until a "holier-than-thou" attitude creeps in and then, I feel, it becomes necessary to put the whole matter into perspective.

For further reading I provide the following links.  As always, feel free to leave a comment.

The Great Wicca Hoax - Part One
The Great Wicca Hoax - Part Two
The Thelemic Origins of Wicca