So good! I love the part on ritual, performance, and belief. So much of magic is like walking a tight rope: as soon as self-consciousness interferes, you wobble and fall either into irony or cling onto desired results to save face.
When I first got into Solomonic Magic, I pretty much decided I was just going to go off the rails and post all the cool ritual tools and pentacles I was making, the process of initiation into such work, even photos of myself in my ceremonial attire. I think I was vaguely aware it might be cringe to some people, but overall I was so wrapped up in the pure love and wonder of it all that I just didn’t care and continued to show it with wild abandon. I’m sure some people thought it was weird and made comments I never heard, but many other people responded very positively. It really showed me that a lot of people, often just semi normal locals, really wanted to experience wonder and stop caring about it being “cringe” or not.
Additionally, my best ritual results have always come from the workings I did in which I truly believed that if it wasn’t successful, my world would end. Spirits will ask for rum, cigars, etc, but faith, desire and sacrifice are the food of the gods and angels I think.
Anyway, a very compelling article that I enjoyed reading!
This applies pretty much to all parts of life. The fear of being cringe has crept into everything. I can say "cringe is dead" as much as I want, but the fear of judgement stays
Wow, thanks for writing this. So on point and refreshing to discern an actually ensouled voice in your writing and not the machinations of ChatGPT or Claude.
Thank you for inventing the term “Irony culture”. There is much to contemplate on that alone. I come from Liverpool in the UK and we are a funny funny people, but irony culture is full full on there.
An entire town of people too embarrassed to simply be passionate about things they deeply care about! And very good at laughing it off…
"You don’t continuously dig up a seed to see whether it has sprouted. The practitioner compelled to check has already told themselves something about their confidence in the soil."
I love the simplicity and imagery in this line. Cast your spell, cast your intention, and then completely let go. Release expectations. The obsession with how others perceive you, whether or not you are cringe, and the attatchment to maintaining detached irony are all rooted in a lack of surrender--a need for control that literally removes your power to have any control.
I love the way you've tied so many different philosophical ideas together to highlight their connection and relevance in modern irony culture. Well done.
LaVey is quoted by Blanche Barton as declaring that "[a]nyone without a sense of humor is too pretentious to be a good magician." And yet Burton Wolfe also has him affirming that “[s]omeone paid me a great compliment long ago, when he said, about me, ‘He’s no fun any more.’ That’s when I knew I was getting somewhere."
interesting! i absolutely agree about having a sense of humor. i differentiate that from the type of irony i mention here. i think we can take our magic seriously without taking ourselves too seriously.
This is excellent! Saved it because I need it to ponder it thoroughly, because I started to wonder if what you wrote about irony can be applied more broadly to humour (but I suppose because the distinction between humour and irony maybe it's not so clear?), which doesn't mean that you can't have a playful approach to magic.
It reminded me of what the venerable Jorge fight against in Umbero Eco's the name of the rose. He hid the book of comedy by Aristotle because he speaks about laughter, and laughter destroy the fear of God. Oops! Going into ranting-into-white-rabbit-hole mode! 😀 Thanks again! It's great!
thanks Simone! i don't think this applies to humor as that isn't something I will ever be giving up! i don't know if i could if i tried. my motto tends to be to always take my magic and practice seriously, just not myself too much. (also a huge Eco fan)
see, i *knew* i would love this. really appreciate the breadth of references & depth of analysis. will be returning to this over time, to think with it more.
also feeling out a connection with the use of contempt as protection magic (which i think came from ramsey dukes, but may have been another of the chaos uncles), and irony as at least *related to* contempt, directed "inwardly".
This is such an excellent point, and I have quotes to cite from a variety of grimoire sources which all state things to the same effect. They never say, "Lust for result..." but they do say, "If you have faith" / "If you know the Names and Hours", "Doubt leads to failure", etc. If you immediately question the validity or efficacy of your sorceries you aren't performing from the heart and the momentum of the cosmos isn't behind you.
So good! I love the part on ritual, performance, and belief. So much of magic is like walking a tight rope: as soon as self-consciousness interferes, you wobble and fall either into irony or cling onto desired results to save face.
yes exactly! and thank you!💜
When I first got into Solomonic Magic, I pretty much decided I was just going to go off the rails and post all the cool ritual tools and pentacles I was making, the process of initiation into such work, even photos of myself in my ceremonial attire. I think I was vaguely aware it might be cringe to some people, but overall I was so wrapped up in the pure love and wonder of it all that I just didn’t care and continued to show it with wild abandon. I’m sure some people thought it was weird and made comments I never heard, but many other people responded very positively. It really showed me that a lot of people, often just semi normal locals, really wanted to experience wonder and stop caring about it being “cringe” or not.
Additionally, my best ritual results have always come from the workings I did in which I truly believed that if it wasn’t successful, my world would end. Spirits will ask for rum, cigars, etc, but faith, desire and sacrifice are the food of the gods and angels I think.
Anyway, a very compelling article that I enjoyed reading!
love this. and FWIW i have always enjoyed your posts about your practice.
So. Damn. Good. The text message to God line will live rent free in my head forever ♾️
💜💜💜
I love this so much!
ty Orchis! :)
Meee too!!!
ty!
This applies pretty much to all parts of life. The fear of being cringe has crept into everything. I can say "cringe is dead" as much as I want, but the fear of judgement stays
unfortunately true. it’s really hard to let go of!
I liked your article so much that mentioned and linked it in my upcoming article ✨️
much appreciated ✨
Thank you for writing this. Absolutely brilliant
ty Jo!! ❤️❤️❤️
I'm glad this article came across my feed. Subbed. I'm looking forward to seeing what else is under the soil here.
thank you!
Wow, thanks for writing this. So on point and refreshing to discern an actually ensouled voice in your writing and not the machinations of ChatGPT or Claude.
much appreciated!
Thank you for inventing the term “Irony culture”. There is much to contemplate on that alone. I come from Liverpool in the UK and we are a funny funny people, but irony culture is full full on there.
An entire town of people too embarrassed to simply be passionate about things they deeply care about! And very good at laughing it off…
i didn’t invent it! just something i’ve observed for a long time. glad it resonated though thank you!
"You don’t continuously dig up a seed to see whether it has sprouted. The practitioner compelled to check has already told themselves something about their confidence in the soil."
I love the simplicity and imagery in this line. Cast your spell, cast your intention, and then completely let go. Release expectations. The obsession with how others perceive you, whether or not you are cringe, and the attatchment to maintaining detached irony are all rooted in a lack of surrender--a need for control that literally removes your power to have any control.
I love the way you've tied so many different philosophical ideas together to highlight their connection and relevance in modern irony culture. Well done.
thank you!
LaVey is quoted by Blanche Barton as declaring that "[a]nyone without a sense of humor is too pretentious to be a good magician." And yet Burton Wolfe also has him affirming that “[s]omeone paid me a great compliment long ago, when he said, about me, ‘He’s no fun any more.’ That’s when I knew I was getting somewhere."
interesting! i absolutely agree about having a sense of humor. i differentiate that from the type of irony i mention here. i think we can take our magic seriously without taking ourselves too seriously.
This is excellent! Saved it because I need it to ponder it thoroughly, because I started to wonder if what you wrote about irony can be applied more broadly to humour (but I suppose because the distinction between humour and irony maybe it's not so clear?), which doesn't mean that you can't have a playful approach to magic.
It reminded me of what the venerable Jorge fight against in Umbero Eco's the name of the rose. He hid the book of comedy by Aristotle because he speaks about laughter, and laughter destroy the fear of God. Oops! Going into ranting-into-white-rabbit-hole mode! 😀 Thanks again! It's great!
thanks Simone! i don't think this applies to humor as that isn't something I will ever be giving up! i don't know if i could if i tried. my motto tends to be to always take my magic and practice seriously, just not myself too much. (also a huge Eco fan)
see, i *knew* i would love this. really appreciate the breadth of references & depth of analysis. will be returning to this over time, to think with it more.
also feeling out a connection with the use of contempt as protection magic (which i think came from ramsey dukes, but may have been another of the chaos uncles), and irony as at least *related to* contempt, directed "inwardly".
thanks for this!
This is such an excellent point, and I have quotes to cite from a variety of grimoire sources which all state things to the same effect. They never say, "Lust for result..." but they do say, "If you have faith" / "If you know the Names and Hours", "Doubt leads to failure", etc. If you immediately question the validity or efficacy of your sorceries you aren't performing from the heart and the momentum of the cosmos isn't behind you.
thank you Mat!! and yes it's crazy how universally held this concept is across so many sources.
breathtaking. one of my favorite substack articles. bravo!
thank you! that means a lot to me!
Great reminders, wonderful work!
thank you!