for educational purposes only, ? and using any information in them to make up ceremonies was WRONG. ( I did not see any twink books there either )
It is wrong for many reasons. ? The one that stands out to me from my perspective, is the abuse of a ceremony (broad general use of word) ? can take ? many forms and can be in the long run down right dangerous to the, um, ok, ignorant folk who fancies him or herself this or that through their attempts to perform ceremony as laid out in a fluff book or fluff flier or as shown in a movie or as a sit-com on tv. ? ? ?
The person drawn in, as one un-instructed/prepared in whatever form the ceremony takes, does said ceremony, and then at some point opens the door to really messing themselves up through their ignorance and dis-respect or botching of whatever it is they are trying to do. ? They may think its all ok but they will get slapped sooner or later for having done it. ? Many things should not be written down or kept intact like that for good reason as it may in the long run somewhere down the line be abused in the wrong hands by what I will call the un-initiated. ? Yes things should be left to their respective peoples and not disturbed or monkeyed (including some antiquities) with but try to tell that to someone in the New Age section where you can buy books of quickie spells or kits to Voodoo your boss.... ? I am amazed at how flippant some people approach the spiritual. ?
Conversely I've heard that drugs can make you feel good too but look what they do to you in the long run. ? That's a good analogy. ? But again, it can be difficult to reason with people when they really want to do something and are are all hyped up about doing it and the mere thought of doing it makes them feel entitled to do it its like some weird endorphin kicks in to tease them into finally actually doing it. ? So they have to find out for themselves the hard way, hopefully not to hard a way or they may at some point have to get someone to fix them.
Some get sucked into that "let's make money doing this" and then fall into the pit of corruption - perhaps one of the many ways I see that spirit slaps them for being stupid. ? I think all these terrible things I see some of these faux shamans and wannabees embroiled in - threatening people, the violence the sexual abuse, all that stuff ends up being a direct result of them monekying with the universe, with ceremony. ? They think they are getting one thing but something else gets them instead and they are too caught up in it all to see where they are heading... ? I often wonder, if they had not gone that route with the abuse of the sacred, perhaps they would not have fallen into that vile mess they ended up in. Maybe if they had instead taken up astronomy or fishing things would have been better. ?
That is a wonderful article and I agree with its many points. ? Thanks for posting it.
Lindaa
