Consecrating Your Tools

Mark Anjuu wrote:

That all depends on the nature of the relationship. I know many couples that indulge in sex magick without problem.

The hardest thing for a Jedi would be to still honour the vows we have taken. In other words, as long as we are respecting ourselves and others, are restrained and moderate in its use, and do not allow it to control us with \"unchecked desires\", then such practices should be ok.

MTFBWY

We still have to know what the other feels in order to respect them and they are not always easy to see. Then there is the question as to what is \"moderacy\" exactly? Usually we also only find out when we are not in control any more when we have already lost it.

True. As I have always advised, magick is not to be treated lightly. Always know what you're doing and who you're doing it with.

I used to test my limits by going to excess, then pulling back but that wasn't always healthy! So nowadays I am more respectful of how I feel at every stage. Like you say, moderation is usually learned through immoderate experience!

MTFBWY

What sort of tools do Pagan Jedi specifically tend to use? From my own perspective, I feel like holding onto a tool or having a collection of them for my spiritual practices would be a distraction from what's actually going on. Were I Pagan, I'd just use my hands, since they are a part of me giving it a more personal touch, and because I always have my hands with me. What if you want to practice Magick but you don't have your tools? And is Magick equated to the Force for Pagan Jedi? Or are they different? Please, explain this to the confused but curious non-Pagan. Thanks in advance!

We learn to use tools "magically" in the same way as usual. If I want to put up a shelf, I will use a drill, screwdriver, spirit level, etc. If I want to cast a circle or consecrate a space, I might use an athame. All tools are there to serve a purpose but they're not the only ways of doing things. A well-intentioned finger, for example, can cast a circle just as well. A deftly-wielded butter knife could substitute for a screwdriver too!

One of my shamanic teachers once said something that I always remember: "we learn how to use tools to accomplish tasks but there will be times that we need to do something without access to those tools so you should always be capable of working alone and with nothing to aid you."

And from my perspective, "magic" is merely manifesting something with intent. It uses the Force perhaps in a more ethereal form than a physical act but it nevertheless is connected to it. Then again, since the Force is in everything, I fail to see how anything can NOT be a part of it!

Thanks, Master Mark. That's the way I'd look at it too. I guess my experiences with Pagan religions is that the tools are so heavily emphasised and referenced in anything I've read or experienced, so I wasn't certain.

As for the Force...perhaps my question is how Magick actually differs from the Force. What are its unique characteristics that make it special from the relationship between a Jedi and the Force, or a Buddhist and Dharma, or a Taoist and the Tao, or a Christian/Jew/Muslim and God? Or is Magick that name for the mysterious Universal Truth that we all seek?

In short, there is no difference. Everything is a matter of perspective and everything is appropriate for the moment. If I am working with a particular pantheon or deity, it works. If I follow my Taoist side, that works too. If I use a tool, it works, if I work without anything, that works too. Everything is essentially true and right for the individual at that moment. There are, however, many people that get hung up on the concept of what is right or appropriate and seek to extend that beyond their own selves. So there are as many discussion in pagan circle about the "right way" to use an athame as there in Christian circles as which interpretation of the Bible is more "correct"!

In my opinion, such discussions ultimately remove us from a connection with the thing itself. If people spent as much time doing their own thing than worrying about other people doing theirs, we might get a lot more done!

Mark Anjuu wrote: In my opinion, such discussions ultimately remove us from a connection with the thing itself. If people spent as much time doing their own thing than worrying about other people doing theirs, we might get a lot more done!

100% agreed!!!