04-22-2009, 12:00 AM
In most this world, sorcery has always had a bad connotation. For naive westerners, it is nothing more than a Disney stereotype, so, you can imagine their
surprise if they were sentenced to beheading in the middle-east for trying to peddle it there. As with most schools of thought regarding witchcraft, the move
in the west has been to try to make it politically correct at best, or a harmless fringe preoccupation at worst. It is rare for anyone to step up and say
"yes, sorcery is what you think it is and I don't give a damn if you don't like it." With followers of Castaneda, the sheer volume of
cowardice is breathtaking. Nagualists or anti-nagualists have one thing in common, they are afraid to deal with sorcery for what it is, because, if they ever
admit that it is exactly what sorcery has been made out to be throughout history, they would have to then explain what the hell they are doing by associating
themselves with it. The anti-nagualists say stuff like, "it's just another cult that has no connection with reality, it is all bullshit. I got
sucked in by Castaneda's charms, not because my thinking is at odds with normal society." The pro-nagualists are prone to saying things like,
"what I practice is shamanism, its earth friendly and all about love, it has the smallest carbon footprint of any path." I subscribe to the third
way, the jump in with both feet, and let it be what it is, way. To me, sorcery is no more scary or fucked up than any other school of thought in this world,
there is a dark side to everything, it just so happens that the dark side of nagualism is the good side of it. I figure that life is about balancing integrity
and hypocrisy within ourselves, the difference between courage and fear. The only way that nagualism will ever re-solidify on this earth is if it starts
pushing back, it can't stand its ground if it is also apologizing for its own existence. So, it is really in the same boat as any other minority position.
surprise if they were sentenced to beheading in the middle-east for trying to peddle it there. As with most schools of thought regarding witchcraft, the move
in the west has been to try to make it politically correct at best, or a harmless fringe preoccupation at worst. It is rare for anyone to step up and say
"yes, sorcery is what you think it is and I don't give a damn if you don't like it." With followers of Castaneda, the sheer volume of
cowardice is breathtaking. Nagualists or anti-nagualists have one thing in common, they are afraid to deal with sorcery for what it is, because, if they ever
admit that it is exactly what sorcery has been made out to be throughout history, they would have to then explain what the hell they are doing by associating
themselves with it. The anti-nagualists say stuff like, "it's just another cult that has no connection with reality, it is all bullshit. I got
sucked in by Castaneda's charms, not because my thinking is at odds with normal society." The pro-nagualists are prone to saying things like,
"what I practice is shamanism, its earth friendly and all about love, it has the smallest carbon footprint of any path." I subscribe to the third
way, the jump in with both feet, and let it be what it is, way. To me, sorcery is no more scary or fucked up than any other school of thought in this world,
there is a dark side to everything, it just so happens that the dark side of nagualism is the good side of it. I figure that life is about balancing integrity
and hypocrisy within ourselves, the difference between courage and fear. The only way that nagualism will ever re-solidify on this earth is if it starts
pushing back, it can't stand its ground if it is also apologizing for its own existence. So, it is really in the same boat as any other minority position.