Maz Maz Maz -

You are fretting over nothing at all - though this is a common thing which is as prevalent as it is important (and unspoken!)

The witch in any "older than now" sense uses whatever is to hand that will get the job DONE and that is an end to it! The old witch would use suggestion, an actual cure and whatever superstition as well on top of the others to get the job done and not turn a hair over it. Success always helps soothe the conscience.

You say there was nothing in the selectively tatty old "trad bag" to fix your drama so your reached for a "shiny thing" instead. Well I ask you how did you decide to do so? Did you check first in the tatty old bag? I'll bet you did - so you can't say it had nothing to do with the cure as it was consulting with your "Trad" knowledge which suggested you try something else in the first place and THAT is precisely what a witch does. Confronted with a problem they look for the simplest way to get the job done. They consult their knowledge, skills, guides, tools whatevers and then gets on with it.

This most certainly includes kick starting the subconscious with "external different" things to everyday activities that will make it say: "Oh .. this is different so it MUST be important and work well!"

Contrary to the wishes of many in the modern times there is no dividing line in any form of magical work - just where everyone's snobbishness would put it. Contrary to the desires of modernists for simple clear lines between what they define as "Witchcraft, Sorcery, Magic(k,que,and a silent X!), Cunning Practice and the bewilderingly daft long lists of names they have come up with to make themselves sound secure and knowledgeable" ... in actual historical (and contemporary!) practice no such lines exist! There is simply what one can and can't make work for the job at hand and be damned those who stay ignorant in the cause of elitism! lol

We all do it after all on some level ... the trick is to keep it to a minimum or exaggerate it and make THAT work for you as well (I argue some of the Ford work on Sabbats is a good example for most modern styled witches actually!)

This is like validity .. at the end of the day the only validity that is worth a damn to a witch (as opposed to scholars and such like) is found by asking: "Did it WORK!?" If it DID (and by that I mean did it actually have a real effect that cured the problem to one's satisfaction!) then all's well.

You ask if you should change horses ... I say you only actually HAVE one horse and it sounds like your ass is more firmly planted on it than you realise! *BG* You are on your path and you will study and learn and try out whatever you like and works. When you just do that rather than wonder I reckon your "guilt" will pretty much be gone in an instant. I always consider that Elitism is like masturbation .. yes it makes you feel good, everyone does it, noone admits it .. but again the secret is to make it work FOR you rather than against you! lol

Subsisto

Scott

I think I love you, you might just be my new best friend XXXXX

Thank you.

lol

Don't worry you'll get over it! *BG*

Scott

Scott, that was one of the best replies I have read in a long time!!! *HG*

Yup, I agree, Brigid. I'm getting too hung up on the labels I despise...probably as a result of so much reading, reading, reading. Have any of us ever read a book that doesn't have a huge amount written about definitions? I'm over it, thanks to Scott - it's all magic and so long as it's working when I need it, it's all good....but I am going to have a look at the Ford books McDee uploaded :)

Thanks for your interest.XX