Here's A Gun, Now Go Back And Play. (a Rant Of Sorts)

A child comes to you with tales of how they are being bullied on the playground. You give the child a loaded gun and a brief lesson on how to use it and send him on his way.

You are in a hospital waiting room and someone comes up to you and tells you their ailment and how much they wish they could get better. You tell them of herbs and other alternative treatments and watch as they leave the hospital to follow your instructions.

You say you would never do things like this? Never give a loaded gun to a child or tell a sick person that they need to leave and not see a doctor? I say you have. I say I have seen you do it over an over. I have cringed when the words were said and try as I might to gently guide the soul back to what they need to do, you have said I was foolish and didn't know what I was talking about.

Call me old and senile now and get it over with. Go on, it would hurt my feelings.

Got it out of your system? Good.

Now I'll explain.

Listen carefully because I'll never use what I am about to tell you in any post, note, letter or IM. These are things that I know about myself and do not need to boast in order to get my point across.

I am a Witch.
I am Pagan.
I am an almost 50 year old Crone.
I have practiced both dark and good magic.
I have reaped in both cases what I have sown.
I have had more students than I care to keep count of. Some have loved me and some have hated me but all have done as I told them too and I am proud of every one of them.
I have studied and am in good standing with holy people from various faiths such as Santeria, Voodun, Buddhism, Christianity and more. What I don't know, I go to these fine individuals to seek answers to my questions.
My word is not the law. My word works for myself.
I speak from only experience and always from my heart.

Now, if I've forgotten anything, I'm sorry and I'll address those issues as the time and need comes.

Now on to the above statements.

Too many times I've seen and read requests for help in some spiritual matter. And too many times I've seen spells, rituals and very bad advice given to those seeking help. Sometimes those answer are really not anything to be worried about, a minor spell or such that could cause very little damage if done wrong.

But then there are those that offer, either online or in private very strong and powerful rituals/spells to someone they know nothing about. They don't know the faith/path the person is walking but feels it is proper to give them something that should only be carried out by an experienced soul. They become defensive and sometime lie about their state in life to make them sound like they know what they are talking about.

In a nutshell, they are telling that ten year old boy how to use a gun on the playground if the bully returns. They will be just as responsible for anything that goes wrong, just as though they had cast that spell/ritual themselves.

You can't properly help a person with just a request, or one post. No matter how much you want to, there are questions that should be asked. There are mundane things that should be tried. There are proper people to be approached before running to a website and posting to a bunch of strangers. As much as you would like to help that person, you can't without all the facts, and not just one side of the story.

To do so is dangerous and unethical.