secrecy

We live in dark times and it seems likely that things will get worse before they get better. Many people feel called to use magic as a fighting tool in political and social matters but the collective spells and the advice that goes around on the internet and on social media is very often dismal.
If you are doing it, you should do it taking the right measures to minimize risks to yourself and others and maximize effect and this is what this essential guide is all about.

Before we begin, remember that this is a guide about MAGICAL ACTION (spells, divination, petitions etc.) and that I am not encouraging you to engage in physical violence in any way, shape or form. After all, it is a widely shared opinion that magic is just woo woo nonsense, isn’t it? So it’s not like it’s going to hurt anyone, I’m glad we have this cleared up. Now, let’s get back to our guide.

• Rule number one: do NOT aim aggressive spells directly at the top dog. They usually have extensive protection (if only through the adoration of the masses) and this kind of spells will only work if they have an enormous amount of power behind them (no, a single practitioner, no matter how skilled, is not going to cut it) and if you have good links to the target, something that is especially hard to get for this kind of people. This is the kind of spell that is very likely to rebound in a bad way.

• Does the previous point mean that you are never to target the top dog with your spells in any way? Well, it depends. Generally speaking, having an effect on them is going to be hard but you can have more luck if, instead of using an aggressive spell, you devise something that is not going to be “recognized” as an attack at all and if you can empower it with the feelings and the intention of a great amount of people (this is one of those cases in which quantity DOES matter).

• Study your target: what pushes their buttons? What are their vanities? The things that make them react without thinking much because they HAVE to? Their preconceived notions? A spell that exploits these existent deep beliefs and entrenched behaviors is not going to be recognized as a threat and is more likely to succeed, you just have to be careful to construct it with the right goal in mind.
  For instance, a narcissistic leader that is pathologically convinced that everybody loves them and that they can do no wrong is prone to embrace a suggestion that they need to do a certain thing and that everybody will love them for it: you can use an influence spell to steer them towards the one action you know that the vast majority of people will not forgive or approve of or a rash decision that could lead to their ruin.For instance, let’s imagine that someone that wanted to oppose Napoleon and was aware of his arrogance and impetuousness, wanted him to try to invade Russia in winter because doing so would likely bring to his defeat. This person could have distributed magically-enhanced pamphlets in which they suggested that Boney was too afraid of the tsar’s army to try such a move. When it comes to political magic, propaganda can often be the stem of the arrow, while the spell that steers its direction is the point.

   

• Consider devising a double-faced spell, especially if you want to rely on the power coming from big groups of people and you want your spell to go “viral”, in some way. This means that the spell should have an inner structure that is known just to you or a restricted number of people and a simpler, “public” face that is shared with a wider audience.This public face can be overtly magical in nature (like an essential spell or a sigil that is shared with other like-minded practitioners).
  Keep in mind that if you choose to give your spell an openly magical public face, you should evaluate the nature of this face very carefully. Magical practitioners already have a bad reputation and the negative repercussions brought on this community by an openly aggressive spell could easily outweigh any potential advantage.

  An oftentimes wiser option would be to opt for a public face that can seem entirely mundane. For instance, memes are a great way to spread this kind of hidden intentions.

  This approach has many advantages, among which are keeping the real engine of the spell secret from your adversaries (thus, harder to counter-act) and avoiding the focus of the spell getting blurred by “too many cooks in the kitchen” while still benefiting from the horsepower of the masses.

• If you are good at being devious, you can consider infiltrating the places most frequented by the kind of people that support your adversaries and devise the spell in such a way that THEY will be spreading it among themselves.
  This is especially good if your goal has to do with influencing them and the structures they are present in. Just by way of an example, for instance, sell or distribute merch that has been enchanted in a specific way at public events or share seemingly friendly (and enchanted) memes in certain digital spaces. 
• Remember that even the biggest top dogs usually start crumbling from the feet. Look at their entourage. Who is bitter and thinks that they deserve better? Who is having qualms? Who is unstable and prone to act without thinking? Who has other interests in mind? These minions almost always have significantly lower defenses shielding them from magical action and they are thus easier to target with direct spells. Study their place and function within the structure of power and strategize.

• Appealing to “Justice” is a double-edged sword, especially when you are dealing with spirits and deities from different cultures and historical times: a Babylonian deity would likely see nothing wrong with an all-powerful sovereign seeking to annihilate their opposition. Make sure to frame your requests in such a way that the spirits you are appealing to have a dog in the fight (eg. a deity that is known as a patron/patroness of foreigners will often gladly offer their help in magical actions aimed at protecting migrants).
• Do not focus exclusively on aggressive magic. Always keep in mind that you can use sorcery to support alternative candidates (you don’t have to love them, they just need to be better than the alternative) and to protect and empower individuals, organizations and groups of people that can keep up the fight.
• Divination is your friend, especially with spells tackling the kind of stuff where unforeseen consequences can cause massive damage.
  Use divinatory techniques to explore different avenues and to receive guidance on the kind of action that is more likely to achieve the desired goal with the best net positive outcome. If you are not skilled at divination, you can ask a trusted person to do this for you. Keep in mind that every action (magical or otherwise) has many potential consequences, so the trick is to be responsible enough to consider them seriously, keeping your ethics at the forefront of your mind as you do so, but avoid getting paralyzed by them.

And, above all, remember that being angry is fine (and sometimes even required), as long as it doesn’t make you stupid, hateful or cruel. There’s already too much of that in this world.

If you found this article helpful and you would like to learn more about the tricks and strategies of aggressive magic, take a look at the course “The Magical Technology of Defixiones”.