On Weaving the Path of Another
So, I recently posted a type of cursework ritual (or at least itās skeleton) to my other thread on binding & obsessions. While binding is definitely Dantalionās wheelhouse, certain portions of that ritual are a bit outside of the scope of ābindingā or obsession and I feel like if Iām going to make the outrageous claim I can toy with the entire course of someoneās life from this point on and have them continuously end up in the holes I want them in without continuously (on my end) setting them up for failure, I should speak to that confidence (just musings, nothing concrete here though).
And what better place to do that then here! Because fate, Iād say, is something woven into being. And, might as well talk about the divinity of the spider here. Iām a bit quiet about certain portions of my path, especially the not-so-demonic aspects (although I promise Iām going to write about some of the Peruvian/Andean stuff itās just been a little complicated since I moved).
In some lore and mythology, there are those who are responsible for fate and in magick there can be one of three views regarding this (in my humble, current opinion that is subject to change). The first is that we cannot oppose or change fate, because fate is Fate and there is no way to mitigate it or make it bend to what we want, determinism. The second is that we can make some alterations, at least in our worlds or the ones we see/are privy to. And the third is that we can change certain peopleās, or everybodyās, fate and destiny because we want to and/or because we are powerful enough to and this is something that happens in my world, in yours, and in everybody elseās; the impact is non-negotiable and Real.
I like spiders, I like webs, I like the connections between things, the maze we wander around in together and call life. I also know itās sometimes easier to see the future than to not, which is startling to me still and something Iām still unsure about my feelings toward. Iām friends with a ādarkerā spirit (Dantalion) who likes finding the paths between people, and Iām deeply respectful of certain spirits, gods, others that, in common lore, are seen as responsible for either fixing (in place) or tampering with (changing) the path certain people are on.
The type of magick I spoke about in that post isnāt really āoutcome-orientedā magick in the same way a lot of my craft is. Obviously, Iām looking for an outcome (my targetās ruin, etc.), but itās a different game to a lot of what I do, whether weāre including obsessions, bindings, or having someone bring me food.
The metrics of this type of casting are inherently founded upon the idea that we, or at least some of us humans wandering this planet, have the ability to determine and bring into Realityāacross the board, not just the reality I see, but the reality of my target as they are and as they exist apart from meāwhat we want in non-negotiable ways that have the capability to, and do actually, change the course certain people may be on.
So there are two stances I can take with this working. The first is to say, this was always going to happen and so Iām just adding power to it. The second is to say, well, this wasnāt always going to happen, but Iāve decided it will now so Iām going to uproot what was going to be/should have been and fill that void with what I want. To me, one of these seems the path of least resistance. But, I donāt just want to perceive my target as suffering, I want them truly and undeniably suffering, I want their pain to be so loud and overbearing it echoes out all the way down their path and informs absolutely everything they touch and that touches them until death finds them and their cord of fate is cut.
Letās talk a bit on spiders now. Spiders are beautiful, lovely creatures. They begin with only themselves, and as time goes on, they find themselves a home and make it āhome.ā
Iām going to talk about web-weavers here first. Web-weavers make their webs, and they are often strikingly beautiful. And as time goes on, provided the spider has chosen a good location to live, it amasses other creatures within it. The spider wraps it prey, and eats them at is leisure or the spider will let things die or the spider will set them free. Anything that touches the web, though, falls to the spiderās mercy (this is a little simplified, but Iām not here to fight about metaphors). Letās look at trapdoor spiders for a moment now. While they donāt weave their homes, they have the same patience as web-weavers and a similar quick reaction to potential food.
Some of you have heard me repeat this with more frequency than others. That some of us are āfoodā and others āmagicians.ā I often say this in regard to magicians and people who are toying with things out of their depth and about to find out the reality of magick through difficulty. However, I apply the same line of thought to the mundane crowd. There are people with āmagicā making things work and there are people without it, or who know of it but canāt harness it. Sometimes, these things are entangled. For example, when a magician meets a non-magician who is repeatedly obnoxious, and therefore begging to be prey.
Personally, people have to work very hard to earn magick from me, in any direction. But when they do, I try my very best to give them what I feel they are deserving. And I am clearly not an impartial arbitrator. While the spider may only hunt, kill, etc. for food, the magician has many more reasons at hand to act in certain ways. And the gods, their reasons for acting as they do (assuming that they operate in ways similar to how many myths present them as individual and with their own desires, etc.) are even greater.
So letās talk about some divine spider figures (vaguely). From what Iāve learned and studied, there seem to be more goddesses than gods in this arena. They are typically very strong, crafty, themes of creation are often present, ideas on āweavingā either literally or with regard to the tales (lives/futures) of mortals, protection (especially from not-human things), thereās a weight on the value of details at times, manifestation, magic.
Hereās something that strikes me though, that spiders are not usually classed as āevilā despite so many people, in our time at least, having an aversion to them. However, that doesnāt make them āgoodā by default either. Whether creator, trickster, or fate-spinner, the spider presents us with the idea of inescapability, of the difference between predator and prey (although the lesson of the spider isnāt really about obliterating enemies I donāt think), of the value of Creation.
So, Iām not going to give the details on how I tamper with things like this, but I thought it was important to say thereās more to this (thought-)process than simply, āthis is what I want to happen, Iām going to tie it into someone and watch their downfall.ā That is, of course, what Iām doing, but thereās a little more behind the scenes as well.
The magick though, it comes from understanding how we, whether magicians or not, bring the worlds we want to exist into being. It comes from knowing who we are, as individuals and as people all wandering around here together in the greater scope of things, and it comes from knowing our craft and being stronger than those would seek to oppose us.
To my spider friends, and those who have come before, who have seen us struggling for power, to those that have saved us and granted us mercy, thank you for your graciousness and your wisdom. I look forward to walking further into your path through this ritual, and in my own advancement in this life. That we me continue to create our own worlds in(to) reality and prosper in them.