Black Magic As Part of Religion
Many rituals performed by black magic practitioners mentioned on television are mentioned as having aspects similar to Christianity though in a perverted form, and it appears to be universally based upon a religion, but using perverted rituals to suit the needs of the user. For example, black magic users might invert a pentacle. Likewise, corrupted rites or sacrifice may substitute blood or feces for the water or wine. Seen from this perspective, the distinction between black and white magic would be simple,
- White magic would be the original rituals, which embody the tenets of the religion in question. For Buddhism or Hinduism, this might be long and complex prayer sutras. Taoist and Shinto magic would largely be based upon fertility and nature rituals.
- Black magic would be a corruption or misuse of such above rituals, using them to self-serving or destructive ends without regard for the cultural morals of the religion. This could be something such as making poppets to cause harm.
- In a certain context, even devotional forms of ritual such as prayer can be regarded as a form of black magic, if the intended purpose of the prayer is to cause harm or injury to another. Prayers such as those that evoke the destruction of enemies and so on that produce negative results fall within the realm of ill intent. Some argue instead that in the form of devotional ritual, the responsibility of morality falls on the Deity in question, instead of the aspirant.
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