Other posts in this series:
More to be posted as I complete them.
Book
No. 09 – White Night
(ROC, 2008, first pub. 2007, ISBN 978-0-451-46155-1)
- magickal kit in a tackle box (p. 7):
these days, I use a laptop case, but I stretch that to include cloth shopping
bags if I need more kit :) . The tackle box is an interesting idea –I’ve use one
of those for storing nails and screws and bolts in … maybe I should just bite
the bullet and build what I need when we get settled in the new house …
- copper filings spell (p. 8):
cool.
- introduction of examination of neochristian
views on magic theme (pp. 6 – 7, 8 – 9, 10 – 13):
I think one of the things that needs to be said about the hate preached against
Wicca, magick, LGBT people, other religions, etc, is that it comes from neochristianity – NOT
Christianity, which is about loving one’s neighbour as oneself (no, I’ve not become a Christian – I’m still
quite happily Pagan).
In these pages, a few viewpoints are discussed, but the character Murphy doesn’t
at
all make the point she claims to be promoting, which is an insight into
her character flaws: could a flaw in her communication skills be part of what
happens to her later, and part of what doesn’t happen between her and Harry?
- psychism (pp. 27 – 34):
good explanation of how it works, although in the context of a weird situation
that I wouldn’t expect to happen in this-verse. The comment about taking longer
to focus when one is learning are correct, although the times are perhaps not
as long for the stuff I’ve done / experienced / witnessed in the real-verse.
- grounding (p. 34):
good comments.
- teaching (p. 38):
excellent comments – one needs to know the
whys and why nots as much as the how to.
- physically glowing (p. 39):
I’d actually like to be able to physically glow … I’ve read of such happening
in one of Lobsang Rampa’s books (pp. 185 – 186
of “Feeding
the Flame”):
be cool to be able to do it :) This book has a few good moments of humour and
understandable – for me – “bloke speak”.
- wards (p. 55, 61):
some excellent, very thoughtful comments that are well worth considering in
this-verse.
- prescience (pp. 56 – 58):
I haven’t come across people like this, which means not much at all: they may
exist.
- giving one’s word (pp. 61 – 62):
very good comments along the lines of what I have termed “mind
your Mӕgan”.
- bigots (p. 89):
sadly, these are accurate comments.
- era of magickal languages (p. 94):
many practitioners choose to use some language other than their native language
– well, certainly a significant number of the native English speaking
practitioners I know. A thought that came to mind as I read this is: the
language chosen may be one from an era where one has positive associations –
perhaps especially with magick. Thus, for instance, those people who use
Kemetic may have had good magickal associations with a past life in Ancient
Egypt. Those who choose Latin may have had likewise, but in Ancient Rome. In my
case, I had some good associations from the Middle Ages which make the very
limited amount of Hebrew I know very powerful for me.
- being boring rather than invisible (p. 101):
yes! – I can totally relate to this: have done it. At times in my
life I have focused on generating “undetectability”, which is the same sort of
thing, and this crops up in later books.
- using anti-fae illusion unguent for another
purpose (p. 103):
although the unguent would be less effective than for its intended purpose,
this is good adaptability.
- group effort to build wards (pp. 110 – 111):
this is something I have been trying to set up through the Rangers of the Inner
Plane, and the paired exercises when teaching
people how to clear. I thoroughly approve of the
concept – it is how a group can clear strong uncooperatives, for instance, as
groups that I have been a lesser light in have done in years gone by.
- shield “permeable to the living” (p. 122):
that’s more like it! Be creative – use your intention flexibly :)
- “little Chicago” (p. 133):
what a great idea – and what a MASSIVE amount of work. For what I
have to do (e.g., the Psychic Weather
Reports), dowsing with a map will do …
- learning / development / teaching (p. 137):
really excellent
comments – effectively, says one gets to a stage where one has to teach in
order to be able to learn more. Very true.
- temperature changes in response to magick
(p. 138):
in my case, in the real-verse, I often find my body temperature goes up in
response to magickal energy, but the temperature of the environment stays the
same (I’m not drawing the energy from the physical level, as Harry does – or
seems to).I also find that having a lot of nonBPM energy / units near me, or in me / my aura, will make me feel cold - or colder.
- awareness and thinking (p. 142):
these are always good – important, even.
- sensing intruders (p. 151):
this is something I do occasionally – check for entities / units that shouldn’t
be there. May find entities, but more often portals that have been opened and
left opened.
- telepathy (p. 177):
about time we saw some of this!
- Elaine’s comments about the White Council
(pp. 182 – 183):
are spot on – she is correct, in my opinion.
- effect of mind control (p. 184):
good list – well worth thinking about, and is very similar to lists of symptoms
from psychic attack.
- ghouls (p. 198):
I looked this concept up after reading these books, and found – according to
Wikipedia – that this is from
Arab mythology.
- uncertainty re where people fit on the
“Jedi-Sith” scale (p. 199):
great comment – especially the uncertainty. The real-verse is all just shades
of grey …
- conservation of energy (p. 207):
this principle applies to energy to some extent, but it is difficult to access
owing to fact that energy can be shifted between Levels
of Reality, can be transformed, and can, in fact, be
created (e.g., by visualisation – unless
that is drawing energy from another Level of Reality). In the context of
this series of books, however, it is consistent with the physics-based premise
of the Dresden-verse.
- genetic predisposition for magick (pp. 215 –
216):
I find one’s spiritual history is more significant than anything in the
physical – and if one does look at genetic causes, such influences are spread
pretty thin very quickly, unless one breeds specifically for a particular
characteristic – which risk inbreeding.
- admission of someone being faster and better
(p. 217):
nice to see that admission – that is what more is needed of in the real-verse,
rather than trying to claim that everyone has equal abilities, let alone
conflating ability and worth. I can’t run quickly – athletes are and always
will be better at running than me: that doesn’t make them of greater intrinsic
worth than me, nor are the people who
have greater intelligence or greater emotional depth or better spiritual
development than I inherently better than me in terms of worth / potential. I may,
however, have to work long and hard to manifest / develop the same level of
ability (and that may be in another life),
but that will mean I have realised more of my potential, which is good and
admirable, not that I have become an inherently more worth y being – although I
may be more useful, in many ways, which is a different matter.
- rage (pp. 231 – 236):
Harry’s response is linked to his attitudes towards kids (i.e., that they need
to be protected), but there is also a need to consider: Do you fight to change things, or to punish? (see here). There are other aspects to this which
will also come out later in this book.
- healing (p. 240):
YES! This is something else that it
is nice to see finally turning up.
- heightened awareness as a defence (p. 258):
YES!
- the dead and pain (p. 308):
the dead can actually feel pain – for instance, grief and remorse at
wrongdoing, and, if they are earthbound, they can feel an extraordinary amount
of pain of all types.
- the potential for change, knowing oneself,
and that we are what we do (pp. 332 – 337):
are well illustrated in the discussion on these pages.
I also had a thought to explore the concept of equal and opposite reactions
from a psychological perspective – which is all but stated in the book. Thus,
for instance, if someone is being evil – pushing it out of their mind into
manifestation, in a sense, that evil is exerting a bit of pressure back onto
that mind. Conversely, if one is trying to be good, the good will exert a
beneficial effect back onto the originating mind.
- don’t write others off as monsters (p. 339):
EXCELLENT
comments – from a pragmatic point of view, even the most evil of people, people
like Hitler, don’t stop existing when they die: their Soul / astral / spirit /
term of your preference continues to exist, and will come back into incarnation
with the same attributes /characteristics / hatreds / insecurities / flaws/ etc
– unless someone or some set of circumstances can change them. And hence my changing
the personality of oppressors post –and, if we are
aiming, as a society / species, to deal with these issues constructively and
early, then perhaps we will have fewer people like Hitler.
- the importance of proper motivation when
working with power (pp. 350 – 352):
very good illustration of this.
- there is always a risk to taking action (p.
353):
but, as President John F. Kennedy said: There
are risks and costs to a program of action. But they are far less than the
long-range risks and costs of comfortable inaction.
- no shortage of people who want to kneel to
another (p. 370):
sadly, this is too true.
- thought is faster than the physical (p.
393):
yes, this is potentially so – unless one is tired, distracted, etc.
- use of chaos magick / entropy in a shield
(p. 394):
interesting idea. Not sure I’d want to do it with nonphysical nonBPM energies,
but I could well get something useful in the real-verse by thinking about this
concept.
- mistake of two-dimensional thinking (p.
398):
this is quite true. Furthermore, my training, back in the 1980s, included using
dimensional shifts to get behind defences, and countering same when on the
defensive.
- Earth magick spells (p. 428, 431):
interesting applications. These are something else I will think about at some
time to see what I can get out of them.
- mental
psychic attack (pp. 438 – 447):
good example of what an extreme version of this could possibly look like. In
the real-verse, connection to one’s Higher Self would be needed to fight this
off.
- we use 10% of our brain (p. 441):
this is actually an urban myth. All of our physical brain has a purpose, but we
may not realise all that we are capable of mentally – which is where the myth
started (as a misinterpretation).
- holding to one’s word (pp. 458 – 459):
interesting example.
- the Paranet (p. 473):
great idea. I - and many others, no doubt – once hoped that the internet would
enable something like this, but I’m finding there is too much rubbish on it now
(particularly from role playing games), so an thinking such may need to take a
step back, and be built up via personal contacts.
- always read a Contract (p. 479):
YES.
Book
No. 10 – Small Favor [sic]
(ROC, 2009, first pub. 2008, ISBN 978-0-451-46200-8)
- Magickally induced fire behaves as
physically lit fire does (p. 31):
what about Spontaneous
Human Combustion? Also, probably depends how much
effort put into controlling the fire – which also applies to other psychically
created energies: how much effort is put into managing the effects? As is
discussed on p. 32 … :)
- Pentacle (p. 34):
good comments re pentacle.
- Residual magic (pp. 38 – 39):
yes, and hence psychometry.
- Balance between using physical devices and
visualisation (p. 41):
good comments.
- fight
or flight response (p. 57):
this was distorted by the use of male lab rats: there is also a network
and nurture response.
- Focus of spell on just hinge (p. 75):
good!
- The way Harry climbs down the “chimney” (p.
77):
I actually think there are better mountain climbing techniques – for instance,
the one where you put your back against one side, and use your feet against the
other. Would think that gave more and better controlled pressure – but maybe Harry
was worried about what the chill of the ice against his back would do. Back to
magick.
- Well, maybe not just yet. Why would someone
go somewhere that would put children at risk – particularly when they have a
bias towards keeping them safe? Is this Mab’s influence? (p. 142)
- Try to help first rather than try to smite
first (pp. 154 – 156):
This is admirable, and is much needed when trying to rescue uncooperatives. At
least here in the real-verse, rescue involves sending an uncooperative to some
place better (or attempting to do so),
whereas the situation in the Dresden-verse has been written to include killing as
a possible outcome – I’m already dealing with someone who is dead, so I don’t
have to face that sort of choice (phew!).
The comments
about sophistry are particularly good.
- friendship (p. 162):
very good comments.
- bloodlines (p. 167):
any genetic influence tends to be well diluted after a few generations. Thus,
Sanya saying he can trace his physical ancestry back to Salahuddin is actually
fairly meaningless.
Personally, I have found people’s personal spiritual heritage to be far more
significant.
(The way one would maintain and
concentrate a physical bloodline is by deliberately breeding for it – which, in
terms of psychic abilities, has been well explored in the Darkover series by the now very discredited Marion Zimmer Bradley.)
The comments about “the King and the Land are one” are very Pagan – which
reflects the development of agriculture, and the concept of sacrifice, and I
think we have evolved past the desperate lack of understanding that connected
sacrifice to taking a physical life. (Prior
to agriculture, gather-hunter societies were more shamanistic.)
- shortcomings and imperfections of the law
(p. 212):
these comments are partly contextual to what is happening in the story line,
but physical things often are imperfect. As is written in another Dresden book (although not in exactly these words): there is the
world that should be, and the world that is; we live in one, and must make the
other happen.
- use of chaos for nonBPM outcomes (p. 217 and
elsewhere):
good discussion on this, and motivations people may have. HOWEVER, chaos can
also be used for BPM outcomes – e.g., to break down rigid structures.
- giving one’s word (p. 230):
crops up again – is important, kiddies :)
- hobs and myrk
(Ch. 23):
another instance where I’ve learned some mythology from these books – looked it
up on the Internet - here , which is a little different from how the term has been used
in these books. Didn’t have any luck with “myrk”,
but the usage feels right …
- size of circle (p. 250):
although it is not standard, I don’t always physically walk to outside of a
circle that I am creating: I sometimes just “push” it out to where I want it (within reason – usually this means I cast
the circle at the energetic centre of the house, and then push it out to the
property boundary).
- limitations of witnesses (pp. 297 – 30):
very true comments about some of the rubbish that alleged witnesses to events
such as car accidents can come out with.
- drawing energy in does NOT create a “hole”
(p. 322):
true – agreed.
- no access to more energy inside a circle (p.
322):
not in the real-verse.
- ways of defending against psychic (magickal)
attack (pp. 352 – 354):
interesting ideas.
- faith healing /banishing (pp. 401 – 402):
this is a very neochristian way to do this: there are others, EQUALLY as valid and
effective, and they are just as “pure”.
- good comments on friends and trauma (p. 410)
- pain (p. 441):
generally has a purpose – I share Harry’s reluctance to shut it out /down.
- Namsiel’s attack on Harry (p. 460):
this is a very good example of a multidimensional attack.
- Marcone (p. 462):
although Dresden describes John Marcone as “criminal scum”, most of what we see
in the early books in the series is reasonable. Later books start to show some
of the nastier things Marcone is responsible for.
- people collaborating with the Denarians
“thought they were doing the right thing” (p. 497):
so did the Nazis at the concentration and death camps. This is rubbish – all
people have a conscience: to ignore it, or wilfully allow it to atrophy, is a
deliberate act of evil.
- Deities don’t see things as we do, from one
place at one time (p. 514):
true – good comment. Of course, if we evolve spiritually enough, we can
approach this level of awareness also.
- concept of past, mythic soothsayers as
having been earlier incarnations of “the Archive”, driven insane by the burden
of their knowledge (p. 524):
this fits the Dresden-verse well, but also raises the issue of the mental and
psychic strain that can go with enhanced awareness and knowledge – which is why
it is important to “make haste slowly” …
This was also mentioned in Lobsang Rampa’s
“The Cave of the Ancients”.
- Soul Fire (p. 537):
interesting idea, although neochristian. Raises the issue of combining energies
/ sources of energy for a holistic result …
- the coming in of the Sight (p. 539):
excellent comment about how people can be pains when they think their psychism
is developing. Have been a few I’ve stopped working with because of that.
Book
No. 11 – Turn Coat
(ROC, 2010, first pub. 2009, ISBN 978-0-451-46281-7)
This is probably my favourite book in the
series – thus far.
- Butters’ dubiousness about Harry’s forgiveness
of Morgan’s past abuses of Harry (pp. 4 - 5):
Butters is exactly right. What Harry has forgotten is that we train others how
to treat us.
- seeing clouds of energy and sparks of ideas
when using clairvoyance (p. 26):
yes.
- clairvoyant perception of the skinwalker (p.
27):
psychic sensing can and does show the essence of people (unless being blocked
or warped by shielding etc). The description of the creature by the
protagonist, Harry, is worse than I’ve come across (which may be artistic licence, to some extent, but is also consistent
with the notion of wizards as exceptionally superior to us limited hacks),
but some of the uncooperatives have actually been fairly bad.
- Billy and Georgia’s non-reaction to Harry’s
distressed appearance on their doorstep (p. 30):
… really shows a certain disconcerting amount of cluelessness. If a friend
shows up and clearly isn’t well, you just help them.
- the adaptability of humans (pp. 32 – 33):
true enough, at least for many of us, if not most.
- the nastier nature of pre-Disney folklore
(e.g., the original Brothers Grimm – and before them) and the issue of “psychic
weight”:
both issues are quite true.
I’ve added the original Brothers Grimm works
(which I’ve accessed via the good old Project
Gutenberg) to my reading list. It is interesting to read folklore, but
I’m always a little wary of giving it too much credence – it risks being a bit
like talking to a crowd of witnesses at a car accident: people can be wrong,
but think they’re right or should be right, or are just out for attention, etc.
So … I take such stories with the folkloric grain of salt …
On the matter of “psychic weight”, that works both ways: it can be a good
weight, just as much as a bad. In fact, when I was at Uni, sharing a flat, my
flatmate, clueless psychically and in other ways, came back from somewhere when
I was doing my alternate nostril breathing exercises, and even he commented on
the almost physical feeling of peace when he walked in.
- eating magic (p. 53):
here that idea is again. Seems cannibalistic, which is probably why I have so
many problems with it.
- resistance to subtle but strong mental
psychic attack (p. 75):
good example.
- Thomas’ struggle against his vampire nature
(p. 83):
this struggle, covered in quite a few places in quite a few books, is very well
done – even better than in Buffy.
- people jumping to conclusions about Morgan
(p. 89):
this is a good example of fear clouding people’s judgement.
- attitude and behaviour of Harry and Morgan
towards Molly re emotions (pp. 95 – 100):
are completely and utterly unacceptable. This rank stupidity on these
characters parts, until Harry finally gets his act together later
in the book, is extremely annoying … and that’s another example of why Mr
Butcher is the successful write, and I’ve got a crushing day job … * SIGH *
- who Molly is “really” angry with (p. 105):
this is also just utterly, absolutely and completely wrong. In the real-verse,
I know many people who think this way, and that is why the world is so ****ed
up. We need more activists – people who are prepared to say “no”, that
behaviour is wrong. People like feminists – who are people who care about other
human beings, and want everyone to achieve their full potential. Any cretin who
considers a feminist is a boot and overalls wearing man-hater is a moron. I
mean, after all, I don’t wear overalls, and I’m pretty much prepared to hate
people of any gender :)
- Faraday cage would ground out psychic energies
“once” (p. 108):
not in the real-verse usage of these
(e.g., "Briefing for the Landing on Planet
Earth" by Stuart Holroyd), so why? Because get overloaded and burned out?
- “time immemorial” (p. 122):
my take on this phrase is that it generally means “before the time of anyone I
know personally”.
- in the Dresden-verse, Harry finds ley lines
jarring (p. 13):
in this-verse, I find them lovely, mostly soothing, and very, very subtle.
- Ebenezer’s dress sense (p. 127):
I like this. I detest pretentious, fancy clothes – and hate dress ups with a
passion. I’d rather be comfortable.
- forensic psychic investigation (p. 138):
what a great idea. I’ll never try to do that – far too complex, but maybe
someone else will – or has already.
- how does one do the “right thing” if there isn’t a “right thing”? (p. 141):
very true, and well worth anyone interested in Balanced
Positivity having a think about.
- Murphy’s question (p. 155):
is actually quite significant. No spoilers.
- Binder’s “goons” from the nonphysical (pp.
160 – 161, 167-168):
I haven’t come across anything like this in the this-verse, but it is a
plausible concept.
- logical and correct use of circles (pp. 166
– 168, 174 – 175):
(Incidentally, in the this-verse, when I
am rescuing uncooperatives, I get my BPM Guides to bring the entity into a pre-prepared
circle.)
- Morgan’s award from the Summer Queen (pp.
183 – 18):
this shows the potential problems of gifts, which I’ve posted
about previously.
- example of nonBPM mind control / psychic
attack (p. 206):
this is an extreme, fictionalised example of what can happen … except I’m not
so sure it doesn’t happen in the this-verse.
- using sleep spell as response to damage
caused by mind control (pp. 209 – 210):
this is a very good response in the Dresden-verse. In the this-verse, such
matters are more complicated / delicate, as is most healing from major trauma –
although going to the astral world is potentially a good reset of some things.
- Harry FINALLY stands up to Morgan’s provocations and
points out some home truths (p. 213).
- not having relationships so one cannot be
threatened / blackmailed through them (p. 217):
in the this-verse, this is actually a very real issue for people such as
members of special forces, and is one of the reasons (there are others) that
serving special forces members are not – or should not be –
identified by the media. Another example of this sort of potential problem. is
the hostages in Iraq who put on shows of tears etc because co-hostages, friends
or colleagues, were being threatened off camera. More broadly, it is an extreme
example of issues such as indirect
psychic attack and lifestyle
vulnerabilities – and a very extreme response to that
risk. In most situations, such extreme measures are not even remotely justifiable:
in most cases, it is simply one’s Duty
to protect these people, just as one should be caring about and trying to
protect people one is not connected to as well.
- Anastacia’s
focused magick – without use of foci / tools (p. 234):
YES!
- being choked hurts (p. 239):
yes, it does – from personal experience. It’s also terrifying – which made the critical
response of some people to someone who lashed physically when she was being
choked utterly unconscionable and unforgiveable.
- the “surcease” from pain offered to Harry as
an example of control (p. 252):
actually, this struck me as a retreat to childhood, and thus was repellent to
me,
- longevity, family and perspective (pp. 262 –
269):
this was quite an interesting conversation
(how would one conduct oneself if one
knew one was going to outlive one’s family members, as the wizards in the
Dresden-verse do?), but:
(a) the comments about atrocities in Europe not
being known, or being unclear are something I dispute, and
(b) the USA is NOT “the best we’ve had so
far” – nowhere near it. I actually consider the USA to be extremely backward in
many aspects.
- discussion on gender, predominantly in
context oif an immortal creature (pp. 272 – 273):
this is actually rubbish, in both the Dresden-verse and the this-verse. Neither
protagonist Harry nor talking head Bob are anything but clueless on the topic –
as Harry often mentions.
- fundamental soundness of oral transmission
in pre-literate (i.e., no writing systems) societies (p. 274):
yes – correct, or reasonably so, in the context of important things. In both -verses.
- Werewolf Will standing up to Harry (pp. 282
– 284):
good on him! This is great character development for Will (formerly referred to as Billy), and continues a theme (interestingly, Mr
Butcher
has commented that he doesn’t write themes in his books – which parallels
remarks by Richard Bach that books tend to smash through walls and
say they will not rest until he sets them down in writing- so no planning of
themes either … which also is my [limited! – and non-commercial] experience)
of Harry learning to give people the knowledge they need in order to be able to
make informed decisions.
- nothing on Binder, so he “has” to be
released (p. 288, p. 307):
rubbish! He assaulted a police officer and resisted arrest!
- tracking spells (p. 289):
reasonable explanation.
- subtle
versions of mind
control (pp. 328 – 329):
good comments.
- the ethics and consequences of actions and
tests to detect when these are being bent (pp. 330 – 332):
well said, Harry.
- Sanctum ritual (pp. 347 – 359):
this is an interesting concept –and, I suspect, Mr Butcher’s research has
probably given him a better comprehension of what is involved for such shamanic
rituals than myself. Personally, I just tend to seek to befriend the spirits of
places – e.g., offerings, politeness and niceness when moving to a new patch of
dirt, asking permission to enter forests, etc, always making sure one GIVES (e.g., feeding the land spirits) before one even thinks of TAKING (i.e., asking for help). Harry’s approach strikes me as being very
macho – and thus wouldn’t have a chance of working with any spirits that are
more of the nature of what is generally described as stereotypically female. Of
course, in this instance, Harry was dealing with an aggressive spirit, and had
a pressing need for the sanctum ritual (getting events away from innocent
bystanders).
- Intellectus
(p. 360:
as described, this is very like true intuition – which is NOT vain imaginings or vague in nature.
- an example of good ethical choice (p. 364):
they are far too often scary, even if most don’t involve literal risks to one’s
physical survival, as is the case on the referenced page of the book.
- nightfall (p. 391 – 392):
there is a great quote on the referenced pages about nightfall,
but, more generally, this view contrasts with the elemental approach to arts of
the day in Katharine
Kerr’s magnificent Deverry series, let alone the active
power used by sorcerers in Carlos
Castaneda’s books.
- variety
of magickal styles (pp, 420 – 421):
although this is limited to combat situations, the
variety of ways that magick can be used is worth thinking about.
- Binder’s responsibility for a death (p.
438):
being responsible for someone’s death is ALWAYS a personal matter. There is a
lot of rubbish that some people spout that, because they felt no malice in it,
it “wasn’t personal”. You cretins, you have TAKEN EVERYTHING from another human being – there little is
more personal! (I also see the same sort of crap from bigots who then spout
hateful or inaccurate rubbish that is likely to drive people to commit suicide
– which has been in the news of late here because of the so-called “debate”
over equal marriage.) Going back to the book, Binder is directly and personally
responsible for bringing through to the physical and giving orders to the
creatures that murdered the warden. This all strikes me as a little too close
to the Nuremberg “defence” of “I was only following orders”.
- examples of positive (constructive) use of
emotions in magick (p. 449, p. 451 – 454).
- the use of magickal foci (p. 450):
for someone who is so eloquent on the need for and use of magickal foci, Harry
sure gets caught without them a lot of times …
- fight against malevolent entity by Harry,
Toot Toot and Listens to Wind (pp. 452 – 467):
I sometimes use this passage as inspiration if I know I have heavy clearing
session ahead of me.
- example of the difference between justice
and retribution (aka, revenge) (p. 474).
- careful use of words and labels (p. 477):
this is in relation to the “naagloshii”, also called “skin walkers”, which
Listens to Wind tells Harry he should not name to avoid building its reputation
of fear.
On that, I am unmoved by most psychic horror stories: the one that always gets
to me is the Navajo stories of skin-walkers –I’m fine with the description of
these in “Turn Coat”, but when I read
anything directly connected to the Navajo or their land, I get chills. I
suspect that comes from a past life I had there (I also love jingle dresses / dances, but would be far too
embarrassed to have a go in this life). The other North American Indian
life I had was in the Akwesasne, which is the life where I was responsible for the death of
my brother in that life (I didn’t kill
him directly, but had an indirect responsibility), who is now one of my BPM
Guides.
In the course of researching this, I came across some interesting links: the Wikipedia
article on skin-walkers; this
article; the
Navaho creation
myth; the Wikipedia
article on the Blessing Way, and here, for part of the text of that ritual, the novel “The Blessing Way” by Tony
Hillerman (which
I have added to my book purchasing wish list, out of curiosity), X-Files
season 3 1st episode “The
Blessing Way”, and a bunch of videos on YouTube and
elsewhere here, here, here, here, and here; Wikipedia’s list of cryptids and article on the Chupacabra; the Wikipedia
article on the Enemy Way; the Wikipedia
article on Ghost Sickness (also see the film “The Missing”).
Now, go back and re-consider the topic of fear and phobophages from “Proven Guilty”, and then reconsider
Listen to Winds’ advice … ;
- “good fights”, and the limits of same (p.
478).
- the possible implications of accepting one’s
duty (p. 480):
good example, although as shown more likely in the Dresden-verse than the
this-verse. Here in the this-verse, things like being destroyed by fulfilling
one’s duty / obligations towards one’s dependents is far more likely.
- dealing with rage about injustice (pp. 481 –
482):
is discussed. I’ve been thinking about this, as I think about my general idea
to write more about how one heals the damage of control and similar events, and
am thinking of coming up with a flow chart …
- telepathy (pp. 507 – 508):
another good example.
- the possibility that tampering with
someone’s mind can lead to happiness (p. 523):
this is an interesting discussion, and, having thought about it, I can see it
happening – including in my life, and the lives of some people I have known.
Book
No. 12 – Changes
(ROC, 2011, first pub. 2010, ISBN 978-0-451-46347-0)
This is probably my 2nd favourite
book in the series – although it is quite violent: if the violence was less, it would be my favourite.
- magic and emotion are inextricably
connected” (p. 5):
to the extent that emotions rule people, and thus their Will, yes. It is
possible to start to develop one’s ability to think, and thus use one’s Will,
and thus rise above some of the motions that one should – e.g., petty jealousy,
back stabbing, etc, whilst using the emotions that are good – e.g., love. It is
important to do so in a way that doesn’t forget that emotions can be useful
indicators – e.g., of situations being inherently wrong, which is a mistake that protagonist Harry and his mentor,
Ebenezer, tend to make.
- decision by Susan to remove her and Harry
from their daughter’s life, for the sake of their daughter’s safety (pp. 13 –
14):
in the Dresden-verse, where Susan and Harry are fighting vampires and other
creatures that regularly put their lives physically at risk, Susan’s decision
was the only one that could be made. However, this is a personal trigger point
of Harry’s (something most of us have),
and he reacts true to form.
- Martin’s comments about events happening
outside the USA to Harry (p. 21):
are very, VERY good. The character Harry is like stereotypical US
citizens (the ones we come across in the
media – and as often as not made fun of by US citizens, showing an encouraging
level of awareness and self-critique-ing :) ), with a strong focus on
events in the USA, to the extent that they forget that there is a world
elsewhere. I have to say that most Americans I’ve met are not like that, and the
fact that Mr Butcher is writing about this shows he isn’t either :) However,
such people are present everywhere, in every nation, and suffer from problems
such as immaturity, or not being very far along their growth orientation path,
or nonBPM influence from parents /peers / etc, and so on. Of course, those
people suffering those flaws are not in what is possibly one of the most
influential / powerful nations on this planet, at this time …
- Harry’s quick reactions to his instincts
about danger, rather than fluffing about (p. 24):
GOOD!
- killing people is ALWAYS personal (p. 41):
as I’ve explained above. This applies even if it is “click-boom”, as Harry puts
it.
- Harry’s regrets for allowing his emotions to
dictate how he uses magick, and to what depth he invests himself (p. 45):
although this is about personal consequences, this is continuing an exploration
of this connection which is building up to something, and is always worth thinking
about. As I say in my quotations page:
Like fire to the physical, emotions to the soul make a
good servant, and a bad master.
- giving people knowledge so that they can
make an informed decision (p. 4):
Harry is finally learning to do this, which is good.
- discussion about warlocks (p. 65):
these considerations also apply to rescue of uncooperatives.
- except for the threat to Molly, I am more
with the Merlin than Harry on this one: there are times when numbers do matter
– which is the sort of decision military commanders have to make, as well as
those who do not have enough resources to help everyone (p. 73).
- “the ways” (p. 75):
these sound a lot like wormholes.
- Harry’s elaborately manufactured physical
circle (p. 83):
this sounds cool. If I was rich, I might have something like that made, too.
- the importance of ethical considerations
around working with magick (p. 97):
are well illustrated in this passage, where Harry is hiding things he has that
are illegal. Compliance with the law is, in my view, an ethical matter. If you
consider a law wrong, work to change it
(and, having done that, I do know how much work that entails, and the many, MANY
options open to people doing that sort of work), rather than just ignore
it. We’re part of this world for a reason.
In terms of magick, one of the things Harry is slowly learning – and I, also –
is that magickal tools are not always essential: when one is advanced enough,
they become optional, albeit possibly at the expense of more effort.
- Martin’s explanation of what Susan has gone
through (pp. 149 – 150):
this is a very good illustration of the saying “walk a mile in another’s shoes
before you judge them”.
- Harry’s acknowledgement that he should have
given Susan more information in the events covered in Grave Peril (p. 175):
this is good, and continues the them I mentioned earlier. (Incidentally, one of the MANY reasons Jim Butcher is a MUCH better
writer than me is that he can invest in making a character believable as being
at the stage of development they are at, whereas I tend to want to skip the
intermediary stuff and get to the final, fully developed version that I can see.)
- speaking stones (p. 177):
this is an interesting idea. Along this sort of line, I gave my (adoptive) mother
a set of crystals that I kept a matched pair of, so I could better send her
healing when she was ill.
Also, there is a concept of proxy rocks, where members of a circle have two
matched items (when I first came across
it, I think in "Briefing for the Landing on Planet Earth" by Stuart Holroyd, the concept was for rocks, but it could be crystals or some other
small item), one on them, to be kept “up to date” with that person’s
“vibe”, the other being kept at the circle. If the person is unable to
physically attend, their “proxy rock” is set up in their place – which helps
them be a part of what is going on (more
so if they are doing the same sort of work at the same time, despite not being
physically present). Once a month or so, the rocks are swapped over, to
refresh the connection.
- acknowledgement of the inherent selfishness
of being focused on blood connections (p. 215):
this is quite true, but basically just shows that the person concerned has NOT
travelled very far along the growth
orientation path known as Bhakti
Yoga.
- the risks that go with having (or seeking)
power (p. 217);
- the joke from the previous day that Harry
just gets (p. 223):
I don’t get –and none of the online discussion on this that I’ve seen helps.
SIGH
- faith (pp. 252 – 252):
excellent comments.
- using mind, rather than props, for magick
(p. 280):
yes – well done, Harry, well done.
- calling three times to summon (p. 286):
somewhere else in these books is an explanation that this is more a trigger of
an irresistible curiosity for the entities summoned, rather than an
overwhelming compulsion to obey an order – which I consider to be quite
appropriate. Triplets work well for a lot of people – although the modern generation
is more accustomed to working with longer numbers, so that may change. The key
here is repetition to strengthen.
- the things that people will do for love,
including self-destruction (p. 293):
this is quite true – at least when looked at in the context of immediate
events. People may change their minds about what they’ve done or committed
themselves to later on.
- Harry’s honesty about what he is doing, and
why (p. 298):
this is good, and offsets – to some extent, at any rate – the selfishness shown
on pp. 294 – 295, where he was prepared to kill thousands for the sake of one
girl – his child.
- the mantle is starting to influence Harry in
terms of how he is reacting to Molly (p. 316).
- domovoi vs. polevoi (p. 326):
Mr Butcher’s superior knowledge of mythology on the referenced page led to some very interesting research
for me.
- great joke by Sanya about Harry and the
little folk (p. 328).
- Sanya’s pragmatic acceptance of “bad things”
(p. 330):
I share this to quite an extent – and consider such pragmatism part of Balanced
Positivity.
- it’s actually a Pentacle, not a pentagram (p. 429).
- blood sacrifice (p. 456):
the concept of taking life as a blood sacrifice is chilling to modern
sensibilities, and is – and has always been – spiritually unacceptable. I
include the taking of animal life in that – animal rights are just as universal
as human rights (which is something I
meant to post about years ago after reading this, but never got around to it), although
I acknowledge that there is a pragmatic element to that (for instance, I know a vegan who had to start eating meat because of
iron loss problems caused by heavy periods).
On the other hand, there can be a place for the use of blood. As an example, I
have sometimes used a drop of my blood to help charge and consecrate rune cards
that I may have made, I have used things like this to help strengthen the
connection to totem poles I have for my use, and I have added a drop of my
blood to some spells - e.g., protection of Significant Others or children. Such
things should, however, always be used with caution – for instance, the
Significant Others may not always be Significant Others …
In the context of history, people have generally done this, I suspect, because
they honestly thought it was necessary
(which does NOT make it right –
ignorance of the [spiritual] Law is no excuse – people have always had a conscience, and have
always – sadly – had the capability to let fear drown it out, but the voice of
the conscience [our Higher Self and BPM Guides] is ALWAYS there), which is a point explored
in that part of Katharine
Kerr’s magnificent Deverry series where Aderyn’s younger life is being
written about – including the fact that the sacrifice was useless.
- the strength and help of other people (p.
500):
great example.
- example of the use of telepathy (p. 514).
- an incredibly difficult choice (pp. 522 –
523):
reading this is where I am glad that I am living in the this-verse, not the
Dresden-verse, and thus don’t get faced with such choices. Of course it does
occur in the this-verse as well, and I am thinking of some of the vicious
situations people were pushed into in World
War Part Two, as examples.
- the consequences of taking major action (pp.
524 – 525):
this is a bit like the consequences of taking over another nation – I mean,
“causing regime change”.
There have been some concerning fall outs from such events – for instance, I
understand Japanese soldiers were used as police to maintain order in parts of
South East Asia after the end of World
War Part Two, which did cause resentment and social
problems, whereas in Iraq the Iraqi army was disbanded rather than being subjected to de-Ba’athification – which would have been required to avoid the problems caused
in South East Asia.
The pages are worth reading and considering – and the fallout gets discussed
more in subsequent books.
- comments about choice, and that others
cannot take away your Will (pp. 530 – 531):
these are actually a bit naïve – things like torture for long periods can break
people, and that is when you do lose your Will.
Keywords:
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