I am of the opinion that the popular belief in secret masters - people who privately have vast magical powers of remote viewing, etheric projection, levitation, telekinesis, and other Superpowers - is wrong and false, and that those people do not exist. The people who do experience those things have little or no control over them and must be content with that no matter how well they practice their occult disciplines. Everyone will name some remote babushka or bearded Ethiopian in a cave who defies this statement, but after what I consider a fairly exhaustive review, I feel safe in saying that these people are mythical.
We are all peers, none of us have that kind of control and power simultaneously, and none of us have the ability to conjure so much as a sneeze with the level of confidence required to sell it without shame. The belief that somewhere there are these special people with secret superpowers is a very popular way for cult leaders to dupe their followers into thinking they are Jesus, and if they are going to claim it, they can walk across my swimming pool.
WhiteRaven wrote:Chrysophylax wrote:Can you "remote view" my home? No, you can't.
The people teaching you how, can they do it? No, they can't.
Although I agree that these schools are a bunch of bullshit, I can't agree with you here.
I 100% believe that some people are capable of remote viewing because I've experienced it firsthand.
I've had 3 people in the occult community explain my surroundings in perfect detail, regardless of whether I was outside or behind closed doors.
One was from this forum.
I'll let that person speak up if they wish, but I've got to mention that if you haven't gone down the OSINT rabbit hole, you might be surprised at what can be learned for free by looking in the right places. I'm not saying they hacked your cameras or had someone do some spying for them, or some other trick, but the old "I can tell you your mother's maiden name and what you are wearing right now and what's in your living room" are classic fake psychic tricks that have been around for centuries in one form or another. A lot of things we assume someone can't know are easy to know if you have the right ways of sourcing data.
I must also repeat that I'm not skeptical of remote viewing, telekinesis, other psychic effects existing as real tings. On the contrary I think they're probably a lot more common than people expect. Where I draw the line is at professing to do it at will and on-demand for pay. I think those are 100% fake without exception. Everyone gets a miracle at some point in their lives, a definitive proof of the wonders beyond reason, but I categorically refuse to believe anyone who says they are doing those things at will whether as a natural talent or as skill. We all have to work and question ourselves. If they don't own up to the severe limitations of whatever they profess doing, they are full of shit, period.
Any other skill is demonstrable. You're a carpenter? Build a chair. A pianist? Play a song. We can all see it's real and your skill level. Nobody anywhere does that for magic "skills," yet they defend the right to teach for pay, or sell for hire, with the same zeal as the guy giving classes in woodworking. Anyone who isn't desperate to learn or participate in the occult community looks at all that and sees The Occult as a cabal of charlatans milking cash from fools. I don't think that's a proper assessment of The Occult, but that's how it looks from the outside, on account of the scammers and frauds being so widely tolerated.
WhiteRaven wrote:I'm wondering where all this skepticism in Studio Arcanis is coming from. Ceremonial Magicians believe they evoke demons and angels into chalk they draw on the ground after howling incantations and can force these entities into physical manifestation...yet can't believe in healing or remote viewing? Wha...?
I've spent my entire life seeking the miraculous, but every time I find someone professing to sell it or sell the teaching of it, I am met with disappointment. I am not talking about the Golden Dawn or other orders promoting themselves as generally beneficial, but people selling themselves as literal miracle workers who can up-end the laws of nature and teach the same through Zoom meetings and bougie resorts. Promises to cure illness, bend spoons, remote viewing, all manner of scams are very lucrative, and I think they stain the entire subject of magic with fraud. If they were just doing things on their own, great, but they're selling it, it's fair game to call out bogus products and services.
Aside from people selling scams, it's healthy for those who have real experience and learning to promote those things and discourage belief in false things. If someone wants to pretend to be the bride of Lucifer and spawn his spirit children to accomplish imaginary things, I think it's fine to crush those delusions lest others fall into the same mind trap. I might not go out of my way to do so, but I'm likely to call it out when it appears. If someone says that they "get great results" from wishing on a candle while holding a sigil, those results need to be clarified or their so-called greatness will mislead people into following useless techniques. People who get a wild idea and wedge it into the occult somewhere are very vocal and common, and for people hoping to learn, those things look attractive unless someone who knows the difference speaks up about it being crap.