Hello all,
Looking back on things, its almost eerie how much the occult has played a part in my understanding of things even from a young age. I know I’m not a magus, but looking back on several experiences I had before I was 13 reaffirm to me that I have the “right stuff” to be a magician.
Even in the ignorance preceding puberty, I was always reading Llewellyn books that my parents where kind enough to let me possess openly, and while I always suspected something hokey about them, I was pleased with the connection to the magical realm they brought.
Fantasy was also a way I understood occult concepts in the early days and at one point I had an obsession with a book series called “The spider wick chronicles” you may have heard of it.
In any case, I became infatuated with the idea of contacting a class of fairy, known as “brownies.”
Brownies, are essentially house-spirits. According to the lore, every residence possesses a brownie, and it is a spirit that brings good luck and cleans the house energetically and physically, the only catch is that if a brownie’s services are requested it must be “fed” nightly, any neglect of the brownie will result in the brownie becoming malevolent and reclassified as a new type of spirit called a Bogart, if I remember correctly.
Has occultists, we often question the importance of adhering to tradition in our practices, does the circle actually need to be a specific size? Does the wand need to be imbued with just the right types of crystals, and the athame the correct length? That’s actually one of our biggest concerns, or at least one of mine, as it hints to the “absolute truth” if any such requirements could be measured and tested.
The traditions of contacting a brownie involve simply leaving out an offering of food which it will consume, especially milk and honey, nightly.
It is said however that a brownie will not manifest in a house that inters a cat.
The first night I contacted the brownies, I left out an offering of leftovers (steak, potatoes, etc) and was sorely disappointed in the morning when the food remained untouched. A cat did live in the house.
The second attempt involved me writing a note for the brownies, with a picture drawn, completely sincere in my childish intent, I left out 2 packets of pudding, and 2 glasses filled with milk, complete with spoons. No cat present.
The next morning I was quiered by my guardians as to why 2 empty sets of dishes had been left out over night…I saw with my own eyes that the food was gone, physically wiped clean.
Days later my Father reported to me that he had seen a short, tan man, wearing a pointed hat, sweeping furiously in my room, and also that pairs of belts that he had left on the floor, had hung themselves up. A dryer giving us trouble also was fixed much easier than we suscpected it could be.
My father did not know of brownies, and yet he witnessed the classical description of a brownie, physically manifested to untrained eyes, and accompanying “impossible” phenomenon. Whoa.
Of course, being a child, I forgot to feed the brownie(s) at some point and never heard from them again after that.
However I feel this fascinating early occult experience shows what a pure and determined will can manifest in the world.
Did you have any odd occurrences during childhood that hinted at your later involvement in magic?