I’m sorry, this is a clickbait title, because frankly something needs to be said, about things going on lately on our forum.
I see a lot of people accepting free rituals, free familiars. free advice about their life paths, opening sigils, testing servitors and a whole score of things- and most of these people accepting help, have little or no magical experience themselves, so they think WOW, this is amazing and so helpful and life changing.
I’ve been following a lot of these posts and frankly, the number of people I am seeing afterwards that have parasites, attachments, curses and other issues is astounding. I’m not going to name names, or bash anyone as I don’t think that’s right to do, and well, its always difficult to be certain- but I am asking you, all of you, to be a lot more careful when someone offers something free and you just accept it.
Exercise some discernment, and consider what the person gains, from helping you in this way. Are they gaining fans? Are they touting a business under the radar, by mentioning how often they do the same ritual for clients? If they offer it as a paid service and have done it successfully, why are they now offering it to you for free? Are they trying to build their reputation? Are the luring in, inexperienced newbies, so that they can spread parasites and then swoop in and play hero, when they supposedly save the day, only for the person to find out they are even worse off than they began, a short time prior?
If you’re bullshit radar doesn’t work as well as mine, find some people you can trust and ask their opinion before you dive in. I know many of us don’t have any of those in our real life, but you could reach out to a forum regular. We aren’t all good people or helpful in the regular department either, the status can be essentially bought, but for the most part, the majority of our regulars have put in the time, they’ve earned the status by helping and sharing their experiences. If you pm one of them that has been around for years, and is still active, chances are they will at least tell you whether or not they think the offering is safe to engage in, even if they don’t give a blunt honest opinion of the person doing the ritual- You should at least get an idea if it’s a bullshit working, like some of these promises are, or if they believe it’s legitimate.
If you notice, few regulars sign up for any of these free rituals, do you ever wonder why? I once in a while see someone jump on the trolley just to check it out or because it for one reason or another calls to them, but usually unless they have a pretty damned good feel of the operator, the regulars take a step back and consider if it’s a fit for themselves, and if the person making the offering is delusional, mentally ill, a drug abuser, or a legitimately experienced member of the magic community.
That’s not to say that everyone who offers something free is out to harm others, we most certainly are not. I myself have offered free rituals, but only to the lounge, where I knew I would be working for more experienced magicians that could give me feedback on my skills and the outcome, not the general public where the odds of this are much lower.
I even recently released a servitor to the public forum, and if you’ve not checked out that post, please do. When you do, question my motivation, question what you know about me from my replies, read the responses from the members that have posted about her, check in with the regulars who tested her, before the rest of you and ask why I did it.
Did I do it to get more customers? Did I do it to gain recognition? Or did I do it, because I’ve found, looking at my activity, the majority of my forum time is wasted on members with parasite and shielding issues, rather than productive magical conversation? Do I feel like someone who legitimately wants to help, or am I contributing to the problem? Do I act like I know everything about everything, and refuse to learn or try to understand other peoples points of view?
I know this post will not get to everyone it needs to go to, or to those who need it the most, but take a minute and think about the things you accept for free, before you do it.
Please, for your own sake.