Hello again!
Today in class, I just finished the book "Jay's Journal" by Beatrice Sparks (see previous blog). I'm not going to lie, the book had some pretty weird things involved, to say the least. Well, not necessarily "weird", just very... different than what I am accustomed to. So I am going to start this off with a really brief summary.
The book was about this kid, "Jay", who was the perfect student who made great grades, strong Christian, very loyal, and so on. Well, he starts dating this girl who is different than what he's used to, but he kind of likes it. That is how he starts getting involved in witchcraft. His girlfriend, Tina, was really into it and had all the equipment and everything needed, so he decided that he would just try it out. Things start going downhill from there. He starts becoming depressed and, at the end of the downward spiral, he starts to worship Satan. He does things that he would have never normally done. For example, he went on a hunting trip with his friends and after they shot a bull, he drinks the blood directly from the dead animal.
Personally, I think that's nasty. Also, he believed he had the power to bring things back to life, so on his wedding day with Tina (while he was still in high school, mind you), his friend brings in a cat and wrings its neck until its dead. It turns out that they didn't have the power, after all. This book was really weird, creepy, and depressing if you aren't used to this kind of thing (which I am not). Jay does things that are completely different than his old lifestyle.
*IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE BOOK, IGNORE THE NEXT SENTENCE; IT IS A SPOILER FOR THE BOOK.*
After his brother, Chad, walks into his room at the end of the book and says, "Who are you? I feel like I don't know you anymore," Jay commits suicide with a gun at his right temple.
I know pretty much nothing at all about witchcraft and Satanism, so I decided to do a little research on the topics. I went to witchcraft.com first because I thought "Hey, where's a better place to start?" It turns out, this is a place where people post their spells and questions. It was really weird to think that people are talking about this sort of stuff still today. I think of witchcraft being with those old, ugly green witches with the big cauldrons in fairy tales. People have spells to get rid of anger, find love, and get free wishes. This website is mainly where people post things, so I know it isn't too reliable, but might as well start at witchcraft.com. You had to make a username/password account on the website to view more, but I decided against it.
Next I went to witchcraft.com.au. It claimed that it had spells for everything; money, love, health, marriage, revenge, death... you get the picture. It said that witchcraft today was closer to wicca, which means "wise" or "bend". That means that you can cast spells on living and inanimate objects. They are a "irresistible and dominating influence, which wields great power over the natural world." I'm not too sure about this... I think I am going to leave my research at that.
Now onto Satanism. It turns out that there is an actual Church of Satan! I had no idea about any of this. Whether I have been living under a rock or it's not that big, I don't know. Well, the church website, www.churchofsatan.com, has a lot of information about it. People who carry the "red cards" that are associated with the Church of Satan have the powers that the devil was originally able to do. They try really hard to not come in contact with "non-members". People are not allowed to visit the actual structure, join in with daily rituals, or even talk with any of them. They did document their rituals on DVD on 6-6-06 in Los Angeles so people interested/writing papers/researching could see what's going on. People are not expected to get along with each other, so people can totally bash each other out whenever they feel like it, even in the church. It is very hard to become a member, and the registration fee is $200!
This was also starting to creep me out, so I think I am done with this research today. I hope that yall learned something. What do yall think of these practices? Has anyone ever done any of them? Please comment!
-Favs
Please note that I do not have anything against people who actually practice these rituals.
5 comments:
Wow! I am glad I didn't recommend this book to you. It does sound gruesome. I like "good witch" books like The Witch of Blackbird Pond or Physick Book of Deliverance Dane.
Oh my gosh! That sounds very creepy. I had no idea people actually worship satan! Why did you choose to read this book?
This book, witchcraft, and satanism all sound really scary! I also didn't know there were websites where people discussed spells they used... weird.
Cool. I was always interested in this kind of stuff. Not because I practice witchcraft or satanism, more because I always loved all kinds of creepy things!
Carol, I know what you mean! It was really creepy actually going to the websites. I felt like i was doing something.... wrong. It was really interesting, nonetheless.
And to the rest of you, thank you so much for commenting! It was more different that I am used to.
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