And Still Moar on Shielding

02 March 2010 @ 02:07 pm

So I was talking more to Jow about this because he's a closet masochist and he made me realize I *do* shield, just not in the same way a lot of other people I know do.

What I do:

* Wear the evil eye bracelet my mom brought back for me when I'm not sure of a situation (Pew! Pew! Pew!)

* Wear my charm bracelet to be charming in sticky situations

* Have an active relationship with my gods ("You smell like Crow and Yemaya and the Cremation Grounds crew, it gives people pause because they know who you roll with.")

* F.'s body warding trick with hand sanitizer and an eyeshadow brush to draw sigils on myself

* Oils when needed - for courage or to get people to stay away

* Warded the house and redo my doors and windows semi regularly

* Medicine bags in my bra for protection

So . . .I do do stuff I realize, just not a lot of "Level 2" stuff as Jason Miller discusses, more "Level 1" and "Level 3".

You want me?/ Well fucking come on and find me/ I'll be waiting/ with a gun and a pack of sandwiches . . .

01 March 2010 @ 11:29 am

I'll be waiting/ with a gun and a pack of sandwiches . . .

As some of you may recall from my Pew! Pew! Pew! entry, I don't really shield.

The reason is, no one has been able to satisfactorily give me good reasons as to why I should. I logic out Jow's reasons until he's sick of me. I'm not *opposed* per se. It's just, okay, I don't wear a flack jacket to work and I don't have a gun in my purse to tool around suburban NJ. What exactly am I doing magically that requires me to use so much protection? Everyone rolls their eyes at me and says I should shield. Certain people it makes sense to me - you're in the public eye as clergy of a large group, you're a sorcerer for hire, etc. But what am I doing that requires protection?

Is there a method that's basically the equivalent of being smart about your surroundings (keeping your cellphone in your hand along with your keys, being aware of the people and things around you, time of day, location, etc)?

Do you use shielding? Why or why not?

So, Jow started reading me a bit from Jason Miller's new book and we were in the chapter about defensive magic.

Me: This is where I always fail. I don't . . .really doooooo defensive magic. I don't have shields and crap. Is that bad?

Jow: Um. Shields would probably be good to have.

Me (sighs): What about disbelief? Can't I just cast disbelief? Like, aaaaaaahhhh, how you've hurt me as I lie in bed with one of my bfs in my nice condo, you sure showed me! Yes, the job I like, the car that works, the having enough to eat and heat in my house is awful! All my loved ones too! I don't really believe that anyone who wanted to hurt me through magic . . .could. And I'm not out there getting into random fist fights on the astral.

Jow: It would work to a point but what happens when someone can actually hurt you tries to?

Me: Pew! Pew! Pew!