Magic: Which is evil?

Come here to discuss the myriad of beliefs, customs and philosophies that exist in our megaverse.
Michael T
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Magic: Which is evil?

Post by Michael T »

There has been alot of people telling our resident druid necromancy is evil. I would like to get a debate started on why each of you belives this. I am not saying that there is not evil usage of necromancy, I am curious as to what makes it evil in it's self.

Debate away please.


Michael T.
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A. Pendragon
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Post by A. Pendragon »

In my mind, Magic is to evil as guns are to evil.
In other words, neither is inherently evil. It is a matter of the user and the use that the magic is put to. I would say that it is possible to find a good use for necromancy. Cant say I ever met a good necromancer, but its possible.
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Prof. Rosecrest
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Post by Prof. Rosecrest »

I can foresee this area getting a lot of abuse.
Now to the topic at hand. Magic is another tool for humanity to use, and like any tool it can be misused.
In the case of Necromancy you need to be very careful of course, as it can lend itself to misuse very easily.
KonThaak is trying to use it with the best intentions. He needs our support and aid along with maybe a few people to be a sounding board so he can insure he is on the right track. He does not need people telling him merely that he is wrong in using Necromancy plain and simple, because it is not plain and simple.
Just my take on things.
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Michael T
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Post by Michael T »

Thank you both for the insight on necromancy. Hopefully others will start comeing in with thier views as well. I don't mind the arguements over the subject as long as everyone rembers we are friends.

Michael T
Beware the monster within, least it escape and take over your life.
GhostSpider
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Post by GhostSpider »

To make my views clear, I want to say this. My one and only concern is that KT might be creating a sort of paradox. He is a druid that is practicing necromancy. Certainly death is a part of life, but necromancy violates the natural cycle.

Now, I am a believer that magic is not inherently evil. It, like all sources of power, can be misused. Still, to me Necromancy has always smacked of darkness. This is only my personal feelings and it might not have any rational basis. I am only worried about his safety.


For myself, I only wish to continue to express my amusement over this topic. A Druid who uses necromancy. :lol: :lol:
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A. Pendragon
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Post by A. Pendragon »

Duh, didnt realize (wasnt paying attention) that KT is practicing Necromancy. But his "light" has never dulled in my eyes and I trust him explicitly.
Fear the night because the night doesn't fear YOU!!!
Something that I have learned in my life: The dead just dont stay dead.
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Bert_the_Turtle
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Post by Bert_the_Turtle »

Knowledge and Power aren't inherently evil. What is done with them may be however.

I'm also concerned about the conflicting natures involved here. Death and Rebirth are partsof the natural cycle, but using necromancy to break the cycle seems like it'd be a no no to me.
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KonThaak
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Post by KonThaak »

Perhaps a large part of the misunderstanding comes from not truly understanding what "necromancy" is...

I'm going to start up a thread on this board about magic in general, now that it's finally open (THANK YOU, PENDRAGON!!!), but in the meantime, lemme explain...

Druidry focuses on a kind of magic called "nature magic". Some of the basest spells in this form could hardly be called spells, by those of a learned nature... It is, as the name implies, magic that focuses on the natural world. I'll get into more detail later, but "the natural world" neither focuses on life or death... There are many applications of nature magic, from boosting one's own strength through self-confidence to protection to healing to shapeshifting. The shapes I adopt are absolute; I adopt not only the shape of the creature, but their mind, mentality, and spirit as well.

Sorcery, another form of magic, focuses more on manipulation of the energies; theoretically, anyone can learn this form of magic, through study and practice, whereas nature magic is usually more intuitive. Because of its "looser" nature, sorcery can imitate other forms of magic through careful study and applications of different magical formulae, to manipulate the energies in the same manner as mystics or psychics do. It's usually less energy-efficient, however, than to mystics or others who learn their abilities naturally... Of all the kinds of magic, sorcery has the most applications, and fewer limitations.

Necromancy is a form of sorcery, rather than nature magic or other mysticism. The applications of necromancy, as I have come to understand them, are, therefore, many and extremely varied. There are spiritual focuses, magic that interacts with the spiritual realm, ranging from being as harmless as simple communication to being as karma-damaging as subjugation of spirits. There are also magics that can capture a soul in a state of stasis at the point of death, allowing the necromancer the chance to plant the soul in another body, be it a golem (or homunculus, or other magical construct), an animated zombie or flesh golem, or in another living body that, for whatever reason, has no soul of its own.

There is, of course, the stereotypical "undeath" magic, the animation of corpses, skeletons, mummies, and whatnot... Contrary to what many people think, this doesn't necessarily go against my ways. It isn't unnatural to animate a corpse as a zombie; rather, in my most humble of opinions, it is far more unnatural to tell a tree to uproot itself to attack my enemies, which is what many people think about when they think of druids... Ask me which is more TASTEFUL, and I will wholeheartedly agree that, unnatural or not, I won't be raising zombies for any purpose whatsoever.

Much of the prejudice against necromancy comes from the animation of the dead, the desecration of the bodies of those who are resting. It seems unholy and terrible to raise someone's father, or sister, or cousin, etc, and force them to do your bidding... The fact of the matter is, the necromancer that does this is merely borrowing the fallen shells that those who have passed no longer need. Children play with cicada shells, in much the same way (minus the magical re-animation, and on a physical sense rather than a metaphysical sense).

There are other applications of necromancy, but most of them are far more advanced than I will ever delve, and I'm not entirely certain I understand how they work... The notes I have of them are sketchy, at best.

Again, I DO NOT CONDONE THE RAISING OF CORPSES. I DO NOT SUPPORT THOSE WHO DO. I simply do not condemn the act on its merit alone; rather, I condemn those who would perform the act based on the selfish reasons most of them do it.

I am a mystic by nature, but I have studied sorcery as part of my druidic training. I'm very good at mathematics, and sorcery came easier to me than it probably should've. This is why I can perform some necromantic abilities, despite being a mystic... It hasn't been as easy as I thought it would be; despite the fact that I am focusing myself on the more innocuous forms of spiritual magics, I feel rather more drained than I do performing other sorcerous acts... Perhaps the fact that I don't focus on "death" magic has something to do with this...?
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Bert_the_Turtle
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Post by Bert_the_Turtle »

Interesting.
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GhostSpider
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Post by GhostSpider »

Idealistic is more like it.
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Post by concrete_Angel »

What's wrong with ideals? His aren't hurting anyone.
You traded in your wings
For everything freedom brings
You never left me
You never let me
See what this feeling means

Everything that you feel
Is everything that I feel
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We shout....
Koralth
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Post by Koralth »

Well, this is a philosophy corner, right? I call upon the wisdom of the philosopher MLK. That's right, he was a philosopher, too! What an amazingly versatile man he was... So very deserving of his own day!

He believed that a majority, or superior power, has the right to exercise their rights and attain happiness. However, this happiness, if it interferes or impedes with the minorities' rights to happiness, then the majority is abusing their power.

This can be applied here, too. If a druid has a power, and exercises these powers without impeding on others' rights to eternal rest, then by all means, it is a legitimate use of his power. I'm not sure I understand what he's saying he plans on using his powers for, but as long as he's sure he's not stepping on any innocents' toes in the process, use of these skills should be fine... Again, I'm having to try and be very open minded, every time I think of necromancy, I think of all those zombie flick's I've seen throughout my life.
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Post by KonThaak »

See, that's what I'm talking about; misconceptions of what necromancy is.

As for why I'm practicing it at all... There's a dark druid, a druid that practices necromancy, deals with vampires, and seeks the destruction of society, who is going to be making a comeback from beyond the grave this year... I need to know how to foil his magics. I can possibly prevent his return... If not, I can at least help to stop what he's planning.
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Kei Nakamura
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Post by Kei Nakamura »

Kon Thaak, may I get some digital copies of any books used in your studies?

As for the topic at hand, I will echo that knowledge and power in any form, are innately neither good nor evil, rather it is the use of them that determines good vs evil.
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Post by Ron Caliburn »

concrete_Angel wrote:What's wrong with ideals? His aren't hurting anyone.


At the end of it, our ideals and how well we've lived up to them are what define us.
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Natasha
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Post by Natasha »

I know what Kolya and Sasha are going to say about this.

"Our decisions define us."

Not totally unlike what Ron said, just a little more generalised. But Russians don't have ideals :lol:
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Post by Ron Caliburn »

I don't know, Lenin, Stalin, Kruschev, Gorbachev, Yeltsin - all struck me as idealists of a sort.
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KonThaak
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Post by KonThaak »

Kei Nakamura wrote:Kon Thaak, may I get some digital copies of any books used in your studies?


I'm hesitant to send copies of Windner's notes, but I can send you along the digital copies of the two books I got from GhostSpider...
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Natasha
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Post by Natasha »

Ah no fair, Ron. Politicians don't count :P

Lenin did not want to be Russian.
Stalin was not Russian.
Kruschev was an idealist but see disclaimer about politicians hehe.
The other guys were riding out the death of an empire.
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Michael T
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Post by Michael T »

KT if I may when we get done here in Ohio may I check out Windner's notes? I want to check a hunch I have, and may be able to get you some more reference material on the form of necromancy you are studing.

Michael T.
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Post by KonThaak »

Sure, but I warn you, Windner had been studying nuclear and quantum physics before he started practicing magic, and he had a damned good grasp of what he was studying. All the necromancy and sorcery he wrote about in his notes were primarily personal magical theory, practiced and refined until it worked as intended.

In short, he was a man who followed the philosophies of Middle Ages druidry, and taught himself necromancy between his mysticism and modern physics.

If I didn't have a good grounding in math, I wouldn't understand most of what this guy made notes about...
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Michael T
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Post by Michael T »

I am no slouch in math myself one of the fields my mentor pressed on us, it does help witrh some fields of magic. As to the quatum physics I have a good base in it as well, no where near you probably, but I should be able to get through it with your assisstance.

Michael T.
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Post by KonThaak »

Alrighty, then. I'll look forward to seeing you when you get done out there in OH.
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DarKnyht
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Post by DarKnyht »

I think magic can be evil in two ways. The first is simply using magic to further your own evil intentions (the dark side if you will). I.E. Using it in greed, anger, hatred.

The second is the magic that goes against what nature intended. Some things are not meant to be changed, and I believe a druid would understand this point. For example, no one knows what lies beyond the veil of death. We do not know what we are bringing back from it or what consequences we are unleashing in the process.
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Kolya
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Post by Kolya »

Like creating zombies?
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Post by Sasha »

If arcanists did not create zombies, Katja would be a sad panda.
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Kolya
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Post by Kolya »

Haha very true.
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Post by Ron Caliburn »

If mages didn't create zombies - they would have found somehting worse to create by now.
Ain't nuthin' that can't die.

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GhostSpider
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Post by GhostSpider »

And there are so many more horrible things to make. :twisted:
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Ron Caliburn
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Post by Ron Caliburn »

Exactly . . . fortunately they can be unmade and I think you should be next on the list.
Ain't nuthin' that can't die.

Delta Sierra
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