It's not just hocus pocus - magic has practical applications. But if I've got a headache, I don't mutter incantations - I take an aspirin. Why indeed, when they include forces such as Shiva, the Hindu god of cosmic destruction, or Hecate, a three-headed Hellenic sorceress of the underworld. In the Stevie Nicks song, Rhiannon , the witch Rhiannon was portrayed as a romantic cliche, but in Celtic folklore she's accused of devouring her own son and smearing her face with the blood of puppies. Leone questions the commonsense and wisdom of some pagans who, in sheer ignorance, choose ambivalent deities such as Rhiannon as namesakes.
All magic is like a loaded gun.
When you open a gateway to invite spirits into your circle, it's like lighting a candle and waiting for the moths to come. If you don't close the gateway properly, like psychic parasites, some of the moths stay and strange things start to happen. As a witch, it's one of my most important tools. During rituals I might move it through the air to cast a formal circle. It operates outside conventional faiths such as Judaism and Christianity.