A Defense Against Fear

Fear!

Fear is the Mind-killer. Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration!

We are living in ‘interesting times’, at the moment. Eris is abroad in the world, and with her, the inevitable strife that trails her, like the aftermath of a drunk at a party.

The Horsemen have arisen. In truth, they have been at large for some time, but now that Plague has touched western shores, –now– people are making memes about the Apocalypse.

As the news unfolds, and those of us in Europe and America are experiencing a loss of freedoms that, for most of us, is unprecedented in living memory, it is not surprising that people are freaking out. Those first whispers of Fear sent the weak minded scurrying to the stores, frantically hoarding whatever they could lay their hands on.

Even faster than the contagion, Fear leaps from person to person, and unlike it’s cause, Fear is given digital wings with which to soar through the internet. The Media, never one to let a good tragedy go to waste, have talked about nothing else for weeks, and among the memes about zombies and outfits that are less Mad Max and more Jeff Lebowski, there crops up disturbing tales, images, conspiracies and fnords.

Fear travels through the hearts and minds of men, and acts with their hands. It is not an abstract concept. It is an entity, whose influence has tangible effects upon the world. Very few are immune to it’s touch.

A lot of Magickians have bindings and banishings in their repertoire that could provide a defense against Fear, but I thought I would discuss how one could construct a Cantrip to be employed at will, when the Shadows attack.

In Chaos Magick, we are free to plunder whatever source for inspiration and to re-frame the story as we will, so let’s tell a new story.

First, let us transform this enemy through the lens of Anthropomorphic Personification and write a new pantheon for Fear. We do this because we rarely put a face to Fear. We experience Fear in our minds as ‘fears’. A thought or possibility that is highly charged with negative emotions, which when experienced causes all sorts of nasty head chemistry and physiological changes that feel like being punched in the stomach, being frozen, and/or having a hand clench your heart.

This ‘attack’, for when it hits it feels like one, can be seen as the manifestation of an entity of Fear. A Wraith, or Shadow, or Dementor or some such. Let’s go for Wraith, for the time being.

The Wraith’s strength is equal to the power of the thought that drives the fear, and the frequency of it’s attacks are a result of the amount of attention you give it. To destroy the Wraith, you must, ultimately, face the thought and diminish it’s power over you (no small matter).

When the Wraith attacks, the mind will begin to play the “Doom-porn Showreal” and the heart will race and the adrenals kick in and that is when we begin the spell.

We begin by interrupting the attack. This calamitous train of thought must be derailed. Take a deep breath and let it out slowly. Repeat. I like to do this a few times, and as I do, I draw a little silver pentacle in the center of my minds eye, over and over (it helps me interrupt any visuals from the Showreal). We turn our attention to our body as we try to draw a long, cool lungful of air and slowly let it out again. We notice how the sensation of this fear is a physical one; a quickened heartbeat, a cramp in the stomach, a shortness of breath. We slowly draw another breath, breathing in light, spreading down our throat, filling our body and illuminating us, and the areas where this Wraith is grabbing on.

Take a deep breath, and with a gesture of your choice, breath out, long, slowly, deeply, and push the Wraith out of you, breathing out it’s shadow and forcing it to become manifest in front of you. Drag it from the darkness of your mind and force it to take shape and be seen.

Now that we have it’s attention, we shall remind it of it’s place. Here I have lifted The Bene Gesserit Litany Against Fear, as it has a nice ring to it.

I must not fear.

Fear is the mind-killer.

Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.

I will face my fear.

I will permit it to pass over me and through me.

And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.

Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.

Only I will remain.

As I recite the mantra, I see myself turn to face the creature, a being of dark and smokey etheric energy. I see the same fear in it’s own heart, as it realises that it has been called forth and seen. See the Wraith realise it has no power when it isn’t pulling the strings from the recesses of the mind.

I see it, in a panic, lunge forward and break upon me as a blast of dry ice. The coolness of it penetrates and replaces the cloying grips, and as it fades, so too does the sensations of Fear. And then turn the inner eye to see it’s path. And see that where it passed there is nothing.

See that only you remain.

This will be most effective once you have committed the mantra to heart. Write it on a piece of paper and recite it every time you are washing your hands for 20 seconds.