Moving along to stupidity example number 2:

I was at a non-Pagan social event. If you are Neo-Pagan or an Occultist, you will be familiar with “spotlight on the eccentric guest” thing. Where the host/hostess or even one of the guests introduces you as a “Witch” or something along that line, depending on your public identification. And you kind of stand there while people toss the usual silly questions at you.

My significant other and I withstood the spotlight and eventually people moved on to far more interesting topics like “Is there more beer/wine/punch?” or “What IS in that dip!” I was talking to a friend when a woman, an acquaintance of the hostess, pulled at my arm. (I hate that, by the way – I like my personal space and poking at me or pulling at me violates my damn space!) Digressing…back on topic…the woman wanted to introduce me to a friend of her son. Social protocol demanded that I accompany her to meet this young man. Oh lordy…he was all dressed in black, he had the whole Emo hair over one eye thing, happening and the compulsory, badly done, black eye makeup. The carefully constructed look of boredom with the sheeple, slightly aloof and, I’m sure he was hoping for “mysterious” but failed. He had a massive pendant on, I mean massive. I’m sure that it was visible to passing satellites. The universal hexagram. It is a symbol most commonly associated with Aleister Crowley and the O.T.O. This kid was young enough to have but a nodding relationship with a Bic razor and most certainly shouldn’t have been mucking about with anything Crowley.

The woman prattled on about this kid and his knowledge of Occult and the…yes…Ouija board. I did my polite thing, nodded politely and tried to think of an escape route that wouldn’t cause me to trample too many people. The kid mumbled something and after a few awkward moments, my husband signaled for me and I was able to exit the uncomfortable introduction with some dignity.

I didn’t give the kid another thought, to be honest. Just another kid trying to shock the straights and his parents.

A couple of months later, I ran into the woman who had made the introduction…in the local supermarket. She spotted me before I spotted her and left her basket, practically bowled me over with the Quebec hug and two cheek kiss, like we were old friends. In a voice, a little too loud for my comfort, she began to relate a “histoire” regarding the young Emo-esque boy from the Bar B Q. I didn’t remember him at first but she insisted that I knew him and rather than argue, I just smiled and nodded, praying for an earthquake.

Apparently the kid had managed to get himself into some trouble with his dabblings. This woman’s son had spilled the beans about his friend, the Emo. How much is truth and how much is organic/chemically recreational fun induced is up for debate. The impact on the young man, however, was not. According to the woman, the kid wasn’t sleeping, wasn’t eating, wouldn’t leave his room. A teenage boy who wasn’t eating or sleeping definitely sounded the alarm bells. Teenage boys do three things very well, and two of them are eating and sleeping. The other…well, not relevant to this story.

Apparently, a Ouija board and Goetia was involved. Seeing the two in one sentence causing an involuntary face palm… The internet used to be a terrific thing but it has become a double-edged sword that, far too often, injures as would any sword when wielded by the inexperienced or just dumb. To be brutally honest, I was not interested in helping the kid out. I figured this would be a lesson that he needed to learn and learn well but this woman, yakking on about demons in the cereal aisle of the grocery store, insisted that I needed to help the kid out. I figured, I would tell her what she wanted to hear so that she would shut, the hell, up and go away. I didn’t figure I would hear from the kid. Naturally? I was wrong.

A few days later, my doorbell rings and it is the woman’s son with Master Emo in tow. And frankly, he looked like shit. He still wore black but gone was the pendant, the eye make-up but most noticeable was the disappearance of the “attitude.” I had one scared, no – terrified, little man in front of me. I didn’t want to let them in the house; there was just something about the kid that made me want to keep him out of my sanctuary, so I invited them to sit in the backyard with me. The story was all too familiar. Kid had pulled out the Ouija after creating a talisman and chalking a particular set of symbols on his basement floor. (I’m sure his mom and dad were thrilled..) He was being bullied at school and wanted someone bigger, someone tougher, and someone scarier in his corner. What could be scarier than a demon? He had limited success, considering the outcome; I sincerely doubt that he had invoked the demon he thought would best serve his needs, a certain Asmodeus. That he had summoned something unsavoury seemed pretty evident but what? I don’t know, to this day, I simply don’t know.

He was being plagued by shades or shadows. His sleep was interrupted by nightmares and he couldn’t shake the smell of rotten eggs in his nostrils which was causing him to be nauseated and unable to eat. The only place he felt safe, although not completely so, was his room. He kept incense and candles burning whenever he was in residence and it was my understanding that this was most of the time. He was waking up with scratches on his body, particularly his arms. He often experienced the sense of being touched by something cold. It didn’t matter where he was, he always had something dark and shadowy standing in his peripheral vision, he couldn’t quite see what it was and he didn’t want to see. This kid was in a high state of panic and fright. I asked him what he had done the night of the invocation. What procedures he had followed. Turns out and colour me shocked, he hadn’t followed any recognized method as he felt he could handle whatever came at him. Lesson learned – he couldn’t. I must confess to detecting a slight odor of sulphur around him. It is possible and probable that he was farting but the odour was there, none the less and I found myself smoking just to mask the smell.

He looked at me and asked for help or advice. Frankly, I had none to give. He didn’t follow any set procedure, he certainly didn’t use any method with which I was familiar. I had to seek outside advice. I told the kid to call me in a couple of days and in the meantime, throw out the damn Ouija board and any Occult material that he had in his possession.

I placed a call as soon as the kid left and discussed the problem with an old friend, far more experienced in these matters than was I. He e-mailed me a few procedures for the kid to try and told me to stay away from any of it. The kid needed to fix this on his own and not put anyone else at risk.

I sent the boy an e-mail, outlining what he needed to do. He e-mailed me back a couple of days later – it hadn’t worked. I went back to my friend and we came up with something else. Had the kid work that one. Nothing. Another call and we had a third method. I sent the e-mail but did not receive a response. I had to believe that the kid had come to his sense or else, found something else that worked.

That wasn’t the case. He tried to take his own life and was hospitalized. I don’t know what happened to him, aside from his being released to his parents some days later. I never heard from him again.