Evoking Something Scary

This is a true story and, hopefully, a cautionary tale.

Anyone who knows me intimately also knows that I have a certain deep attraction to the dark side of magick and the occult. Some of you will read the word "dark," but will either consciously or unconsciously interpret the word "dark" to mean "evil." For the record, evil and dark are NOT synonyms, although some people have trouble comprehending the difference. Experience has taught me that there is literally nothing I can say at this point to prevent anyone from making this typical mistake, so I won't even try.

My natural inclination toward all living things on this earth-plane is altruistic with the usual exceptions for that and those which cause unnecessary pain and suffering. In a word, unless you do harm to that which is precious to me, I have neither need nor desire to destroy you. My point here is that, although, I am not inclined to harm anyone or anything, I am aware that our universe as we know it could not exist were it not for positive and negative energies. This is why the world is full of so-called "good" people and "bad" people, angels, demons, etc.

Most people understand that no individual is wholly good or evil. Rather than pitch black or blindingly white, we are all some shade of gray. Even the "shade" of gray varies from day to day since on Saturday we may be bright and sunny but come Monday a dark and brooding soul looks through our eyes.

One day I decided to evoke an evil nature that rarely is seen in me. The reasons for this are my own business and not germane to the moral of this story. The following happened exactly as described.

Going to a quiet place in my home, I used a method that I will not reveal here, to raise up a powerful entity, an entity most would consider to be very dangerous. I held it in place within my body and spirit. I mastered it but its power and malicious intent was very unlike "me." Naturally, it would not be allowed to stay for long but for the moment it served my purpose. I wondered, was this entity real or was its reality confined to my own subjective perception of it?

The next few moments answered that question loud and clear. Standing up, I crossed the room and opened the door to the second floor landing. Standing on that landing with me was my dog. This creature is very much loved and a full member of the family. She has the most warm, wonderful, calm and affectionate nature of any dog I ever had. She's the family "therapy dog" because she tries to cuddle and love you when you're feeling down and out.

The door now open, I stepped forward onto the landing and my sweet little therapy dog did something she has never done before or since. She actually GROWLED at me! She didn't just growl at me; she began backing away from me, as if in fear!!

Immediately, I knew she sensed what I had evoked in myself. In that instant it became clear that what had been called or conjured was real and could be sensed by someone aside from me. It took only a moment for me to return this entity to where it came from. My beloved dog soon responded with her usual love and all was as it had been.

The moral of this story, if there is one, is simply this; the imaginal realm is not just where harmless fantasies live. Very real and potentially dangerous energies exist there. Be careful what you invite to share your space!