"Baby Ghosts": Real-life Sorcerer fun in Singapore

[J B Bell]

I don't read it for this kind of thing, but recently I read a thread on www.buddhistboards.com that can only be described as fucked. Up.  Also, really really cool inspiration for ways of doing demons.

Without further ado, the URL:

http://www.buddhistboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1456&perpage=15&pagenumber=2

Fourth post down on the page.  Oh, and an "ajahn" is, I think, a monk.

(Edit:  at first I thought the poster was not using "barbecue" correctly and merely meant "burn."  But I now realize that the roasting he refers to must be how they get the fetus' oil.  Serious EEEEEWWW.  I assume this is probably a scam of the "shrunken head" type, but ew.  Eeeewww.)

[Bankuei]

That's an awesome(as in very relevant, not as in cool with me) post!   I've heard of some pretty funky "real life" magic that is also very in line with Sorcerer, here's some other ideas that might be usable, some as demon related, or things a demon might ask of you:

Indonesian Magic:

Issac's magic
This particular magic requires that you kill one of your children, who you MUST love, in order to kill anybody you choose within a day.

Suk-Suk
Normally magical needles are inserted into the body, made of gold, silver or other precious metals, in order to grant protection or other magical powers.  One involves sacrificing a child and using shards of their bones to be inserted to have the power to assassinate folks through magic.

The Four Brothers
A Javanese belief that each human being is born with 4 magical siblings who act as guardian angels.  Much like the buddhist board example, the 4 siblings should be treated as family, invited to eat, bits of food left for them, say good morning, good night, etc.   The Four Brothers not only protect, but can also perform deeds ranging from good to evil according to the person.

Filipino Magic:

Bugs:
Its said that sorcerers will "train" a colony of bugs which they keep in a bottle or container.  The bugs can fly out and cause sickness or death, but need to be fed once every X days(usually 3, 5, or 7) or they start killing family members.

Witches:
Witches are not just magical, but also vampiric in Filipino magic.  They often have long sucker tongues that they use to slide between gaps in the floor or ceiling and literally suck out a person's liver while they sleep.  This gives them their power and makes them immortal.  Supposedly there are rituals to acheive this "status".

African/Carribean Magic:

Palo:
Often given the worst name of the voodon, Santeria, Lukumi traditions, it involves calling upon spirits of the dead to assist in actions in life.  In the good kind, its calling on your own ancestors.  In the bad kind, it involves sacrificing children and binding their souls to your altar for use.

Way old Magic in general:
Can't remember the source(TV, book, etc.) but I recall it used to be a big thing in general to sacrifice a child in order to build anything.  Typically a kid was buried alive at the end of bridges, in corners of major buildings, city walls, etc.  The idea was that the child's spirit would protect and "seal" the building.

Chris

[Nev the Deranged]

The liver eating witch comment reminds me of the Cherokee sorceress Utlunta or "spearfinger" who had power over stone and earth.  She had a long, pointed index finger with which she would spear and pull out your organs and devour them.  There was some very specific way to kill her, which I don't recall.

Most prominently she was featured in Tom Deitz' book Darkthunder's Way which is in my opinion, the last good book in the Sullivan series (the first two are Windmaster's Bane, Fireshaper's Doom, and Sunshaker's War.  The ones after DW start with Ghostcountry's Wrath but they start sucking with that one.)

Anyway, I am further reminded of an amusing scene in DW during which two of the protagonists realize that they need "the blood of a sorcerer" to utilize the powers of a shapeshifting Token.  The conversation went something like "Well crap, where are we going to get that?  Do we know any sorcerers?".  To which the other replies "What the hell do you think we are?"

I guess you had to be there.  Anyway, the first 3 books are great reads, and chock full of non-regimented sympathetic magic, starting gradually with Celtic flavor in the first book and gently mixing in Cherokee legend to wonderful and interesting effect.  Native American sorcery is some of the coolest around, quite colorful, life affirming, not as dark as, say, vodun or gothic sorcery... but even saying that, it tends to be far more brutal and painful to the sorcerer, requiring great sacrifice and suffering to be effected properly.

Anyway, this is the first time I've been able to get the damn Forge to work properly in a long time, so I apologize for just butting into your conversation and babbling at length.  I will go soak my head now.

=>  Nev the Deranged