Everyone is nuts!

Troll kitty presents his proof that everyone is mentally unstable.

Last night on another blog, I presented a rule of thumb...in a rather unclear post...about the use of godforms in ritual. Nick Farrell responded by saying that one should not create rule of thumbs...again the post was unclear...especially about how doing certain things makes people mentally unstable. In my defense, I would like to say that it was merely the explanation given to me by someone else...my crime is that I used the explanation to shore up my own rule of thumb for newbie magicians.

I am quite sure that Nick would be appalled by the rules of thumb that I actually operate under. But considering that the subject came up (and I need something to blog about that does not bore me to tears), it is as good as time as any to talk about a couple of the rules that I operate under. My rules of life, so to speak.

The first rule is that Everyone is nuts!

Yes, that is right. Deep down, I think that everyone is a touch unstable. More or less. My proof--well, the entire human race.

Therefore, I am more interested in figuring out exactly how mentally unstable they are, and trying to figure out what might send them further into the deep end.

And whether or not, they are the fun type of mentally unstable. In other words, do they entertain me?

It makes life a touch simplier when you assume that everyone is nuts. For instance, when it comes time to vote on new applicants for the local lodge, it boils down to whether I can tolerate their particular brand of lunacy. Everything else is pretty much just the nuts and bolts of the lunacy.

It also makes issuing magical instructions and performing initiations a touch more easier. If someone is already broken, all bad instruction or a messed-up ritual does is make them more broken. You are not responsible for breaking their little mind; you are just responsible for making it worse.

Yeah, I know--it is not really a difference except in my own mind. I suspect that I am a subset of everyone.

My second rule of thumb is that No one ever listens to my advice.

I can make up all the rules of thumb I want. I hear how other Orders actually have members who follow the advice of the teaching staff...and I have never been a member of such an Order. I did not obey instructions to the letter while I was a student. I have not seen anyone I have instructed obey the instructions to the letter either. I suspect that no one obeys instructions to the letter ever...except to annoy other people.

Therefore, I can advise Adept Minor Neophytes to only actively use one godform per ritual, knowing full well that some newbie magician will decide that a ritual just begs to have 37 godforms actively used. In fact, occasionally I put forth advice knowing that the person I am talking to is promptly going to go out and do the exact opposite. People tend to do what they want to do, no matter what you tell them.

This leads back to me being only interested in the fun type of the mentally unstable. I figure that everyone is going to become more unstable over the course of their magical career, no matter how good or bad the instructions they were given, so the question is Will your insanity amuse me?