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Placebo Magick

Placebo magick believes that the placebo effect works, and that magick rituals and the such like are effective in as much as they utilise the placebo effect. Additionally, they note that the placebos work even when they are known to be placebos, so a placebo magician deliberately uses spells and potions and rituals for their expected placebo benefits.
 
So does the placebo magician actually believe that magic works, or are they doing a ritual purely for the other person (who is, presumably, a believer)?

I can understand this, if someone feels they have been cursed, that someone else could say 'I can remove the curse for you,' does some mystic movements and chants a bit, and then the person who thought they were cursed now believes themselves to be uncursed - is that it?
 
catseye said:
So does the placebo magician actually believe that magic works, or are they doing a ritual purely for the other person (who is, presumably, a believer)?

I can understand this, if someone feels they have been cursed, that someone else could say 'I can remove the curse for you,' does some mystic movements and chants a bit, and then the person who thought they were cursed now believes themselves to be uncursed - is that it?
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They are doing rituals primarily for themselves. For example, I, as a placebo magician, might engage in sex maggick or sigil creation or hypersigils not because I think it alters external reality (though I keep an open agnostic mind on that best as I can), but because I believe it helps my mood or subconscious and therefore 'works' in my favour (by changing me rather than the external environment).
 
Xanatic* said:
What is the difference between placebo magick and fraud?
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Fraud is pretending X does Y for selfish benefit. Using a placebo that is explicitly a placebo for effect X has no deception in it.

For example, if you said you were feeling anxious about going on a date, and I said, 'What about we pray to Aphrodite and do some magick with that diety, she's not real and the magick won't change external reality, but it'll make you feel better, then there's no deception there. And you would choose to do the ritual, and because the placebo effect is real you'd feel better and less anxious and your date would go better because you would be less nervous.
 
I'm not sure I'd call that placebo magic though. More of a 'going through the motions' magic, because it may make a difference, it may not, but why not try it just in case?
Like prayer.
 
catseye said:
I'm not sure I'd call that placebo magic though. More of a 'going through the motions' magic, because it may make a difference, it may not, but why not try it just in case?
Like prayer.
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I guess the difference is only in believing the placebo effect is likely to work. So it's more than praying on the off chance and more praying believing its likely to have limited effects.
 
I'm having some trouble getting my head around this.

I, very rarely, will intentionally practice majick and work with a plant or stone, or nothing but light. I would call myself eclectic. I do not believe that external reality is changed, but that my mind may be more open to finding ways of achieving my objective.

I do call upon different deities such a Kwan Yin (one of my favourites, though not a deity per se).

How is placebo majick different? Though I do not subscribe to any form but my own with some exposure to more recognized practices such as Wicca.
 
brownmane said:
I'm having some trouble getting my head around this.

I, very rarely, will intentionally practice majick and work with a plant or stone, or nothing but light. I would call myself eclectic. I do not believe that external reality is changed, but that my mind may be more open to finding ways of achieving my objective.

I do call upon different deities such a Kwan Yin (one of my favourites, though not a deity per se).

How is placebo majick different? Though I do not subscribe to any form but my own with some exposure to more recognized practices such as Wicca.
Click to expand...
Only in that it identifies the effects of the magickal working with the placebo effect.
 
This is great. It's like the corollary to the 'whoopee witch' idea (being, "if tossing pasta sauce on a pentagram works for you, do it", although I believe that's a slight variation on the original use).
 
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