Sex Magick

by Tom Raimbault

  We are also discovering that this delusion is extremely impacting by older women in their late forties and even beyond menopause. Naturally, older women do everything in their power to remain beautiful and young-looking. Are they not creating a slight illusion for the purpose of encouraging people to see them for who they wish to be?—young and beautiful. Could this be considered a mild form of witchcraft? Younger men are naturally attracted to older women as they represent the long-forgotten oedipal stage of being fascinated with Mother. Later in life, a man finds himself nearly mystified with the awe, beauty and allure of an older woman. An older woman is different than a younger woman. She possesses a certain 'sexiness' or charisma that a younger woman cannot emulate as an older woman has much more life experience.

  It isn't uncommon for a man who suffers from delusions of witchcraft to place conscious emphasis on noticing items such as unique jewelry, application of makeup or unusual items of clothing. If a woman happens to wear, for example, a pendant of a geometric shape such as a circle or triangle; this is immediately interpreted to represent something mystical. Makeup is a complicated art—too complicated for a man to understand. When done properly, the application can place the woman in a certain framework that tends to draw out emotions or desires. Historic paintings of witches often portray these women painted with unusual designs of makeup. A man suffering from delusions of witchcraft immediately associate a suspected witch of applying her makeup in such a way to cast a spell.

  Clothing worn by a suspected witch represents much more to such a delusional man than festive colors of the season or that sporty, new fashion. Jackets or sweaters of a particular color suggest that she is wearing these to enhance a spell or even subconsciously communicate an idea to her victim.

  Through time, the patient develops the notion that his master witch is telepathically connected to him and can sense his thoughts or events throughout the day. He might imagine her seated before a crystal ball and watching all his activities. Through spells or magic, she can play a hand at influencing his day; either to inflict harm or to provide little magick lessons to further induct him into the art of witchcraft.

  In the final stage of these delusions, the patient experiences momentary slips into psychosis in which his master witch can manifest herself in other people. Some report actually seeing her face or certain facets of her smile in another woman.

  And then there are interesting accounts of what could be described as a telepathic network of cooperating witches. This, as perceived by a man under the delusion of witchcraft, is a network of witches who assist the master witch in passing on information or communicating with the patient. There could be thousands in this theoretical network who wait for the patient to arrive at work, school, the library, the grocery store or even in his own neighborhood for nothing more than to subconsciously communicate an idea or even give physical items needed to receive a spell. What's interesting is that the patient feels as though he were subconsciously programmed by his master witch and instructed to seek out these other women. He actually looks for witches! He becomes obsessed in finding them!

  If a female coworker happens to have a quartz crystal on her office desk that is nothing more than a decorative centerpiece obtained on vacation, the patient immediately concludes this to be an item of witchcraft. He might try to befriend her, form a relationship or at the very least carefully study her behavior for subconscious clues to reveal mysterious truths.

  If she collects seasonal items of nature for decoration such as autumn leaves, cat tails, stones from a creek to place in a jar; these items—under his delusion—are used for spells. If she has a hobby or some activity involving the arts, this is actually her way invoking mystical powers to use in magick."

  * * *

  Mary made one correct assumption of Jim. He never used profanity towards his wife. He never called her a bitch or injected adjectives of fornication while arguing with her. This doesn't mean that Jim never used foul language at home. Kimberly was a bit more of a laid back sort of wife. She understood the importance of the nasty fornication word in the English language. Its use releases frustration; and if Jim needed to blow off steam while encountering trouble with a project at home, he should be able to use the F-word—within reason, of course.

  Christmas Eve was different in Jim and Kimberly's home. For one, they were no longer newlyweds (relatively speaking). There was no overwhelming jealousy towards the young and beautiful wife. And there were two children that primarily set the stage in the home each day.

  The Christmas tree and decorations glowed in the family room. The aroma of Mother's baking drifted throughout the house. While April and Collin dominated the notebook computers for the day, the TV Classics network aired an 8 hour marathon of the 1960s TV show, Bewitched. Talk about a programming glitch: what does Bewitched have to do with Christmas? But it surprisingly provided an easy-going, put-your-brain-on-cruise-control sort of afternoon. It might have also set the stage for an afternoon of warped fantasies and reasoning for Jim.

  Jim gazed out the family room window at the fresh blanket of snow that had fallen overnight. All the little children in Mapleview were most likely at ease that Santa Clause could land on rooftops that evening.

  Through each episode of Bewitched, Jim continued to study Samantha (the witch). She appeared to be outwardly normal and friendly to those around her. There was certainly nothing ugly of her appearance. Samantha was far from the classic wicked, old witch with ugly warts and green face. There was nothing evil of her nature. In fact, she appeared to be quite benevolent.

  Through all of these observations, Jim supposed that real witches are probably very much like Samantha. Oh their personalities probably vary in much the same way that non-witches do. A certain percentage is most likely emotionally disturbed and mentally imbalanced, some that come from dysfunctional families, others that are simply delusional. But most witches who are truly in touch with magick as well as nature are surely nice people. And you would never know if ever encountering one. Witches, as Jim further supposed, do everything in their power to cover their identity.

  Jim took occasional breaks from his afternoon marathon of Bewitched. While in the kitchen to sample some more of Kimberly's cookies, he commented, “Wow, you've been at it all morning and afternoon.”

  “Yup! Almost done!” Throughout the day, Kimberly created a vast array of Christmas cookies; from simple chocolate chip to sugar cookies to Russian tea cakes to gingerbread to kaleidoscopes, even brownies and fudge bars. She was proud of her yearly tradition. And besides, making cookies for Christmas gave her an excuse to indulge in sweets for the holidays. Winter gave her a chance to cover that accumulated jiggle while losing it in time for spring.

  She was such a good wife and much appreciated. Jim wouldn't think of expecting her to cook for dinner that night. “What do you say we order a couple pizzas for dinner? You don't feel like cooking, tonight.”

  It sounded like a great idea to Kimberly. “Sure!”

  Jim returned to the family room for more bombardment of Bewitched. But before sitting down, he looked out the family room window towards the direction of Ekaterina's shack in the woods and wondered how her Christmas Eve was playing out. Then he turned towards the direction of Amber's house and wondered the same. With Amber it was possible to simply pull out the outdated palm-pilot-styled cell phone, and type out a text message, “Hey, Merry Christmas! How's your day going?” This is what he did.

  Then Jim sat down to continue watching the 8 hour marathon of Bewitched. He noticed that Samantha's presence brought with it all sorts of visits from fellow witches and warlocks. They communicated through quirky gestures and spoke charming incantations. And then there was Samantha's trademarked twitch of her nose. Witches, Jim imagined, probably have their own personalized technique of casting spells. As for Ekaterina, she did peculiar things with her eyes; such as the way she cast that love spell on Jim on the night before Halloween. But similar things were noticed from Amber; quirky
facial expressions made on a number of occasions. By positioning her eye brows or gently twitching her pupils, Amber possessed the power to transform her face into something beautiful, sometimes awe-inspiring, other times frightening or psychotic. Each expression spoke volumes that placed Jim in a hypnotic trance of wonder and speculation. “What did she mean by that? What was she trying to say?” And just like a poison with an initial numbing and intoxicating effect, a deep cloud of some mystical feeling would suddenly overcome Jim as the numbness wore off. Was this Amber's way of tracking him, receiving his thoughts and watching him from a distance?

  Jim finally flipped the channel. He had been watching a little, too much Bewitched for the day. In fact, he had been studying the show a little more than he should have. The speculations of Amber and Ekaterina were so far-fetched. Neither of the women were witches! Ekaterina was simply an eccentric, old woman that Jim had become mystified by. Perhaps if he spent some more time with her, a friendship might be developed between them which would eliminate those wild fantasies.

  As for Amber… The phone buzzed in Jim's pocket. It was a reply to his text message sent to Amber from two minutes ago. “Hey, Merry Christmas. Do you think you might have a few minutes to stop over today?”

  “I'll try, but it's not going to be easy.” Jim was lying, of course. For all practical purposes, today and tomorrow was a holiday with the wife and kids. Jim already celebrated Christmas with Amber and Trista on Tuesday night. Hopefully Amber wouldn't sense Jim's dishonesty from several houses away

  Kimberly's afternoon ended in the kitchen. She joined her husband and children in the family room with an assorted tray of Christmas cookies and already munching on sugar cookie. She seized the remote as she very much deserved to monopolize the TV. But what horror do you suppose she subjected Jim to?

  “Cool! It's the Bewitched marathon!”

  Jim tried to reason with his wife. “You really want to watch this?”

  “Yes…”

  Never before had a silly television show launched Jim into such a bad trip! Bewitched was terrifying him as it continued to educate Jim of the customs and ways of witchcraft. The secret society that walks among us has its own techniques of communicating and interacting with one another. And really, the television show was a bit of lie. Witches don't marry, Jim assumed! As he speculated, a witch would never subject herself to a submissive relationship with a male who felt it every bit his right to lead and dominate the woman in his life. Falling in love has a different purpose. It's a dreamy illusion that offers energy to enhance magickal spells. And if done correctly, falling in love with the right man could produce a beautiful, female offspring that would continue the lineage.

  Nonsense! Silliness! From where did these wild thoughts originate? After two more episodes of bewitched, Jim asked his wife, “Are you still watching this?”

  Just then, another text message buzzed in Jim's pocket. It was probably Amber.

  Kimberly was losing her patience with Jim.“Yes I'm watching this. It's either Bewitched or Little People, Big World. It's up to you.”

  Jim remained silent, desperately trying to cover his anxiety. How could he explain the terror that Bewitched provoked? It caused him to realize that he was associating himself with witches and worried of their intentions. In a further attempt to calm down, he quickly checked the text message that just came in.

  It was Amber with a short and cryptic text. “Well, I guess if you don't want to see me today…”

  Amber knew! She knew that Jim had no intention of visiting. Through Jim's exaggerated anxiety, only a witch would be capable of such insight. Of course he forgot that all women are intuitive by nature. Perhaps it was his momentary delusions that caused him to stir a little more in his seat and appear anxious. Through Jim's distorted perception at the moment, Amber and probably even Ekaterina watched him through a crystal ball.

  Kimberly sensed Jim's discomfort and finally announced, “Well, it's Little People, Big World. I know you don't want to watch this.”

  At least the show about “little people” who swear they can do things like normal people took Jim's mind off witches.

  * * *

  Pizza was delivered; the Christmas Eve feast came and went. To finish the first day of their Christmas celebration, the family sat before the TV; digesting their overindulgence and watching the classic black & white Christmas Carol.

  Chapter 30

  Christmas Eve was definitely a long and miserable day for Mary and Daren. There was simply no communication throughout the afternoon and early evening as Daren received the silent treatment. How much longer would he have to endure the punishment? Was Mary being stubborn and maintaining her silence for a personal, angry promise made to herself earlier that day? She sat there on the sofa, eating cookies while watching TV. And it was suddenly noticeable that she no longer wore the love pendant.

  Daren had some additional Christmas surprises for his wife, and he hoped it would pull her out of the angry stupor. On the night before Christmas as Muffin sat at Mary's feet in hopes for some cookie crumbs, the classic black & white Christmas Carol played on the large TV.

  Daren finally spoke, “So are you ever going to start talking to me, again?”

  Mary returned a pouty and scornful look.

  Daren injected adjectives of fornication while asking, “What is your problem? You've been such a bitch all day! Merry freaking Christmas to you, too, bitch!”

  That's when Mary finally exploded, “Don't talk to me like that! What the hell is wrong with you, lately?”

  “Nothing! There's nothing wrong with me! It's just that you're such a bitch today! Why do you have to be such a freaking bitch if things don't go your way? You think you have it so bad around here? I'll show you something!”

  Daren stormed over to the stairwell that led to the cellar. Muffin angrily barked behind him. Some time earlier that evening, Daren pulled the antique axe off the tool room wall—the same axe that Grandpa Trivelli used to murder his wife's stove back in the 1830s! It now sat at the top step, hiding from Mary, waiting for another evening of assault that was to take place nearly 200 years later!

  “You want to see something?” He now approached Mary while yielding the axe like some sort of crazed murderer.

  Mary shouted and jumped from the sofa. “Daren, what are you doing?”

  “I'll show you something!” As if batting for an out-of-the-ballpark homerun, Daren swung the axe at the large TV screen, just as the Ghost of Christmas Past entered Scrooge's bedroom. There was a loud explosion, a flash of light and a cloud of smoke. “I'll show you something!” Daren continued to chop away at the insides of the TV. Sparks and snaps of light bounced as further destruction was administered by the crazed axe murderer.

  Mary was well over the edge as she screamed in terror and outrage, “Daren, what's happening to you? What the hell is wrong with you? Stop it!”

  Muffin joined in with a traumatized, nervous bark.

  “I'll show you something… I'll show you something!” With every swing of the axe, Daren continued to let out maniacal, crazed laughter. Then he stopped and looked towards Mary. “I'm not done, yet!”

  Mary ran out of her husband's way as he approached with the axe. No, he wasn't about to chop up his wife. Instead, Daren made his way over to den where the obsolete computer and monitor from 2001 sat at the desk. “You want to see something?”

  Mary screamed out, “Daren, no!”

  But it was too late; the axe blade smashed into the CRT monitor, producing a horrific explosion and flash of light. Then he swung at the aluminum PC tower. Knocked over, it was brutally murdered as Daren repeatedly raised the axe and smashed it through to the internal circuit boards like a psychotic railroad construction worker that laughed and laughed.

  Poor Mary was terrified and had nothing left to do but run up the stairs, crying, and into her bedroom. Muffin remained downstairs, barking at Daren.

  “Shut up before I chop your head off! Go upstairs!”

/>   Muffin did as Daren ordered.

  Huffing and puffing with beads of sweat pouring off his forehead, Daren examined the destruction while continuing to laugh. But don't be so quick to conclude that Daren was the hole of an ass. It was all in good fun for him. For you see, in addition to the love pendant, Daren purchased a brand, new, high-resolution, plasma TV for his wife; along with a high-powered notebook computer—wireless router installed in the house so that Mary could comfortably sit on the sofa and browse the internet.

  Can you see how much Daren truly loved his wife? Demanding that Mary wear a love pendant out of jealousy, and purchasing her pricy toys for Christmas; a woman should only wish for a husband like Daren. Don't you wish you were married to him?

  With his wife upstairs, Daren cleaned up the mess. The old computer was discarded into the garbage can outside. The smashed up TV and broken pieces that had been projected throughout the family room were hauled out to the trash. And once the area was clean, Daren pulled the high-resolution, plasma-screen TV from the cellar into the family room where it was set up. A red bow was attached on top.

  The high-powered notebook computer was removed from the guest closet, flipped open and turned on. In less than 5 seconds it fully booted so that the LCD screen glowed as Daren ascended the stairs into the bedroom.

  “Mary, I got you a little surprise.”

  “Go away!”

  “Oh, honey; I was just joking with you. If you come downstairs, you'll see I got a brand, new TV. And look; check out the laptop computer. And there's a wireless router so you can sit wherever and surf the web.”

  Chapter 31

  Christmas morning; despite the religious purpose of celebrating Christ's birthday on this holiday, the morning of Christmas continues to place significance in finally opening up all the presents. Jim, Kimberly and their two kids took turns unwrapping gifts from Santa Clause, each other or from Mom and Dad. And when the last present was opened, there was that sense of sadness in the air that Christmas was over.