{"id":353,"date":"2008-08-10T08:23:52","date_gmt":"2008-08-10T12:23:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/?p=353"},"modified":"2008-08-10T08:23:52","modified_gmt":"2008-08-10T12:23:52","slug":"10-more-questions-with-raven-digitalis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/?p=353","title":{"rendered":"10 More Questions with Raven Digitalis"},"content":{"rendered":"

1. The last time we talked <\/a>was in November 2007 a little while after your first book \u201cGoth Craft\u201d was released. What have you learned between then and now?<\/strong>
\nI\u2019ve learned many things, particularly spiritually! It\u2019s hard to quantify; I don\u2019t entirely remember who I was then; I only know who I am in the present\u2026 I\u2019m sure I\u2019ll say the same thing in another year! But, I can safely say that I\u2019ve learned what it\u2019s like to put myself \u2018out there\u2019 on a larger scale. And I wouldn\u2019t take it back for anything in the world. I\u2019m so happy I\u2019m \u201cspreading my wings,\u201d if I may use the pun.<\/p>\n

2. Your new book \u201cShadow Magick Compendium\u201d looks like it covers a lot of different stuff: toxic herbs, fasting, dispelling harmful behavior patterns, the Witch hunts, mysticism and more. What do all the different things you discuss in your new book have in common, if anything?<\/strong>
\nFor me, I see certain things as having a strong connection to shadow or darkness as a spiritual force of nature; I compiled the book with this in mind, and have tried to stay close to that examination throughout. When I was doing my edits for the book, I realized how deep some of the material actually is. I hadn\u2019t really considered its spiritual scope until I took a \u201cbird\u2019s eye view\u201d and examined it from a reader\u2019s perspective (editorially). I hope beyond measure that the material will help positively and progressively influence other peoples\u2019 evolving spiritual paths. There is far too much suffering in the world; it\u2019s all we can do\u2014and should do\u2014to help both ourselves and one another as brothers and sisters in this experience of reality.<\/p>\n

3. Also, what made you decide to not write more about the Goth culture in your new book?<\/strong>
\nI\u2019m over it. Hah! Yep, it\u2019s true: I put my piece out there about dark subculture, and now it\u2019s time to move on to strictly spiritual focuses. I don\u2019t want to be known as \u201cthat Goth guy,\u201d because there\u2019s much more to my writing and spiritual path than that. Though dark culture is significant and beautiful, there\u2019s no need for me to keep trippin\u2019 on it. I\u2019m concerned with consciousness, Awareness, and compassion, and the mediums for musing those frequencies is always changing. You will also find that my focus in writing will not always stay \u201cdark,\u201d though metaphysical darkness is my own familiar spiritual root, so I\u2019ll still always pull from that area to some degree naturally.<\/p>\n

4. Another Llewellyn author who encourages a darker look at magic is Konstantinos (author of \u2018Nocturnal Witchcraft\u2019). Are you familiar with his work, and if so, do you feel you share in the philosophy of working with darker energies is not evil?<\/strong>
\nWell\u2026 I\u2019m familiar with his work, but personally draw no parallels between his writing and mine, save for the fact that darkness (as an energetic force) is examined. I much prefer dark occult authors like Michelle Belanger, Robin Artisson, John J. Coughlin, Michael Alexandra Davida, Corvis Nocturnum, Nathaniel J. Harris, and Leilah Wendell.<\/p>\n

5. I know you love music, so I have to ask, what are you listening to right now?<\/strong>
\nOh shoot\u2026 right now? Lemme think. Well, today I listened to CDs by The Mission, Sopor Aeternus, and Fiona Horne. Sitting on this pile next to me is Monica Richards, Stevie Nicks, God Module, and the Gypsy Nomads. In my car I\u2019ve been playing Nick Warren, Aphex Twin, Collide, Tori Amos, The Congos, and of course my beloved Smashing Pumpkins.<\/p>\n

6. I totally can\u2019t wait for the soundtrack for \u201cRepo! The Genetic Opera\u201d to release. Have you heard any music from it yet? I think you would dig it<\/strong>.
\nNo clue! Never heard of the film or soundtrack. I\u2019ll keep an eye out for it, though!<\/p>\n

7. I can\u2019t believe I didn\u2019t ask you this last time, but how did you come about taking the name Raven Digitalis?<\/strong>
\nWell, the Raven has always been one of my spirit animals (I also discuss spirit animals heavily in Shadow Magick Compendium). I\u2019ve known the Raven as my primary astral guide since I first got into the Craft back when I was 16. He\u2019s stayed with me since, and I\u2019d imagine he always will. I\u2019ve recently also discovered that Cricket is a new, additional spirit animal I\u2019ve been Given. As for Digitalis, well, it\u2019s the Latin name for the foxglove plant. Just as people have spirit animals, we also have spiritual plant allies\u2014foxglove happens to be mine. So, the names sounded nice together\u2014and, this was before I discovered that Digitalis is also the name of a heart medication; an extract from the foxglove plant\u2014and I went with it. But, my birth name is Colin (shhh).<\/p>\n

8. Any chance you could help me come up with some cool sounding alias? I\u2019m so lame even my City of Heroes character is just named Amazing Rebecca.<\/strong>
\nHmmm. Well, my alias is a portion of my magickal\/spiritual name, so that\u2019s one option. It\u2019s not an easy process to find one\u2019s spiritual name (if one was to use their spiritual name as their alias), but we are all vibrationally aligned to different forces, and can use those alignments to form our magickal names (I discuss spiritual\/magickal names in Goth Craft). And thanks\u2014I also think \u2018Raven Digitalis\u2019 sounds cool, and I\u2019m lucky to have it as part of my spiritual name! For you? How about Mozilla Firefox? \u2013oh wait, that\u2019s already taken. Damn!<\/p>\n

9. I asked last time, and I gotta ask again, what\u2019s next? <\/strong>
\nOh, the future is rarely predictable. As far as writing, I have a number of things in mind\u2026 a fun little spellbook, some fiction, and some other projects. I also tour in various parts the country fairly regularly\u2014mostly the Northwest, as well as Denver and San Jose (for PantheaCon!). One can always stay tuned to my website or MySpace to hear about my updates!<\/p>\n

10. Parting shot! Ask us here at The Magical Buffet any one question? <\/strong>
\nOkay! Hmmm\u2026 do you think that Gerald Gardner should have created more involved codes of ethics with the founding of Wicca? And, do you think that his fabrications about the history of Witchcraft and its origins served the Neopagan revivalism well, or just put a bad taste in peoples\u2019 mouths in terms of legitimizing earth-based spirituality?<\/p>\n

Raven, you make me crazy, which by the way makes my husband officially your biggest fan. Let me see what I can say to all of that, and remember folks, I\u2019m not an expert\u2026I\u2019m not even Wiccan!<\/p>\n

From what I understand Gardner took a hodge podge of old traditions and managed to pull them together and present them to a more modern audience in a way that obviously resonated with them. Although many modern Wiccan practices can be traced back way past Gardner\u2019s existence, without him I don\u2019t know how many people would know about them today. If I could do that, I wouldn\u2019t hide that knowledge, I would share it. I\u2019d be like, booyah, I took a bunch of ancient practices and created this pretty cool thing that people like. Yet he felt people wouldn\u2019t be that impressed and since many Wiccans deny the idea that maybe, just maybe, Gardner did a little fabricating, he was probably right. Personally, I think his hype served the revivalism well in the beginning but now seems to leave more of a bad taste in people\u2019s mouths.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not entirely certain what Gardner\u2019s founding ethics were, but I\u2019ll share a little bit on my thoughts about Wiccan ethics. I\u2019m a total fence sitter. Yeah, I\u2019ll admit it. I like the rule of three and harm none and all of that. I think it\u2019s responsible and a good way to live your life, not just practice magic. That said, I know people who don\u2019t concern themselves with those ethics, and I still find them to be wonderful, moral people. I think the flexibility in perceived ethics is one of the things that makes Wicca such a diverse faith. So many philosophies falling under the same banner. Of course that same diversity makes the faith full of schisms. Perhaps if Gardner had laid down the law more Wicca would be a more potent unified faith, but I think a lot fewer people would be involved it.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s it Raven, gloves off for the next interview\u2026I\u2019m making you jump through all kinds of hoops!<\/em><\/p>\n

Author Bio:<\/strong>
\n $\"\"$ <\/a>Raven Digitalis (Missoula, MT) is the author of Shadow Magick Compendium: Exploring Darker Aspects of Magickal Spirituality and Goth Craft: The Magickal Side of Dark Culture, both on Llewellyn. He is a Neopagan Priest and cofounder of the “disciplined eclectic” shadow magick tradition and training coven Opus Aima Obscur\u00e6, and is a radio and club DJ of Gothic, EBM, and industrial music. Raven holds a degree in anthropology from the University of Montana and is also an animal rights activist and black-and-white photographic artist. He has appeared on the cover of newWitch magazine, is a regular contributor to The Ninth Gate magazine, and has been featured on MTV News and the ‘X’ Zone Radio program.<\/em>
\nwww.ravendigitalis.com<\/a>
\n www.myspace.com\/oakraven<\/a>
\n $\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I know, 10 more questions! Raven has the fine distinction of being worthy enough, and perhaps crazy enough on his part, to do another round of questions with us at The Magical Buffet. How was it determined that Raven was so darn special? It’s pretty simple, he’s a great guy, with a lot of knowledge to share, that I find endlessly amusing. I hope you enjoy this interview as much as we did, especially since I suspect he’ll be back again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[13,16,30],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=353"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}