Recommended Reading: Carpe Jugulum

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 Topic: Recommended Reading: Carpe Jugulum 

Today we will be discussing the novel Carpe Jugulum by Terry Pratchett, published in 1998, and the lessons of Compassion and Mindful benevolence within it. 

This book is about the senior witch Esmerelda “Granny” Weatherwax and how she and the other witches in her coven handle an invasion of vampires in their little kingdom. Granny gets bitten, and the vampires attempt to make her one of them, but she foils their plans through sheer force of will. Even though this book is satire, poking fun at most vampire myths, there are some powerful nuggets of wisdom within its pages. This book is where we get the eighth core tenet of the Path. 

After Granny is bitten, she is forced to contend with the darker side of her nature. She has often been in the position of having to put a suffering animal or even a human out of their misery, and such a tragic errand is bound to have an effect on the psyche. Too many mercy killings, and you start to wonder if you are just intrinsically a bad person who likes to kill. Then you get really good at it, so people come to you all the time for the kind of medicine that ends in an autopsy. What eventually helps Granny is reminding herself that she always acts with the utmost Compassion, showing the way out of a body that has become a prison of pain. She applies a kind of situational morality, always with the aim of easing the suffering of others in any way she can.  

While she has no problem defending herself or her home, overall Granny is a kind soul. However, like many witches, she has often felt a temptation to use her considerable power to get whatever she wants without regard to right and wrong. Those of us who practice witchcraft will recognize this feeling. In this book, she confronts that temptation and Mindfully resists it. She knows that what magic controls, magic destroys, and she has the potential to do a lot of damage- most of it to herself- if she is not careful. Witchcraft, just like most other kinds of power, comes with built-in consequences, which is why we have things like the Wiccan Rede and the Rule of Three. It also has its dark side, with hexes and curses and even spells to enslave a lover. The Path recognizes the power of all kinds of witchcraft and shamanism, and teaches us to wield any power benevolently, intending to heal more than we hurt.  

The Core Tenets of the Path are a cycle, and they begin and end with a reminder to do no harm. It is up to us to apply Path teachings to our magical practices, just as we do in other aspects of our lives. The witches in the Discworld novels, while they never actually specify that they obey the Wiccan Rede, are depicted as good witches. They serve their communities as doctors, midwives, and coroners. Granny Weatherwax in particular is an example of the best kind of witch, using her considerable power to help and protect.  

Do you have any personal power that you can use or have already used to make the world a better place? 

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