State of the (Magical) Nation Address

In the current situation where some “practitioners” in the country are being bombarded by scandalous claims – (fraudulent and scamming allegations), the question of who are “legit” and who are not came again into the spotlight. There were plans in the past to create an umbrella organization, who was (supposedly) tasked to “regulate” Tarot reading and other “divination” services being offered to the public. However, as groups around the country aim to be autonomous and “self-governing”, the idea then was scrapped, and Arcanum (the umbrella org) was dissolved. 

In the recent scandals that involved “Masters” in the community, there were a few accusations of fraudulent “fortune-telling”, overpriced “anting-anting” – amulets, cleansing rites and “pangontra”. These businesses and services offered spiked when the pandemic started and face-to-face negotiations were halted, you will likely see more online “readings” and spellwork – I saw one who was  blessing everyone with her healing water by sprinkling it to the camera, during a Facebook live.

Online reading, by virtue of some psychic skills that enable the reader to remotely connect or “see” their clients are still legitimate (as I have seen), giving the querant the information they need to know. We have also seen remote workings like – cursing/kulam/, healing, protection etc., though not as effective as a face-to-face work, but MAY still work, nonetheless. Distance is not an issue most of the time to skilled practitioners, as zooming in and connecting to their clients can be done outside the physical realm. Seeing someone however, doing this casually on a social media platform, without preparation and entering an altered state of consciousness is casting some doubts on my mind.  

Going back to the increasing numbers of “masters” and other claims (insert Sang’gre/Pulis Pangkalawakan/Reincarnation ni Freya/Grand Poobah here), I agree that there should be an organization to “endorse” readers or practitioners that they see as “legit”. Though they can never really police the practice, or label anyone as fake or legit (at least publicly), they can at least endorse people within their organization to clients, vouching the legitimacy of the practitioner. The question is though, how will they gauge the legitimacy of the practitioner? Will there be a test of Seven Wonders to identify the next Supreme?

In Arcana, where moving up in the ranks of the organization requires not just knowledge but the skills needed to move to the next level, we are very careful in naming someone an “Adept” in a specific field of study. While no one is a “Master” in the group, Adepts or Skilled members must prove themselves to the officers by undergoing trials and ordeals, before the title is added on their names. These ordeals normally last for years, just to make sure that the skills the members think they have are legit and are proven.

The good thing about us is we rarely go out in public and expose ourselves to the media. We study and accumulate knowledge, help out people in need (without asking for ridiculous payments), and test our skills so we can improve. 

For now, we will just grab some popcorn and watch as things unfold. Let the dog show begin.

Image from: https://harryalbuspotter.fandom.com/wiki/Wizengamot