Perhaps a less controversial form of twisted ritual. The path of the Heyoka. In short, the clown shaman.
The Heyoka was considered completely insane, but insanity was seen as the same as inspiration and they were not actually insane. The tribe just didn’t try to reason with them. They accepted their paradoxical behaviour, but the Heyoka would go about their days imitating the activities and even rituals of their people in what could be considered a mocking way. Not without reservation of course, and selectively. It was considered necessary for the people to remember that their ways were not the same as the spirits ways.
The Clown is a popular icon these days. Indeed. It does have some power. Considerable power, really.
Some folk even consider the Dark Carnival to be their spiritual path. It can be with sufficient insight applied.
I assume this can be used in day to day life in some manner. To remove a road block of some kind perhaps? Well, indeed. That was the way of the clown shaman. Why they were not only tolerated, but valued. They taught their tribe by example. By acting in their special way, by embodying it, they gave their people the power to not give their power to their problems.
An example would be fear of disease. The clown would go about acting like they were already horribly ill at various times throughout the day. From their behaviour, the spirit behind the illness was given acknowledgement and would not linger long enough to bring illness to the tribe.
How is that twisted? It would on the surface seem disempowering, and many found the clowns antics disturbing. Even today some people are still afraid of clowns.
Embody what you want to get rid of? Is reverse psychology the modern day twisted ritual? It is. Except it was dramatized through ritual and practiced with a deeper intuitive insight not only into people but the world itself.
Is that voodoo as well? Only for those whose patron loa is Legba. Voodoo is monotheistic. It has a creator God perhaps like the Native American Great Spirit, but this being is so vast and so powerful that it’s impossible for humans to approach, so they work with a loa instead.
What about the Vampire Club in New York City? On TV, I see it is a private club and it got attention because people disappeared. I am not familiar with that specific place. The topic of twisted ritual doesn’t involve psychopathic or sociopathic behaviour, but specifically deconstructionist ritual. Though just as with many systems of belief / knowledge, this body of practices is sometimes used to justify terrible things.
People claimed to be real vampires, but they stopped the blood rituals to keep the club going. Blood ritual is actually orthodox in its oldest forms. One African tribe drinks it almost exclusively, specifically goat blood.
Also Kali worship? Kali has two aspects, and the most recent acknowledged avatar was a disciple of Kali in her mother aspect. An avatar is a Hindu saint, but the Thugee cult worshipped Kali as the destroyer. They were notorious assassins. It’s actually where we get the word “thug”. Shiva is both a destroyer and a creative power. So the dark mirror of the rituals, most consider holy, isn’t always rejected by the culture it arises in.
Your thoughts are welcome. Be well friends.
Travis Saunders
Dragon Intuitive
~science,mysticism,spirituality~