Transitional Magick

Over the past couple of years, I have had the good fortune to meet a number of transgender people, and some of them have become firm, long-lasting, good friends. One of them I've known for over a decade, and didn't have an inkling that this was something that was going on. (I was given a special commendation in her coming out post on Facebook for being completely oblivious and missing the point when she was trying to come out to me. There were many reasons I missed it, but this is not the time or the place to be discussing that.)

The long and the short of it is that I have some understanding of what they deal with and what they're going through. I wouldn't pretend to know exactly, but I've heard their complaints about various bits and pieces. I have worked with a Trans Mage, and that's when I started thinking “Is there anything that can be done, Magickally, that might be helpful to people undergoing Transition?” I was sure that the answer was “yes”.

And I started thinking that surely someone has written about this topic in the past. What I did find was a GDOBA. I found a question- “Are there any magickal rituals or whatever to help with Transition?” The only “real” answer given to the question was “Don't use magick for this. It won't help anything.” It was a principled, solid, and logical answer. And it basically said “Don't”. And I also found a load of bollocks about people wanting spells to shift genders at will.

Yeah, that was my reaction too. But I also found someone had been selling rings on ebay promising that they would be changing your gender almost overnight.

http://freethoughtblogs.com/nataliereed/2012/04/18/haunted-shapeshifting-ring-transgender-hormone-spell-buy-it-now-46-00-usd/

I swear, if I ever find the person who put that load of tripe up on ebay I will beat them to a pulp. There is NO kind of spell or talisman that will make you into the person you always should have been from the get-go. The person scamming these people... Yeech.

But I have sat down and given some thought to the issue. And some of these methods have helped the Mage I've been working with after I suggested them. Others are just ideas. I'll be entirely open and honest: This article is not designed to change you overnight. It's promising no miraculous results. It's just offering ideas to help, based on what I've been told happens and what I've seen. Take the advice or leave it; I'm making no money from this, but if it does help to make someone's life a little easier, or miss out on some painful part, then I'll consider what I've written here a positive result.

1. Bin your Genius and Daimon.

I'm serious. Really, If you're already a practising sorcerous person, you'll have calculated the names of your Genius and Daimon and will have bound one and exalted the other. I've done it myself. (I'll be including the oh-so-helpful links to the necessary websites at the end of this.) But here we have an interesting query to TG readers: Are you the same person you were before you came out, or are you a whole new person?

One person I asked about this was of the opinion that there was direct continuity from the person they were to the person they are now. Another won't even think of their old name any more. However, I do know that there have been some distinct personality shifts in the person I was talking to since their coming out. I can honestly say that they are not, now, the person that they were when I first met them. (But I love them all the same!) So my thoughts tend towards “They are a new person”.

So, what you should do is take note of the date that you officially came out, and then (if you have the time as well) use that, along with the place, to cast the horoscope for that time, and then calculate those essential parts of you for the person that you are now. I can't think of coming out as transgender, and living as the gender you should be, as anything other than literally starting a new life as a new person. And thus the Genius and Daimon will change.

For those of you who think that this is a damned good idea and can't be that bad an idea to at least try, even if you're not a practicing magus of any kind,  then all you have to do is first, generate your Natal Chart. Obviously, for the purposes of this exercise, the time and date that you came out as Trans. This website will do all the hard work for you.

Once you've got your chart, go to this exceptionally handy Genius and Daimon name generator and put the relevant parts into it. Yes, you're going to get stuck. Because you're going to start putting the degrees and signs in and then you're going to look and think "What's a Part of Fortune? Come to that, that the hell is a Prenatal Syzygy- and how do I pronounce it?!" Well, the Part of Fortune is another calculation, that can be done simply and easily by going here, and putting the right info into the boxes. Once you have that, you add that to the Name Calculator. 

The Syzygy, aside from looking like a Welsh name that should be pronounced "Jimmy", is found by going back to the Astrolabe site. But you also need to look at a calendar for the month you were born in. Certainly the year. Because you need to run another Horoscope chart, this time for the time and date of the nearest full or new moon prior to your birthdate. This final, tongue-twisting factor is the degree and sign that the moon is in on that date. I don't think I need to provide a link to a Calendar; this is the 21st Century, after all- the Internet is your Friend.

Once you have all of those, you can then make a note of the names. Frater RO recommends inscribing the name of the Daemon in iron and then sealing it in molten lead. It's a little simpler and more practical to freeze it in a block of ice. Sprinkled with salt, and an iron nail across it. As for your Genius- exalt it. Make a shrine for it, light candles and incense around it. Make it feel welcome!

2. Keep balanced

Right... so your body is now getting to grips with having a whole slew of new, unexpected hormones rampaging in your system. Emotional catastrophes potentially ahoy. Anger and sorrow and all manner of feelings are going to be kicking off and out and up and at random. Some people doubtless handle it better than others. Some people won't.

So I'd say that you need to do some kind of Balancing exercise for yourself, spiritually and emotionally. For myself (if I were taking that route) I would recommend the Middle Pillar exercise. I know someone who swears by the Stele of Jeu. But whatever your background, whatever your tradition, surely there's something that you can use to keep yourself on an even keel and stay a cheerful, calm, and balanced person, yes? And there's always Tai Chi, or Yoga, and similar. Even just plain meditation.

3. Get in touch with your Deities.

This one may not be quite so much of an obvious one. Take a good, long look at your spiritual path. Find the spirit, or God, or Goddess that best exemplifies the sort of person you want to be. In the whole mass/mess of spirits and deities out there, you are bound to find one that epitomises the characteristics that you want to have for yourself during/after transition.

Find this spirit, call on it/Pray to it, and ask for said spirit to bless you and guide you to the place you want to be, to the person you want to be. Simple as that. And maybe you'll find yourself making the choices more often that you need to to become exactly what you want- or close enough to it as to make no difference.

I will take a moment to point out here that anyone who picks a deity that has the body shape that you want and the temperament that you want to have you should also make sure that you read all the ways it can manifest. I take no responsibility for anyone who ends up with fur, whiskers, and bemoaning the fact that they don't have pretty spots- you should have checked beforehand that this one didn't normally manifest as a leopard.(Although I doubt that that will happen, really. But still- caveat emptor!)

4. Subtle Bodies Shouldn't Be.

The soul manifests in the way it should. So if you are, say, a Woman born in a Man's body, you'll manifest on the Astral as a Woman. So what you need, what you want, is to be able to see your subtle body. Try and get more correspondence between the subtle and physical bodies!

So for this, you need to use some technique for calling your subtle/energy body to overlay your own body. Become more visible as to who and what you really are. I've not been able to dig up any specific rites for this, but as soon as I do, you can believe that I'll be putting it up. Although I'm, pretty certain that a modified Glamour charm could do the job in question. And talking of which...

5. Glamours FTW

Glamours are not just spells for making yourself prettier. They're also spells to distract and redirect. This is related to the “Contact Deities” section further up- but on a more basic level.

Glamours are probably the most useful little bit of magick you can learn. And also, likely, the easiest. (If you can get Glamour spells in Titania's Ridiculously Fluffy Spellbooks, then anyone can use one.) Glamours are ideal for deflecting attention from those things that you don't want noticing. In fact, they can even leave a person thinking of what you would prefer them to. So a Glamour can leave someone thinking of you as exactly as you'd like, rather than them remembering anything you'd rather they didn't pick up on.

I'm only suggesting this method until a person is actually fully aware, and confident of what they can do. Glamours should not be relied on too much, but they can give you a little edge.

6. Conman's Combo

I've posted about this earlier on my Blog. I think the Conman's Combo, as it makes people more open to you and more trusting of you, could be very useful, as it may smooth things over for other people. Although I do recommend the Conman's Combo anyway, I'm not suggesting that you should use it to directly con people, but if it makes you more eloquent- which could be useful in Speech/Voice training- that could be a definite plus as well.

My post on the Conman's Combo can be found here.

Please, if anyone who reads this has any constructive criticism to what I've said, do not hesitate to comment. If you have any other ideas that could be added to this list, feel free to chip in!

Any Transphobic comments will be deleted, naturally. And severely Transphobic comments will be noted, framed, and the names used by offenders may well be passed round to others who would like to know who is and isn't a Bigot. I trust I have made myself clear.

If you have been, give yourself a round of applause.