Disturbing BoS I was give

Interesting, but seems too dark for me. Be careful...

This seems like a very interesting book. I'm a bit confused as to the hole "daemon taking your soul" part though. In everything I've discovered about the soul, everything the soul does is it's choice and it cannot be controlled by anyone else unless the soul allows it. The only exception I've found is defensive spells, but those merely repel ghosts. To me, it doesn't make sense as to how or even why a daemon would bother taking a person's soul, what value does it even have? Magick requires energy which, according to my research, is provided by the human body, not the soul. It is certainly within a soul's power to manipulate energy, but it is not a source of it.

The entry was discussing the spiritual. He even brought up that pain feels differently there, which it does.

I look past words used and personal interpretations whenever I read something.

Yes, it is possible to be partially "trapped" while astral projection by strong beings. When returning to full consciousness by force you're no longer "whole". When held back, the natural reaction is to jerk back to the body and this causes some energy to stay behind. I've personally journeyed for 2-3 hours straight because I refuse to do that and will stay out as long as necessary to make sure I come back just as healthy as I went out.

Shamans have become ill or died while journeying because the damage done was too great. If the shaman became ill due to such things, another would attempt to recover the energy stolen/trapped.

Many cultures believe in the ability to steal/lose parts of the soul or the whole thing. Since all of spirituality is incapable of being proven, you can't call someone fluffy or role playing for believing in a well covered concept.

People believe/d photographs capture a piece of your soul. You say "bless you" when someone sneezes because of the original belief that your soul could leave you during a sneeze. I laughed at this, until I went to the funeral of a 40 year old man who sneezed and immediately collapsed and died on the spot of heart failure. Now I see how the belief could have been conceived.

Soul loss is not an uncommon belief!

The Grim Reaper for instance, reaps one's soul. The Raven Mocker snatches the life of it's victim, then eats the heart to steal the years of life the person had remaining...an old Cherokee story.

I personally don't see it as the core of the spirit itself, but essential life energy, much like psychic vampirism but on a deeper level. I believe what the man encountered was a being of death which is commonly mistaken for "demons" by those who fear death.

Power. What is more powerfull than a pure soul? The soul is practically raw energy its everything

and people try to tell you that ap is "completly safe"... As safe as walking into the bad part of town at night it seems to me.

maybe he had strange dreams about these demons? and i agree that demons and such take souls, or pain to feel power, energy, and confidence

Thank you Raven, that makes a lot of sense. There is even an African legend about how sorcerers could take part of a person's soul and put it in a bottle to temporarily power magical charms.

I don't understand what you mean by "being of death". I know of "angels of death" (I count the Grim Reaper as one) that guide a person's soul to the afterlife, is that what your referring to?

I'm sorry for the confusion faithseeker. I try to use terms that are more general in order to encompass all culural beliefs.
I'll reword it for you and anyone else confused.

Psychopomps (deities, spirits, angels, creatures, etc that move souls from this world to the next). Also any spiritual beings that are associated with death in general such as the Bean Sidhe (Banshee). If you look at various cultures, very few (if any) psychopomps were kind or pretty. The dullahan takes the cake for gruesome depictions (in my opinion). Psychopomps were nearly always depicted as dark and frightening. And if you angered some of them, you might have an untimely death.

Thanks Raven. Now back to the book.

I think that the book is accurate in what it says, but it's probably best to not take everything literally. There is no guarantee that the author knew everything that we did about magick, the soul energy discussion we've had is evidence enough. He had a certain perspective on what happened to him, we have no way of knowing if that perspective was accurate.

It is quite possible that what dear ol' grandad was writing about
was his experiences not only in the Ether world but also the world within himself...His soul.Sounds to me that he was describing personal demons as well as spiritual ones.Self doubt had been planted in his mind & had begun to torment& unhinge his mind.

Just my opinion...

Stay safe as the BOS may be even enchanted to further inflict pain on the unaware who read the book.