I am curious as to why those who practice the Dark arts are always faced with stigma and vilification. I have been a practitioner for most of my life, and I have done nothing that would garner any form of negative Karma, and I have done nothing evil. i am a Master Necromancer, and I am also skilled with the arts of the Ancient Arch-Mages. the only things that I have not studied are Numerology, Astrology, I Ching, or Stone/crystal Magick. My studies have encompassed the Mysteries of Eygpt, the Secrets of the Semitic Mystics, and the Lost Arts of the Ancient Races, now long dead.
I have not raised anything that I couldn't put back and/or control, and no spell that I have done has ever been done "just because." So why is there a stigma on myself, and those extremely few who are like me?
My magicks are just as valid as anyone else's. I deserve recognition, same as any other Craft-worker. Magick is not one way or another. No-one has the right to segregate or discriminate against another's Craft, because it is ALL Magick.
I think the reason those who practice the Dark arts are always faced with stigma and vilification is the same reason why you as a practitioner always (I'm guessing/hoping) practice the Dark arts with caution. It's a valid art, and certainly recognized, so caution recognizes the misuse of it as a real threat (how many cases have you heard of a misuse of healing and protection spells being a threat?) and people who don't know better than that will vilify it.
The development of different magical paths actually do make it segregated, discriminated (or, a better word-- distinguishable from one another.) This makes it one way or another. It's not right, but it's an instinct that develops when groups are formed. I think it's possible to surround yourself with the like-minded without everyone becoming closed-minded, since usually everyone's just living the best way they know how... but there, I see problems developing with some personalities becoming self-righteous, trying so hard to be good/better/perfect that the only way they can see to do it is to put other people down. So... it's not actually about you, it's more about them, so as long as you know you're being responsible, don't let them get you down ;-)
Like yourself, I am a practitioner of the Dark Arts. And like you I endure the frightened glances and fear from those I have told. People (including other casters) fear users of Black Magic because they have heard all about it and it's been told to them that Black magic is evil. Its a preprogrammed response. We face the stigma of fear because people have no idea how to react. But like kts said, "It is not a matter of good vs. evil or dark vs. light. Magic is just the tool it and it is the intentions of the caster that comes into question. A spell cast in the light my come from an evil place just as as one cast in the dark my come from a good place. It is all a matter of opinion."
