| I was actually quite reluctant to get any of the TAL oils, only because I don't like the idea of using things in rituals which have been... I don't know, flavoured with someone else's juju. But eventually I caved (more out of curiosity than anything else) and got myself a bottle of Glamour.
Creates a veil of sexual allure and charismatic comeliness. Used for casting Venusian glamours and spells for beauty, charm and sensuality.
My beliefs are a fusion of western/celtic paganism, northern shamanism, eastern philosophy and a little voudoun thrown in for good measure. Now, Glamour to me is (and always has been) fae magic, and throughout my time as a practitioner I have always tried to cultivate a relationship, an understanding if you will, with the fae. I guess you could say I'm a fae chaser. :)
Glamour: The oil itself was not what I was expecting. On pure scent alone, it is a damp, green smell, slightly sweet and musky. It was not something that I thought I would like, and yet I kept being drawn to the bottle to sniff it just one more time. It is a strangely intoxicating and addictive kind of a scent, but a subtle one - not overpowering, just pervasive. It smells dark and shadowy, without being sinister.
Intent: What I sought to get out of using Glamour in a ritual... well, I've been a post-grad student for a long time, and there is nothing like years in a soul-sucking institution like further education to make you lose touch with your spiritual side. My goal, then, was that through force of will (and use of Glamour) I would "recapture my fae youth".
Result: Yowza. I don't know if it came from not being specific enough, from being too specific, or from the fae thinking it would be funny to mess with me, but this stuff had a powerful effect on me. I was filled with an odd kind of energy, a need for activity. I literally couldn't sit still. On my walk to work, I was practically running. Not just that, but the world around me seemed to be moving far too slowly, and every nook, cranny, tree or hollow had a fae aura about it, as if I just had to look a little closer to find a doorway to another world.
It was amusing, actually. I couldn't help but grin at how out-landishly full of energy that my body simply couldn't contain I was. If I didn't know what was happening, I probably would have been frightened by it. It was very odd, and yet I found it very funny. I was buzzing (dare I say, speeding) like this for a good three hours before the effect seemed to taper off and I calmed down to everyone else's level.
Oooo, then the come-down. Again, if I didn't know better I would have been concerned, but this is the price I've had to pay for fae magic in the past. Simply put, if your body uses a whole bunch of energy, it will eventually get tired. I spent the rest of the day a little out of it, perhaps even a little cranky at times.
Verdict: Well, I'd have to say that - like anything in the magical world - one should be very careful with TAL oils. Glamour had an undeniable kick to it, and obviously had a very strong effect on me. I believe that what I was experiencing was what I asked for, so in that sense I belive that the oil was very effective. Granted I wasn't using it in the way it was designed for, but I was still using it in an respectful and responcible way.
Actually, it raises some interesting questions - what effect will other oils have if used in a way which makes sense for the practitioner, but was not the original design of the creator? If simple precautions are taken I don't think it would be at all *dangerous*, but the effects might be pretty darn interesting. |
