Theatrics - Updated
Practically setting the
stage
Here's another issue where my methods differ from
some pagan traditions.
You see, I believe in theatrics.
Not surprising actually. My mother was years ahead of her time. She made sure to take me to almost every free and low cost cultural thing she could. When we lived in Phoenix, this was pretty easy. So magicians and children's plays and performance matinees and museums and art galleries filled my weekends.
My stepdad moonlighted as a classical music DJ. So from him I learned to hear the passion in Beethoven and the wonder in Mozart and the longing of Handel.
But let me tell you about the time I got convinced.
Even under the best of circumstances, I could never have been a real performer. My physical type is all wrong, my torso is too long for my legs and my fingers are short stubby things out of proportion to my arms. My stage presence is more suited to a soap opera than serious drama.
What I do have is a flair for taking the working bits from one thing and putting it together with another, and tying it in with what people understand. Somebody high up the corporate ladder saw me training my department and decided that Human Resources should "borrow" my talents.
I wasn't all that skilled with masks at that point. So I am a few hundred miles away from the people and places I know, being introduced as the out of town "expert" and I am in the men's room fighting off the shakes and a major panic attack.
I had five minutes before I had to meet the group. There was no way I could deal with them. There was no way I could deal with myself right then. I wasn't strong enough. I didn't have enough social skills. They could see that I would be awkward. They'd laugh at me. I'd go home in disgrace. I wasn't good enough to pull this off.
But Jack was, something inside me said.
Who was Jack? I thought.
In that second, this character sketch for Jack popped in my head. I KNEW Jack. Oh not the details, but I knew how he would deal with it. And I reached for the mask.
Later there was a cost, but I was in the hotel room by then. No one else had to see it. And I could call for fresh towels.
Now that is an extreme example, but there is not a professional who doesn't put on their own masks. Dressing for success. We judge people by how they look, how they act, how they make us feel.
So when people come to me for help, they don't always know why and certainly don't necessarily know how. My job at that point is to help them see the solution for themselves. Most of it is how I present myself to them and how I help them reframe the problem.
This doesn't mean I don't know what I am doing. Oh boy do I know. They don't see the hours I spend studying and meditating. The experiments that blow up in my face and the ones that fizzle out. All the ways I know to bridge one world to another, and all the ways I know to break those links. They don't see the frustrations and the practice that goes into making it look SM-O-O-O-TH and easy. They don't see the scars or the fact that I would rather NOT deal with them right now.
It's theatrics. Pure stagecraft leaning on a sympathetic ear and a dollop of common sense. It's not easy, but I make it look good. A bit of flair along with what they needed.
I've news for you. That's a good bartender too. Or a good doctor. Not to mention a good mechanic. And a good plumber. Most of the job is to reassure THEM so they will let you do the dirty bit.
Because the dirty bit, the messy thing, that's the part they don't want to face. That's why you are there. And they want the Expert to deal with it.
The Expert, as played by Jack.
That's me, check your program. And we can fix that pesky problem for you.
Nothing up my sleeve, except your expectations.
UPDATE - Okay, that didn't take long, even by my standards.
A couple of points here.
The first I didn't make all that clear in the original post. One purpose of theatrics is to establish "bona fides" without actually going through all the details. You want restaurants to be clean, you don't want to see a lot of junkers littered around a gas station, you want your boss to know more than you do about something. It's faster, it satisfies on an emotional level, and hell yes it's manipulative. And yes, "social engineering" takes advantage of it.
In an earlier post I spoke about taking people to the border of their comfort zone and then across with just a few well chosen gestures. The reason I do it is because it works quickly and reliably. It may not be pure High Magick, but it gets the job done.
And yes, the same thing can and does work with experienced ritual participants.
Second, what I am feeling inside isn't necessarily what I show outside. I'm paranoid. I don't like dealing with groups larger than three or four at a time, largely because it's hard for me to consciously track all that body language. That doesn't mean I can't do it.
My "protective coloration" isn't about blending into the background, it's about looking like I belong there in the first place. That's how I've learned to channel those emotional reactions. Unless I was actually having a panic attack, chances are you'd never know how close I was. Cary Grant I'll never be, but if it is one of Spencer Tracey's bad days, well, I can do that.
It's about moving as a predator or at least an omnivore among other predators. If you project "poor little me," then of course there are people who will eat you for lunch. You don't have to be a victim, even if you think you are weaker than everyone else around. Give respect and demand respect in return. Don't settle for less.
You see, I believe in theatrics.
Not surprising actually. My mother was years ahead of her time. She made sure to take me to almost every free and low cost cultural thing she could. When we lived in Phoenix, this was pretty easy. So magicians and children's plays and performance matinees and museums and art galleries filled my weekends.
My stepdad moonlighted as a classical music DJ. So from him I learned to hear the passion in Beethoven and the wonder in Mozart and the longing of Handel.
But let me tell you about the time I got convinced.
Even under the best of circumstances, I could never have been a real performer. My physical type is all wrong, my torso is too long for my legs and my fingers are short stubby things out of proportion to my arms. My stage presence is more suited to a soap opera than serious drama.
What I do have is a flair for taking the working bits from one thing and putting it together with another, and tying it in with what people understand. Somebody high up the corporate ladder saw me training my department and decided that Human Resources should "borrow" my talents.
I wasn't all that skilled with masks at that point. So I am a few hundred miles away from the people and places I know, being introduced as the out of town "expert" and I am in the men's room fighting off the shakes and a major panic attack.
I had five minutes before I had to meet the group. There was no way I could deal with them. There was no way I could deal with myself right then. I wasn't strong enough. I didn't have enough social skills. They could see that I would be awkward. They'd laugh at me. I'd go home in disgrace. I wasn't good enough to pull this off.
But Jack was, something inside me said.
Who was Jack? I thought.
In that second, this character sketch for Jack popped in my head. I KNEW Jack. Oh not the details, but I knew how he would deal with it. And I reached for the mask.
Later there was a cost, but I was in the hotel room by then. No one else had to see it. And I could call for fresh towels.
Now that is an extreme example, but there is not a professional who doesn't put on their own masks. Dressing for success. We judge people by how they look, how they act, how they make us feel.
So when people come to me for help, they don't always know why and certainly don't necessarily know how. My job at that point is to help them see the solution for themselves. Most of it is how I present myself to them and how I help them reframe the problem.
This doesn't mean I don't know what I am doing. Oh boy do I know. They don't see the hours I spend studying and meditating. The experiments that blow up in my face and the ones that fizzle out. All the ways I know to bridge one world to another, and all the ways I know to break those links. They don't see the frustrations and the practice that goes into making it look SM-O-O-O-TH and easy. They don't see the scars or the fact that I would rather NOT deal with them right now.
It's theatrics. Pure stagecraft leaning on a sympathetic ear and a dollop of common sense. It's not easy, but I make it look good. A bit of flair along with what they needed.
I've news for you. That's a good bartender too. Or a good doctor. Not to mention a good mechanic. And a good plumber. Most of the job is to reassure THEM so they will let you do the dirty bit.
Because the dirty bit, the messy thing, that's the part they don't want to face. That's why you are there. And they want the Expert to deal with it.
The Expert, as played by Jack.
That's me, check your program. And we can fix that pesky problem for you.
Nothing up my sleeve, except your expectations.
UPDATE - Okay, that didn't take long, even by my standards.
A couple of points here.
The first I didn't make all that clear in the original post. One purpose of theatrics is to establish "bona fides" without actually going through all the details. You want restaurants to be clean, you don't want to see a lot of junkers littered around a gas station, you want your boss to know more than you do about something. It's faster, it satisfies on an emotional level, and hell yes it's manipulative. And yes, "social engineering" takes advantage of it.
In an earlier post I spoke about taking people to the border of their comfort zone and then across with just a few well chosen gestures. The reason I do it is because it works quickly and reliably. It may not be pure High Magick, but it gets the job done.
And yes, the same thing can and does work with experienced ritual participants.
Second, what I am feeling inside isn't necessarily what I show outside. I'm paranoid. I don't like dealing with groups larger than three or four at a time, largely because it's hard for me to consciously track all that body language. That doesn't mean I can't do it.
My "protective coloration" isn't about blending into the background, it's about looking like I belong there in the first place. That's how I've learned to channel those emotional reactions. Unless I was actually having a panic attack, chances are you'd never know how close I was. Cary Grant I'll never be, but if it is one of Spencer Tracey's bad days, well, I can do that.
It's about moving as a predator or at least an omnivore among other predators. If you project "poor little me," then of course there are people who will eat you for lunch. You don't have to be a victim, even if you think you are weaker than everyone else around. Give respect and demand respect in return. Don't settle for less.
|
Pagan philosopher, libertarian, and part-time trouble maker, NeoWayland looks at keeping truths alive despite a wash of nonsense. But don't be surprised when he's doing the "nekkid Pagan guy" thing.
Updated Tuesdays and Thursdays when I can, otherwise irregularly as circumstances permit and the mood strikes.
Most Recent Comments
Categories
Befores
January 2007
Before Me
October 2007
Before a Winter's Eve
October 2008
Before the Wheel Turns
October 2009
Before our Worlds Touch
Calendar
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
Archives
NeoLinks
Letter from Hardscrabble Creek
Daily journal of a Lycian witch
World Religions - Religious Forums
Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
The Witches Sabbats by Mike Nichols
NeoBlogs
Books
Listmania - Eclectic Basic Pagan References
Listmania - Eclectic Introductory Practical Witchcraft
Listmania - Eclectic Intermediate Practical Witchcraft
| Reading Now |
|
on my blogs |
from my library |
XML/RSS Feed
LEGAL
and
homepage.mac.com/
neowayland/iblog/index.html
If your web browser does not show one of these addresses, then this page being used without permission of the author.
Views expressed by NeoWayland are his own and do not represent any other enity. NeoWayland freely accepts individual and sole responsibility for his words and actions.
For the best Pagan information
Statistics
Total entries in this blog:
Published On: Apr 02, 2010 02:46 PM
Published On: Apr 02, 2010 02:46 PM
The Celtic Tree of Life is an original design by Welsh artist Jen Delyth ©1990
ketlicdesigns.com
 |  | |
 |  |
Some textures provided by GRSites.com
