Clipped

At the last big show in Austin, a reader from the rock shop brought over a typical binder clip, the big, office supply types.
She related that she found it clipped the small stack of business cards I had in with the mix of other promotional material, at the back of the rock shop.

“Someone was trying to ‘clip your wings,’ I guess.”

That was her take.
I was amused. It’s “sympathetic magic,” in that it’s a symbolic attempt — some would a say a “psychic attack” — and what’s amusing? How it failed. That Tuesday at the rock shop was a most successful day, on several levels.

One client, I first met her in Lubbock, so that would be 1992? I don’t recall. Cop in a small town, northwest of Austin, they were still hiding there, last time I passed through a few weeks ago. Just one of many.

Then, too, there’s the notion, whatever one puts forth in the world, that is returned three-fold.
I don’t know. I wouldn’t willingly engage in puerile behavior towards other so-called professionals. I think it’s unprofessional?
In certain settings, I merely keep my distance. Never unkind, and no overt comments. Detachment.
Running a “pay per view” website for over a decade helped in a lot of ways, as it separated the serious from the — from the uncultured, unacclimated, and uncouth. I do have a style, and it does grate on some people. I am — at times — uncultured, uncouth, and unacclimated. Some would guess uneducated, too.

Clipped

Getting “clipped” at the rock shop was even more amusing, as I pulled that binder clip out of my bag and clipped it to a stack of unpaid bills.
See? That kind of old black magic never works.
Another example of a more positive use of “sympathetic magic?”
Mercury Retrograde and ritual.