Wof is one of my jackal spirits. He is silvery with shimmery black spots on his skin. He looks very similar to a domestic dog, but has exceptionally long ears. Wof, and Woof (both named for the sound of their bark) are incredibly gentle, and rather fastidious — which might surprise some people, who think of jackals as meat-ripping, snarling and ferocious devourers of carcasses. Woof's coat is dark brown with a reddish tint, with black spots.

Jackals are often mistaken for hyenas. This may be due to appearance, but I doubt it. Cartoon hyenas are pretty cute, especially the Warner Brothers' variety - which actually looks more like a Samoyan husky, and then there's Disney's "Lion King" version which is much more accurate to true, biological hyenas - laughing or otherwise.

What jackals really look like is medium-size dogs with bushy fur coats, long snouts, long pointy ears, and the appearance of smiling - something they share with their genetic cousin the coyote.

The movie (and book) "The Omen" was an effective thriller released in the 1970's that managed to plant the suggestion that jackals were somehow associated with demonic worship and sacrifice. An educated metaphysician would recognize the plot device that is the equivalent of wolfsbane potion in traditional scary "witchcraft" novels. Wolfsbane potion and Satan mating with jackals become interchangeable as mass-recognized symbols of demon-worship, though neither is based on any grounded scientific fact, and barely on superstition alone.

To any metaphysicians, witches, Christians, or others actively engaged in the pursuit of Wisdom, Knowledge and Light of the Universe: "The Omen" was a mish-mash - it could be called THE pulp-fiction of horror-stories popular in the '70's. The story was purely exploitative, and was a hash of "all the scary things we can think of combined to make this a great scary story." The movie (and novel) were NOT based on fact, or even a modicum of plausible research.

Yet, as commercially-successful as this movie was, an astral impression was made on the people who saw the movie. The movie was a masterpiece, creatively-speaking, in that it managed to find a multitude of "pressure points" with which to work with (or against?) the human psyche. Again, persons educated in magic, the Divinity of the Creator, and followers of Light Paths would be able to pierce the illusions, and the "hugger-mugger" of plot device and inverted character depiction.

Those people NOT educated in magic or holy divinity would be left to deal with their mental and emotional horrors and fears by themselves, with virtually no help from spiritual or guidance counselors. Who, after all, would want to admit they had been "deeply disturbed" by a movie so clearly exploitative as "The Omen"? On a rating system, "The Omen" didn't get half the press "Carrie" did, or even a fourth of what "The Exorcist" did.

The difference?

"The Exorcist" and "Carrie" were both at least BASED on a modicum of reality. The "scientific and esoteric principles" of BOTH movies operate on a certain amount of projection of known theories. The two movies are, literally, Science Fiction Horror movies.

In "The Exorcist", we deal with the principles of demonic possession. Demons do exist in the etheric and astral, and do have some control in the physical third-dimension IF the Will of the channeler is weak. Women and children are a LITTLE more susceptible than men, but this is less about Will than about personal ability to be creative and to work with multi-dimensional levels of consciousness simultaneously.

It is my belief that demons do NOT possess humans, physically, but can be overshadowing presences if Wills are not strong, and it can seem as if a person is possessed simply because they do not activate their own individual Will. Demons are synthetic in origin, and can seem to be sentient - that sentience is nothing more than a programmed delayed-response mechanism infused through the Creator of the demon.

I will also say that demons have often been attributed to persons suffering mental illnesses, which we now know to be reflections of Soular and Persona and even chemical imbalance, rather than Spiritual dispossession and possession. I will posit, however, that demons may have had some astral correlation between the dispossession of Souls with their physical bodies.

I will add, also, that demonic relationship may NOT be directly connected to the displaced or disassociated person - but may be connected with persons close to the disassociated person. In other words, a demon attached to one person would be "disguising itself" to appear to blend in harmony with that person, but would have a disseminating and destructive effect upon the people surrounding the object (person) of attachment.

For those people who are psychically sensitive, all three of the movies mentioned would tend to scare the jeepers out of them - unless they have a strong base of knowledge with which to conquer the negative thought-forms created by the astral fields these movies (and their audiences) create.

"Carrie" deals with the principles of telekinesis, and of astral fields created by religious mania - which sets up its own negative astral field. While the story is "fiction" - the plausibility of the novel and movie tell their own story. I offer this conjecture: it is the power of Carrie's mother's mania that allows and fuels Carrie's latent ability at psycho kinesis, and it is the destructive and impure nature of the energy of that religious mania that, in effect, sets the stage for Carrie's destructive adventure. (It is also that mania that causes Carrie's mother to be one of the first targets of that negative energy - an example of extreme and immediate karmic retribution.)

Further, the sacrifice of the pig, and the evil intent (of humiliation and revenge) behind that act serves as the catalyst for the negative power that is unleashed.

Therefore, I reason that "The Exorcist" and "Carrie" are both founded on plausible esoteric possibility and reality, but again, I affirm that "The Omen" was little more than a "hogwash" movie that took its stance purely on some negative Biblical prophecies, and then tried to paint the reality as ugly as possible, to get some attention and to make a few bucks. All three movies were money-makers, and while "The Omen" is recognized as having the LEAST artistic value, it could probably win an award for doing the most damage on a sensitive national psyche.

What do the three movies have in common?

The fear of Death. More than that, the three movies capitalized on the human fear of death by unnatural means, which could also be said about "Jaws" — but these three movies incorporate the elements of spiritual death. No matter what our religious beliefs, or lack thereof, we tend to fear that our lives may be swept of their purpose - bad enough - but even worse when combined with spiritual extermination. Most humans like to think we have SOME meaning - even if we don't understand it in the Here and Now; we at least find a certain amount of comfort in thinking that we understand on some level, or in some time and place, and that our lives are somehow "justified" by purpose within some realm.

As humans begin to understand more about the nature of Life and Death, it becomes easier to distinguish between astral reality as it applies to us, and mental exercises in morbidity, such is reflected in the "Halloween" movies - such movies where the evil dead do not seem to STAY dead, and are directly correlated to box-office appeal.

Even serial writers tend to kill off their favorite characters, because they get tired of them - and they shuck those alter-identities long before the commercial public does. (And then, the public tends to actually "mourn" the loss of those characters. Some people did it with Sherlock Holmes - and I admit I felt the same way about Vinnie Terranova - a superhero in a leather jacket.)

We consider it a random act of thoughtlessness that jackals were used as the symbol of unholy matrimony in "The Omen." There is no "set of lore" in Western history, which "The Omen" depends on to support any superstitious conclusions that Satan and jackals are somehow partnered - even in a spur-of-the-moment-ritual — and if you read the book, you know NOTHING pretended to be spur-of-the-moment. That was part of the astral field created: "This was PLANNED before your time" - another way to reinforce humans' beliefs that they have no control of their selves or the time/space around them.

A plot device as old as the Christian Bible.

Ancient Egyptians celebrated the spirit jackal Anubis as a god of travel, and a conductor (escort) to the Other World. Egyptians, of course, believed in reincarnation, and devoted much of their philosophical and spiritual pursuits to the evolution of understanding between the many Kingdoms of Earth. Jackals were celebrated and not feared, because it was believed that jackals served as vehicles of conveyance to one's Higher Self, or true incarnational awareness.

Wof, and Woof, love humans dearly, and among my critter spirits, they seem particularly attuned to the consciousness of humans, and it is easy for me to believe that, esoterically, they do, in fact, serve as escorts between the multifold dimensions of awareness. Jackals know no fear except the absence of Love. As this is what humans fear the most, I think a symbiosis of awareness is evident.

Yet, jackals are not simply escorts; they themselves are in no rush to end their lives, nor the lives of others. Jackals are known - like hyenas - to devour carrion, which some consider impure or unholy, but it is nothing more than a Divine function to recreate and recycle the Wheel of Life. Yet, by eating the dead, they are insuring that the material energy is being reincorporated into the Wheel, and that no life goes unwasted, even when the Spirit departs, the flesh is reabsorbed into the godhead of Creation.

The jackals say, "Live your life to the fullest. There is no hurry." Jackals wait in patience and love, fulfilling their own purpose in the third-dimension, and expectantly eager to see what humans accomplish. The jackals are in no hurry - they enjoy the spectacle, mystery, and magic of Life. If they could, they would radiate this to humans, so that humans would not wait for death to know the joy that can be known today.

Love, Galadriel
11/22/2003
Critters/wof.html