Let Them Think They’re Naughty

“When it comes to bewitching them all men are nasty little boys at heart.”

-Anton Szandor LaVey, The Satanic Witch page 144

I was just reading through the Looks Mean Everything chapter of The Satanic Witch recently and was reminded, upon getting to the section concerning the Law of the Forbidden, of a conversation I had had a month or so previous. Whether the man I spoke to knew about Satanism or not (and I am almost 100% certain he didn’t), he certainly expressed the ideas of this section quite well. I will admit, I was impressed.

Here’s what happened…

Myself and three other stylists from my salon were taking part in a straight razor shaving class that our boss had arranged after my constant urging for more barbering training. The barber who was teaching this class was a friendly, middle aged, five o’clock type gentleman who had been in the hair game for quite some time. He was doing a fantastic job at giving us all the attention we needed for learning such a skill intensive task as taking a dangerously sharp straight blade to a stranger’s skin (without cutting them, of course). Well, it was nearing the end of the class and while we were waiting for the last two people to finish with their models, we began to discuss appearance and how to utilize it, especially for females in the business of shaving or doing mens’ hair. When this came up, the two other girls that were there (the fourth participant in the class was a male) immediately shimmied the fronts of their shirts down a little bit and did everything they could to emphasize their breasts, while affecting overly flirty conversational tones. I then made the comment, based on my knowledge of this book and of my applications of such (quite effectively) within the workplace, that one could actually achieve greater success with clients and tips if they did not rely on overtly lewd displays such as that. The response I received from them was somewhat dismissive, so I explained the description (starting on page 141) of the sweet, proper, married, woman at the strip bar stealing the show from the nude dancers simply with a completely unintentional and unknown glimpse of her upper thighs as she sat down.

Much to my surprise, the barber agreed with me. He then added, “She’s right, you know. We men are visual creatures, but more strongly than that, we are mischievous little shits. If we think we’re not supposed to do or see something then we’re just going to want to do or see it even more. An accidental glimpse of a bra through your shirt sleeve when you’re shaving a guy or washing his hair is much more enticing then having the whole display laid right out in the open without any effort. We men like to think we’re being naughty even if we don’t say it to your face.”

Hearing the barber agree with me ( a stylist with at least 4 years less time behind the chair than any of the other stylists there), the girls then returned their shirts back to their normal positions and resumed their shaves as before. To this date, I am the only person in my salon who has continued with this shave service and am actually doing quite well at it.

Never have I needed to use obvious displays to entice my clientele. I emphasize my hourglass with the right clothing, use the right hairstyle, never go without my signature red lipstick, and I allow for the occasional “unintentional” glimpse or brush against an arm, allowing their imaginations run with it as mens’ imaginations are apt to do.The barber’s words only served to confirm what I already knew to be true through my experiences. It was quite interesting speaking to him and hearing such things from the perspective of a male completely unconnected or unfamiliar with Satanism.

It just goes to show that the Law of the Forbidden isn’t just something contained to our own little pocket of the world. It can be an immensely effective tool if the woman can understand how to use it.

“Remember, NOTHING IS SO FASCINATING AS THAT WHICH IS NOT MEANT TO BE SEEN!”

-Anton Szandor LaVey, The Satanic Witch, page 144

As always, readers

Stay sharp

and

HAIL SATAN!

 

 

Adventures in Bitchcraft

Finding myself falling naturally into the sex category, as opposed to sentiment or wonder, I am often times presented with the opportunity to draw upon the energy of many of the men who sit in my chair. As Doktor LaVey writes on page 190 of The Satanic Witch “…even the most worthless male can be employed by a witch if for no other reason than to increase her power…the psychic energy the panting suitor, creep, and pest pour out to you can be a readily available source of power. If these types have nothing else to offer, they have their enthusiasm, which equals the most unbridled form of lust.” Sometimes, albeit rarely and very much unintentional, I get the even juicier delight of drawing upon that energy combined with the energy created by the ire and resentment of the spouses or significant others of these men. Just such an encounter happened earlier this week and while she never appeared in person, the woman’s irritation gave me a wonderful feeling of power. It got me thinking…if she was so irritated that her man was coming to see me for a haircut for only the third time since he had first started coming to the salon over a year ago, then what must he be feeling or saying about me and how often?

This was brought to my attention while the man, a fairly attractive (in a bland, gap ad, kind of way), one to two o’clock kind of guy was in my chair. The pleasant grin he had on his face from the scalp massage at the shampoo sink faded for a moment after he took a look at his phone that had gone off before we got back to the chair. “Ooooh, she’s not happy I’m back already.” was his response to my question if everything was okay. It would seem that, from what he later explained, his girlfriend (a rather plain, low-wattage bulb, from the look of her) was under the impression that I was infringing on her territory and she was apparently somewhat jealous. We both laughed it off and I proceeded with the cut. Things went smoothly and the client purchased some shampoo/conditioner, leaving me a $15 tip which he insisted on handing to me directly.

Needless to say, the boost of power I received from this situation,  which I was then able to apply to my dealings with other clients throughout the day, paid dividends at the end of the shift with a combined tip total of $60!

Whatever happens between my client and his low-wattage bulb, it matters little to me as I am more concerned with the power I can gain from the situation than in gaining her approval.

“…one of the surest signs of potential proficiency in witchcraft is an inability to get along with other women. This doesn’t mean that you should not know how to get along with other members of your own sex, because a successful witch can. It simply implies that you are certain to meet with disapproval from many women when you are not purposely trying to gain their approval.” This passage at the very beginning of the chapter on Bitchcraft came to mind when thinking of this situation because this has been my life to the letter so far and especially with the above-mentioned situation at work . Getting along with my female coworkers is easy enough as being able to comfortably associate with them is crucial to a smoothly running workplace. I also have some close and valuable female friends who have become important to me in their own ways over the years, but there are times when other females who mean nothing at all to me happen to take offence or see me as some sort of a threat. You know what? I’m okay with that.

Ladies, I don’t give a damn about what you think. I’m just a witch who cuts hair so she can pay her bills and live her own damn life to the fullest. It just so happens that your man is quite fond of me making him look good. As long as he tips well I will continue to do what is within my Lesser Magic abilities to keep him coming back. That’s the extent of my interest, but he can go on imagining that it isn’t if that’s what works for what I need.

To all the witches and warlocks out there, relish in the energy that you create. If you know a person goes off and sings your praises which makes their significant other jealous, or goes home and rubs one out because you appeal to them…USE THAT POWER! Viva la bitchcraft!

As always, readers,

Stay sharp

and

HAIL SATAN!

Moving on up!

It would appear that the results of my efforts and Lesser Magic experiments have not gone unnoticed at work. I was recently given a promotion to senior stylist (second of four stylist levels), which means that I now earn more money per service and a higher rate of commission on retail products sold. My boss is also trying her best to keep me happy because she’s worried she’ll lose me to the flashy, new, gimmicky, “barbershop” that opened up close to us in the mall. It’s nice to know that my work is paying off in more than just tips…although those are still excellent!

My sales of retail products and upselling of services has also been on a steady rise as of late due to a conscious application of Lesser Magic techniques. Previously, I had been using these methods predominantly to generate or retain my male client base, but over the last two weeks or so I have begun applying a similar approach to product sales and recommendations. After determining a client’s clock position and lifestyle/personality with a few key questions or alterations of behaviour I am then able to recommend products accordingly. I have started stocking my own personal backbar with the most commonly used of these products as well so that I can have them handy for demonstrations. For the more technically-minded, right side of the clock sort of guys, I usually go into a extensive detail about what the product does, how it’s made, and how to use the right amount to maximize value. Then for those guys who are more left side of the clock I discuss more how the product looks, how it smells, and the overall feel when wearing and applying it.  I have found, so far, that these methods work quite well and I will most definitely be continuing to experiment further. Naturally, I will record my findings here and report them for you.

Finally, my apologies for falling behind on posting as of late. Working a nine day, jam packed, stretch (including working a wedding) really took a lot out of me. In order to maintain a good balance between work, my crochet commissions, and this blog, bi-weekly postings are going to be the most feasible option.

I have also recently been invited to more barbering training opportunities,  both formal and informal, due to my increase in productivity and the work that I have been posting. So what I am trying to get at with this post is that success is definitely achievable if you approach the use of Lesser Magic in creative ways. If you read a person correctly you can not only provide a service, but a product as well, that will have them crawling back for more on a regular basis and even recommending others to you as well! 

Go forth and make a sale!

And as always…

Stay sharp, and

HAIL SATAN!

A Repeat Client

There is one of my clients at the salon that I have had for the last six to eight months or so that I feel like is another suitable example of how Lesser Magic can work when applied correctly. He actually used to be my boss’s client until he decided that he liked me better. That amusing thought aside, let’s take a look at how this client relates to the experiment.

This particular individual is a tall, slender, very quiet, East Indian gentleman in his mid thirties who had been coming to the salon for the last year or so. Within the first couple of questions and with taking his appearance into consideration, I determined that he sat at roughly about a three to four on the clock which, easily enough, would require little to no alteration of my natural personality or behavior. In my mind I knew that if I employed the techniques as laid out in The Satanic Witch, as I had been doing with all of my other clients, I should be able to have this guy practically eating out of my hand by the end of the cut, but I had no idea that it would work as well as it did. I had to wake him up at the shampoo sink because I had caused him to feel so comfortable and relaxed with the shampoo scalp massage that he had fallen asleep. That is always a good sign. Within a few questions after waking him up I discovered that he was a new father, so that was an in for further conversation which I definitely capitalized on. The cut went well and after he left the salon I noticed that he had left me a $15 which he paid in addition to the typical price of a men’s cut which is only $25. Another good sign.

The next time this particular client sat down in my chair, things went much the same as the first time, although at the end of the cut he proceeded to ask if I was allowed to do cuts outside of salon time. I informed him that I could but only if it didn’t interfere with work hours or create a conflict of interest for the salon. He then proceeded to ask if I would be willing to do his family the honor of performing the cut at his infant son’s Mundana . Naturally for me, not being part of the Hindu culture, I was quite curious as to what this entailed. I have included a link here to eliminate the need for a lengthy explanation of a cultural practice that I admittedly am no expert on.I told him that I would work it out in my schedule but that I would be happy to help if I could. We exchanged contact information and the rest of the cut proceeded as usual, with the same $15 tip at the end.

Two weeks later and it was the date of the mundana. It was held at a fancy golf course country club in a conference area with a gorgeous view over the water. The food smelled amazing and the outfits worn by the streams of family members pouring into the venue were beyond beautiful. Eventually the ceremony got underway. I took my place up front with the parents as the nine month old son was brought up to us. For all that was going on around him and with it being his first ever haircut at such a young age, the child handled things pretty well. My part in the ceremony only took a scant couple of minutes. Before I had to leave to return to work, the wife paid me $100 cash, the family all came up to thank me, and I was on my way. I made more money for a five minute haircut on a baby than I could have possibly made in the hour of work I was given off that Sunday morning.

The client continues to come see me and still continues to leave large tips. The wife sends me East Indian cooking recipes, and I do believe a few of the family members have even come to see me for haircuts.

So what I’m trying to get at with this story is that when you pay attention to both yours and your target’s places on the clock and play your game accordingly, you can achieve very interesting and profitable results. Heck, by the end of it I had even learned something new that I probably would not have come across otherwise. Keep working the ways of Lesser Magic, because you never know where it might lead you with enough practice and skill.

As always…

Stay sharp

and

HAIL SATAN!

 

 

A Few Cases to Start.

This happened about a week and a half ago. I posted this initially on the CoS members only  facebook page, but I’m going to use it as an example here because it perfectly demonstrates exactly what I am getting at with this experiment and blog.

I had a client who had been coming to the salon for a while and had seen a good many of the stylists there at some point. He was a top of the clock type guy who liked to, without being an ass about it, assert his stereotypical masculinity by talking at length about his money, condos in LA and New York, how his daughter got accepted to Harvard, and would show pictures of his luxury cars. I’m talking ferrari and lambo type cars here.  Now, I’m typically about a 7/8 kind of girl, very busty and lots of curves, so I elected to play things a little more demure and stereotypically feminine with this guy. His haircut was simple and didn’t take too long, but roughly half way through after I’d washed his hair to get the itchy bits off, he stopped me to ask “Is there any way that I can get a note on my file so that I only ever get booked with you from now on?”. When we were finished and he was paying for his cut at the front desk, we entered that note and he prebooked his next appointment. He left with a smile and I looked at the tip he left me on the debit receipt…. $25! That’s the whole price of the cut. Needless to say, I was pretty stoked. This was even with feeling like death warmed over from two days of metal shows and little sleep due to birthday and pre Walpurgisnacht celebrations.

There is another case that I feel should be added here as well. It shows a different side of the uses of Lesser Magic, in a sense. Not every situation has to involve appealing to your subject’s ego or sexual interests (employing law of the forbidden and such) at all, and sometimes some of the most rewarding cases don’t even involve adults. Case in point, there is a young, severely autistic, boy of about 5 or 6 years old who I have been working with at the salon since I started there a year ago. The first couple of times I saw him he couldn’t sit still long enough for even a patchy haircut because of the sensory overload and dealing with an unfamiliar person. What I began to do was to get down to his level, speak in more gentle tones, making faces with him in the mirror to get him laughing, and even letting him hold onto the clippers for a few seconds (even letting him shave off a bit of my arm hair) to see that they didn’t hurt and weren’t scary at all. Slowly, each time he came in I would notice more and more confidence and control with him, and eventually he even began to ask questions and engage more. What really let me know that these methods were working was when the boy’s mother told me that “Oh he asks for you about every two weeks or so. He asks if it’s time to see Miss Misty again and he gets really excited when I tell him it’s time for a haircut.”.

So what I’m saying is that Lesser Magic is a very nuanced subject with techniques that can be employed to suit any person and situation. Keep your mind open to all of the ways you can employ it in your daily life. You can inspire comfort or confidence in those that need it, or you can exploit your natural witchy gifts in order to get what you want out of people. The possibilities are endless. Remember: Sex, wonder, and sentiment. People tend to focus heavily on the sex side of things, but it isn’t the only road you can take.

Thanks for reading, and as always

Stay sharp!

A second introduction.

Before I begin diving into the heart of the collected data, I believe a secondary introduction is in order. My initial post served to establish my reasons for beginning this project, and this post shall serve as an introduction to the data I am amassing and the material to which I am referencing. As a Satanist, a woman, and a lover of Lesser Magic, naturally I draw heavily from Anton LaVey’s guidebook on the ways of everyday wile and guile, The Satanic Witch (originally The Compleat Witch, for those who have any edition printed before 1989). Contained within the first few pages of the book and referenced throughout is what Magus LaVey calls “The LaVey Personality Synthesizer” or referred to as “the clock” for the way it organizes physical attributes and personality traits in the easily recognizable form of a numbered clock face. Being an image that is ever present and familiar, the clock is an easy to navigate guide when one finds themselves needing to evaluate a person on the fly. This is precisely the position I find myself in on a day to day basis in my work, having thirty minutes or less to manipulate and charm the man in my chair into leaving me a good tip and coming back for repeat service.

Despite what some may think, skill only plays a small part in what keeps a male client coming back to a female stylist or barber devotedly. If they wanted nothing but pure skill they could easily go to any one of the plethora of corner barber shops that have been run by the same old guy for decades. What they come to us for is the full experience; the charm, the personality, the conversation, and let’s be honest, a half hour spent in close contact with a beautiful woman they can’t have (enter “Law of the Forbidden” territory here). I had moderate success before being introduced to the ways of Lesser Magic, but when I finally learned how to quickly read my clients and adapt my natural attributes and personality to suit the situation, the tips and request clients began rolling in.

I have chosen to focus on men for my studies not only because they are who I deal with the vast majority of the time, but the results are considerably more clear cut than they are with women. This blog is my way of playing around with the different ideas and techniques Magus LaVey put down in his book so that I may come to better understand them myself and potentially, over time, help others to do so as well.

I am a very hands on kind of learner. I need to get my hands dirty and DO something, to see it in action, in order to truly absorb all of the details. This is why I have been experimenting and taking notes on each and every one of my clients. I jot down my quick observations of their appearance and character, my approach to them, their reactions, and the final results (tips, prebooking appointments, repeat visits, etc). I will be compiling all of my notes here on a weekly basis for our mutual enjoyment and benefit. My everyday use of Lesser Magic that I will be discussing on this blog is not only what pays my bills, but is what puts enough tips in my wallet to keep me constantly fed and able to partake in the things I enjoy doing outside of the workplace. I am not claiming to be an expert or authority, simply a Satanist becoming ever more familiar with a subject which is very near and dear to their heart. Take from it what you will, but always…

Stay sharp

and

HAIL SATAN!

An Introduction.

Lesser Magic. It is a subject that is near and dear to my heart. I was first drawn to this idea, and Satanism as a whole for that matter, when I stumbled across an excerpt of Anton LaVey’s The Satanic Witch a while back and was so unbelievably captivated by what I found there that I stayed up the entire night reading and rereading the tiny section that I had access to. It was an eye-opening experience to say the very least. Naturally, I purchased the full book as soon as I could. The Satanic Witch captivated me so completely because, in it, I could see myself laid out in words on the page leading straight into a world of ways that I could use my natural talents and attributes to my advantage when it came to interactions with others. At the time, I was still very new to the hair industry and relatively clueless as to how to really engage with and expand my client base. The connections between the Lesser Magic techniques explained in the book and what I saw and experienced every single day behind the chair at work were impossible to miss. The very next day I began to apply what I had learned and the results were immediate. My client base, especially among men, grew rapidly and the amount that I was making in tips at the end of each day began to increase as well. I was hooked.

Fast forward to about three months ago and a conversation I was having with a friend about The Satanic Witch and its bibliography, and the idea came to me to begin an experiment detailing the client to client breakdown of the effects of different Lesser Magic techniques. At the time I wasn’t really sure where I was going to go with the idea, but I was so excited about it that I took a notebook with me to work each day to begin taking notes. It was during a conversation with another friend within the church that I decided to proceed in blog format as opposed to something like an essay or a book. This way I can keep adding new findings and experiences as they happen.So here it is…my blog on workplace witchery based on my experiences with Satanism and the hair industry. As I stated in my About section, while I am an active member, I do not speak on behalf of the Church of Satan or its other members. This is simply my observations and experiences. I’ll try to update weekly. Perhaps in time I will open this up to stories from other members as it relates to the subject matter as well. We’ll see how it goes.

As always…

Stay sharp

and

HAIL SATAN!