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Choosing an Image
Why choose an image if the whole idea behind being a compleat witch is being happy with yourself as you are? The aswer to this is simple. When dealing with the people around us, having an image is very important. No matter how much they might argue to the contrary, for most people first impressions ARE everything. And, as a witch, it is in your best interests to make your first impression a lasting one.
The word "image" has almost as bad a connotation in most people's minds these days as the word "manipulate". These are both keywords in successful witchery, so you will have to get over this and realize that an image is simply the way you present yourself to the outside world, and to manipulate is simply to "move things around". What those who scoff at this idea apparently don't realize is that their posture is also an image--you can't help but present an image, so it might as well be one of your own choosing!
Consider that the more physically appealling you appear to a person, the more positively they are likely to respond to you. And, when working your magic, you will want to tailor your look to each situation you wish to influence. To look, in effect, as if you are 'made for the job'!
That said, let me stress that when I say "image", I mean something that is already consistent with your basic type. (For more on body types and the attributes associated with them, take a look at the LaVey Synthesizer Clock). People will respond to you better if you are a whole package, if they feel they have you 'all figured out'. You will be able to easily manipulate a situation to your best advantage without them even realizing that you are doing so! In this way you will be using what is known as "lesser magic" to acheive anything you might desire.
Here is a perfect example. A girl I know has a husband who is a musician. When he needs equipment or strings for his guitar, he doesn't go to the music store himself; he sends her. This girl gets all done up in sexy make-up, a tight skirt and high heels. She walks into the store, looking cute and acting as if she doesn't know a thing about what she's there to get. She now has the attention of every male employee in the place, who all of course think she's just a sexy dumb thing. But, while they are busy checking her out and feeling superior, she's busy getting exactly what she wants! By the time she's done mincing around, giggling and batting her eyelashes (all the while playing into their preconceived image of her) they've given her everything she came into the store to buy for free or close to it! And this works every time!
This same girl even gets free dinners at expensive restaraunts whenever she wants, by using a variation on the same tactic. As I said, properly employed it will work for just about anything. And you needn't feel bad that you might be taking advantage of someone. Everyone involved in the exchange is getting something. The employees in the music store and the owner of the restaurant both get the pleasure of looking at and talking to a sexy girl. And then it is they who are compelled to give something in return.
What you want to do is become an archetype, you want your look to stick in people's minds and affect them. Performers know this, and that is why their publicists make sure that everything about them "fits" with the image they are portraying. In fact, when choosing an image for yourself, if there is anyone in the public eye past or present that you resemble, play up that resemblance! It makes it that much easier for people to relate to you, to typecast you.
As I mentioned before, you don't have to be gorgeous to be a witch. If you are plain, the right makeup and hairstyle will do wonders. Even if you are downright ugly, all that I said above about choosing an image still applies to you. But, instead of wowing people with your looks, you will have to find something that you excell at, and wow them with your ability at a particular thing. By choosing to project an outward appearance that is consistent with your basic type, everything will still "fit". And if you are strange or scary looking, by all means play it up and play the part of the archetypal storybook witch! The object is to use whatever you have; to turn things other people might think of as liabilities into strengths!