Can I combat possible mental possession/romantic slavery?

[Shamash]

To start off, I am very new to magick and don't quite know what kind of spell this would be. I haven't been opposed to the idea of magick, but also haven't put any research toward it because until now I've never felt I needed to. So here's the description of the situation that worries me:

I've had a friend for a few years now who has within the past year started a relationship with a female friend. I didn't think too much of this at first, but almost instantly I noticed that he started taking all the time we used to spend together and used it with her, ignoring our friendship almost entirely. This was quite out of character for a friend who had always seemed to value what time we had together. I'm a pretty introverted person and don't trust most strangers, so I have succeeded in still maintaining our friendship, but something hasn't seemed quite right about my friend ever since he's gotten with his current girlfriend. It's obvious when we do talk that he still values our friendship to some extent, but it's starting to seem more and more like he's under some curse. It's as if as soon as they got together, he has been unable to put time towards anyone other than her; as if his mind is being manipulated by an outside machination to use all of its energy to serve one person and only one. And what's really suspicious is that she seems to not act the same way about him. This imbalance is what leads me to believe that he's been enslaved somehow. He puts as much effort as he can to be near her at all times of the day, which makes it very difficult to keep my friend, even though when we do talk he acts as if she doesn't exist, which brings me to the strangest part of this situation. While everything else seems fairly plausible for natural human behavior, the thing that really perplexed me is that he has always tried to avoid discussing her in our conversations. When anything involving his girlfriend arises in a discussion, he tries to avoid even mentioning her name or any information regarding her identity, instead referring to her as if she were a distant friend or stranger who I don't know. It took me a while to figure out that they were even in a relationship. I don't think she seems like a malicious person, but it's definitely starting to seem like the work of magick. Again, I don't have too many close friends, since I generally don't enjoy being attached to illusions of demons, so I really value the ones who I do feel I can trust, and I will do what I can to save a friend from possession. I really wish I could describe the situation more clearly, but it's difficult to put into words, not only because of the subtlety of the whole dvelopment, but also because it's quite personal and has been happening for a relatively extended period of time.

At the risk of losing a friend, I would be in debt to anyone who could tell me what this sort of magick would be called. I really hope it isn't what's happening here, but I must take all possible threats into consideration.

[RoseRed]

It sounds like typical life to me.

It also sounds like the new girlfriend could be jealous of anyone else he spends time with - including you. It happens. Then when she's not as committed as he is - it's a one sided train wreck.

Give him the space he needs. Be his friend while he's being an idiot. When they break up he'll find out who his true friends are. Those are the ones that will still be there when it's over.

Honestly, the answer to your question is no. Without some experience in magic, energy manipulation and some foundational skills under your belt - trying to fix a love spell (if it was one) would just add dynamite to the train wreck.

[Shamash]

It sounds like typical life to me.

It also sounds like the new girlfriend could be jealous of anyone else he spends time with - including you. It happens. Then when she's not as committed as he is - it's a one sided train wreck.

Give him the space he needs. Be his friend while he's being an idiot. When they break up he'll find out who his true friends are. Those are the ones that will still be there when it's over.

Honestly, the answer to your question is no. Without some experience in magic, energy manipulation and some foundational skills under your belt - trying to fix a love spell (if it was one) would just add dynamite to the train wreck.

Thank you for the quick reply. Being rather frustrated with this, I've tried avoiding him for the last five days or so, and I've started to feel like it wasn't the right thing to do. I don't think his girlfriend is jealous, since she's pretty cool with me and we talk from time to time, and she even went to Asia last summer without worrying too much about him, but I guess I'll just have to deal with the unreliability, as inconvenient and agitating as it can be. I thought it would probably be an advanced spell if it is a spell, but I just wanted to know exactly what kind of magick that would be and what level of experience I would need to be able to help someone who's a victim of that sort of spell.

[Cybernetic_Jazz]

I don't think swings like this are that odd in most people's character - it seems like identity can be far more mutable than I would have ever realized. One of our friends who really turned toward being a player arsehole and even mysogenist to large degree all of a sudden met a girl who yes, is quite cute and charming (albeit I don't know her past the most superficial level because when they met he disappeared). For a long time he was ripping on his friends for being too uptight about having girlfriends and encouraging em to go out and party and even pick up on other girls. Then, just like that, he went to the other extreme and simply wouldn't go out anymore - anything she said seemed to draw the map for him after that.

Despite all appearances it can be incredibly difficult to tell what's truly driving someone, a person can put on a veneer of independence and beneath it can be an absolute fatigue, thirst, and desire to just collapse in another person's arms who strikes the right chords. With the many masks people wear appearances can go quite the opposite of reality. It just sounds like you've discovered a layer of your friend's psyche that to this point you weren't aware of and seeing it in this context puts you in the position of having to retabulate/recalculate a lot of fundamental assumptions on who he is or what kind of fundamental struggles and coping mechanisms might be. I really doubt any of this would rewrite your value to him as a friend - the fact that he still associates with you and gives you his undivided attention is a good sign.

[Shamash]

I don't think swings like this are that odd in most people's character - it seems like identity can be far more mutable than I would have ever realized. One of our friends who really turned toward being a player arsehole and even mysogenist to large degree all of a sudden met a girl who yes, is quite cute and charming (albeit I don't know her past the most superficial level because when they met he disappeared). For a long time he was ripping on his friends for being too uptight about having girlfriends and encouraging em to go out and party and even pick up on other girls. Then, just like that, he went to the other extreme and simply wouldn't go out anymore - anything she said seemed to draw the map for him after that.

Despite all appearances it can be incredibly difficult to tell what's truly driving someone, a person can put on a veneer of independence and beneath it can be an absolute fatigue, thirst, and desire to just collapse in another person's arms who strikes the right chords. With the many masks people wear appearances can go quite the opposite of reality. It just sounds like you've discovered a layer of your friend's psyche that to this point you weren't aware of and seeing it in this context puts you in the position of having to retabulate/recalculate a lot of fundamental assumptions on who he is or what kind of fundamental struggles and coping mechanisms might be. I really doubt any of this would rewrite your value to him as a friend - the fact that he still associates with you and gives you his undivided attention is a good sign.

I suppose I was wrong to assume that my friend really was who he made himself out to be. Nobody ever shows their true personality, myself included, even as direct and honest as I try to be. I appreciate the insight and interesting ideas you've provided; I'll make sure not to forget this advice in future interactions. While he does still give me attention when we talk, I'm always the one who has to work for it. He never tries to start a conversation with me anymore. That's my responsibility now. Though it probably is good that we can continue conversations while his lover is present. There was a point when that was difficult and it seems to have gotten slightly easier recently.

That aside, this contemplation of the thin membrane of personality and individualism has caused a pleasant wave of depersonalization. It feels nice to be disconnected from the illusion of my physical form. [grin2]