Everyone knows that Karma is when something bad or good happens to you that lines up with something that you've done. Cosmic payback, so to speak. An example: right after I graduated from high school, I was having trouble getting a job to get me through the summer. I must have filled out 100 applications, with no calls back. One afternoon after dropping off a few applications in Hartford, I stopped at a traffic light off of the highway and a shady pseudo-homeless guy knocked on my window, asking for a ride. I don't know if I consciously decided to give him one or if my door was just unlocked and he just got in regardless, but I ended up driving him home (just a few blocks to the North End, which is not a place for young white boys from the suburbs at any time of day). By the time I got home I had a message on my answering machine (dating myself again) with a job offer at the local Dairy Mart (I ended up working there for a few weeks and then quitting one day because I wanted to go to the beach more than I wanted to work that day).
Karma rewarded me for doing something nice. I was paid back for not having fear, and for doing something selfless.
Mojo, on the other hand, is an entirely different animal. Mojo, both good and bad, is a cloud that descends on a place or a group of people and can change everything that was originally meant to be. Back in the day in the rave scene we used to call this the "vibe". Typically you know right away when you run into some bad Mojo - it's like walking through someone else's fart. I've been in places coated in bad Mojo before, places that give you a bad feeling just from walking into them. Bad mojo isn't your fault, any more than good Mojo is a reward. Both just "are", and they can change everything.
Mojo sometimes just happens, sometimes it can be created. But it's not created in the same way that Karma is created - it's not linked to intent or action. Bad Mojo can happen as a result of the best of intentions. Bad Mojo can happen when people try too hard to have a good time, or when they burn themselves out trying to reward themselves for good behavior. This isn't action that deserves a bad turn, but it can create one.
Good Mojo, on the other hand, is created just as easily. When people that coincide with each other get together, beautiful, wonderful, creative, and spectacular things can happen. Things that shouldn't be possible, that are beyond human comprehension, that defy logic. This shouldn't be questioned - ever. When this happens, it feels as though the stars and moon and sun are all aligned to cast a warmth on your face that feels as though it will never fade.
Mojo should never be ignored. Beware bad Mojo, and embrace good Mojo. Bad Mojo is a sign that something is wrong, and good Mojo is a sign that everything is right.
