Magick

From The Maze Where Realities Converge - the psychedelic encyclopedia of reality from The Ultimate Comment

Hakim Bey's definition, from Chaos: The Broadsheets of Ontological Anarchy is:
The systematic cultivation of enhanced consciousness or non-ordinary awareness & its deployment in the world of deeds & objects to bring about desired results.
This definition goes a long way, but what awareness is to be considered "non-ordinary"? And why limit the changes to the realm of "deeds & objects", to the exclusion of the realm of the psyche?

Compare Aleister Crowley's definition from Magick in Theory and Practise:
"Magick is the science and art of causing change to occur in conformity with the will."
This is very insightful and sufficiently broad, yet (unlike Bey's definition) it fails to capture the side of magick that deals with increasing understanding.

Let us then say:
Magick is the cultivation of awareness and the application of this awareness in accordance with desire.

A non-verbal definition of magick

More specific definitions such as Israel Regardie's "Magick is the science and art of using altered states of consciousness for causing changes to occur in conformity with the will" or Dion Fortune's "the science and art of causing changes to occur in consciousness in conformity with the will", or D.M. Kraig's "the science and art of causing change (in consciousness) to occur in conformity with will, using means not currently understood by traditional Western science" are to be resisted as needlessly and fatally limiting.

Having thus described magick, several points are clear to us:

• Every deliberate act is an act of magick. Whether scientifically-minded Westerners would ordinarily consider it possible (like making an enemy ill by poisoning him) or ordinarily consider it impossible (like making an enemy ill by sticking pins into an effigy) is utterly, utterly irrelevant.
• Magick is practical and embedded in the Life-World; in this it is distinct from mysticism or transcendentalism.
• As understanding increases, power increases. (This truism may be seen in humanity's technological development.)
• Magickal action begins in consciousness as will, desire or intent, and then applies itself to the world by means of a certain process. It is this process which the magician strives to master.
• There are two sides to magick. In one, the magician is the receptacle of understanding. This is called 'high magick', theurgy, yoga or gnosis and is traditionally symbolized by the magician's cup, the cunt or the ? of the interrobang. In the other, called 'low magick', 'results magick' or 'thaumaturgy', the magician imposes his will upon the universe. This is symbolized by the wand, the cock or the ! of the interrobang. The aim of low magick is to acheive desire; the aim of high magick is to increase understanding and transcend desire (not, as some writers on the subject have thought, to transcend reality).

From what we have so far considered, we can see that magick does not depend on a particular belief system, any more than art or lovemaking does. The point is not how magick works, but that it works. In this regard, the magickal stance is fundamentally different from the knowledge-seeking stance of science or analytic philosophy that lusts after fixed beliefs. It is really more like the pragmatic stance of the businessman. We do not seek to give explanations of events (as, for any event, one may devise an infinitude of explanations), we just do as we please. Other words for magick include cybernetics, meta-programming, surrealism, reality hacking and NLP (by some definitions, such as Dilts' "NLP is whatever works", Bandler's "NLP is an attitude which is an insatiable curiosity about human beings with a methodology that leaves behind it a trail of techniques" or the understanding expressed by Michael Hall)

A magician may use non-ordinary states of consciousness, symbology, technology, NLP and whatever other means are practical. (INNOVATE!)

I don't care to argue that magickal methods create "spooky action at a distance". For now at least accept how well designed they are to create a psychological effect. All the occult trappings of robes, candles, incense, spirits, mantras and that jazz can be seen as nothing more nor less than a rich and complex symbolism, representing, in the magician's brain, the process of bringing about the desired effect. Metaphor is the language of the subconscious, and talking about things as archetypal symbols, rather than in boring, digital language, is a way of accessing the powerful resources in your subconscious. Symbolic maps of existence equate the macrocosm - the universe - with the microcosm - man. For example, Baphomet represents - in the macrocosmic, universal aspect - the cycle of creation and destruction and the activity this gives rise to. In the microcosmic, psychological aspect, Baphomet represents sex, desire, striving, death and violence. So by talking in symbolic language, the magician overleaps the false division between the self and the universe. It's like that. And the magician's playground is not objective reality or pure consciousness, but the union of the two: existence. In existence, things are already interpreted, already meaningful. To a conscious, human subject, everything is a symbol and every symbol is a thing.

With greater understanding you will come to realize that, though the things spoken of in magickal practise, such as spirits, gods and memes are entirely unreal, so is everything else.

The fact that practical magick does not require a belief in the supernatural is superordinately proven - yep, superordinately - by the fact that Chaos Magick believes in nothing, man, nothing! Here is an excellent essay by Philip H. Farber on this point. If you believe in things like spirits, then interpret what follows in those terms; if you live in a scientistic reality-tunnel, interpret everything that follows as a means of deliberately causing change within your nervous system. Either way, accept that there is much you cannot explain. We are not here to give explanations; we are looking for results.

Through symbology, ritual and whatever other means are expedient, a magician manipulates belief, and, as the Kahuna say, reality is what you believe it to be, thus by manipulating belief we manipulate (subjective) reality. A magician must understand what belief can accomplish and what it cannot accomplish. Mystery is essential to magic.

Robert Anton Wilson gives an excellent introduxion to magick in The Illuminatus Trilogy, Appendix Lamed, pages 446-456. Parts II and III of Book 4 by Τὸ Μεγα Θηρίον is one of the few other introductory books on magick worth reading.

True Will

Magick being the art and science of causing change to occur in conformity with the Will, the magician must answer the very heavy question: What do I really want?

No one can tell you what your True Will is. You must find it for yourself. Just be careful not to base it on whatever delusive beliefs you may have hitherto cherished, including ego.

Magick means unifying every aspects of your existence in accordance with The Will. Magick means redesigning your thoughts, your memories, your habits, your emotions, your circumstances, your beliefs, every word, every act, every symbol and every phenomenon so that they serve The Will. From the 'Maifesto of Surrealism' - "At any given moment we have only a distinct notion of realities, the coordination of which is a question of will." And from The Great Beast's 8th lecture on yoga: "Magick is the science and art of causing change to occur in conformity with the Will. How do we achieve this? By exalting the will to the point where it is master of circumstance. And how do we do this? By so ordering every thought, word and act, in such a way that the attention is constantly recalled to the chosen object."

Acting without lust of result

To cause change in conformity with your will, you must first be very clear about what your particular will is for the working. So any act of magick starts by formulating a specific statement of your intent. You must also have the ability to focus your mind completely on the task at hand (trained by concentration meditation). One of the paradoxes of magick is that, while one must act according to the will, one must not be too attached to the results of one's actions. "Lust for result" creates anxiety, fear of failure and other disruptive reactions. Having decided what you want, you must act with the non-attachment to results described in The Bhagavad Gita (especially Chapter 5) and trained by Pure Being meditation. Austin Osman Spare called the required attitude "does not matter - need not be". Jan Fries calls it "friendly indifference". It will be difficult for the beginner to understand how empowering the Will can be compatible with abandoning lust for result. Work the work of magick and you will soon find out for yourself.
Martial artists will understand this principle.
Non-attachment to results can be acheived by meditating on death. In Hagakure, it is written, "If by setting one's heart right every morning and evening, one is able to live as though his body were already dead, he gains freedom in the Way."

Levels of magickal work

Peter Carroll, in Liber KKK, distinguishes five levels of magick:

• Sorcery, which involves casting spells outside a ritual atmosphere using physical props for the the purposes of thaumaturgy. Casting a sigil would be an example of sorcery. Hoodoo is a system of sorcery. For more on spell-casting, see 'Enchantment' below.
• Shamanic magic - exploring and performing acts in non-physical reality. This can be acheived by astral projection, image streaming, hypnosis, pathworking or dream. Astral projection may be acheived by deeply relaxing the physical body, then imagining another body beside you until that seems real to you, then (and this is the tricky bit) shifting your awareness into that body. Binaural beats can help keep you in the trance needed to do this. You can get an audio file to pop you outta body here.
• Ritual magic - using a combination of props, altered states of consciousness, symbolism, music, lyric poetry, drama etc. in a ceremony that is partly planned and partly improvised. Lots of fun. Ritual magic may be thought of as an applied form of performance art.
• Astral magic - ritual magic performed in non-physical reality.
• High magic - Direct imposition of the will on reality without any particular act taking place other than just willing something to be so. The yogic siddhis would be examples of high magic. (Peter Carroll's use of the term 'high magic' is different from the use above, to mean theurgy.)

To this we would add practical magic, which is the kind of magic that is not spooky or weird. Like when you want money, so you acheive that end by studying the stock market (cultivating understanding) and then trading stocks (applying that understanding towards desired ends).

Banishing

A banishing ritual is not an exorcism or the casting out of a specific demon. Rather it is a method of clearing an area of 'vibes' that will disturb you, so your consciousness enters a purer, more focused state. The simplest banishing ritual is described in Peter Carroll's Liber MMM. Taking a shower is the exoteric version of a banishing ritual. The banishing ritual of The Ultimate Comment is an adaptation of the gnostic pentagram ritual and the gnostic thunderbolt ritual. The Discordian Opening Rite described in Phil Hine's 'Oven Ready Chaos' is cool. And here's another banishing ritual

Banishing rituals are useful any time you feel unease, restlessness or any other annoying nagging feeling. They are pretty easy to do, and are the foundational act of ritual magick.

A good banishing will involve tracing and visualizing a protective barrier around yourself. Sound may also be used. Protective spirits may be called upon, such as the archangels in The Lesser Banishing Ritual of The Pentagram.

Divination

Divination is using magick to allow yourself to perceive things you would not otherwise be able to. In his essay on 'Sleight of Mind', Peter Carroll - a writer on Chaos magick - gives a good introduction to divination, making the important distinction between divination by hallucination and divination by sortiledge.

One method of divination is scrying - staring into a mirror, crystal ball, your own dilated pupils in a mirror, or still water, like the mirror of Galadriel in The Lord of the Rings. You will see things in the reflections. There was a scientific study of scrying done by Dr. Raymond Moody which found that ordinary people with no beliefs in the paranormal experienced visions by scrying, many of them experiencing what seemed like contact with the dead.

A skeptic could explain divination as being the result of subconscious intuition. That's cool. Your brain notices all sorts of facts that you don't consciously notice, but taken together might suggest something significant. For example, a boxer might look like he's going to win a fight because the outer edges of his eyebrows are slightly upwards, while his opponent has some tension in his cheeks. You won't consciously notice these things, but your subtler subconscious faculties will, and you'll get an intuition. Divination provides a vehicle by which this subconscious knowledge can express itself.

Invocation

Invocation is becoming possessed by a spirit and using its powers. The skeptical explanation is that one only acts in accordance with one's self-image, so by tricking yourself into becoming someone else, you can do things you would not normally be able to do. Multiple personality disorder shows that the brain is capable of housing different personalities, with different handwriting, talents, brainwave patterns, language abilities, even allergies and medical conditions. Why not use this to your advantage and access the abilities of another personality?

There was a Soviet researcher called Raikov who hypnotized subjects to believe they were great artists, musicians or whatever. He found that people who believed they were Rachmaninoff - for instance - could play the piano maybe not as well as Rachmaninoff, but much better than they would ordinarily be able to.

There are many ways of doing invocation. Hypnosis, as mentioned, is one. You can also use lucid dreaming or astral travel to enter the body of someone else, or do some invocation ritual. Invocation rituals work by entering an altered state of consciousness in a situation in which your mind and senses are saturated by reminders of the spirit you're invoking - numbers, colours, day and time, perfumes, clothes, items, drink, drugs, offerings, music, designs, sounds, words, location, actions, gestures, tone of voice etc. etc. all call your mind to the god.

Some adherents once did an incredibly insane ritual invocation of Baphomet, which you can read about here. Then there was the invocation of Eris.

Enchantment

The words 'glamour' and 'fascination' all have their roots in sorcery and enchantment. Some things have the capacity to stun and impress any mind that perceives them. We commonly talk of such things being 'enchanting', 'spellbinding' or 'bewitching' (and for the more mellifluous among us - 'ensorcelling'). A magician can create and harness this effect. For example, an old broomstick would make a shit magickal weapon (or wand). A good magickal weapon would be a giraffe's thighbone that you stole from a museum on Christmas Eve in a daring heist and engraved with densely symbolic patterns, varnished and coloured, and then meditated on for an hour a day for a month. Such an object would cast a spell over your mind, because you've invested effort and time into something that is interesting, unusual and 'glamourous'.

In some systems of magic (like Goetia and various shamanic traditions), the magician gets spirits or demons to do the work for them. This may involve travelling out of body to the Underworld and striking pacts with spirits there, or it may involve performing a ritual to summon a demon and command it to help you. "The power of Christ compels you!"

Bud-wills

To create change in conformity with the will, it is often necessary to allow the will to work unhampered by conscious mentations. (Exercise for the reader: List three reasons why this might be so. List five times in your life when thinking too much about something prevented you from doing it well. Magick doesn't work if you just read about it; you have to do this to understand. Go on, it won't take you long.) The magical techniques of spell-casting and servitor creation create entities independent of the conscious mind - called bud-wills - which carry out your will in the aether or subconscious (depending on your dogma of choice).

In sorcery, we create a pure, mindless intention with no abilities or interests other than finding fulfillment. This can take all kinds of forms, limited only by your imagination: a sigil, a voodoo doll, a mojo bag, a mandala, a mantra, a spoken charm etc. etc.

Phil Hine has devised the S.P.L.I.F.F. model as a blueprint for spell-casting. Read that and start experimenting; it is all the theory you need.

Sigils incorporating The eight gods

Servitors

Servitors are bud-wills with some limited intelligence and power of independent action. Phil Hine's Evocation Without Sniffles, Marik's essay 'Sigils, Servitors and Godforms' and 'Creating Magickal Entities' by David Michael Cunningham give instructions on building servitors.

Mojo bags

A magical practise common to all traditions of sorcery is placing an assortment of curios representing the desire into a bag or box or bottle or other container. For example, placing the hair of your enemy in a black bag with animal bones, rotting flesh, rusty coffin nails, graveyard dirt, the yantra of Kali and red peppers and burying it in their garden on a Saturday it won't have any effect, of course, because magic doesn't really work. Interesting, eh? Names for these include mojo bags, nation sacks and witch bottles.

Elements to consider when making a mojo:

• Contents representing the target of the trick e.g. a person's photo with their name written on the back, or parts of their body
• Contents to represent the desired effect e.g. a magnet for an attraction spell
• The number symbolism of the contents e.g. seven pomengranate seeds in a mojo for healing
• The colour of the container
• How the container is to be used. Sometimes it is buried or hidden in a specific location, sometimes worn concealed on your person, sometimes thrown into the sea or burnt.
• The time and date of the working

Some systems of magic concoct potions to acheive effects. This is exactly the same process as a mojo bag, except the ingredients are gooey instead of bumpy.
The Kongo people (from, as you may have guessed, the Congo) use the hollow belly or head of a statue as the container. This combines the servitor method with the mojo bag method.

Talismans and amulets

Talismans, amulets or fetishes are physical things which store mental energy. If you have a teddy bear or something from your childhood you'll understand the power of this. How is that different from a teddy bear you see in the shops? (There's no such thing as magic?!) The key concept here is cathexis - investment of psychological energy a thing.
Traditionally, the word 'talisman' is used when the item is designed to attract something (such as love), and the word 'amulet' is used when the purpose is to repel something (such as danger). If it is in humanoid form, it would be called a 'homunculus'.
Talismans or amulets may be created by anchoring, evoking a spirit into a talisman or praying to it. Focusing on the talisman when in a highly emotional or otherwise altered state of consciousness should put more energy into it.

See also

• Chaos Magick
• Shamanism
• NLP and magick
• Links
• Nihilism, metabelief and magick
• Aleister Crowley
• Austin Osman Spare