Magick
1 - Why Magick?
Magick
2 - Subjective Experience
Magick
3 - The Four Worlds
Magick
4 - The Four Elements
Magick
5 - Chakras Meditation
Magick
6 - Thought Forms & Spirits
Magick
7 - Basic Ritual
Magick
8 - Healing & Banishing Rituals
Magick
9 - Astral Projection
Magick
10 - Cabala
Magick
11 - Psychic Energy
'The universe is a projection of ourselves; an image as unreal
as that of our faces in a mirror....We cannot affirm any quality
in an object as being independent of our sensorium, or as
being in itself that which it seems to us. Nor can we assume
that what we cognize is more than a partial phantom of its
cause.' ( --Aleister Crowley, Magick, p. 110)
Your awareness of the physical
world and of your place within it is mostly based upon the
physical senses (hearing, sight, smell, touch, taste). These
five senses continually send information to the mind, and
it is up to the mind to select and interpret them. If you
could not do so, your senses would overwhelm you and be meaningless.
Selection and interpretation of your sensory inputs is essentially
an automatic, mostly subconscious function of the mind. The
program or map which the subconscious follows as its reference
point is called a 'model'. The model is a subconscious mental
photograph of how you believe the world looks (ie. worldview,
mindset, egregore, or belief system). It was built up from
an early age by your religious and cultural background through
interaction with family and others. It contains your experiences,
attitudes, and habits. And whether you realize it or not,
most of your behavior, thoughts, feelings, and habits are
based upon and conditioned by that model; even personality.
The model is one of the mind's master programs. Change in
behavior generally requires a change in the model. These limitations
built into our way of thinking cause our perceptions to be
subjective. That is why Hindu philosophy looks upon the world
as illusory (maya); the world itself (object) is not an illusion,
however from our viewpoint through perception (subject) it
is.
Thus we are all conditioned
by experience. Except that our perceptions, hence our experiences,
are first conditioned and limited by the model. Our perceptions
and experiences tend to conform to what we expect. We tend
to misinterpret or ignore things which do not match our preconcieved
notions about them. This is automatic.
THE TRUE WILL
The forgoing demonstrates how it is that there are so many
different versions of 'truth'. One's particular view is almost
arbitrary. Although numerous religions, philosophies, and
occult systems abound, they do not contradict one and other
as much as it might appear. Rather, they describe the same
(universal) reality taken from different perspectives. For
there can be no ultimate truth in the physical world. We can
only base our actions upon assumptions and agreements. All
experience is subjective. I like to think of the universe
as something indescribable, perhaps a 4-dimentional 'thing'.
As soon as we attempt to put it into our
3-dimentional knowledge-base, something changes and we only
see an aspect of the big picture. Just as a photograph can
only show us a flat *representation* of a greater thing, so
it is with any attempt to describe *spiritual reality* in
physical terms.
Yet, there is a separate
reality within each of us which is often ignored unless we
seek it. This inner self is in magick called the 'true will'.
The true will is the center of consciousness and identity.
It is the 'real you'. Everything else is an interface or link
to it from the outer (illusory) world.
Since that interface is based upon our model, it is conditoned
and may sometimes produce false information. 'Do what thou
wilt' (Crowley) is an axiom of magick; for the true will expresses
our exact desires. And what we truly want ('down deep') we
tend to automatically get. This isn't always in our best interests,
since the true will can be conditioned (tricked) by the illusion;
and then we might desire and obtain that which is not ultimately
good for us. (Karma strikes again!) The task of the magician
therefor is to awaken his awareneess of the true will, to
be free of conditioning, and thereby to transcend maya. ('My
will unconditioned is magical' -- Spare).
HAPPINESS IS BEING HAPPY
There is no great secret to changing behavior or habits. It
is largely a matter of determination. It requires that you
ignore the 'pull' of the model when you strive for changes
within yourself. The model is, after all, a collection of
'habits', some of which must be unlearned for permananent
change to occur. There are two ways to do this: direct, through
will power and awareness alone -- observing and acting out
in an unattached or indifferent manner; and indirect -- through
conditioning such as affirmation (explained later), self-hypnosis,
and magick. Meditation may help too, by relaxing tension and
conflict.
Emotions follow physical
expression: smile and act happy and you will tend to feel
and be happy. The same is also true for other emotions. Also,
emotions can be purposely used (or programed) to replace other
emotions. Using this technique, a magician is somewhat like
an actor in that he learns how to turn his emotions on and
off at will. Note that this is not 'fakeing it'; the magician
is probably more in touch with his true feelings than most
people. And for these reasons we say that happiness is being
happy.
SYSTEMS OF MAGICK
Magick always involves self-hypnosis. However, it may be more
than that. For one thing, there are objective forces involved
(or so it would seem). Deities, spirits, and cosmic force
can have an independent existence. And the repetitive physical
movement sometimes involved in ritual can itself generate
PK force. On the other hand, it could be argued that all of
this is subjective to the magician. Or that the deities and
spirits are nothing more than architypes or cosmic patterns
which the magician energizes with his own vitality. Perhaps
all magical effects could be produced through hypnosis alone.
But the effects are certainly
real.
Great complexity is not necessary
in magick. Although basicly magick is a medieval system of
symbolism (in a modern context), any cosmological system will
work from Cabala to Star Wars. We usually use the medieval
one in magick because it is convenient and traditional, and
because it seems to fit our thought processes well. Traditional
symbols have greater emotional effect on the magician than
modern ones because of his familiarity with them. What really
matters is that the model of the magician be understood and
programmed, and thus that the model and the cosmological system
do correspond.
Authors Details: Phil Hansford, 4/88
Mysteria (818) 353-8891 (modem)
P.O. Box 83 Tujunga, CA 91042 |
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