Why magic isn’t a bunch of categories or labels
I think sometimes people try too hard to boil magic down to categories. You ask someone what type of magic s/he practices and you get a long list list of categories such as Chaos Magic, Postmodern Magic, Shamanism, Ceremonial Magic, etc. Add in magical lodges the person belongs to and you’ve got another set of [...]
Time Dilation Experiences
Time dilation is one of the experiences that’s always fascinated me. I suspect just about every person has experienced time dilation. Time dilation is the experience of time either slowing down or speeding up. For example, if you’ve done a magical ritual before and you’ve felt like hours passed when perhaps only a half hour [...]
Definitions and Personalizing Magic
One of my passions, when it comes to magic, is really about personalizing it to fit the circumstances of your life and what you draw inspiration from. When I learned ceremonial magic, I realized that to make it really effective, I had to personalize it, fit it to my style and understanding of the world. [...]
Magic and the Scientific Method
I was recently asked on Twitter the following question: Can magickal ritual stand up to scrutiny of scientific method? My response was: Not unless science accepts that magic is a subjective experience. Let’s unpack that statement. In my opinion, and from reading a variety of books, it seems that some magicians try to scientifically “prove” [...]
Identity and Time
Each year on my birthday I do an elemental magic switchover to a new element for the next year. Last year I switched from Emptiness to Time. This year, however, I’m not going to switch from Time. Part of it is because astrologically Saturn is a significant influence over the next year and I think [...]
The need for innovation in magic
When we adhere to other people’s rules and definitions of magic without questioning them or testing them, we become dogmatic and lose out on innovation. For magic to be an effective practice, we need to question all definitions and practices, with an eye toward improving our magical practice and also toward improving magic as a [...]
Video: Internal work and Definitions
As I continue to explore the role of definitions in magic, I’ve also applied them to internal work, with the specific understanding that any given issue brings with it definitions of the reactions a person will take when the issue comes up. The video below goes into more depth about this: ShareTweet
Video blog: Definitions and Magic
In this video blog, I discuss definitions and their relationship with magic in further detail. ShareTweet
Short notes
A Note about Definitions and Meaning My post about definitions could easily also apply to the word models. The word models is used a lot in magic theory. There is the spiritual model, the psychological model, the model for this or the model for that. But I don’t think definitions are really models. I do [...]
Definitions, definitions, it’s all definitions
The more I focus on definitions, the more I realize how integral they are to any sense of self and identity a person has. We define everything to not only explain everything, but also provide structure and environment for ourselves, to create a sense of place in the universe, little realizing just how constructed all [...]
Twitter
- I finished the latest revision of Magical Identity, at 93,535 words. Off to the editor and then layout! Expect a pre-order post soon.
