Influence, networking and magic

Rufus recently posted an interesting article on the Favor of Kings. What I got from it is that you essentially enchant for favorable influence to be shown to you by the people in power, so that you can have opportunities presented, and just have an easier life overall. It's an interesting concept and one I'm familiar with from networking, but I'd say that while it's awesome to feel the favor of people in power, and to have their momentum behind you, its even better to become one of those people, not only because it generates consistent favor from other people, but because you also embody the very force of the favor you want to bring into your life.

I do a lot of networking as a self-employed business owner, so I have to generate my own favor, as well as hopefully get the goodwill of other people. In a corporate setting its different. You have the people above you to think about, but beyond that its not something that matters as much...or does it? I'd argue it actually does, but most people in a corporate setting don't think about it that much because they've got the relative "security" of having a job, and having that job addresses the sense of need a person might have.

Networking has its own energy. When you are networking with people, you are connecting to them, learning about them, and thinking of how you can help them. You are directing your favor toward them, in the hopes that they will do the same as well. And your favor manifests as a business referral, or a connection to a power partner, or even to the acknowledgements that you receive from other people who are in a similar position to you, in terms of owning their own business.

However, people in a corporate setting are still networking as well, albeit in a much tighter microcosm. You've got your fellow employees as well as your managers, your competitors in the company, the clients of the company, and the competitors outside of the company. And all of that creates an opportunity to generate and share influence which is the core essence of favor.

Favor is the manifestation of positive influence. It's found when a person puts in a favorable recommendation about you at work, or gives you a kudos at a networking event. It's also found when you do something positive for other people, whether its offering a suggestion, or referring someone else. Favor is an integral behavior and social dynamic within society. The people who consistently have the favor of others have done something to earn it, or they wouldn't be smiled on and helped.

So how does this work on a magical level. On the one hand, you can work with entities, such as the ones Rufus mentioned, and ask them to push the favor up a notch. This certainly works and it can be quite useful. I actually have an entity that helps me find opportunities (which I'd see as a form of favor). He pushes those opportunities to my awareness, which in turn allows me to capitalize on the expression of favor. So the entity approach works.

But there's another approach I like to take. It involves becoming the embodiment of favor. In other words you become what you want directed to you. Think of it as a kind of invocation, because in a sense it is an invocation of a very particular force. For me the embodiment of this force starts when I put on my business clothes. The particular look that I go for carries with it specific associations including networking and the spreading of influence and favor. My approach targets the vector that if you want to receive more favor and influence, you need to also exert your own favor and influence for others. My embodiment allows me to consciously focus on riding the social interactions of favor and influence in order to arrive at the right confluence where I exert myself for others and in turn they exert themselves for me.