Why I like to work with the Goetia (and other spirits)

In a recent blog post, Jason Miller argued that one of the things we need to the gravity of is the goetia. His point is that working with goetia has defined how people work with spirits and that it can become an obstacle to discovering your magical path. I agree with him, but in thinking about it, I realized that one of the reasons I like to work with the goetia and other established spirits sometimes is that they may not be the most powerful entities out there, but they are convenient to work with, in the sense that people do know about them and have some awareness of what expectations are involved.

But with that said, I think its important to expand your horizons. I do work with Bune, but I also work with Dragon. I have worked with Purson, but I've also worked with other time and space related entities. I've worked with the classic elemental spirits, and I've also chosen to explore the possibility of working with other elements.

There's value in going with what's tried and true, but there is something to be said for leaving the convenient behind and seeing what other spirits are out there. Thus lately I've been working with the planets, both in terms of contacting the archangels, but also working with the spirits of the planets in and of themselves. But you could just as easily work with Franz Bardon's lists of spirits, or with spirits from other grimoires.

At the same time having hopped on the Bune band wagon myself, I can say that choosing to work with him has been useful because he's getting so much notice. If everyone's working with him, there's probably a reason for that.

In with the new, out with the old

If you've been reading this blog for any length of time, you know I don't subscribe much to tradition or sticking with classical approaches to magic, just because everyone else has done them ad infinitum. At a certain point, a lot of my skepticism boils down to the fact that we're relying on outdated information or wishing to be part of ancient culture so we don't have to deal with the ugly reality in front of us.

A while back I mentioned that I don't use the classical model of the five elements: Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Spirit. It's an outdated information and categorization based off Aristotle's observation of the world around him, some 2,500 years ago. It worked for him then. It even worked for a while after that. Now its outdated. People can still use it and obviously they do, but why not change it up? What is it we are really holding on to?

The majority of resistance I've encountered has usually boiled down to: Don't change what's already there. It works and all you're doing is reinventing the wheel. And maybe they are right. Maybe I am reinventing the wheel by not sticking with what's tried and true. But my resistance to what's tried and true is why settle for the wheel you've been provided. Why not upgrade it? Why not experiment with it?

R.J. Stewart says the following in Sphere of Art 2:

While our huge spiritual and magical revival, from the late 19th century to the present day has liberated many from the suppressive tyranny of authoritarian religion, it has also created an artificial comfort zone of false, or at best harmless and reassuring, pseudo-knowledge. The deeper esoteric traditions have been glossed over, in a process that has steadily created a new body of dogma no less restrictive than that of religion...signs of such dogma are most easily visible in the many boiler plate books on chakras, Wicca, and more recently neo-shamanism, repeating the basic material over and over...After three generations or more of basic material within our overall magical/spiritual revival, material that has, in some streams, noticeably rigidified over the years, the time is right for further work and radical reassessment.

I'm all for further work and radical reassessment. I'm all for doing something different for the sake of exploration and experimentation. I get the need to have a solid foundation. I used the classic model of elements at one time...but at a certain point, you've got to look around and start getting curious about what you can change and experiment with. Information in disciplines evolves and the same should hold true for magic. If we only stick with the way its always been done at a certain point it just becomes another form of religious dogma and doctrine.

My radio interview with occult of personality is now available. You can go here to listen.

Spirits spawning spirits

A little while back Mike asked a question about one of my posts, specifically whether or not I thought spirits could spawn new spirits and whether those new spirits would evolve. It was an interesting question, but I didn't really have an answer for him. It wasn't something I'd really thought of. Recently Justin emailed me about the idea of working with the spirits of the founders of a business and that prompted me to think about my other business. When I started that business in 2008, it went through several changes as I figured out what services I was offering and who my target clientele were. Eventually I settled on a business model and up until December of 2011 I stuck with that business model/entity. Then I decided to change my business once again. I changed not only the services I offered but also the logo of the business. In a sense, the old spirit of the business (in my original logo and services) birthed a new spirit (with a new logo and services) before moving on. I think of my businesses as entities in their own right. I need to feed them through my business activities and I treat them as entities in how I think of them and interact with them. So when Mike asked his question and Justin emailed me, I thought I might contact my business as an entity through the old logo and the new logo to see if there was any difference. And I found there was a difference. The old logo allowed me to access an entity that was in the process of fading away. It was no longer being fed by my activities and it knew its time was at an end, while my work with the new logo connected me to a business entity that was in the process of growing as I continued to work on it.

I didn't change the name of my business. I changed the services and the logo to reflect the direction I felt the business was moving in. It occurs to me that what I really saw was simply one version of the business being replaced by another version. It could be any of those things, but since that question was asked its something I've thought about and experimented with a bit. And it shows the value of asking a question like that...I never thought about it until it was asked and yet its leading me down some interesting paths.

Presentation skills and magic

Recently Donald Michael Kraig made a post about workshops and the need to develop more better presentation skills. He made some good points about the need to practice your presentation skills, and not rely too heavily on your visual aides. I agree with him completely, but I also think that there's another level to be explored when it comes to workshop presentation and that's the magical level. When I get booked for a workshop, one of the practices that I do involves creating a mental mansion for the workshop. I create talking points and exercises for the workshop and then what I do is create symbols I associate with those talking points and workshops and I place the symbols into the mansion. When I rehearse a workshop I visit the mansion and access the symbols to draw on the stored information. When I present the workshop I can use the same technique to access the information. This helps immensely with confidence for the presentation.

Another practice I do involves some energy work and personas. When I'm getting ready to do a workshop, I think about the energy I want to project to people. Are there specific emotions I want to draw on? If there are, then I'll draw on those emotions for the presentation. For instance I like to draw on confidence and charisma. they are excellent emotional energies for a presentation. I also draw on personas for my presentations. I'll think about people, pop culture characters, deities, etc that personify professional speaking. I'll then visualize myself drawing on the characteristics of those people, pop culture characters, etc to create a "suit" to wear. I then imagine that I'm wearing that suit and drawing on those characteristics while I'm speaking.

Of course what helps the most is to practice your professional speaking. You might consider joining a toast masters or similar organization where you need to speak, or taking on a part time teaching opportunity so that you can practice speaking to people. You might even take acting classes. If you want to become a better speaker there are lots of ways to do it, some mundane and some magical. I recommend using both.

Planetary Magic update

A while back I'd written about my work to connect with Jupiter and its planetary energy. Since that working I've done similar connection workings with the other planets, including Neptune, Uranus, and Pluto. I didn't stick with the "classical" model of planets because its outdated and inaccurate, but it also meant I had to do some research to find the correspondences for the other planets.

At this point I've gotten symbols for each of the planets from the archangels. My encounters with the various archangels was interesting because of how focused they were on their own functions as it related to the planets, so they didn't provide much information, instead encouraging me to make my connection with the planets via the symbols.

I debated a bit on my next step, but I decided to settle on creating individual paintings for each symbol. I'll use the paintings as gateways that use the symbols to open up or shut down access to the planetary energies. The act of painting the symbols will be a good exercise for connecting with the planetary energies and learning more about them and how I can work with them. But I'm also going to experiment with specific placements of the paintings in specific rooms of the house, with the idea being to enhance specific characteristics of those rooms with planetary energy. I'll post more information once I've proceeded to the next step.

Video games, exploration, and the occluded mind

I'm playing Max Payne 3 and Metal Gear Solid 3 right now. In playing both games, I've had to do a fair amount of exploration to find things that the characters could use to help them through their various quests. That's actually a common feature of video games. Most games, at least current games, involve some level of exploration of the actual game levels in order to discover essential items to your quest or Easter eggs that game developers have placed into the game. If the player just relies on the map, s/he won't necessarily find or experience all of the treasures of the game. Those can only be experienced by choosing to experience the territory of the game as it is, while only using the map as a superficial guide. The experience of the game is what makes it enjoyable.

In the Sphere of Art 2 by R. J. Stewart, He makes some interesting points about maps and territories:

When we begin to relate to the territory as it really is, we swiftly begin to lose our limited map. This can be a fearful experience of a joyous one, depending on our individual training, preparation and understanding. To be cast loose without the map that you need for for stability is at risk of going mad in unknown territory, while to throw the map away willingly in full awareness is to embrace risk and enter a new condition of sanity.

The experience of the territory is different from the map, because the territory is the actual experience, while the map is just a description, and not always an accurate one. Usually the map isn't accurate because it can't really show everything that is actually in the territory. This truth applies to video games, mystical secrets, trips on the road, any really any other experience you can have in life. The tendency to rely on the map isn't necessarily bad or wrong. The map can be useful in terms of providing guidance and helpful hints for navigating the territory. But ultimately the map the can only provide a vague sense of the territory.

The experience of the territory is where the magician discovers the secrets and treasures that can only be found by choosing to explore what's in the territory. Just as with a video game character, the magician needs to thoroughly explore the territory of the ritual. The magician needs to be curious and not settle for what is in front of him/herself. After all there are potential Easter eggs just waiting to be found, as well as story elements that might be missed if a thorough investigation isn't performed.

What video games have taught me is that unless you fully explore the environment and get very curious you'll likely miss key clues and information and resources that could help you with the game. I find the same is true with magical work, and while I wouldn't necessarily say a magical working is exactly like a video game, there's something to be said for cultivating curiosity in your magical work, to embrace risk and discover what is hidden away.

Contemporary Technology as Ritual Tools

One of the ways I like to experiment with magic involves integrating contemporary technology into magical practice, including making technology into ritual tools. This can be something as simple as turning your toothbrush and toothpaste into a tool that you use for a ritual of banishment (not only does it fight tooth decay, but it also cleans out lingering psychic plaque!) or using a video game character to charge and fire a sigil. It could be as complex as using static on your TV screen for scrying purposes (ala TOPY) or treating your cell phone as an evoking tool for working with specific entities (think Jozef Karika on this one). For many magicians, these ideas may seem foreign or blasphemous, but that's only due to a lack of imagination on their part. Any type of technology could be a ritual tool. The coding language you use to create a program can also be used to inject a magical working into that same program or into what the program is supposed to interact with. A paint brush can become a wand when its used to paint the seal of an entity, summoning that entity into an evocation that the painting itself activates by the choice of the magician.

It is the use technology is put to that defines if it becomes a ritual tool. There is nothing inherent within any tool that makes it magical. What makes anything magical is the intention of the magician, and specifically how s/he uses a given tool to convey that intention to the world around him/her. A tool is a physical expression of a concept the magician is expressing as part of the magical work s/he is doing. If that concept is better expressed through modern technology then use modern technology in you're workings. If we assume that modern technology can't be used because its modern, what we are really doing is limiting the ability to evolve magic, as well as adapt to situations that our contemporary to our time and space.

This isn't to say we should discard the athame or other traditional tools, but why not also look at how you could use your toothbrush in a magical working? As I said above there is nothing inherently magical in any of our tools. What makes the magic happen is the magician and his/her ability to turn possibilities into realities.

The Evolution of Spirits

I wrote a post a little while back asking if people thought spirits evolved. My own conclusion is that they do evolve and the best way I can demonstrate that is through examining several on-going relationships I have with different spirits I work with.

The first case study is Bune. Bune is a goetic demon of wealth and death. My work with him has focused on his patronage of my businesses. In working with him on my business, what I've been struck by is how much he has actually understood about business and how that understanding has manifested in my life. Even though it can be argued that he is a spirit, that identity doesn't automatically stop him from growing or evolving or being aware of the modern world. He has actually explained as well that by helping me learn about what I need to learn for my business he is also learning through me, which suggests that there is an interest on his part to continue to evolve his areas of expertise.

The second case study is Purson, another goetic demon with a focus on time. In working with him, he has shown me the connection between vibration and time (which isn't surprising since one of his tools is a musical horn), and in fact this has also pushed me into a direction of exploring some aspects of music and magic. As with Bune part of my on-going relationship with him involves a transference of information I learn in return for his insights. There is a decided interest in evolving and learning on his part, as well as on mine.

The third case study involves working with elemental spirits. As readers of this blog know I don't stick with the classic western five elements, but have branched out into working with other elements such as emptiness, love, etc. This has occurred in part because of my work with the elementals, and with their suggestion that elemental magic has evolved beyond the classical consideration of it, and that an exploration of elemental magic from a contemporary consideration of elements could be useful.

Finally there's Thiede, a pop culture entity from the Wraeththu series by Storm Constantine that I've worked with since the later 1990's. Many magicians wouldn't consider him a real spirit, but I've found that he seems to have all the characteristics of other spirits. He's shown me a lot of information on space as well as the leyline that connect planets and stars with each other. He's evolved significantly in the context of our workings together and continues to have an on-going presence that changes in part due to our interactions as well as his work with others.

I think that something which is ignored in working with spirits is the possibility that one of the benefits they get from us is an interaction that allows them to learn more of our perspective, even as they share their perspectives with us. Not all spirits are necessarily interested in our world or our perspectives, but I suspect the ones that get as much from the interaction as we do.

Free Reading special with the Process of Magic Class

This week, until Friday June 1st, I'm offering a free Dual-Deck Tarot reading on a topic of your choice when you sign up for the Process of Magic class. For these readings I use the elemental hexagon deck and the alchemy deck for the readings. When you contact me to sign up for the class, tell me the question you want me to do the reading for and I'll send you an email with what I find.

The value of being unconventional

I've been reading the Tao of Deception by Ralph Sawyer. It's a book about Chinese military history and unconventional warfare. It advocates the value of applying unconventional thinking for solving problems, and provides examples of unconventional warfare and how battles were won by applying unconventional tactics. In the book, the author cites examples of how the environment was used to win a battle, or how a clever psychological ploy put the enemy into an exposed situation. and in each example its clear the strategists who chose to go down an unconventional route did so because they understood the limitations of conventional tactics as well as the people employing those tactics. I've always applied unconventional thinking to my magical practice and how I live life in general. It's the unusual perspectives that fascinate me, because they aren't expected. Going with what's expected is easy. Anyone can do it, but seeking and using the unconventional is fun and allows you to discover possibilities you'd otherwise ignore.

The application of the unconventional to magic involves developing a spiritual practice and process that doesn't stick to tried and true. Thus a person will recognize conventional associations and correspondences, while useful to learn, at a certain point stifle the creativity. The answer is to develop your own associations and correspondences. Go your own way, after you've learned enough to know what the rules are, and how to bend and break them and still get results. You can't explore the unconventional until you know the conventional, but once you know the conventional you also know its limits and you can move beyond the limits to discover new paths for exploration.

The unconventional is part of the unknown, in a sense, because it's not something everyone is doing. It's uncharted, or it only has a few markers to indicate possible paths. And you have to be wary of the paths, because even they can lead back to the conventional. The entire point is to do something original and innovative.

Revisiting my ceremonial magic roots

I think one of the best practices a magician can do is to revisit your magical roots or foundations years later after you'd moved on to other practices and places. Lately through reading R.J.'s works, as well as revisiting Ted Andrews work and taking the Strategic Sorcery course I've been revisiting ceremonial magic. It's good to revisit it, because I'm using the opportunity to do planetary magic as well as revisit core concepts I learned way back when. To me, this re-visitation has been most useful because it's also allowing me to take everything else I've learned and readjust the foundational material to account for more recently learned and worked with practices. I know that revisiting past work has always been beneficial simply because different experiences have been had, and those experiences shape the perspective and what is gleaned from work once read by novice eyes. It's wise to revisit works you've read, because even if you think you've mastered the content, you might be surprised by what you learn through the visitation.

Lately, in choosing to explore planetary magic and start employing it, I've found myself enjoying doing something that I might not consider experimental in the usual sense of the word, but that nonetheless is new territory for me to explore. You never stop learning and revisiting old territory can yield realizations and practices that shape your magical work.

Book Review: The Sphere of Art by R. J. Stewart

This is a must have book if you are interested in ceremonial magic or you are studying R.J.'s magical works and system of magic. What I enjoyed the most was the author's systematic explanation of the sphere of art and how it works and what the magician is doing when s/he is working with the sphere of art. I also found the appendices interesting, especially the author's encounter with Ronald Heaver. The author presents some excellent commentaries on ethics and how they apply to magic. If you get this book, I recommend reading it with a discussion group, as you'll get a lot of insights out of it, through conversation. Remember that what will make it most effectively is actively doing the practices.

Elemental Balancing Fire Month 7

4-30-12 Life can kick you down. What you choose to do about it is up to you. You can lay in the dust and complain or you can get up and do something to change what's happened. I think that's one of the reasons I embrace discomfort. It's not that I want to be uncomfortable, but I accept that some discomfort is a part of life and has something to offer in terms of a growing opportunity. I'd rather learn from it and get it over with, than whine about it and wish it wasn't happening. 5-4-12 Fail. Fire burns failure away or maybe it just burns it into you. Yet every failure in my life has opened doors and forced me to look at how to change things in ways I never would have, if I didn't fail. In failure lies the seed for success, if you can just get past yourself long enough to see it for what it is: Opportunity reminding you that always having success can be more of an obstacle than facing failure and learning how to use it to make you better.

5-9-12 Opening up to a person and letting that person in...really letting that person in. That's been the hardest thing for me to do. My wife pointed out to me that I never really talk with her about what I'm going to write about on this blog or my other one or about my on going projects, or even about the stress I might be feeling around my professional life. And its true I don't share it. I'm not used to sharing it or being involved with someone who seems to be genuinely interested in learning more. But lately I've been opening up more, trying to really allow her in. I've noted some interesting behaviors when I get uncomfortable such as trying to change the topic or shift focus toward something else, which tells me that on some level I do find it uncomfortable to be so open, but that's not a surprise when you're used to keeping things close to your chest.

5-15-12 Your choices define you. You define them first, but once you make them, those choices ripple outward and effect your actions and subsequent choices. You've got to make good choices you can live with, because those choices can haunt you for the rest of your life. Or they can be a celebration of your life, something that brings hope to yourself and others. I only have a few choices I regret, things I wish I could undo, but most of the choices I've made are ones I'm proud to stand by. I can live with them and feel no regret, because I know they are choices that have improved my life and outlook on the world. The choices where I do feel regret are lessons I never take for granted, because I don't want to feel that way about the majority of my choices or how I'm living my life.

5-18-12 I think something the work with the element of Fire has really taught me is how to examine the movement of emotions and feelings in my life and how those movements play out in the actions I take. I can't take for granted how much emotion factors into my life. This isn't to say I'm ruled by emotion, but its part of my life, part of everyone's life. and anyone who thinks they can control their emotions or put them under wraps is fooling themselves. We are moved by emotions everyday...the question is can we control the movement and the direction it takes us? I think that's possible, but it takes a lot of internal work.

5-21-12 I think the hardest challenge of fire is the recognition that so much of what is focused on is the shadow aspects of the element. Not that dealing with shadow aspect is a bad thing, but when I look at how fire is portrayed, or at least my experience of it is, it is unchecked, wild, something that burns. This year, for me, has really been about exploring fire from a different perspective than what I've thought of, yet I haven't divorced my own perspective from the process. The comparison of the two is what helps make this work useful and something that fuels genuine growth and change.

Charity drive for the Process of Magic Course

This week, until Friday the 25th, I'm running a charity special. If you sign up for the Process of Magic course, I'll be donating half  of the proceeds to Stepping Stones charity, which helps people in Nigeria who've been accused of witchcraft. The donation will go toward providing the children education, clothing, and other essentials. If you're interested in signing up for the course contact me and include the words Process of Magic in the Subject Line. I'll send you information about the course and how to sign up for it.

Magic and price

If you've been watching Once Upon a Time, in several of the episodes the focus has been on the price of magic. The take in the show is based on a Faerie Tale perspective of magic, where magic comes with a price and the price usually isn't what you expect. It reminds me of some of the faerie tales and fiction I've read.

I recently asked on my Facebook page if people thought there was a price with magic. The answers I received indicated that people thought there was a price associated with magic, of some sort or another. Nothing as dramatic as a faerie tale price, but nonetheless there was a sense that to one degree or a price existed.

And I agree with what they said. I think there is always a price. As one person put it, it's a trade off in terms of what you give away in order to pursue the path you choose. That principle applies to anything as much as it applies to magic. But the price of magic fascinates me because it plays on specific themes within occultism, such as Faustian deals or Faerie Tales. And it makes sense to some degree. Anytime I work with an entity I am making an exchange of sorts, though not in such medieval terms.

But I think if there's really a price with magic it has more to with the discipline needed to study it as well as the consistent work needed to apply it. And that's a price worth paying, as is the case with any discipline you want to master. You put the time in order to really grasp it and apply it to your life. And when you do a magical working you accept you are making a choice, but that no different than making a choice that doesn't involve utilizing magic. Everything has a price associated with it. You just have to decide if the price is worth it.

The value of continuing education

I'm taking a marketing class right now through the local Small Business Development Center, and I've been taking a small Business Management course through most of the year. I'm also taking Jason's Strategic Sorcery course, and of course I'm also educating myself at my own pace with a variety books I'm reading and exercises I'm trying. I'm a life long learner and its something I apply as much to my magical work as to anything else. Every book I read, every experience I have, or class I take all has the potential to offer something that not only improves my business or life, but also inspires my magical practice.

Whether its formal education or educate yourself, the real value of continuing to learn is that it challenges you to grow as a person. I the variety of topics I can learn about fascinating and I know that I'll never learn everything, but I know learning as much as I can inspires me and excites me. There's a thrill I feel when I'm learning something or trying something out, the thrill of being alive, the thrill of the moment.

It's easy to get pigeonholed into one subject or area of interest, but the peril is that you become myopic in your perspective. I'd have never discovered the joys of experimenting with magic if I just continued to read books on magic. It was reading books about a variety of subjects that really made me wonder if I could apply magic to those subjects and vise versa. The joy in doing something unconventional, just to see what would happen, that became the overriding focus of my magical work and its still there to this day. I couldn't have discovered that if I hadn't diversified my interests and started learning whatever I could about any and everything.

I can't say that I've always been able to apply everything I've learned, but I'd like to think that my unusual perspectives are cultivated by the choice to learn any and everything, regardless of how relevant it seems to be. Sometimes it doesn't seem relevant, but then at some point it becomes relevant. I figure with magic, especially if you want to manifest specific results, its good to have a foundation to draw on that can inform the magical process you are using to manifest that result.

Planetary Magic Experiment

I've never worked with planetary magic. I got wrapped up into elemental hermeticism and didn't really explore the planets. But I'm taking the Strategic Sorcery course and one of the homework assignments involved possibly working with planetary magic so I thought I'd stretch myself. Jason thoughtfully provided symbols he'd gotten in his own work, but I decided it was better if I went straight to the source, and the other day in How to Meet and Work with Spirit Guides by Ted Andrews, I found pertinent information on contacting the archangel associated with each planet. I decided to work with one planet: Jupiter, which is associated with wealth magic. The archangel associated with Jupiter is Tzadkiel. The first step was to contact Tzadkiel. I meditated on the astrological symbol of Jupiter and Tzadkiel's sigil, as well as vocalizing Tzadkiel's name. It took a little while to make contact, but eventually I did. I asked him, if I could get a symbol for Jupiter that represented the planetary energy and associations with wealth and other areas. He was happy to provide it to me, but then we got into a discussion about the associations. I asked him about the association of wealth with Jupiter and what made Jupiter as a planet have anything to do with wealth. He replied it was less about the planet and more about how people perceived the planet (and associated God) with wealth. That what made it powerful had more to do with the perceptions that people invested in the planet. What I'm really tapping into are those perceptions of the power, the perceptions about the associations and how those associations can be worked with.

Since then I've taken the symbol and put it on my whiteboard and each time I've done anything associated with my business or a financial transaction, I've mentally imprinted the symbol on the business or financial transaction, with the idea of drawing on those associations to provide a favorable outcome for me. I plan on doing work with the other planets (and their archangels )and also with Tzadkiel, but it is an interesting thought, to look at the planetary energy in terms of the perceptions invested into it.

Process of Magic class starts tomorrow!

The process of magic course is starting tomorrow. You'll get 24 lessons for $80 dollars on the process of magic and how to develop your personalized approach to magic while also learning the fundamental principles of how magic works from a process oriented perspective. You'll learn:

• What process is and how it can be applied to magic.
• How to take apart any magical working you've done and identify what is and isn't working in it.
• What the principles of magic are and how they can be applied with any tool or technique you can think of.
• Why internal work is a necessary part of your magical process.

Those are only a few things you'll learn when you take this class. Over the course of 24 weeks we'll cover magical techniques from a process perspective, identify your definition of magic, and explore how to use results to refine and improve your magical process. You will get:

• 24 lesson for $80 dollars (That's less than a dollar per lesson)
• A FREE e-book Creating Magical Entities
• 5 homework assignments to help you apply the concepts to your magical workings.
• The ability to work on the course at your pace.

If you want to sign up for the class or you have questions, contact me.

What's one of your earliest influential occult books?

Recently I was looking through my magical library and I came across two books by Ted Andrews, books I've had since I was 16 or 17. They were books I'd hidden away when I was 18 and told I had to burn my books or leave, because they were books that were essential to my practice at that time. I was using the exercises in them for my daily work and also to connect with the elemental spirits. And to this day those books are essential to my magical practice in terms of the information and experiences they first provided. While my magical practice has gone far afield, the principles I learned in this books still inform and guide my magical practice. The books are How to Meet and Work with Spirit Guides and Enchantment of the Faerie Realm. Perhaps what I liked best about the books then and even now is the balance between practical techniques and theoretical information. As I looked through both books the other night, I felt a smile appear on my face, rediscovering a sense of wonder I first felt when I began practicing magic. As a teenager these books were doorways to a better life than the one I was living in. They provided me a sense of empowerment, a feeling of control, and a sense that I could actively make a difference in my life by employing magic. I still feel that way, but holding those books and flipping through them brought a sense of nostalgia and happiness over the memories themselves.

And flipping through them also provided inspiration for a working I did recently and am still engaged in currently, which I'll write about on Wednesday. It illustrated to me that going back through something you've kept for almost 20 years can still provided you surprises and realizations that you can work with.

What was your earliest influential texts that changed your approach to magic?

Mystery, Secrecy, and Magic

In a recent conversation about the process of magic, one person mentioned that they felt that mystery was an essential part of what makes magic magical. My response was: "Why does there need to be mystery? Mystery is a trope associated with magic, but its just a prop in the end. Looks nice...the real question is does it serve a real function or purpose in the process of magic. If it does, use it, but if it doesn't, strip it away."

The counter response was that removing mystery made magic a rational process or a scientific experiment. But I don't think removing mystery guarantees rationality, as emotion can still factor significantly into a magical work. More importantly the person's experience and perspective is also a significant factor in magical work and not something that automatically lends itself to rationality. I don;t really hold rationality in a esteemed position anyway, as I think its an artificial state of being. In other words, there's no such thing as a purely rational state of mind. There's always some level of emotion or feeling involved. Perhaps the closest experience of rationality is data, but even the interpretation of data is not wholly rational, as there is always an agenda and argument for how and why data is interpreted a particular way.

Regardless that's a topic for a different blog post. Getting back to mystery...I don't feel mystery is a necessary part of magical work. It's a trope, a prop that is associated with magic, and also with secrecy, which is another trope associated with occultism. I dislike secrecy, as I feel what it ultimately encourages is a potential loss of knowledge, experiences, and information that could benefit others. Nonetheless secrecy is one of those tropes that magicians hold fast to, much as mystery is held onto.

When I look at mystery and secrecy I see power games being played, the secret club handshake, the knowing wink, and the decision about who is included and who is excluded. And yes it can have its uses, to create a sense of atmosphere, but ideally the magician can accomplish without needing to resort to such theater unless it serves a purpose.

I'll admit I take an approach to magic that has been describing as a stripping down of it. Yet I don't feel I'm missing out on anything by doing so. Removing all the extras has just provided a way to get to the heart of the magical working, to the connections that are made with the spirits, with the possibilities, etc. without needing to draw on the props. Some people find the props necessary and if that's the case, then that's what they need to use, but magic is ultimately a variety of paths. I just like to explore how you can strip it down and build it back up to fit your needs, while getting rid of what you don't need.

Cut-up writing as a gateway to spiritual transmission

I've been reading Thee Psychick Bible for a little while now and came across an article by Genesis where he notes the following:

No matter how short, or apparently unrecognizable a sample might be in linear time perception, I believe it must, inevitably, contain within it the sum total of absolutely everything its original context represented, communicated or touched in any way; On top of this it must also implicitly include the sum total of every individual in any way connected with its introduction and construction within the original culture and every subsequent culture it in any way, means, or form, has contact with forever.

It's interesting perspective about cut-up and one that Burroughs alludes to in his own writings, but in not so explicit a manner. My own approach has favored the idea that the act of cutting up text frees it from its original author and meaning, and that the rearrangement of the text is the appropriation of it by the person doing the cut-up in order to create a new message, but I can also see validity in Genesis's approach to cut-up, especially if you apply the concept of spiritual transmission to cut-up.

Burroughs talks about how doing cut-up allowed him to catch divinatory glimpses of things that could occur, but it stands to reason as well that in a way you can't really cut out the original author of a text. You can rearrange the text, change the meaning, but there is still a connection of sorts to the author, to the original vision of the text. If we think of words as a means of connection with the author, not merely in terms of meaning, but in terms of an actual spiritual meeting with the author it changes our approach to text in some ways. We see it not even as a divinatory practice, but as a practice that allows us to meaningfully connect with the essence behind the writing. The rearrangement of text, and the reading become an invocatory practice that shifts us into an experience of transmission from a variety of sources.

It always fascinates me with how people approach a given technique and end up using it in different ways than others do. It demonstrates, to me, that magic is much more of an experiential process than anything else. Different people will have different methodologies and perspectives on how a technique works and all of them will be right.