I got into a couple of interesting conversations this week and in the process realized once again that why I practice magic isn't to get anyone's approval or acceptance of what I practice or get the general community to accept my practices.
Corticotropin and Betalipotropin - Taylor's Report
Corticotropin showed up as a white snake. It explained that it helps with the stimulation of adrenalin and helps with the focus a person has in moments of stress. As an interesting note corticotropin also helps with the lipoprotein uptake uptake into cortical cells, which increases the availability of cholesterol in the cells of the adrenal cortex. Betalipotropin showed up as an alligator, easy going but also quick to anger and explained that he primarily helped with the stimulation of anger and related emotions.
Estrogen - Taylor's Report
Estrogen appeared as a snake with a with wide mouth that, when it enfolded me felt warm and moist. My experience with her was one where she had a similar feeling of femininity in counterbalance to the masculinity I experience with Testosterone. At the same time the experience was also of a rhythmic cycle, which was steady in its beat and yet nonetheless powerful in how it moved me. She told me that she helped to modulate the balance with testosterone and provide grounding to his energy.
What love magic won't do
I'm re-reading The Passionate Marriage (Affiliate link) by David Schnarch. It's an excellent book for any type of romantic relationship and my re-reading of it has already allowed me to recognize nuances that I'd missed the first time around. And perhaps most telling for me is something which I think applies to any area of life, whether its love, finances, work, etc. Namely you've got to work at a relationship to make it work. When I think about love magic, I think of the stereotype of the rejected lover who decides to do love magic as a way of getting his/her ex back. And sometimes it works, but in a disastrous manner where the effected person doesn't so much love the person as s/he is obsessed with the person. Kind of like the guy in the movie The Craft (Affiliate link). He can't stop thinking about the girl who cast the spell on him, even after she's no longer interested in him. And what love magic can't do is it can't really make someone love someone else. It can, when done right, put you into circumstances where you meet your next lover, but its still up to you in the end.
And there's something to be said for actually loving yourself, as cliched as that may sound. It is hard for other people to love a person that doesn't feel some degree of self-respect and love. It quickly becomes apparent if the person doesn't feel that way about him/herself.
Love magic won't make a person love you, or make you love yourself. That work is on you. At best love magic can increase the possibilities that you'll meet a person that fits your circumstances. Or it may help you come to a better understanding of your own issues with love, if you direct it toward yourself. Love magic isn't the cure for the missing date at Valentine's Day.
Love takes work. It's a beautiful feeling to experience, but once you get down to it, its more than just a feeling and really experiencing it involves learning a lot more about how you communicate with others and yourself about your needs, while also learning to listen to their needs. Remember that before doing any love magic, be ready to fully handle the results that come your way!
Book Review: The Nine Doors of Midgard (Affiliate link) by Edred
This is a curriculum of rune work that teaches people about runes from a variety of angles including rune yoga, chanting, and pathworking. However, it's also much more than that. It's a program that's designed to teach you how to fully integrate the runes into your life so that you can use meaningfully. It's a book I would recommend to anyone who wants to learn runes, but I would also recommend getting the recommended reading that the author points readers to. This isn't a book for a beginner or a book just to be read. It is a book that opens doors to new experiences and it is on you to actually go an experience what it offers.
5 out of 5
My holiday special
If you're shopping for that magician in your life, or just for yourself, the following holiday deal is on until winter solstice. Buy three books from me and get a fourth one free. You can find a list of my books here. Also I'm still taking sign-ups for my class, so if you're interested in spending a year learning magic from yours truly, consider taking the Magical Experiments class. I promise it'll be a challenging and interesting year. I do take payment plans.
Most of all, have safe and happy holidays. I know I will.
Where your attention goes...
Kat and I recently had an interesting discussion about how what you watch on TV or play on a video game can vividly imprint itself on your psyche. I certainly agree that this can occur. I've been playing Assassin's Creed Brotherhood since I got it last week and there were nights I went to sleep and dreamed the game. My attention was focused on the game so much that it was what was prevalent to my consciousness. One of the choices I made in my early twenties was to no longer get Cable TV, because I didn't want to clog my psyche with irrelevant advertisements and TV shows, and as my example of the video game shows, it is easy to imprint on your psyche external memes. While I definitely enjoy the game, I can say that having such vivid dreams about it did impress upon me once again why I'm so careful about what I expose myself to.
For the magician, the ability to focus and empty the mind is key for fully immersing him/herself in the magical work s/he is doing. And in my opinion, being able to have control over your imagination, and thus using it as a tool is also key to fully exercising it in your magical work. The imagination is the key to the door of magic. So while it is good to play a game or watch a show, it's also worthwhile to spend some time away from modern media, so that you use it sparingly and not let it consume your life.
I enjoy games a lot, but I've made it a point to also play board games and the like, because there is some imagination involved and it gets me to use it instead of just letting it be hijacked by the TV or videogame console. I think its important to exercise your imagination regularly and recognize it as a magical tool that you want to respect. So remember to take a break from the TV, computer, or videogame, or mobile phone sometimes. That break will help you get some perspective and focus for your magical work.
Manifestation and Magic
If people measure magic's efficacy in their lives, it is usually done by looking at how magic manifests change and tangible results in their lives. But to make a manifestation count for something, it's important to consider what you can do to make it a long term investment, instead of a short term problem solver.
What magic's about
I'm working on chapter 5 of the new book today, which deals with neurotransmitters, and neuro-physiology, and how the magician can work with neurotransmitters, cells, etc., in order to induce change in the magician's identity. I recall once a conversation I had at a campfire when I was speaking at Gathering of the Tribes about DNA, cells, and magic. One of the people said that he thought I was making mountains out of molehills, but as I've continued to explore the connection between neuro-chemistry, magic, and now identity, I find that it has opened entirely new vistas to consider, and also a healthier relationship with my body. As we continue to learn more in general about the universe, it behooves us to take that information and apply it meaningfully to our lives. To me, applying it to magical work makes perfect sense, because with magic we can not only learn the information, but actually interact with it, and that's what magic is about.
I know I've written about that before in my blog, but I think its such an important principle of magic: interaction. And I don't think you can really know anything until you've applied it to your life and interacted with it meaningfully. So for me, really understanding neurotransmitters and neuroscience hasn't involved just reading about it, but has involved exploring the soundness of the information via magic.
Don't ever let anyone discourage you from being curious about exploring something you've learned. Over the years I've practiced, I've had a number of people try to discourage me, telling my ideas were fluffy, or that I was overthinking it, or any number of other things. If I had listened to those people I don't think I would've written any of my books or had as many of the experiences I've had. Many people will try to tell you how to do magic, how to live life, and all kinds of other, often unsolicited, advice. Don't listen to them or let them stop you from trying something new, with or without magic. We learn best by experience.
Magic, as a process, and a way of applying information to life, provides each person the opportunity to genuinely learn and explore their own place in the universe. That's the single most important lesson I've learned about magic. So go out and learn and experience and be curious with your magical practice and with your life in general. Make mountains out of molehills, because what you might discover is something other people will overlook in their haste to go where others have already gone.
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" the existence of magic, Goetic demons etc., or if they are disillusioned by trying to be a magician, give it up and argue it doesn't exist, or its all in our heads.
While I certainly appreciate that science can offer some criticisms and even principles about magic, I would argue that magic as practice and process isn't as straightforward as science is. People customize magical practices a lot. Certainly I've done that, in part because I've found that sticking with what others have done hasn't worked for me as well as it might for them. I've found that I've been able to achieve consistent results that tell me magic is real, and other people who've tried my processes have also achieved results. Nonetheless, I've also noted that when those same people customize the process to fit their own understanding of the universe, it seems to be more efficacious, and my thought on that is that what makes magic what it is, has less to do with replicating an overt process, and more to do with understanding the process from an internal perspective. In other words, it's not so much about objective, as it is about subjectivity, and more specifically the subject's relationship with him/herself, others, and the universe at large.
Whereas with science the idea seems to be that you follow a set process in order to replicate results, and if you deviate from that process, it's no longer considered to be science. This isn't to say that some degree of customization and creativity doesn't occur in science, but even when it does, its rigorously tested by many people, doing the same process in order to determine the validity of said process.
It could be argued that ritual provides the same kind of rigor, or that the variety of books written with spells and techniques demonstrates processes that if followed show the "science" of magic. The problem however is that what people look for in this kind of situation is irrefutable, objective proof. So if I do an evocation of a Goetic Demon, but no one sees it, people will argue its not real, that there is no objective proof to demonstrate it's existence. Yet, I don't know that such a criteria really applies to beings that very may well have objective existence, albeit in a different dimension. And more importantly, if we are looking for proof, then the results speak more tangibly than anything else to the efficacy of the process.
In my own work with entities and with magic in general what I've found to be so compelling about magic and why I continue to practice it is that it doesn't just solve some problems or generate results. It provides me an explanation of the universe, my place in it, and how I can utilize magic to make changes to that agreement. And in that sense, what makes it work isn't just a process but a choice, my choice, to believe...
Not very objective and scientific perhaps, but given how often magic has worked in my life, my belief in it works for me, and my understanding of the processes used also works. And I think that's more important than trying to prove it to everyone else.
Want to actually do this, not just read about it?
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If you want help with a specific situation, work with me one to one.
Update on Bune Working
I'd posted a little while back about a group working with Bune, a Goetic demon. Since working with Bune, it's been interesting to note results that have been achieved. My friend Bill ended up staying hired at his current job, while my partner Kat landed a full time position with a job she wanted. I've been finding inspiration in a new business direction, one that I think will be more authentic for me, while one of the other participants has also been exploring starting a business and finding some creative direction in it, after the working. There are many people I know who've practiced magic in the past and then stopped, disillusioned because they didn't get some kind of result they wanted, but I often wonder how much of that is a reflection on them as opposed to the magic or whatever they were working with. In working with Bune, clear expectations of what actions we needed to take were expressed in order to solicit his help. Not following through on those actions would show our unwillingness to take on any other steps that were more practically oriented toward manifesting our collective desires.
I'm reminded of a saying: "God helps those who helps themselves" Which I translate to this: Declare your intention to the universe and then start making it happen, so that the universe can align your declaration with your actions. Seems pretty simple, but I think some people conceive of magic as a kind of cure-all technology. I'll do the magic and that alone will be enough. But Magic doesn't really work that way. It's a way to communicate with the universe at large, or rather with your place in the universe at large, but communication is just one step of the process for making changes. The mundane actions we undertake are a confirmation of our own willingness to follow through.
In working with Bune, I'm struck also by the simple reality that what makes my work with him so real isn't a physical manifestation of him appearing in all of his glory, but rather a profound recognition that what makes my work with him or any other entity so powerful is my CHOICE to believe in those entities and allow for their objective existence. And my proof is found in working my process and in the results that occur as a result of following through in actions and in belief.
Want to actually do this, not just read about it?
How Magic Works is where I teach how to take a desire from intent to an actual result, step by step. Start the class →
Not ready to buy anything? Why Your Spells Don't Stick is a free guide to the most common reasons a working stalls, and where to start fixing it.
If you want help with a specific situation, work with me one to one.
Spontaneity and magic
Knowing how to be flexible in your magical practice, and being able to draw on different resources regardless of your circumstances can be a very important tool in your magical toolbox. Spontaneity is important to cultivate in order to learn flexibility for any situation. Watch the video to learn more.
Dream Yoga work
I've recently been integrating into my dream work, dream yoga techniques from Tibetan Buddhism. What I've mainly done for the moment is breathing techniques that you do right before you go to sleep. I like to integrate steps of a new practice gradually. Kat's also doing this practice. Even though we've just started with this first step, we've already noticed that we've been sleeping a lot deeper and that the sleep is more restful.I've also noticed better dream recall and more awareness of the dream. I'll post further reports as I continue to integrate more steps in, but it always fascinates me to see how even doing one step of a process can produce changes, provided you're consistent about doing it. I think that consistency is what makes anything you do effective. You can be a really powerful magician, but if you don't exercise the magical muscle, it won't mean as much as the person who diligently practices and follows through.
Book Review: The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
This book provides what I would consider to be the best practices of lucid dreaming and dream practice. The author doesn't focus on the psychology of dreams, though he does provide some insights on what dreams can reveal about issues you're working on. Instead the focus of this book is on how the techniques can be used to help you release attachment to those issues and achieve a state of connection with the universe, without being drawn back to samsaric existence. It's a very good book to read, but an even better one to do the practices. I've started doing them and already noticed some positive results. I'd recommend this book for anyone interested in learning more about Dzogchen and for anyone who wants to use dream yoga for spiritual and physical well being. You can purchase it at Amazon (Affiliate link) or Powells (Affiliate link)
Arginine and Testosterone - Taylor's Report
Arginine showed up as a red skinned person. I got a symbol of two V's connected by lines. He told me was useful for helping with the circulation of blood and reducing stress, especially for circulation for the internal organs. I've worked with Arginine before, a few years ago, and I did find it useful for lowering stress and developing better circulation. Testosterone showed up as a brash noble, the symbol was a sword (how phallic). The sensation of working with testosterone was centered in the testes and there was a sensation of libido rising as well as the feeling of "maleness" for lack of better word.
Kink Magic is going out of print
My ex-wife and I recently came to an agreement that Kink Magic, which was co-authored by both of us, will be taken out of print as of the end of 2010. As such I will soon be taking down my page on this site to that particular book. Before I do that however, I have ten copies of Kink Magic left to sell, which I'll be happy to autograph. I also plan to write a new book on the subject, which will draw on some material from the previous book, but also go into some new directions. I don't know when this book will come out, so while you have a chance, consider getting a copy of Kink Magic from me. I've got ten copies left, but I can't guarantee how long I'll have them.
If you want a copy of the book, click the link above and order from me.
Communication as a principle of magic
Communication. We do it everyday, sometimes in ways we don't even realize. And it happens all around us and within us as well. Communication is one of the most fundamental principles of magic. Without it magic wouldn't work, because whether you're working with an entity, doing a spell with friends, or performing some other ritual activity, it all comes down to being able to communicate. Even when people do a solo ritual, they still announce their intention to the universe in some manner or form as a way of framing the activity. Communication is an activity that's always fascinated me. How an idea is explained to someone, or how people get into an argument. Throw in body language and communication takes on a different level of meaning. And applying communication to magic also fascinates because communication plays such a large role in the magical process.
The role communication plays is this: It's how we express to the universe, to the self, etc., what it is we want to manifest. It's how we connect to something else, in order to establish a commonality that allows manifestation. That's my take on it.
What about you? What role does communication play in your approach to magic?
Letting go: Banishment and Purification
I think of banishment and purification as letting go, as I explain in this video:
Experimental Magic Course
I've been teaching magic to different people for a while now. And I've written some books on magic as well that has touched other people in a meaningful way. It's something I enjoy doing quite a lot. For a while, I've noticed that there are some authors who are really good at not only teaching classes, but also charging for them. And I not only think that's perfectly acceptable, I also think that I'd like to be able to offer my own expertise on magic to people who are interested in taking a class. Thus I've come up with the Experimental Magic Course. It's a year long course you can take from the comfort of your own home. The focus of the course is teaching people a practical process-oriented approach to magic that gets meaningful results in your life. We will not only draw on different magical systems, but also on disciplines outside of magic including social sciences and rhetoric, to name just a couple.
The cost of the course is $200, which comes out to less than $4 per lesson. That price won't stay the same, but I'm charging that amount because this will be the first year I teach the course, and I'll want to iron out the bugs.
Of course this class will also focus on experimentation, specifically teaching participants how to experiment with magic so they can develop their own customized systems of practice. So if you're interested in taking a year long class with me, consider my Experimental Magic Course.
An exercise in make believe
This year my partner decided to surprise me with a Halloween/birthday party that was also a murder mystery dinner. Needless to say all of us had fun, but a critical component of having fun involved everyone being willing to engage in an exercise of make believe in order to become the character they were supposed to represent. In fact it was somewhat like invocation... When I invoke an entity there's a process at work which involves as a key component my willingness to believe in the entity and believe that I can open myself to allow it to enter my body. I don't consider it make believe per se, but I recognize that imagination is a a fundamental component that helps to make invocation effective. Imagination is a path that allows you to become something else.
At the party,I played the party of an ancient mummy. We even wrapped me up in some toilet paper, which kinda worked. When I spoke, I made sure I spoke in a wheezing voice. I shuffled around and in short allowed myself to become that character. It wasn't the same as invocation, but I still had to use my imagination to get into character.
I think imagination is one of the more powerful tools a magician has, and its important to cultivate that tool whenever you can. One of the reasons I read a lot and play games is to exercise my imagination. I've found that my imagination has helped me look at the world in unusual ways that has benefited me on numerous occasions.
What about you? How is imagination important to your magical work?
The problem with esoteric terminology
So often one of the problems I notice within occult culture is a tendency to couch problems and situations and everything else into esoteric terminology, as if by doing so, it will somehow make everything seem more cool. As you can probably guess, I'm not a fan of using obscure terminology needlessly. Back in my tech writer days, I found that if you wanted to practically explain how to use a product or technology or program, you had to use language that everyone could understand. You rarely used obscure terminology unless you really needed to. To apply this to magic, I find that relying on esoteric language often just confuses the issue. Sure you can use elemental or different types of energies to handle a situation, but really what does that mean? Don't get me wrong, I work with elemental energies, entities, etc., but at some point I've got to be able to translate all of that to how I live my life and how it effects my life, and doing that usually involves moving away from the esoteric language to the everyday language. For example, instead of coming up with some made up term to describe internal work, I just use the phrase internal work. If people don't get what you are trying to explain, it's probably because you're too invested in using language they could care less about. And how we use language is a magical act sometimes, so if we acknowledge that, it's wise to use language that is going to have the most significant effect on the target audience we want to reach. This applies as much to yourself as it applies to other people, because you are always your audience.
Purification as a magical process
I've been sick recently, which has provided an interesting opportunity to recognize how sickness can be a purifying process for the body. When I think about that and then purification as a magical process, I come up with the following video: