A New Testimonial for the Process of Magic

Round Three of the Process of Magic class starts on October 31st. You'll get 24 lessons on the process of magic, one mailed out each week, as well as a free pdf of Creating Magical Entities. Magic is a process. Regardless of what magical type of magical working you do, you are using a process to shape and define reality as well as yourself. In this 24 lesson class, we will explore what the process of magic is and how it applies to your magical work. The end result will be a dynamic reshaping of your magical practice into a personalized system that you will be able to use to consistently generate results for the betterment of your life.

Below is a Testimonial from one of the students in round Two of the course

I decided to take Taylor Ellwood's Process of Magic class after many years of magical practice and study as a way to reboot my work. I've been involved with a few traditions but have generally been very eclectic in my approach. In my view eclecticism is a strength if you can find a way to synthesize all of those disparate takes on the magical path. Taylor has stripped away most of the window dressings associated with magic. Instead of focusing on style and aesthetics he focuses on the roots of practice and the processes underlying them. For those who are already involved in magic but are wondering how to weave together the rich variety of strands available to us in the 21st century, examining the processes that underly all magic, no matter the flavor, is an excellent place to start. For newcomers and beginners this course will help you quickly move beyond the 101 stage and help you start getting your hands dirty with practical magic. -Justin Patrick Moore

If you want more information about the process of magic class or you want to sign up for the course contact me.

How I apply pop culture to the principles of magic

  My approach to integrating pop culture into magical work is one that is informed by my understanding of the principles of magic. When I think of the principles of magic I don't think of ceremonial magic or tools or other such things. I think of what makes magic work and then I think about how I can apply pop culture (or other interests) to those principles. I don't go with just any form of pop culture either.

With pop culture entities, the choice is dependent on what is really popular at the time. The truth is that most pop culture entities don't have the same staying power that your traditional entities have. They become popular for a while, hit a zenith, and then fade away. Some like Harry Potter have enough staying power that you can work with them for a while, but the majority are fads, liked one day and forgotten the next. My choice to work with a given pop culture entity is based on what that entity represents as well as what it can do. I make rare exceptions where I'll work with a pop culture entity regardless of how popular or not its, but that's based on a deeper recognition that speaks more to the influence of the entity in my life as opposed to the world at large. If I do work with a pop culture entity its because I recognize that entity has significance in a way that I find useful to further my own work.

With techniques, I get pickier. I won't draw on the description of a given technique in pop culture unless I think it'll actually connect with the principles of magic. For example, in the Death Gate Cycle by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, they included appendices where they described in depth how magic was supposed to work and how it interacted with possibilities. What I read made sense and when I applied it to my own magical work, I found that it worked. On the other hand I wouldn't draw on the Harry Potter universe's approach to magic because its mostly based on a push button/spell approach to magic. There's some explanation of how specific types of magic are related to emotions, which could be useful, but for the most part magic is never really explained in depth. You wave a wand, you say a word, and it just happens.

I also don't always draw on explanations of magic in pop culture for my inspiration in magical work. The book Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud has nothing to do with magic, in an overt sense, but his explanation of how comics work, particularly how they are read and the space/time dynamics involved have inspired a couple of techniques on my part that have proven useful.

I don't use every single bit of pop culture that comes my way. There's a lot of it that I don't see as useful or relevant to magical work, but I figure the people who develop pop culture probably do some research and/or just happen to put a lot of effort into explaining their particular universe and how everything works. And I respect that and if I think it is actually relevant to how I can meaningfully practice my own magical work, I'll use it. What makes magic work isn't the tradition or ceremonies...its your understanding of how it works and your ability to implement that understanding in your life.

How identity can move past the limitation of systems

I got into an interesting conversation with a friend that I don't get to speak with often. When we do get to chat, it's like drinking an especially fine wine of intellect, because we both think in similar ways but are drawn to different angles of research, so we can provide each other perspectives and suggested materials to draw on to further our respective areas of research.

Anyway, we got into a conversation about political systems and why people don't seem to care much about the congress. I pointed out that the apathy is actually favorable for the political system that is set up. The lack of interest and occasional grumble from people is perfectly acceptable to any political system, but its when people get interested and active that politicians start to sweat. In the U.S. elections are coming up soon, but I suspect most people are only focused on the presidential race and only know of the Republicans and Democrats. The other parties have presidential and Vice presidential picks but few people know about them. The same applies for anyone running for congress.

When people talk about politics and voting they talk about voting for the lesser of two evils and the desired outcome is that people will vote for a republican or democrat. There are other choices, but to really break into this political system you need to have a lot of money (like Perot did) and even that isn't enough. Some people might argue that the Tea party is an alternate choice to the Republicans, but its mostly been folded into that party. The occupy movement made politicians nervous for a while, but then they cracked down. The other parties make occasional sounds but for the most part don't matter. Now you have CEO's weighing in and warning their employees that they'll be fired if Obama wins another four years. It's a great big system that has ideal outcomes and like any system its focus is on getting people to move to those outcomes. This system also has countermeasures in place which it employs when people try to find an outcome that isn't desired. Once people vote the ideal outcome is that they mostly ignore what occurs in the political system and if they do notice something that they grumble and wait to vote some other person in, in the hopes that something will change.

Any given system is designed to purposely limit people within it to specific outcomes. If you want outcomes that aren't part of the system, you need to leave the system, or break it, or create your own. The choice to explore identity allows you to recognize how you have been limited by the identities imposed on you by a given system. The application of identity is the creation of your own system with outcomes you've developed for yourself. It has its own limitations, but those limitations are more readily changed because you control the system. At the same time your choice to embrace identity provides you a way to leave the system provided to you by others, or to choose to voluntarily participate in such a system but from an informed perspective that may provide insights and exploration in places that system doesn't want you to go.

For example, the choice to embrace identity can allow you to consider whether the assumption of an identity as a republican or democrat or green party or libertarian really serves you and/or your interests or the interests of others. You may still choose to vote, but you might choose to vote more precisely along the lines of what really supports your vision of reality. Or you might choose to get more involved in the system of politics, or walk away or make other choices, some of which are ideal outcomes, and others of which aren't so ideal.

Or you might examine your identity within a corporate system and explore whether or not that system is really one you want to be part of, or one that you can subvert. The same applies to religious and spiritual systems.

Systems are a result of a need to organize and structure human experience along specific paths of inquiry. The challenge a given person faces is determining whether those specific paths of inquiry are ones that /she wants to explore and/or whether such paths are really beneficial to him/her. Even your own identity is a reflection of this in the sense that familial and cultural influences structure your experience and provide proscribed paths, but your choice to consciously examine your identity and work with the issues and influences that have formed it can help you break away from old patterns and create new ones that reveal outcomes and journeys that take you far from what was established for you and provide you the opportunity to discover your own identity, formed as a conscious relationship between yourself, the various systems you interact with and the universe at large.

Some Thoughts on Timing and Magic

The most recent lesson from the strategic sorcery discusses timing and magic. It's focus on timing has more to do with the time of day or planetary cycle or moon cycle than how I approach timing. I've never found traditional timing in magic to be all that relevant or necessary to magical work. When people say to wait for a waning or waxing moon to do a type of magic, I say do it regardless of when the moon is waxing or waning. If you're doing it right, it should work anyway. When someone says to wait for a specific day or time of day to do a type of magic I say that they are over thinking it and that if you're doing it right, it ought to work without having to factor those kinds of conditions. I look at that kind of timing as a window dressing of magic. In other words, its not essential to performing successful magic.

Now I get that this traditional kind of timing has been used for a long time in magical work and that some magicians can arguably point to how using such timing has helped them pull off some successful magic, because they've been able to harness sympathetic energy/forces to enhance the momentum of their magical work. It might even be argued that doing magical work at the wrong time of day increases resistance to the realization of that work. I just don't buy it as a principle of magic and the reason is that I've never found that not adhering to traditional timing to be a bad thing or to stop the effectiveness of my magical work. It seems at best to be an optional aspect of magic, and at worst to be a holdover of more traditional perspectives that obscure the underlying principles of magic. The question boils down to this: Can you consistently get a result regardless of when you do a magical working? If the answer is yes, then is this kind of timing necessary to magical work.

Now when I think of timing and magic, I think of how to time it just right so that the result comes when you need it. Timing for me is more about working with time as a whole, specifically in terms of getting things to happen at just the right time and place. I want a result to occur at a specific moment of time or when a specific condition is fulfilled. That kind of timing is precises, oriented on the understanding that the alignment of specific circumstances calls for specific responses to keep everything running smoothly. Timing as it applies to events and to opportunity is what interests me, because its opportunity which is important to magic. Opportunity defines magic to the extent that in the application of practical magic we are looking for specific opportunities. Timing plays a role in the achievement of those opportunities because for an opportunity to become more than potential you need to be at the right space and time. So when I do practical work, I always factor in timing and space. When and where do I need an opportunity to occur so that I can capitalize on it. Think about that in your own magical work and you'll find it to be very relevant to the manifestation of possibility into reality.

Round 3 of the Process of Magic Course

Round 3 of the Process of Magic Class is starting on October 31st, just in time for Samhain! If you've been looking for a way to take your magical practice to the next level or to make some changes to your life, this class is for you:

I'm really enjoying your class.  Especially helpful was how you showed the Tarot as offering up possibilities instead of viewing the cards in a rigid way.  I'm also working with the element of Earth for a year.  What I'm really finding from your class is that magic works.  You can't believe how many doors have started opening up for me that were right under my nose. - T. Vorster

This is a 24 lesson class, with lessons mailed everyday Wednesday. The cost of the class is $80. Magic is a process. Regardless of what magical type of magical working you do, you are using a process to shape and define reality as well as yourself.

The outline of the course is as follows (though I may be adding a lesson or two to this cycle):

Lesson 1: An overview of the process of magic

Lesson 2: You and Definitions of Magic

Lesson 3: Results, Change, and their respective roles in magic

Lesson 4: The anatomy of the process of magic

Lesson 5: Culture, Ethics and Ideology

Lesson 6: What isn't essential to the process of magic

Lesson 7: Connection and its role in the magical process

Lesson 8: Intention, Attention, and Magic

Lesson 9: Inhibitory Actions and Magic

Lesson 10: Excitatory Actions and Magic

Lesson 11: Internal Work

Lesson 12: Spiritual allies and the magical process

Lesson 13: Invocation 1

Lesson 14: Invocation 2

Lesson 15: Evocation 1

Lesson 16: Evocation 2

Lesson 17: Divination

Lesson 18: Enchantment

Lesson 19: Astral Projection

Lesson 20: Banishing

Lesson 21: Attunement with the land

Lesson 22: The Role of Limitation in the Process of Magic

Lesson 23: The role of Transformation in the Process of Magic

Lesson 24: The role of Mundane actions in the Process of Magic

Contact me to get more information and to sign up for the course.

The Abuse of Magic

One of the themes that shows up a lot in Terry Brooks's Shannara series is the abuse of magic. The protagonists usually have to deal with antagonists that have abused magic in some form or have even become slaves to the magic. The shadowen are a perfect example of such antagonists. They can move from body to body, and they feed on the magic or life force of the Earth. They are addicted to it and when the energy of the Earth is released they are destroyed because they have come to rely on it so much that they can't exist without it. Magic is treated as an unstable force that can never really be mastered and is something best left to specific professionals who can handle it.

In reality I don't think that magic is an unstable force that warps people. If anything, I think that what leads to the abuse of magic is the instability a given person has in his/her life. Magic has a tendency to bring out best and worst of a person, because its various processes necessarily work with a person's internal values, beliefs, and perceptions. And if a person isn't adequately prepared (i.e. hasn't done a lot of internal work to sort those issues out), then the magic will draw out the dysfunction and let it run loose.

From my own observations, it seems that practical magic is reactive magic, done as a way to solve a problem or handle a crisis. The reason I consider it reactive is that rarely is the question asked: What is my role/responsibility for this problem? Far easier to blame the problem on others...until you notice that you have a string of similar problems that shows that the issue is partially derived from your own issues.

Effective magic is proactive magic and proactive magic involves doing a fair amount of internal work to address the issues that would otherwise come out in your life. I don't think its any coincidence that the need for me to do reactive problem solving via magic (or other methods) has significantly diminished thanks to doing internal work. If you solve the problem internally, you are less likely to get involved in the external trappings of the problem. But proactive magic is more than just doing internal work. Proactive magic is planning out how you want your life to manifest. It's lining everything up so that life becomes easier and more manageable.

A magician who is in touch with his/her internal reality is a magician who can take responsibility for how s/he contributes to the problems that s/he encounters. Such work can be hard, as it involves really knowing yourself, but the rewards make your life much easier to live and much more enjoyable in the long run.

The realities of religious persecution

Recently Jason from the Wild Hunt posted some articles about religious persecution which is occurring toward Pagans. Go here, here, and here, to read the articles on the topics. I also read another article on how Pagans in Wyoming are mostly solitaries and are very careful about sharing their beliefs because of the fear of persecution. Folks, even in a seemingly "advanced" country as the U.S. or the European countries there is still persecution if you don't follow the religious practices of the Christian religion.

We can tell ourselves that surely by now people will learn to tolerate each others' beliefs, but its not that simple. The reality of religious persecution is that it is another form of privilege. When a person from a majority religion says they are being persecuted in a place where that majority religion is accepted and tolerated (as some of the religious right like to believe) they are simply deluding themselves. After all they don't have to worry about losing a job because of their beliefs, nor do they have to be careful about the jewelry they wear in public or for that matter they don't have to worry if they bring up their religion at a meeting that isn't about religion. Nor do they have to worry about having their books burned or being threatened by people simply because of what they believe, at least in the countries where they are the majority religion.

Pagans aren't the only people discriminated against and some religious beliefs have it worse, but it doesn't change the fact that if you are pagan there is a level of persecution that can occur just because you choose to have those beliefs. when you need to hide your beliefs because you are afraid of other how other people will react, and in particular are afraid you will be harmed, that is persecution.

We can hope for a world where people will tolerate each other's beliefs, but to do that we need to really pay attention to how we represent ourselves publicly. Thus, as mentioned in the one article, where the parent got upset and called local authorities, the best way to handle it was to stick to the higher ground. But sticking to the higher ground also must involve raising awareness of these very issues and showing that there are problems that need to be addressed not merely by the community being persecuted, but also by the community doing the persecuting.

The Expansion and Contraction of Consciousness

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William G. Gray has a way of explaining magical principles that really cuts to the heart of how magic works. For example he says the following:

Expanding and contracting consciousness is equivalent to muscular exercises in bodily terms, though when we use symbols we are contracting consciousness in one world by expanding it into another, the symbol being a common link between both. Our exercises therefore, must consist of reducing the time-event extent of a mass consciousness into a single symbol...We can reverse the procedure and extract masses of consciousness from the symbol.

It's an excellent explanation of sigils (though Gray never used the chaos magic version of sigils), but its also a good explanation of how consciousness can be contracted and expanded through magical work. The contraction of consciousness is the ability to distill a complex idea into a symbol, and the expansion of consciousness is to apply that concept to the world. It's one of those processes that is fascinating because of how we can learn a lot about the world through the application of it to our lives.

I've used the contraction of consciousness for public speaking, where I'll contract specific ideas into symbols and then when I'm speaking I'll access those symbols and extract (expand) the information. I've used the expansion of consciousness in my writing, with the idea being to pack concepts into writing and then let them expand through the act of reading them. That's actually how I approach teaching magic. Plant the seed, and then let it expand through the act of reading and application of the concepts.

When we recognize that consciousness can expand and contract, we realize just how flexible it is. Consciousness isn't static, but we can purposely play a role in its changing states and apply those to magical work as well as mundane situations. Actually if you think about it, invocation is a contraction of consciousness or multiple consciousness into one vessel, while evocation is the expansion of consciousness into the world, which has its own consciousness.

There's an interesting exercise where you visualize yourself becoming as tall as possible, and then keeping that visualization of tallness in place, you visualize another you becoming as small as possible. One fits into the other and you contemplate them together. When you can hold that concept pretty well together in your mind you understand contraction and expansion of consciousness.

Explore related entries in the Library

• Spiritual Ancestors
• English Ivy Spirit
• Archangel Uriel

Mote 2.0 Reminder

This is a reminder that the deadline for essays for Magic on the Edge 2.0 are due by October 15th. What I need is a rough draft. Right now I have approximately 9 essays, but I need more if this anthology is going to go to print. I've received one new essay and promises of other potential essays, but what I'd really like to see is a full set of 20 essays, none of which are by me. I do have plans to write an article or two for the anthology, presuming it goes through on some of my side projects.

Would you like to see an essay in Magic on the Edge 2.0? If so contact me via email and share with me a rough draft. If you aren't sure to write about, I'm happy to brainstorm with you. I am looking for essays between 2k and 5k in length and they should be on experimental magic, i.e. magical work you are experimenting on which is either entirely original or is an exploration of how a traditional technique can be taken in new directions. Again, if you want to bat some ideas around contact me.

Music, Breath, and Magic

Part of my ongoing work in magic has involved experimenting with vocal tones and vibrations via my vocal cords. In my daily Tumo practice, I've been altering the position of my tongue on the roof my mouth and have noted that moving it to different parts of the roof of the mouth alters the tone of the vocalization. This work is informed by a recognition of the following principle mentioned in the Spiritual Dimension of Music:

The ancient metaphysicians and magicians repeatedly taught that the actual physical emission of sound, particularly of selected frequencies and patterns was a reflection of an inner spiritual reality. This inner reality has the potency of transformation , both personal and impersonal.

In Tibetan Shamanic and Tantric practices as well as in specific Western mystery practices the physical emission of sound is used to trigger specific states of spiritual power. For example, in my daily practice of Tumo, I vocalize the word Hon and utilize the vibration to invoke a specific union of my energies with the energies represented in that sound. There also techniques where a person can vocalize the different names of God in order to involve the energies of those names into his/her own personal energy.

Breath also plays an important role in this work. Breath is representative of spirit and is also what is used to fuel the vocalization of a sound. There is actually a way to learn how to continue emitting a noise, while drawing in a breath, without much break in the making of the noise.

What I've found in my own work is that there is a definite triggering of a state of mind that occurs with the vocalization of sound. The experience of that state of mind can be quite useful in ritual work as it helps to set up the ritual space/time a person works in. I'm even reminded of an exercise that I and some other people did, from the Possible Human, that involved making a ZZZ sound that signified the passing from one unit of time to another unit of time. At first all of us felt self-conscious, but then we found that the noise actually triggered a shift in time, and that doing the sound with others enhanced the effect.

I suspect the same is true in general. If you make a specific noise with others, for the intent of creating a specific state of mind or metaphysical being, the combination of your sound with others enhances the overall effect. Perhaps this is also because all of the people are experiencing a shift in consciousness to a similar altered state of awareness and the actual altered state of awareness builds of one person supports and enhances that of other people as well. Perhaps its a combination of the above. I do know that the use of sound in magical work is really effective and that turning your voice into a magical tool can be useful for a variety of practices both in meditation and more practical applications of magic.

Some further Thoughts on Shielding

Recently Mike made a post on his blog mentioning my post on shields, and there was some interesting commentary that occurred as a result about whether shields were really effective or not. Several people argued that while shielding protected you it also didn't allow you to interact with the world as effectively. Ananeal argued that:

Working shielded makes your magick less effective in terms of influencing material events. Even if you put up a shield that’s perfectly permeable to your own magical workings, which takes some skill, it still takes some of your energy/power/strength/whatever you want to call it just to maintain the shield.

He then proceeded to mention that he'd developed specific entities to take care of magical protection and that he also did a daily regimen of practices. The points that he and the other commenters made were valid ones, but I've never had any of the troubles with shielding that they suggest occur.

Like Ananael I do a daily practice. It consists of Tumo the raising of psychic heat, which I generally use to "wake up" my internal energy, and a combination of Taoist Water Breathing used to dissolve any internal blockages and the Zeroing technique that William Gray writes about in Magical Ritual Methods. There is a derivation of that technique developed by R. J. Stewart called the Sphere of Art. The zeroing technique involves creating a space of Zero Time, Zero Space, and Zero Event, essentially a space/time where nothing exists save the practitioner AND what the practitioner chooses to bring into that space/time. I use this technique with my magical work in general and it can, for all intents and purposes be considered a "shielding" technique.

Now when this technique is used it does serve to create a very specific space/time that excludes anything not brought into it by the practitioner. However the beauty of it is that you can bring into it exactly what you need to work with, be it an entity, possibility or something else. Additionally, what is also significant is that when you wrap up the magical working, and return that space/time to regular space/time, you merge it with and embody it into reality, making a seamless transition where there is no resistance to the possibility being manifested. That problem mentioned in the comments about not connecting to the world or being able to effect material events? Not a problem with this technique.You draw in the event you want to affect, as well as the possibility you want to use to solve the problem, work the magic and mesh it into your own identity, and then release the zeroing space/time, or sphere of art and allow yourself and the magic to fully reintegrate into the world around you, embodying a new reality in the process.

Back when I did shielding in other ways, I also had my shields set up so that I didn't have to maintain them. I let the influences, people, etc that were trying to interfere do the maintaining for me. Always worked like a charm and can be used with wards as well, when shielding a place. The shields only activate when something directs energy that would be harmful or distracting to the magician. And those shields are fed by the very energy, influence, etc being directed against them. Simple, effective, no draining of your energy required.

And my point in mentioning all this is simply that if you know what you're doing, a given act such as shielding shouldn't have any of the problems that the people mentioned in the comments. Defining a technique by its limitations means you accept those limitations and don't question them. While you should know what the limitations of a given technique are, define it in terms of what it could do and then experiment! Don't settle for explanations offered by others about the limitations and problems of a given technique. There's always a way to solve the problem or limitation of a given technique if you are willing to experiment. I only encountered those problems when I first started practicing magic and when I encountered them, I got curious and decided to see what I could to fine tune my shields and avoid the issues they mentioned in the comments. It took a bit of a work, but its nothing that anyone couldn't discover, provided they are curious enough and willing to experiment with a given technique. Why settle for allowing a technique to limit you? My answer: Don't settle...experiment.

Cutting out needless Complexity in your magical work

Every so often I get emails from people asking for advice on their magical practice. One common problem I note is that there is tendency to make magical workings more complex than they need to be. I suspect the reason for that is simply that in general western occultism values a lot of pomp and ceremony, which in my book involves creating a lot of complexity of the needless kind.

My advice is simple: Cut the complexity out of your magical work. If you find yourself focusing on the details overly much perhaps its because those details are obfuscating your magical process. If they are, its time to evaluate them and decide on whether or not they are really relevant to the magical working at hand. If they aren't relevant, let them go, and if they are relevant, then spend some time clarifying their exact purpose in your magical practice.

Building complexity into your magical work should only be done when you clearly understand how it will enhance your magical workings. And if you are (as many people do) doing magical practices that you've learned from books it is absolutely necessary that you assess those practices with an eye toward personalizing them. You'll discover that a lot of what is included is needless complexity and that your own understanding of the actual working is enhanced by personalizing it. This isn't to say that you shouldn't learn the foundations of magic. You should, but learning those foundations will also show you how to adapt magical practices to  your own preferences.

With that foundational knowledge in place it should be easy to determine when there is needless complexity. Remember that what you are really working with are the principles of magic. Everything else is just the window dressing. It looks nice, but may not be needed or all that functional.

A long time ago I learned ceremonial magic and then I learned how to get rid of the ceremony and still practice the magic. I recognized that so much of the ceremony was really put into place as a way to create a specific environment and I also realized that the same environment could be replicated without all the extras. The key was and is to understand the principles of magic. Everything else is adaptable. So I shed the needless complexity, and simplified my magical work. And that's what I advocate for when people I get emailed or asked. Make it simple...it'll still work, and you may find it works more effectively.

The power of thinking big

One of the business books I'm reading right now is the Magic of Thinking Big. While I definitely think its a book that applies to business, it's also a book I'd recommend every magician read. Reading it has been insightful for me in terms of recognizing just how much I already employ the concepts the book discusses in my magical work. The power of thinking big, as it applies to magic, involves the recognition that your thoughts can either limit or broaden your awareness of possibilities. As magicians we use magic to bring possibilities into reality and one of our greatest tools is our ability to envision those possibilities. I've always found that an approach based on positive thinking (which the book espouses) is useful because it allows you to find possibilities as well as question what is laid out before you.

My approach to experimentation has always been based on possibility, specifically seeking possibilities out. While I have a lot of respect for the ongoing traditions and currents in magical work, I also think its important to examine how magic can evolve with the times and needs. Applying positive thinking to my magical work has always allowed me to see what could occur with my magical practice provided I was willing to explore what might seem like even the most outlandish ideas.

There have always been a few people who've argued that such an approach is fluffy or that someone like me is being so open-minded that their brain has fallen out of their skull. Yet I don't think that is the case. The choice to be open-minded and embrace possibilities is liberating because it allows a person to intentionally explore what might work or might not work. There is no right or wrong answer, not when it comes to spirituality and spiritual practice.

I suggest that being open-minded, thinking big, can be just as valuable a skill for your magical practice as any other skill. You may discover a way of looking at the world and your place in it that drives you to make changes that truly help you embody your desired possibilities. You may discover possibilities you never would entertain if you didn't choose to look at the world and yourself in terms of the possibilities instead of the obvious realities. the obvious realities are only as really as we invest ourselves into them.

Is initiation required to do a practice?

In the Six Yogas of Naropa, the editor mentions that to do the six yogas it was considered essential to get initiation from a living lineage master, and that this belief is held to this day by the people who practice the six yogas. Reading that got me to thinking about initiation in general and also the fact that although I practice specific Tibetan techniques I have never been initiated into a lineage. I don't even know anyone in person who practices these techniques and I'll admit that I have practiced the techniques based on how I have interpreted the reading I've done, which means my own practice may not be accurate the actual practices (though it still seems to be effective and to generate the results that are supposed to occur).

Still I'm faced with a quandary. I can read this book and take the textual materials and translate them into practices, while accepting that I have not been initiated into a specific lineage, or I can find a way to travel to Tibet or somewhere else and get initiated. Knowing myself as I do, I'll more than likely read the text and do the practices, and not be concerned that I have or haven't been initiated into a lineage. What matters to me is the actual practice, and yet in a real sense I am missing out on that actual practice.

I'd argue that what I'd end up practicing might be similar to the six yogas, but it won't actually be the six yogas, because there will be something missing from the practice. What will be missing is the spiritual context that the initiation provides. I may be able to accurately do each practice and get results that are congruent that one would normally get, and yet nonetheless there will be something missing.

The main point of initiation, in a spiritual working, is that it provides you access to spiritual context, entities, etc. That access confers on you a specific kind of knowledge, a self-secret language, that provides connection with others in a similar way. And it also provides a layer of social access that is denied to just anyone. By being initiated you become part of a social order and culture that is part of the spiritual context.

On the other hand, beyond when I was given Reiki Attunements, I've never been initiated into any magical practice or order. I've taught myself. I've read books, practiced what was written and then modified it to fit my approach to the world. And while I'll admit that I may not have the spiritual context for practices that others might have, I've also created my own context and found that it has worked very well for me.

I see the value of initiation as a spiritual practice, but I'm not sure its essential for being able to do a specific practice. What I think is really essential is the willingness of the practitioner to engage the practices and incorporate them into his/her life. I've begun doing that with the six yogas and already noticed a change in my Tumo workings. What else can be asked beyond the sincere desire to engage the practice as best one can and meaningfully implement in one's life? For me that is the true initiation and it is experienced everyday.

Of Words and Worlds

 

I've always been fascinated by how words can create worlds. Or maybe its better to say they channel worlds. Regardless, what fascinates me the most is that the word is really an expression of reality that is half way between idea and reality. It is the beginning manifestation of possibility into reality, a way to establish something that is separate and distinct from the entropy of all possibilities.

In the Spiritual Dimension of Music, R. J. notes that "The word is the power exhaled by the mysterious source or Spirit. In physics it is known as the origin of the universe while in metaphysics it its known as the origin of worlds" Reading that made me think of the big bang as this explosive word uttered into the void that turned possibility into reality. And why not?

As a writer and also a bibliophile I really appreciate the power of words, in terms of what they present: Concepts made into inky flesh and shared and spread through the comprehension of the meanings embedded in the words. But it goes beyond that. In Pop Culture Magick, I wrote about how I thought of as Fantasy/SF books as channelings of other worlds or variations of this world that could be accessed through the word and also through imagination and magical work. It's still something I identify with. When I read the Shannara for examples, its not just words I read, but a reality I experience. I am there with the characters, experiencing what they experience and becoming a part of that world while I read about it. The word acts as a reality tunnel bridging the gap between the person's imagination and the actuality of the word s/he is reading about.

When people turn the word into ritual and magic it becomes even more real. The work Storm, I, and others have done with Dehara, a system of magic based off the Wraeththu series is the choice to bring something back from a "fantasy" world and turn it into a reality here that people can interact with more directly. Is it just pop culture, or is it more real? When I take the concepts written about in the DeathGate Series in regards to space/time magic and turn them into viable practices that can actually work, does it matter that the concept was initially found in a fantasy series? I don't think so.

I think that what matters is that we are able to turn words into worlds and then interact with those worlds and bring something back to this reality that is meaningful. I don't want to escape into another world, but I do want to learn from the other worlds out there. Even if they don't seem to be real, there is something we can learn from them, and in truth once they've been written about, they've already started to exist somewhere beyond the imagination of the author. They've become a reality of some sort and we are left to translate that reality to our own, if we so choose.

Ordinary consciousness as altered consciousness

In Darwin's Pharmacy by Richard Doyle (one of my English Professors from my undergrad days!)  notes that: "Even 'ordinary' consciousness is essentially alterable consciousness, and when asking after the evolution of our capacities it it worth recalling which altered consciousness is repeated (in this instance memories, memories troped and recalled through repetition)." It's an interesting point he makes, and it got me to thinking about ordinary consciousness as a state of altered consciousness.

The truth is that what is considered consciousness could be considered a fairly diverse form of consciousness. After all, if you are recalling a memory or day dreaming about the future that can be considered a form of ordinary consciousness, as can the consciousness one exhibits when grocery shopping, and yet each of the examples I mentioned is different from the others in terms of how consciousness is experienced and exhibited. Could it be that they are really are altered forms of consciousness?

Typically when people think of altered consciousness they think of a state of consciousness altered by entheogens or by ritual, or by sex of some kind or another. And all of those states of consciousness are very obvious forms of altered consciousness. But the magician knows that even ordinary consciousness is just a state of consciousness and one that can worked with as intentionally as any other. A person can achieve gnosis in an ordinary state of consciousness with the right triggers. For example if you get by a car, your state of consciousness will change as you feel shock, fear, and anger over what happened. Indeed, if a person says an insult to you, the anger you feel will still cause an altered state of consciousness that could have aspects of gnosis associated with it, under the right circumstances.

Likewise an experience of joy can also be an altered state of consciousness. The experience of runner's high, or the joy you feel when your favorite team wins can be just as useful as the other examples I've mentioned above. Ordinary consciousness is not a static form of consciousness and can have little shifts and changes that nonetheless can be useful for magical work.

I'd argue that "ordinary" consciousness is anything but ordinary. What makes altered states of consciousness stand out has to more due to with an experience of the extreme as opposed to anything else, and yet ordinary consciousness can be used for magical work and can be alterable in its own right, if one is willing to be creative enough.

A new testimonial for the Process of Magic Class

One of my students taking the Process of Magic Class shared the following testimonial:

I'm really enjoying your class.  Especially helpful was how you showed the Tarot as offering up possibilities instead of viewing the cards in a rigid way.  I'm also working with the element of Earth for a year.  What I'm really finding from your class is that magic works.  You can't believe how many doors have started opening up for me that were right under my nose. - T

It really pleases me to get this kind of feedback for the course. I'm planning to  create a weekend intensive for people who wish to learn in person from me, but this testimonial verifies that the class is adding meaning to the practices of the people taking it.

If you are interested in exploring your magical practice from a process perspective, contact me. I'd love to answer any questions you have and get you started.

Elemental Fire Balancing Ritual Month 11

8-22-12 It amazes me how people duck out of being responsible for their actions. I say this statement with an awareness that I have sometimes been one of those people. The level of honesty it takes to be truly responsible for your actions and their consequences is high and can be hard to live with. It is much easier to blame others or to paint your actions in a lesser light, without really acknowledging how you contributed to the situation. I think it is rarely, if at all, ever one person's responsibility for a given situation. Yet it is far easier to paint a person in that light instead of taking your part of the responsibility for the situation or problem that has occurred. The best way to work through this issue is to do internal work and really examine your actions and understand what motivated and then be honest about it with yourself and anyone else affected by the situation. This doesn't mean you beat yourself up, but rather that you can acknowledge your level of responsibility and then discuss what happened with an eye toward resolving it.

8-23-12 If you don't like the direction your life is going in or the people you spend time with, or the situations you put yourself in, then it is your responsibility to change that direction, change who you spend time with, and/or change the situations you find yourself in. You have control over your choices, and if you claim you don't, you are choosing to be a victim.

9-5-12 I think of myself sometimes as a chameleon or changeling. I change to fit the circumstances or fit the person to some degree. It could be that this true of all people, but I'm not sure if it really is true. I know it is for me in the sense that what I am into or interested in is shaped to some degree by the person I am with. In one sense it creates a plastic kind of identity, something that is molded. Certainly I see this occurring in the changes in my lifestyle and choices based on my current circumstances and it causes me to feel some degree of wonder at the adaptability a person can have if s/he chooses to.

9-7-12 Attitude is the internal fire of a person. If the attitude is negative, the fire burns low, becoming embers that could be snuffed out any moment. If it is positive it can blaze you'd never believe, shining so bright, a light to draw the eyes and attention of others.

9-9-12 Sometimes being involved with someone and dealing with their issues doesn't mean that you need to learn some cosmic issue or see it as a message from the universe trying to teach you something. Sometimes a person is just not a good fit for you and vice versa and sticking with the relationship is a mistake that causes more pain for all involved. I figure when you are with the right person/people, you'll know because even when there is effort involved, it will be something all are fully committed to working through, because they'll know the resulting harmony is worth it.

9-17-12 I've just gotten back from my annual trip up to the Esoteric Book convention. There's a lot to write, so bear with me...I stayed at this place in Milton, called Camp Edgewood, a Spiritualist camp sight, and there was definitely a distinct energy, a kind of cocoon about the place which was helpful to me.

The book convention itself, was as always an amazing event. I got to meet Greg Kaminsky in person (the occult of Personality podcaster) as well as Clint Marsh, and several other people, as well as see familiar faces. I also ended up adding a few books to my collection, including two books on alchemy, a neurotransmitter book, one on hermetics, and one that was actually gifted to me called Divine Healing Hands. Its particularly notable for two reasons. One it was a reminder by my spiritual allies to continue working with the Taoist, Tantric, and Tibetan skills I'm learning (This is important in context to another event that occurred this weekend) and secondly it's notable because the person who gave it to me clearly recognized that I was doing Taoist internal work and mentioned that it might be helpful and that he expected nothing in return. I was deeply honored as its not every day someone gives me a book, so it's on the reading pile as well (along with so many more).

Saturday night, I finally got to meet R. J. Stewart in person, as well as Anastacia Nutt. They both know my wife, as she does spiritual work with them, and as readers of my blog know, I've been reading R. J.'s books and writing my own observations, so I was greatly looking forward to meeting him. We had dinner with them and it was interesting. I felt this instant exchange of energy, a kind of spiritual transmission between the four of us, as well as a rapport that I normally don't feel with most people (and even when I do feel it, it takes a while to establish). Perhaps it helped that we had a lineage of sorts in common, i.e. his work with William Gray and my work with Gray's material, but I felt it was more than that. We talked magic, publishing, current events etc., and throughout I felt a strong sense of connection and community. R.J. gave us his latest book, which is about Ronald Heaver. I'd planned to give him a copy of Magical Identity, but we'd forgotten it when we left the conference on Saturday so they told us to drop it off on Sunday.

After we packed up at the conference, we headed over to drop the book off. We thought it'd be a quick knock on the door and then drop the book off, but when we got there, we were invited in. I gave them the book and we chatted a bit. My wife asked if she could visit the sanctuary and they said sure, and then asked me if I'd like to. I said yes. Later my wife told me that they don't let people outside their magical order into the sanctuary and that their invitation to do so was deeply significant. I agreed. I went into the sanctuary. Silent, still meditation. I did Taoist water breathing, and let myself feel the energy. Very clean, pure energy, A permanent sphere of art. I felt my spiritual allies connect with me and tell me that I needed to work with R.J. and Anastacia directly. I walked out and told them that I wanted to learn directly from them.

Now I want to pause my narrative and point out I've only ever had two mentors for my magical practice and both disappointed me. I learned early on that I was better off teaching myself and going my way instead of letting someone try and dictate how I should practice magic. For me to want to learn from someone directly, to really learn from them and work with them is very rare. It's a level of trust I rarely give out. But my spiritual guides and really my connection with them, and the sense of a magical lineage...lets just say it's the counter point to my Eastern studies, the continuation of my western studies with people I know will provide some interesting direction and challenge for me. Plus I feel that R. J. and Anastacia has an open approach to magic, open enough for me and that's what matters, so basically I asked them to be my mentors, and I plan to go to their workshops and learn from them. And again I felt a spiritual transmission occurring on Sunday, a sharing of energy, a connection that went really deep. My wife was surprised, both by my desire to learn from them (and consequently engage in the same spiritual work she's involved in) and in the fact they'd invited me to the sanctuary and really invited me into their lives. To be honest, I was surprised to and honored as well, but there is something there. My spiritual allies wouldn't have spoken up if there wasn't. More than that, he's the one person I can actually meet in the flesh who worked with Gray face to face, and in that sense the opportunity also allows me to continue work in that vein. I have no idea where this will take me, but I am excited and I feel changed. As we drove my wife said my energy felt softer, like something hard in me had cracked...and I agree with that. For me to really ask someone to teach me, to work with me as a mentor...that's unprecedented. I feel touched on a deep level. I am glad I am taking step, not only as a way to better know my wife and what and who she values, but also for my own spiritual and magical evolution.

Systems and Liberation

In the Spiritual Dimension of Music, R.J. Stewart makes the following observation: "The best that can be said for any system is that it is effective in doing what it claims to do and that it leads to its own demolition via the liberation of those who employ it to reach new conclusions, fresh insights, and real inner or outer growth." In God Emperor of Dune, Frank Herbert makes another point, one that all magicians should consider carefully, when he argues that words distort the ideas they represent by framing those ideas into systems. Systems, while providing routine and a sense of social order, can also create ignorance if people don’t examine the beliefs they adopt when they rely on that system to structure their perceptions of the world. My approach to magic is based on the concept of process. I don't really think of it as a system, but I recognize that a process approach can lead to a systematization of a spiritual practice. And the dangers mentioned above are realistic to any system. This is also why I find it useful to encourage experimentation, as such experimentation allows a person to challenge the system s/he is part of, and strike out to create his/her own approach. Experimentation is necessary as not only a creative exercise, but also an exercise in critical thinking. Experimentation, as an exercise in critical thinking, recognizes that no one system has all the answers or liberation for all aspirants. Consequently the creation of a new entire system can be the opportunity presented to explore liberation, but at some point that system will also become dogmatic.

To put it another way, the evolution of magic as a spiritual practice occurs because there are people who are willing to step beyond the systems they originally learned, and move past the religious dogma that sometimes accompanies magical work. Anything a person learns ideally helps the person to eventually move beyond it, and when the person has moved beyond s/he evolves as a person. This isn't to say that s/he won't still have use for what was learned, but rather s/he will not let it define their lives or their practice.

When something defines your life to the point that it dictates who you can be, with no room for growth or liberation, it becomes dogma, confining the person to a narrow existence. That confinement can only be combated by recognizing the limitations, and challenging them through the choice to experiment and do something that goes outside the norms espoused by the system a person is in. This consideration is why I take a descriptive approach to magic, as opposed to a prescriptive approach. A prescriptive approach, while initially providing guidance, ultimately confines people with specific rules and limitations, and most often these rules and limitations are inspired by social norms. A descriptive approach provides guidance, but also encourages a person to go in different directions and to test what s/he is learning. There is no set rule or limitation that insists on a particular stand or way of acting.

That's one reason I've focused on experimentation in magic and life. Instead of sticking to a particular tradition or religion I've found that genuine liberation is better found through the pursuits of actively exploring the wonders of the universe and discovering what you can do with it. Instead of letting the words of a holy book define my life, I've chosen to define my life through my exploration of those wonders. I find that such an approach encourages liberation because any system that is derived is continually questioned in relationship to the experiences a person is having. Such a system is inevitably moved past with the recognition that it served its purpose. Liberation is more important than sticking with the comfort and limitations of a system. It is by testing ourselves and the world we are in that we can find liberation, though it might be fleeting, and thus the work continues!

Why the 3 Fold law doesn't work for me

I'm reading When, Why...If by Robin Wood. It's a book on magical ethics and I thought I'd finally read it as I've had it for years. She mentions the 3 fold law which states that what you do, good or bad, comes back to you 3 times over. In Wicca, in particular, this specific "law" is observed. The author treats it as a natural law of reality and notes that if you harm someone you need to make it up to them three times over in order to avoid the consequences. I've never been Wiccan, and I've never agreed with this kind of "law".

I definitely would agree that there are consequences for one's actions and sometimes those consequences aren't fun to deal with, but I've never really seen anyone get three worse or better what they did, and indeed if the 3 fold law is a natural law of the universe then who ever is enforcing that law is slacking off majorly (especially when it comes to politicians). Similarly I don't agree with the concept of harm none, and do what you will, because the reality is that life is just not that clear cut. Lets say you do magic to find a job. You are harming the chances of other people getting the job you get by using magic. You may not intend to harm them, but nonetheless by choosing to do magic to help yourself, in just about any circumstance there is a potential for harm. For that matter simply walking around or taking a breath is harming life you may not see or be aware of.

I don't advocate going out and harming people maliciously. And there are consequences for your actions and choices, including ones you may never be aware of. The ones you are aware of are the ones you have to take responsibility for. How you take responsibility for them is up to you and thus it can be valuable to put some time into creating your ethics, as well as exploring ethics in general. Nonetheless, it's also important to recognize that there's no deity or law that's going to hold you accountable or keep tally of your actions and who those actions have effected. The only being responsible for that tally is you, just as you are responsible for what you choose to do or not do about the consequences.

In my approach to magical work, I advocate not just being clear about your desired result, but also the consequences could occur. If you are comfortable with those consequences, then do your magical working. If you aren't comfortable, then its time to do some internal work and discover what is making you uncomfortable. You may end up choosing not to do the working and that's perfectly acceptable as well. Whatever choice you make should be one done with conscious awareness and intention and acceptance of your responsibility.