I share what the difference is between reading a book on magic and actually working that book and how working a book is much more useful if you truly want to learn magic
How to integrate creativity into your magical work
I share how I work with creativity as an element of magic and how magical work has enhanced my creativity.
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How to embrace and work with the shadow aspects of yourself
As I’ve been working with the Chesedic current this month, one of the elements of the work I’ve been encountered are the shadow aspects of that current, which have manifested in being more aware of my own selfishness and how that selfishness shows up in my life. I’ve also had this mirrored for me in a fiction series I’m reading, where the one character’s selfishness has really stood out to me more than it may have in the past. Yet what I’ve found most fascinating with all this is a very interesting approach to this work with the shadow aspect that’s being called forth.
Magic by Design available for Pre-order
DO YOU WANT TO KNOW HOW TO CREATE YOUR OWN MAGICAL WORKINGS THAT GET YOU CONSISTENT RESULTS?
Of course you do…
But you can’t create a magical working if you don’t know how magic works or how to design a magical working from scratch.
In Magic by Design, I teach you how to create your own magical workings, instead of having to rely on magick spell books that may not provide the results you want.
I’ll show you how simplify or enhance an existing magical spell, to get better results.
I’ll walk you through how to apply the principles of magical design to create your own unique workings that get you results.
I’ll share multiple case studies where I show you how the principles of magical design were applied to create original magical workings that got results and explain why they got results.
And as a bonus you’ll also learn how to create long term magical workings and how to design your own magical systems.
This is a practical magic book that shows you how to create your own magical workings and get results with them.
Pre-order it now and get better results with your magical workings.
The role of the mind in the magical process
I discuss the role of the mind in magical work and why it isn't as significant as people might think
Get free books at http://www.magicalexperiments.com/free-books
What Death Stranding can teach you about spiritual work
Photo by Tom Swinnen from Pexels
One of the games I’ve been playing lately is Death Stranding. It’s a fascinating unique game, where you build structures, while trying to deliver packages to different locations, all while trying to avoid ghosts and mules (delivery people gone rogue). But that description really doesn’t begin to do justice to what the game is about. Over on my fiction blog, I’ve written about the connection aspect of the game, but here I thought I would write about the spiritual aspect, because this game has made think about my own spiritual journey quite a bit.
In Death Stranding, you have to figure out the best possible path to deliver your goods, without letting them get damaged and that isn’t necessarily easy, even with the array of tools you have available to help you. You have to figure out how to navigate the inevitable obstacles, both natural and unnatural that you encounter and you need to be patient and take your time. It’s a lot like spiritual work actually.
As you may know, I’m in the process of doing some intensive spiritual work with the Sphere of Art. I’ve now entered into my second year of doing this work daily and it is very much a journey in its own right, which continues to evolve and change in nuanced ways that have required me to adapt and adjust. I welcome it, because it providing me an opportunity to redefine my relationship with magic and with the journey I’m on.
As I’ve been playing Death Stranding, I’ve been reflecting on my journey. One of the biggest lessons of that journey has involved learning to let go and trust the journey, instead of focusing on the end of the journey. There have been times where I’ve thought I’m close to ending this particular segment of the journey, and then new data and experiences have come in that have informed me otherwise. And each time what I learn is to let go, focus on the journey itself and do the work without expectation. And really that’s a lot of what Death Stranding seems to be about. You’re walking along, trying to get to the place you need to go, but what you really need to do is focus on the journey and be present with it.
It seems to me that a lot of people ignore a key dimension of spiritual work, which is that it is long term work that is oriented around a purpose. That purpose dictates what you do and why you do it. And there isn’t necessarily an end in sight. You are on a journey and on that journey you take on what you need to carry to get you where you’re going, but the journey changes and you, by necessity, must change with it. And yeah I’ve been learning that all a long, but playing a video game which is all about the journey can be a great mirror to remind you of the lessons that you’re learning along the way.
Explore related entries in the Library
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How does magic work?
Tonight we explore the question of how magic works using a step by step process explanation to walk you through what happens and why magic works.
Get the process of magic: books2read.com/u/bazrax
Get How to Troubleshoot your magic: books2read.com/u/3GeoXL
What is Righteous Wealth Magic?
This month I’m working with the Sephiroth Chesed, the archangel Tzadkiel, and the planetary energy of Jupiter, all of which plays a role in prosperity and wealth magic. And I’ve had some interesting situations come up, which are helping me reframe some of my perspectives around wealth magic. I’m also reading a book called Sacred Economics (affiliate link), which explores a different relationship with money, based around the approach of a gift economy.
I’ve been employing some wealth magic at both my job and for indie author business that I’m building with my non-fiction and fiction. I discovered this week that in September I had my first four-figure month (You typically get royalties 2 months later) and for the last few months I’ve sold books every single day. I also discovered this week that I broke 5 figures on amazon. That’s not the only platform I sell books through, but for the moment its the main one, so that makes me happy.
What I am reading right now
Tonight I talk about the books I'm reading as well as my favorite books and how all of them relate to my spiritual work.
Elemental Balancing Ritual Creativity Month 13
0-22-2019 I am creating a drawing of the archangel Khamael for this month’s work with Mars/Geburah and of course Khamael. I’m also watching one of my favorite movies, A Beautiful Mind, which is a biopic of sorts about John Nash, the eccentric mathematician. I like the movie because I can identify with the character, both in terms of his awkwardness with people and the unusual perspectives he used with his mathematic work. And I can appreciate his struggles, because of my own, though mine aren’t the same as his. I know what its like to be on the edge, to flirt with madness as you pursue genius, as you pursue the distinctive ideas that matter, going against the grain of conventional ideas to discover the potential that lies within the unconventional. I also know what its like to let my own arrogance delude me, and the subsequent fall that can happen with such delusions. At some point in the movie, his roommate tells him that his problem isn’t in the room he’s in, but in the world out there, that he has to discover the problem that other people have. It’s advice I resonate with. It’s what lead me to explore magic from a process perspective, because the problem I’ve found again and again is that magic isn’t approachable from an esoteric perspective. What point is there to practice magic if the work is harder than it has to be?
And I know the doubt all too well that one feels when what you’re trying to pursue doesn’t seem to work or come together. It’s taken me a long time to find what works, to discover the path forward. It’s involved failing and falling, and then climbing back up because I won’t give up on my ideas, on my work, and on the magic. It’s required discipline as well, finding the routines that work and sticking with them even when in the moment there has been despair. Now I am the phoenix rising from my own ashes, and from the hard earned and learned experiences that will always ground me by reminding me to stay humble, while pushing me to continue exploring the edge and embracing the unconventional.
How to modify magical workings
I discuss how to modify magical workings and share an example with the mansion of memory technique.
Get Magical Identity at: books2read.com/u/boZVKp
5 lessons you can learn from a fantasy book about magic
One of my favorite fantasy books is The Soulforge by Margaret Weis (affiliate link) and one of the reasons its one one of my favorite books is because it has some valuable lessons to offer about what it takes to practice magic. Now, you may read that and wonder why a fantasy book would have any valuable insights to offer about real magical practice, but as I’ve discovered time and again, some of the best lessons you can learn about magic come in the form of stories.
Just in case you’re not familiar with the book, it’s a story about how Raistlin Majere becomes a magician. In the story, Raistlin has to make some critical choices that test who he is and defines how he becomes a magician. I want to share some of the key lessons we can all learn from this story and discuss how they apply to the practice of magic.
Failure, Success, and Magic
I answer a tough but reasonable question about magic, success and failure and describe how magic is expediting my freedom, but why magic is also only part of the solution.
How to apply essentialism to magic
I share some thoughts on how to apply essentialism to magic and what essentialism is.
Get a copy of essentialism (affiliate link)
How pop culture spirits evolve
I’m always fascinated by how pop culture spirits change with the times. Older spirits are more set by the context of the cultures they originated from, so although they may change somewhat through the lens of modern culture, pop culture spirits are more flexible and fluid in some ways. Yet they too can become fixed and set to some degree by the expectations of the fans that enjoy the pop culture they originate from. And yet sometimes a spirit can break out of the mold in unexpected ways.
Recently I went to see the new Joker movie. I saw it once and I went back and saw it again in the theater (something I normally don’t do). Why did I go back? Because the Joker movie isn’t really a movie. It’s an experience of a person becoming the Joker. The second time I saw the movie, I watched how Joaquin Phoenix used his face and eyes to convey the gradual evolution of Arthur into Joker, but what I also saw was a dynamic rewriting of the pop culture spirit of Joker, in a direction that no one else had taken him.
What are you willing to give, to get the result you want
In tonight's episode I ask the question: What are you willing to give in order to get results and share my thoughts on what that question means and why we should ask it.
Also check out my interview on the Thoth Hermes podcast!
Book reviews Halloween 2019 edition
Every so often I review books and share them on my site. This is the Halloween 2019 edition. Not all of the books are occult books, but they are all notable books that will enrich your life and may get you to think about your magical practice differently.
Book Review: The Motley Fool Investment Guide by David and Tom Gardner (affiliate link)
This is a must read book if you ever plan to retire or you just want to understand how investing works and how it could benefit your life. This latest edition is updated with brilliant insights that can help you get comfortable with investing and learn how to educate yourself. This book will provide you an in-depth tour of how investing works, while also inviting you to learn more. Reading this book and implementing its advice helped me get comfortable with investing my own money in the stock market.
Self-sufficiency and Magic
I share some thoughts on being self-sufficient and why I believe its better for each person to do magic for themselves.
Elemental Balancing Ritual Creativity Month 12
9-22-2019 I switched over to Tiphareth/Michael/the Sun yesterday. What’s interesting is that as I go up the ladder, the transitions are less overt, but nonetheless experienced. It demonstrates again that you shouldn’t get caught up in an expectation of what an experience will be. Let the experience happen and let it speak to and through you.
I’m reading Sacred Economies, which explores the relationship people have with money. The author makes some really interesting points about how money depersonalizes are relationships with the things we buy, because those things become replaceable. He also links this to scarcity, specifically how we can never have enough of money because of how we use it to replace things, instead of treasuring what we have. I see some of my own habitual thoughts about money in what he shares and its eye-opening, because I see how in turn that has stopped me from perhaps appreciating what I have as much as I could or being a good caretaker. If its replaceable, do I really value it? Something to consider, though on the flipside, I also recognize that in fact I am careful with my things precisely because I recognize the value of them in terms of not just monetary cost, but also how I utilize them in my life.
Wu Wei and Magic
One of the books I’m currently reading is Effortless Living by Jason Gregory (Affiliate link). In that book he shares the following: “When we fervently seek power or use force, we exhaust our system by swimming against the current of life instead of flowing with it. A sage or an artist allows life to present itself instead of dictating toward life…When you finally realize…that the whole universe is happening to you right now all at once, you will cease projecting yourself onto the world, because you will become receptive to the universe. This will align you with a real trust in life that confirms that you belong.”
Over the last couple of years my approach to magic has shifted toward a similar outlook. Instead of trying to control everything, I’ve surrendered myself to the experience and allowed the experience to speak through me and take me where I need to be. That kind of approach to magic can seem to be contrary what magical practice is, but I think that’s because a lot of how magical practice is discussed comes from a place of control (and I say that as someone who’s written about magic from that perspective and still does sometimes).