Subscribe to PostsOne thing I haven’t really touched upon so far in this blog, but which I plan to write about quite a bit is magic or magick as it’s often called by modern practitioners. This is a subject that will likely confuse a few of my readers so I will attempt to attempt some of my current thoughts and beliefs about the matter here in an effort to make it easier for the “uninitiated” to have an idea of what I’m talking about.
Magick has been a central part of my life for the last 13 years or so. It’s been instrumental in shaping my identity and sense of self and can really be said to inform everything else in my life to at least some degree.
Magick is of course a popular theme in literature and movies and games and is through this kind of pop culture most people get their ideas of magick. Even many people who claim to practice magick tend to think it’s about fancy spells that in and of themselves somehow bring about miraculous results. This is especially the case in the more commercialized and watered down magical traditions often associated with modern Neopaganism and the New Age movement.
So what exactly is magick to me? Truth is, I try to avoid the trap of saying exactly what it IS and instead focus on what it DOES. Among modern magicians there are several different models that seek to explain how magick works, from the spiritual model which claims there really are “unseen forces” such as Gods, angels, demons etc that have an objective existence and that the magician can interact with. To the psychological model which claims these “beings” are merely aspects of the subconscious psyche that the magcian learns to access through his/her work. For more info on these and other models please see this excellent summary by modern magical author Frater U.’.D.’.
Regardless of which of these models one employs, my experience is that by doing certain things certain results follow. If nothing else, a dedicated and prolonged practice of certain ritual techniques has proven remarkably effective as a means of achieving personal growth and self-insight.
While I’ve explored a number of occult systems and traditions over the years, my main focus has been with a system taught by a 19th century occult group known as the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (henceforth referred to by the initials GD). The history of the GD is fascinating and worth the time to google it, but suffice to say that their work has influenced just about any Western occult group since, even groups that aren’t aware of it such as the modern Neopagan and Wiccan movements.
In the GD system magick initiates are gradually trained to employ a vast and complex set of symbols and correspondences that through sustained reinforcement causes at the very least a “rewiring” of the brain in a way that allows a person to gain some measure of control of the often competing or even conflicting aspects of the psyche. This set of symbols draws from and integrates a range of occult traditions, from Astrology and tarot, to Qabalah or kabbalah as it’s often known, alchemy and ritual magick. The GD system in itself is fairly neutral from a religious points of view and employs religious imagery from Egyptian and other pagan traditions as well as Judaic and Christian mysticism without requiring a literal belief in either.
Through study and daily ritual and meditative work initiates gradually achieve a greater and greater mastery of the self, and by doing so also acquire a greater ability to control their own situation in the world around them. It requires years and years of dedicated work and patience to work properly, and sadly that is something few people are willing to invest, so you have many students trying to use various shortcuts, usually they end up becoming disillusioned and claim “it doesn’t work”, which is a statement that can only be refuted by saying “it does for me.”
I am certainly not a perfect practitioner. I’ve had long periods of time in my life where I’ve neglected the work, especially in the last few years while living in Salt Lake. I’ve come to realize how much this has cost me as a person, how in many ways I have withered and atrophied mentally, emotionally and dare I say spiritually? In the last few months however I feel I’ve gotten back on track and find myself amazed at how good it feels to be doing the work again and how it’s rapidly changing me into a stronger and more balanced person.
I will probably be writing a lot more about this, but in the meanwhile feel free to ask me more if there’s anything you’d like me to elaborate further upon. And if you think this is all just mumbo-jumbo and a grand waste of time…..you’re probably right 
