Physis and "Becoming Magick"
Art: Nocturnal Commissions by G. A. Rosenberg
When asked why any given person should take up the study and practice of sorcery, Aleister Crowley said that everyone performs magick, so the individual might as well become good at it. Everyone does indeed work magick involuntarily-- we subconsciously emanate our expectations onto the world around us. This is why magickians are so often warned not to allow others, particularly the uninitiated, to know what the intended outcome of any particular spell being cast are-- the involuntary exertion of their normalcy bias will hinder the results which the practitioner is striving for.
The witch is also cautioned not to stress about the intended results and to believe that she has done all that she can once she has acted upon the issue through the Craft. A spell often comes into effect once the witch stops thinking about it because stressing about the matter involuntarily tampers with the energy you've sent to remedy it.
Because of this tendency to involuntarily effect reality, it is necessary for the witch to cultivate self-esteem and a sense of optimism-- they will bring about their own detriment otherwise. A very popular book called The Secret goes into much detail about how one can work this adventitious witchcraft most effectively and will doubtlessly be useful to any practitioner of the Craft. The book does overgeneralize and oversimplify the truths that it teaches, so it can only be truly useful to a witch who already has a legitimate understanding of the Occult.
According to E. Tisane, the police detective who codified the poltergeist phenomenon, most poltergeist activity is not actually derived from ghosts. He concluded that the preponderance of poltergeist activity is an involuntary magickal byproduct of the emotional turmoil experienced by spiritually gifted teens, who most often are yet unaware of that they're gifted.
As one refines their character and esoteric faculties, the level of influence exhibited by their subconscious witchcraft is augmented incrementally. As we grow in power, we refine the intrinsic essence of our personhood, which is called our physis in Hellenistic thought. Through this act, we become magick itself.
The mind, spirit, and body are all connected strongly, especially in people born as psychic vampyres. As a vampyre, I feel an incredible difference in the quality of energy I imbibe when I drink from a physically fit individual than when I feed on someone corpulent. The pursuit of physical fitness is recommended in most spiritual traditions because physical fitness increases magickal power.
Even mainstream Occult authorities have written that living on the edge is the way to achieve the Lapis Philosophorum. Such difficult and trying experiences do much to actualize one's latent spiritual gifts (not to mention building character) and are thus an important step in becoming magick.
Literature regarding Hebdomadry posits that pragmatically transgressive behavior awakens the spiritual potentiality of the witch. Hunting, martial arts, street racing, combat, weight-lifting, mountain climbing, cliff diving, intercourse, political riots, and other behaviors which constitute "living on the edge" bring about accelerated magickal anodos [ascent].
In my opinion the good end result is one that has been clearly defined, the more clarity, the greater the potency. If the end state is clearly defined, and can be shared with others, the individual follows with what actions they can make to manifest the end state, but recognizes how the end state might come about is down to nature, since nothing will emerge in expected or linear ways. When a bicycle was stolen from me I created the end state that the bike come back to me, and the thief be punished, I asked a spirit of place to act as my champion and left it to them to deliver whilst I went through the motions of looking for my bike. I discovered the bike by chance in some flats, and the people were busted and jailed a short time later as a result of a police sting unrelated to my discovering of the bike. All in all a good result.
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ReplyDeleteSince you work with spirits of place, can I ask you what you think of this, or if you have met any entities of this description?
ReplyDeletehttp://chaosmagicandkutulu.blogspot.com/2011/08/urban-spirits-and-elementals.html
Like nature all things move and change, as do spirits of place. The spirit will take on the form of the place it exists in, will have an appearance that is meaningful to the observer, but will retain its ancient essence. Your blog post offered an interesting new way, a personally shocking way of looking at how a spirit of place might manifest itself, especially in a new build city. The spirits of place I have been familiar with have been organic and ancient. The principle spirit I work with in my local area has a good pedigree, its name is known, a connection to Mars, and for at least two thousand years the location has been a source of conflict and upheaval, and connections to the military all the way to the present day. This lively spirit of place I have to treat with respect when working with.
ReplyDeleteNear me was once a river in the Ice Age, and now it is a road. It is interesting to think how a spirit of place might manifest in these two massively different scenarios in the same place, though a common pattern might emerge such as motion and transport. When I travel between two places, I ask the spirits of the roads to protect me from harm during my travel. These spirits anciently take the form of shucks and dogs, the church dishonestly describes them as devil hounds.
If I ever came across a spirit of place that manifested in the ways you describe, I would be instantly hostile towards them, I am only happy with what I am familiar with. I think people will see the form that a spirit of places takes in synch with what they are comfortable with.