Magick Power Introduction

Magick is the ancient and absolute science of nature and her laws. Is any of it real? What is magick anyway? What a question. Rational people know how to define magick - It is illusion, sleight of hand, at best the fine art of tricks, at worst fraudulence - or so goes the definition usually taught to school children. Another interpretation dismisses magick as supernatural fantasy and wishful thinking - the stuff of fairy tales, Mother Goose, and mythology; tales for children and hence of little value; it's only purpose entertainment; its only possible truth metaphoric. A third interpretation is more malevolent, with occult masters - the proverbial evil wizards and wicked sorceresses - attempting to maintain control over gullible and innocent plain folk, their tools fear and superstition, not true magick, which, of course, rationalists argue, doesn't exist anyway. Yet another explanation suggests that magick works solely by psychological means, a sort of self-hypnosis. According to this theory, usually offered by old-school anthropologists and psychologists, the poor benighted native's very belief in something, such as a death curse or a traditional healing, is what causes it to come true. Magick happens because you believe in the system not because the system works or even exists, although explanations for why, if their powers of belief are so all powerful, the natives remain poor and benighted, and forced to tolerate outside observers, are rarely offered. Occult is a word commonly misinterpreted. It doesn't mean evil or satanic. It has no moral connotations whatsoever. Occult really means "secret" or "hidden." Secrets may be kept hidden for a host of valid reasons. In many cultures and at many times, the definition of real true working magick wasn't a hidden secret, subject to false interpretation, but a normal fact of life. In other cultures and at different times, however, real true working magickal practitioners have been subject to torture, persecution, and oppression. Magick's very survival has often depended upon secrecy and a willingness to tolerate patronizing, false definitions. True magickal practitioners, of whom there remain many, would reject the definitions of magick given above, although there are vestiges of truths in all of them. Real magickal practitioners consider themselves guardians, preservers, and (sometimes) revivers of Earth's forgotten, besieged, and suppressed occult truths and traditions. Magick, at its most basic, is the science of Earth's hidden powers. For the true practitioner, there's nothing supernatural about magick. Natural is just a lot more complex than conventional modern wisdom allows. Although there are many ways to practice magick, many schools, philosophies, methods, and traditions, the bottom-line definition of what actually constitutes real magick, and why and how it works, is amazingly consistent throughout the world. According to general worldwide metaphysical wisdom, common to all magickal understanding and tradition, there is an inherent energy radiating from Earth and all living things. Analytical traditions and cultures have studied this energy in depth; others simply accept its existence and work with it. Many languages have specific names for this energy. English does not. This increases the confusion when discussing magic - an already vast and confusing topic. In the same manner that English, a language so rich in descriptive adjectives, has but one word for snow, while Inuit has many, one word for love, while Sanskrit has many, so English has but one word, magick, to define its various aspects. Harry Houdini, Harry Potter, Helena Blavatsky, Aleister Crowley, and countless anonymous village wise-women are all lumped together as masters of magick, as if it were a monolithic art. English also lacks a specific word to name that power that radiates from all life. The ancient Egyptians called it "heka"; on the other side of Africa, the Yoruba, parent culture of myriad spiritual and magickal traditions, call it "ashe." The most familiar word may be the Polynesian "mana." In Morocco, this radiant energy is known as "baraka." For lack of a better word, let's just call it "magick power." This magick power, this capacity for magick, radiates from all living beings to a greater or lesser extent. In fact, it is the existence of this power that defines what, in magickal terms, is considered "alive," a very different criterion than that required by a coroner's report. (In magickal terms, death is not the absence of life. Absence of power equals absence of life. A corpse, although no one denies the person is dead in the conventional sense, is still very much alive, as is the pine box and, most especially , the iron coffin nails. The average plastic bottle, however, lacks life. This magical life-power is formless; you can't see it, hear it or touch it. So how do you know it exists? How is it quantified and measured? By its effects upon you. Baraka, the Moroccan term for this power, contains significant implications. The root word can be recognized in another Semitic language, Hebrew, where it translates as "blessing." To be in the presence of this power is to receive blessings. Although people have learned to manipulate magick powers for malevolent purposes and ill intent, it is intrinsically a positive, benevolent, and sacred energy. According to an Egyptian legend, having contemplated creation, the Creator foresaw that all would not be good and felt pangs of remorse. He therefore imbued Earth with "heka" as a gift to people, so that they might use it to ward off the harsh blows of fate. Magick is the system that attempts to harness this energy. The closest comparison one might make is to radioactive energy. That, too, is formless, cannot be seen, touched, or smelled. Yet its impact is profound and cannot be denied. Because nuclear radiation has had such a devastating impact on our world, it's difficult to recall how recent a discovery it truly is. Marie and Pierre Curie, and the other early scholars of radioactive energy, were visionaries. They recognized the existence of something that others did not. Not everyone believed in their theories, including many very educated people, in much the same way that people say they don't believe in magick. Many thought the Curies deluded, crazy, or just incorrect, at least until the power they sought had been unleashed with too much power to ever be denied. If one tells the story of Marie Curie's quest in simple terms, it resembles a modern-day fairy tale. Marie, laboring obsessively in her laboratory / shack resembles the quintessential alchemist feverishly attempting to extract and develop the philosopher's stone, that legendary substance reputed to bestow eternal youth, health and life. In a sense, Marie Curie extracted the anti-philosopher's stone. Modern fairy tales are sanitized for children; today's adults are uncomfortable transmitting the truths contained in them. Real fairy tales - the original versions - don't always have happy endings, just like the tale of Marie Curie doesn't. Marie's quest ultimately led her to death; many of her surviving books, materials, and tools are so packed with the deadly power into which she tapped that even today they remain too radioactive to handle. The goal of magick is to tap into a different energy, an energy so powerful and benevolent that all aspects of life improve. The most potent magickal books, tools and materials (just like those books and papers of Marie Curie) hold, retain and radiate their power and energy infinitely. How do you measure exposure to nuclear radiation? While scientific tools of measurement have been developed, ultimate, undeniable proof comes in its effects on the body. Similar scientific tools to quantify, measure, and identify magick power have not been invented, yet (to the magickal practitioner) its effects upon the individual is equally clear. The term, a person of power, is meant literally. People who possess magickal power in substantial quantities, who live in close proximity to it, are magnetic and charismatic personalities. They radiate personal power. Other people find merely being in their presence invigorating and empowering. Although into every life some rain must fall, for the person with strong reserves of magick power, the world exists as a place of possibility. If, on the other hand, you feel consistently drained or frustrated, if your libido and life-force are chronically diminished, if you foresee nothing ahead of you but monotony or gloom, if life lacks joy, if your goals seem so far out of reach that its pointless to try, and it's hard to muster enthusiasm for anything, then it's very likely that you suffer from a serious deficiency of this life-power. Most of us fall somewhere in the middle, although these power reserves are continually shifting. Like a gas tank, magickal life-power needs to be replenished as you use it, and acquired if you lack it. This power is contagious. It can be transferred, transmitted, increased, decreased or lost. These power-exchanges occur continuously, with or without human participation. The power is contained within a botanical plant or crystal, for instance, whether or not a human taps into it. You can ignore this power and these energy transactions, although their effects upon you continue and remain, for good or ill. You can also attempt to harness this power for your own benefit and the benefit of your loved ones. Perhaps magick may best be understood by considering one of its branches: the school of magickal arrangement, feng shui. Once obscure outside China, the art of feng shui is now discussed and debated worldwide; it has even grown sufficiently commonplace to merit, for a time, a newspaper column in the Sunday Los Angeles Times' real estate section. (Although apparently there were enough complaints about the intrusion of magick into real life for the column to eventually disappear.) Feng shui's literal translation, "wind and water," implies that this is a natural art, not a manufactured one. According to feng shui, objects are manipulated to create good fortune, minimize hardship, and (hopefully) eliminate disaster. Likewise, one must pay attention to natural earth formations (mountains, valleys, waterways etc...) in order to harmonize one's own energies and desires with them for your maximum benefit. This conscious manipulation and harmonizing of energies and forces is the basis of all magick. By manipulating various magickal powers, goals are achieved, success attained, and misfortune prevented. For instance, the presence of lavender theoretically empowers any other spell or materials. Powdered vinca, the sorcerer's violet, transforms any bouquet of flowers into a tool of seduction, although some flowers (roses, orchids, tuberose) are powerful enough not to require any assistance. Of course, rationalists refute all of this as nonsense. It can't be proven scientifically - therefore it doesn't exist. Magickal practitioners are either gullible idiots or outright charlatans. The magickal practitioners' response to this criticism is that rationalists have invented and are clinging to a very limited notion of a world that really doesn't exist. Practitioners would say that scientific method, as well as so-called logic, are unrealistic, artificial human-created constructs designed to deny and place limits on Earth's true mystery and grandeur. According to magickal theory, some sacred mysteries cannot be explained, defined or controlled, although one can attempt to use them for one's benefit. Ultimately, one could say, magick is another way of looking at and understanding the world. If you are not yet initiated into this magickal world, then be prepared; once you've learned some real magick and successfully cast some spells, you will see the world in a different way than you did before. Will you trust your own experiences and insights? Or will you be among the many who say, "I can't believe what just happened to me." Although modern science is the child of the magickal arts, most especially alchemy, its world vision and goals are diametrically opposed to its parents'. To enter into the magickal world is to be a willing, conscious participant in a dream landscape. One accesses power by surrendering control over boundaries. The magickal world is a huge, unruly, fluid, dream-like place filled with invisible powers, psychic debris, positive and negative forces, guardian spirits, and radiant beings existing on all sorts of planes of energy that defy human definition, domination, and control. Everything pulsates with vibrant, potentially powerful life, including you. Magick is a partnership between powers, human and otherwise. The question of whether magick is used for good or ill depends upon the practitioner's intentions, not the inherent nature of the system. Every interaction is an energy transaction of some kind, although, obviously, some are more significant than others. Scientific methods demands consistent, predictable replication of results. Magick revels in the unique, the unusual, the individual, and the exception. Magick refutes the entire concept of coincidence. Anything that appears coincidental possesses some magickal significance; the more unusual and freakish the coincidence, the more worthy of attention and analysis. Anything too easily replicated is either a very basic natural law (stick your finger into fire and it will hurt) or else lacks power and is thus magickally worthless (that lifeless plastic bottle.) Confusion derives from a limited word pool, as we have seen. Identical words are used to indicate different meanings. Magick defies boundaries; life doesn't terminate with death. Death is not the end, nor is it the opposite of life; it is merely another mysterious stop on the spectrum of existence. Dead as in "Uncle Joe is dead," may be meant literally, but life, living, or alive usually refers to something very different in magick-speak. Life in magickal parlance is a quality, a capacity for power; someone or something has it, in varying quantities, or they don't. If something is unique, not entirely predictable or reproducible, and also possesses potential for power, it's alive. Everything that exists naturally on Earth or is constructed from naturally occurring parts possesses the capacity for power, including you. This magic power, this baraka, is what ultimately fuels Earth. Fans of Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy may recognize parallels to those novels' controversial power, "dust." Without it, existence is drained, lifeless, frustrating, joyless, and bereft. This holistic power expresses itself on all planes simultaneously; physical, spiritual, mental, sexual, and emotional. This power is not generic. Every plant, every stone, every species of living creature radiates a specific type of power, although the most powerful are incredibly versatile. Roses seduce, but they also heal, comfort, and summon benevolent spirits. Individual members of a species radiate these powers to varying degrees, depending upon circumstances and personal power. That's a lot of powers to remember. Luckily practitioners have been contributing to the magical repertoire of materials, the "materia magica," since that old, proverbial time immemorial and continue to do so. It's not necessary to re-invent the wheel, although experimentation can be fun. A font of established information exists for you to draw upon. O.k. to recap :By magickal definition, anything occurring naturally on Earth, whether plant, animal, element, stone, or metal is alive. Anything radiating any degree of magickal power whatsoever is perceived to be alive, although the manner in which different beings are alive is not identical. A stone may be alive but even the most hardcore practitioner won't look for a pulse. If something can be recreated so that there are identical, indistinguishable specimens, and if that something is completely predictable and controllable, it lacks life. Lacking life, it contains no power, no innate magick, and is of little value to the magickal practitioner.