A basic approach to magick

[XenoFish]

Magick is the art and science of creating a change in consciousness in accordance to will.

Self-Affirmations

Affirmations are statements that are meant to change one's self-perceptions. This is no difference in this and what is called a spell. The effectiviness of these spell/affirmations in the emotions involved. The more meaningful the intention, the more effective it will be within one subconscious. The function of ritual in magick is the get one into a state of suggestablity and/or higher emotionality. In many cases such statements are to be repeated daily. Systems such as New Avatar Power used what could be called spiritual affirmations that are done daily.

Praise, prayer, and worship of any particular entity, is in a way about an individuals self-intergity. To affirm something valid within the context of their own beliefs. Prayers, like spell are just magical affirmations. The emotions that belief generates fuels the statement/s made. 

Spell and prayer can also be seen as a buffer against stress and/or worry. Banishing rituals can also be seen in this light as well. 

Rituals

Rituals are a set of actions meant to create an altered state of consciousness for the purpose of self-hypnosis. As a means of implanting intentions into the subconscious. So the seed of that intent (whatever it may be) can take root and grow. Changing one's mindset in the process. Even the daily repeating of a morning affirmation or mantra is a ritual. Due the it's repetitive nature. In regardless to the existence or non-existence of any of the entities or forces one chooses to work with, it's unimportant. These beings basically amount to a magical placebo, a means of passing your intention to your subconscious without putting conscious worry. As it is "Out of your hands" or "It's in gods hands". 

Rituals can be formal, complicated, simple, or free style. Traditional based practices have more formal and strict approach. Witchcraft is more free style, chaos magick is completely freestyle. As more chaotes eventually create their own system, a Frankenstein patch work of techniques they've for effective.

The performance of a ritual creates a theatrical framework for the mind, the symbols, incents, altar, etc are just stage props. In a way this give structure and order to a chaotic life. To organize one's thoughts and to give a deep imprint on one's mind as towards the direction they wish to go.

Results

When assessesing results. You must be extremely critical of them. I am a firm adherent to the psychological model of magick, it's all in our heads and it effects our mindset and actions. We using rituals and spells to program our subconscious thus affecting our perception of the world around us. As I see it, we are subjectively living in an objective reality. Change how you see the world and the world "will change". This is literal as many would claim, it's about perception. By changing your beliefs you change everything about yourself. 

So results depend on what you seek. Cast a spell for a job, then you start noticing "Now Hiring" signs everywhere. They were always there. You never noticed them. Feeling stressed out and do a banishing ritual, feeling the energy flowing through your body and then all that stress is gone. It's a psychosomatic ritual that acts as a stress releaving placebo. 

Self-fulfilling actions and a shift in one's subjective filter are the main means of results. 

Effective magick or results without tears.

Regardless of the rituals or spell even technique you've chosen to you. You must do something to create the change you wish. I found that the best way to do this is to write down what you wish/want/desire. Then make a list of atleast 5 things you can do to achieve this through mundane means. Organise this list from easy to most difficult. 

The spell will act as a subconscious affirmation, making it easier to act. Because you'll be in a state of expectation. 

Certain rituals preperations can be seen as cultivating a high sense of expectations. Such are ascetic disciplines. Going X amount of days without something you enjoy in order to prepare for a rituals will highen one's expectations. 

Keep yourself grounded

A lot of the times, I see where people have gotten way into their head and can not separate what is and what isn't. When the idea of being possessed by a demonic prescence or haunted. This are a side effect of obsession. The obession with an idea, that idea being they are being attacked by their own imagination. At most these being they have chosen to work with are just aspects of their own psyche. Inner demons are more powerful than any hellish legion. So treat the ritual as nothing more than a technique for affirming something. Hold your expectations on what might happen and just let go. The best results come when you have simply let go and let life take over. 

Sigils

Symbolism is used quite heavily in magick, I'm only going to focus on sigil magick. Sigil magick is the art (quite literally) of taking a written statement and turning it into a monogram that represents a thought.

I do want to give a slight warning to anyone who tries this. Becareful of what you put in your head. Saying, "I am happy" can possibly leave you wishing for happiness. So you must be smart when creating your statements. The symbolism is the language of the subconscious and it's emotional weight is the food that will allow it to grow within your subconscious. So again, be wise in how you formulate your statement. 

For example:
I will see an orange cat

W S R G T (are your remaining letters)

Take these letters and create your sigil. Doesn't matter how it looks, so long as it's your own desire. As you're putting energy (through the sigilization process) and concentration into what you're doing. This can also be seen as a charging process. The term Charging is used in sigil magick to mean the emotional value the sigil will have. Once created you can focus on the symbol till you reach a deep level of concentration. Say 10 minutes tops, more if you choose. Then discard the sigil or if you wish keep it as a focal point. Something to concentrate on for 10-20 minutes each day. 

http://www.excommunicate.com/basics-in-sigil-creation-or-the-only-magic-guaranteed-to-work/#axzz5EIIfRiiF

You can sigilize a prayer as well, it becoming a kind of yantra. What this does (in my personal opinion) is allow you to focus on a thought/intention intensely. 

The results from this will be as mentioned early, but to expland on it. The results will largely be a form of cognitive or confirmation bias. As your awareness will subtley be tuned into what you sought. 

So in the case of the above sigil example, you will notice the orange cat. Be it a live one, stuff animal, or an image.

It's all in your head

That right it is all in your head. But this shouldn't lessen the value of being able to engineer your reality. I am not a fan of woo in any form. Which is why I hold to the psychological model of magick. This is mainly due to researchability. As modern self-help is derived in a lot of ways from the efforts of occultist. 

Starting off on the right foot. 
This is a practice exercise everyone can do. And I hope it's something you notice with yourself. The first thought or action you take in the morning will dictate your day. Tell yourself, "I don't really want to go to work/school", and you do, you might find that effort is lacking. You've lost motivation for doing anything. This is due to the first thought. 

So each morning affirm to yourself something. I like to use this statement.

"Today will be a good day, no matter what happens."

For myself this means that I'll make the most of it. Regardless of what goes on. Just ride to wave of the day through. If you wish you can use my statement or create your own, but the key is daily practice. Do not make your statement positive or negative, make it objective and constructive. The reason for this is once again, to stay grounded. Positive affirmation can be just as destructive (excessive expectations) as negative ones. And can set you up for failure. 

The modern sorcerers are the one's who can get you to buy the thing you don't want. Who write stories that inspire. Artist who's work entices the sense. Magick is an art and art is magick. A rumor can destroy someone's life, by just the spoken word. Such things as horrible as they are, are just a form magick. 

The Value of Spirituality

In regards to spirituality it is all about a feeling. A meaning that you assign (or not) to life itself. This is a personal opinion and only have value and meaning to yourself. There is nothing wrong with believing there is something more to life, it is only when you take things to extremes. This can be seen with someone who cast spells and does nothing, thinking that s/he will get what they wish without effort. Remember intention + Action = Results, always. Prayers ia all well and good for making you feel better about doing nothing. However if prayer moves you to give some of your time helping others, so be it. This is value in small acts of kindness, rather than egotistical strivings or showboating. Whatever you believe is whatever you believe, just keep your feet on the ground. 

Personal Thoughts

Magick is much more than getting what you want. It's a means of developing self-descipline and the self. Though finite we are. Through meditation you can explore the depths of your mind. Finding things that need fixing or improving. Spell work of any kind can be used to change those old subconscious programs to give you a different perspective. 

All of it works because you Believe it does, as belief is the tool. A sigil works because of very psychological principals, but it's only as effective as your belief in it. Call it engineered optimism or leveraging confirmation bias in your favor. Doesn't matter it works, it always works if you base whatever your doing in reality. I've yet to find someone who can throw fireballs. 

Plus I feel the greatest act of magick is laughter. Life itself is magick, it is a complicated mystery and science is exploring it. The magician (occultist) should never deny what science discovers, nor should he or she try to fill in the blanks with what science says. Always strive for new knowledge, to be a truely wise person, you must never stop learning. Even things that contract or destroy strongly held beliefs. 

To be a magician

You already are, you just don't know it yet. So what seperates the magician from the everyman? Intentionality. A magician lives life intentionally with purpose, whatever that purpose happens to be at the moment. They are typically the focused individuals in the group who always seem to be able to handly nearly anything. This comes through controlling their emotions (not deadening them). Meditation can help with this. So meditate at least 20 minutes per day, of the only thing you do is focus on your breathing that's good enough. Also take time to ask yourself why you feel a certain way. Often times you'll find it's based on nothing important.

Keep a record of your dreams. As this will be a window into your mind. I also suggest trying to learn lucid dreaming. 

Develop your concentration. Having a decent attention span seems to be a lost art these days. So find something to focus on. Be it an object, image, or even a thought and hold that things at attention for as long as you're able. Gradualy increase the duration. The max time is up to you, though I recommend 20 minutes.

Strengthen your will by doing stuff. A To Do List will help, plus if you have anything you need to do, do it. Don't put it off or tell yourself you can do it later, do it now!

To cultivate the imagination you have two options in my opinion. The first is reading, by playing the story as a mental movie you will develop your ability to visualize and imagine. The next method is just to imagine something, anything. Now to use your imagination try this exercise.

Close your eyes, imagine your favorite food. The smell, texture, taste. How much you like it, that you want it.

Repeat those thoughts over and over again, if you get a phantom smell or taste you've done good. If you find yourself graving this mystery good, excellent. You've successfully communicated with your subconscious.

Remember: Change your thought, to change your actions, leading to a your world. 

Again I wish to affirm that this is all about changing yourself. That for the most part any results based magick will lead to a cognitive change. A shifted perspective. This can and does lead to self-fulfilling actions.

On Ghost

Ghost, spooky scary things that go bump in the night. Without solid evidence these are just phantoms of the mind. It is often the case that an individual get's an idea that sticks in their mind. A place is haunted, saw a shadow in the doorway, etc. It is easy to see that these things are just figments of the imagination. A slight of mind. Are they real, subjectively yes, objectively highly doubtful. It is often the case that those who see ghost and spirits are more subceptable to supersition. In many cases mental illness. However the average individual (myself included) will see something at least one in their lives. In my case induce a ghost sighting, which is why I said it would be best to be cautious as to what you put in your head. Mental phantoms are not easily dismissed and you'll need to reprogram your mind to stop them, but it's never 100%. So are they really real? No one knows. Same goes for god/s/ess's it's all subjective. And considering we experience objective reality largely subjectively, they are as real to you as you believe them to be. 

(more to come as I see fit)

Feel free to butcher me on all this.

@Rashore: I decided to post this at your request. If you feel (or any moderator feels) that this might be better suited in the spirituality vs skepticism section feel free to move it.

 

Additional Reading

 

Edited May 1, 2018 by XenoFish

[Piney]

In Shingon and Tendai Buddhism your magical practices are called and taught as "The Power of Intention (Will)".

[XenoFish]

The best way I can sum most of the things I've wrote is;

Thoughts lead to feelings, feelings lead to ideas, ideas lead to intentions, intentions lead to actions, actions lead to results, if you have to will do act.

[SHaYap]

Gary Zukav wrote something along similar lines with his Dancing Wu Li Masters ...

Quote

 

~

Gary Zukav, The Dancing Wu Li Masters quotes, videos, photos

realizedone.com/gary-zukav-the-dancing-wu-li-masters/

'Reality' is what we take to be true. What we take to be true is what we believe. What we believe is based upon our perceptions. What we perceive depends upon what we look for. What we look for depends upon what we think. What we think depends upon what we perceive. What we perceive determines what we believe.

~

 

• ... more at simplicitysg.Net LINK

Quote

“Reality is what we take to be true.
What we take to be true is what we believe.
What we believe is based upon our perceptions.
What we perceive depends upon what we look for.
What we look for depends upon what we think.
What we think depends upon what we perceive.
What we perceive determines what we believe.
What we believe determines what we take to be true.
What we take to be true is our reality.”                             ― Gary Zukav, Dancing Wu Li Masters 
 

~

[Aquila King]

Thanks Xeno.  I appreciate you writing that.

[Occult1]

SpongeBob occultism.

Edited May 2, 2018 by TheTheosophist

[XenoFish]

1 hour ago, TheTheosophist said:

SpongeBob occultism.

Do you have anything of value to add? 

[XenoFish]

Let me add a bit more to show that there is not one true perspective of magick. Not even my own.

http://disinfo.com/2014/10/pop-magic-grant-morrison/

https://ultraculture.org/blog/2015/11/13/psychonaut-field-manual/ (personal favorite)

[Relam]

16 hours ago, XenoFish said:

 

On Ghost

Ghost, spooky scary things that go bump in the night. Without solid evidence these are just phantoms of the mind. It is often the case that an individual get's an idea that sticks in their mind. A place is haunted, saw a shadow in the doorway, etc. It is easy to see that these things are just figments of the imagination. A slight of mind. Are they real, subjectively yes, objectively highly doubtful. It is often the case that those who see ghost and spirits are more subceptable to supersition. In many cases mental illness. However the average individual (myself included) will see something at least one in their lives. In my case induce a ghost sighting, which is why I said it would be best to be cautious as to what you put in your head. Mental phantoms are not easily dismissed and you'll need to reprogram your mind to stop them, but it's never 100%. So are they really real? No one knows. Same goes for god/s/ess's it's all subjective. And considering we experience objective reality largely subjectively, they are as real to you as you believe them to be. 

(more to come as I see fit)

Feel free to butcher me on all this.

@Rashore: I decided to post this at your request. If you feel (or any moderator feels) that this might be better suited in the spirituality vs skepticism section feel free to move it.

 

Additional Reading

Interesting theory, and makes a lots of sense. Like schizophrenics who see "real" things, but its just a their brain tricking them. 

 

[XenoFish]

Quote

Interesting theory, and makes a lots of sense. Like schizophrenics who see "real" things, but its just a their brain tricking them. 

Quite similar. I relate it more to expectation bias. 

I want to give you a friendly time. If you're going to reply within a quote, make your responses in bold. It helps to separate what was written and what you write. 

[XenoFish]

Friendly tip not time. What the hell is up with my spelling?

[Piney]

17 hours ago, XenoFish said:

Do you have anything of value to add? 

Look what they call themselves and consider the source....

[XenoFish]

3 minutes ago, Piney said:

Look what they call themselves and consider the source....

Someone possessed by the Holy Dopamine Ghost.

[+Not A Rockstar]

1 hour ago, Goddess of the Mist said:

I also like how you equated the tools and symbols to "stage props".  That was one of the things about witchcraft I was always put off by, even though I loved the idea of witchcraft itself - the power and confidence, the natural healing - I was never a fan of having to have a bunch of stuff just to be able to accomplish a spell.  Anyway, really good write!

It was a pretty cosmic moment when I realized I didn't need all the STUFF, however it is not weak for someone to need some of that as they get going and it can actually help develop them into the final product they aim to become. Sometimes the journey matters and in many forms of magic it especially does IMO.

[little_dreamer]

I notice that my own non-religious rituals are very comforting to me.   Things like drinking coffee in the morning, or playing a casual video game.  If I were a musician I would get comfort from playing the same tunes.

[+Not A Rockstar]

2 hours ago, little_dreamer said:

I notice that my own non-religious rituals are very comforting to me.   Things like drinking coffee in the morning, or playing a casual video game.  If I were a musician I would get comfort from playing the same tunes.

Yes, now I can really get a delight off the scents of an altar and the flicker of a candle when forming an action, it adds to it all. But, conceptually, it was a major step for me to realize it was not necessary, it was a part of me. Now years later I can see how that realization began to change how I see myself,  the world and everything else. 

Rituals can be deeply moving and beautiful. Taking spiritual time to smell the roses, so-to-speak

jmo

[XenoFish]

4 hours ago, little_dreamer said:

I notice that my own non-religious rituals are very comforting to me.   Things like drinking coffee in the morning, or playing a casual video game.  If I were a musician I would get comfort from playing the same tunes.

I often think that the most "magical" moments are the ordinary ones. Hearing the first laughs of your child. The feeling of success when a goal is reached. A warm cup of coffee on a cold morning. The little things like this. I think we lose that child-like 'ah' as we age.

[Podo]

This is a very well-written thread. This is why I like the pagans and their "magical" ways. Woo or not, it's measurable, whatever your "rituals" happen to look like.

[XenoFish]

Found something I wanted to add.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-second-noble-truth/201312/you-and-the-manifesting-reality%3famp