SUGGESTED READING: Core Text
_To Ride a Silver Broomstick_ by Silver RavenWolf
Chapter 4: Religion vs. Science, pp 27-29.
SUGGESTED READING: Supplemental Texts
_Wicca: A Guide For the Solitary Practitioner_ by Scott Cunningham
Chapter 3: Magic, pp 19-24.
_The Complete Book of Witchcraft_ by Raymond Buckland
Lesson 2: Beliefs (Magick -- an introduction), p 24.
_21st Century Wicca_ by Jennifer Hunter
Chapter 2: Energy Work and the Elements, pp 15-29.
========================================================
PRE-ASSIGNMENT:
Exercise: Sensing Your Psychic Energy
Hold your hands up about an inch apart, palms facing each
other. You might feel a tingling, cold, heat, or a breeze
brush over your palms. If it seems weak or if you don't feel
anything at all, you can turn up the power simply by willing
it so. Take a deep breath, imagine yourself drawing energy up
from the ground, up through your body, and pouring it out
through your palms. See the energy coming together in the
center, between your palms, into a little dense cloud or
sphere. Hold it for a minute or so. then be sure to reabsorb
it into your palms, or you might accidentally drain yourself.
If the energy gets to be too much, touch your palms to the
floor or ground for a few seconds and see the energy sinking
down. If this exercise doesn't work for you, it doesn't
necessarily mean that your energy is low; you might just need
to get more in touch with your will. If you are feeling low
(hungry, tired, or depressed), try it again another time when
you're feeling more "up."
From _21st Century Wicca_
By Jennifer Hunter
========================================================
"The science and art of magic deals with a
body of knowledge that, for one reason or
another, has not yet been fully investigated
or confirmed by the other arts and sciences."
Isaac Bonewits
_Real Magic_
What is Magic?
==============
When I started researching this lesson I figured I'd grab a couple
of books, and start with some definitions. I pulled _The Truth
About Witchcraft Today_ off my shelf and _Real Magic_ thinking
"Here I should get a couple of good definitions that vary from the
very basic to the moderately complex." (insert derisive snort here)
More fool me... Bonewits' approach was largely to give references
to what other authors had written on the subject (I could do
that... wait, that's what I was trying to do...). Cunningham
devoted a lot of time to giving examples of folk magic and
contrasting them to what magic is not.
In _Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner_ Cunningham says
"Magic is the projection of natural energies to produce needed
effects." In his discussions of "Folk Magic" (which he defines as
"the magic of the people") he places a lot of emphasis on the idea
that magic is the use of natural energy and, as a result, is
clearly not "supernatural."
Jennifer Hunter says "In order to do effective magic, it is
essential to understand the nature of energy, how it works, and how
to work with it. An intuitive understanding of energy will bring
you closer to the Gods. Energy work is the core of all Wiccan
practice." The exercise given as your pre-assignment is designed
to help you understand what natural energy is, how to sense it, and
to show you that you have the ability to use it and manipulate it
naturally. There is no secret formula, I'm not going to give you
a magic word that will suddenly make it all make sense, it's within
you and in the world around you and by doing the exercise you've
taken the first step towards everything you will need to perform
magic.
In her book _Natural Magic_ Doreen Valiente says basically the same
thing. "...magic works because of nature's laws, not in spite of
them. It is something built into the universe. Hence, there is
nothing really supernatural or supernormal, in the strict sense of
these words. All is part of nature; but much of the realm of
nature is 'occult', that is, hidden." At the end of her forward
she includes the poem which I am quoting below.
The Mysteries
=============
Here and now are the Mysteries.
Out of no stored and storied past
Of things long lost;
But the breathing moment of time.
Out of no twilight
But that which falls upon the hills this night.
The old trees partake of them,
And the voices of the grass;
The ghost-white blossomed elders,
And the first clouded glow
Of the rising moon.
If we can hear,
If we can see,
Out of no buried past they come'
But from the fields of our own home
Is reaped the grain
That makes the bread of their feast.
Out of the flowers of every summer
Flows the honey of their mead.
Look, between the stones is a blade of grass;
And all the rites of the high Mysteries,
And the runes of all witcheries,
Are written upon it.
Doreen Valiente
The point of this poem, and the point that writers like Valiente
and Cunningham are trying to make, is that Magic is an aspect of
the world around us. It is evident in every facet of the natural
world, from the pentagram suggested by the seeds of an apple to a
simple blade of grass, and our observation of these "small" things
increases our understanding of the world and of how it works.
Silver Ravenwolf prefers to discuss magic as the "science of the
craft" and, indeed, it has often been said that any science or
technology which is sufficiently advanced will be viewed as magic.
The inverse of this is, as Bonewits puts it, "The science and art
of magic deals with a body of knowledge that, for one reason or
another, has not yet been fully investigated or confirmed by the
other arts and sciences." Whether Magic has been ignored by
Science or Science simply hasn't caught up with Magic, it is
helpful to look at Magic from a somewhat scientific point of view.
To that end it is beneficial to study laws of magic.
The Laws of Magic
=================
The Laws of Magic are not moral or ethical guidelines (like those
in the Alexandrian Book of Shadows, ie, "To avoid discovery, let
the working tools be as ordinary things that any may have in their
houses.") but, would be more accurately compared to the "natural
laws" of science (ie the law of gravity.) The laws of magic are
actually fairly practical observations that have been accumulated
over thousands of years. They describe the way magic seems to
behave. Most of these laws will be fairly easy to grasp (I hope),
and even the more obscure ones should be accessible with a little
explanation.
The LAW OF KNOWLEDGE
This is probably the most widely used law, and probably
encompasses all the others in some way. The basis of this law
is that understanding brings control. The more that is known
about a subject, the easier it is to exercise control over it.
Knowledge is power.
"I begin to realize in very fact that there are tremendous
powers, quite unknown to us, in the mind, and that we can perhaps
by long continued steady *will* awake abilities of which we never
dreamed. Thus you can by repetition will yourself to notice
hundreds of things which used to escape you and this soon begins to
appear to be miraculous. You must will and think the things over
and over as if learning a lesson, saying or rather *thinking* to
yourself intently, 'I will that all day tomorrow I shall notice
every little thing.' And though *you forget* all about it, it will
not forget itself and will haunt you, and you *will* notice all
kinds of things. After doing this a dozen times, you will have a
new faculty awakened."
Charles Godfrey Leland
From a letter dated 1897
Quite simply put, the more you know the better off you are, and you
*CAN* train yourself to observe and to learn. Dion Fortune says,
in the introduction to _Psychic Self Defense_ that she became
interested in magic as an application of the science of psychology.
It does not seem a coincidence to me that the art of magic
underwent such a revival at about the same time that Freud and Jung
were pioneering the science of psychoanalysis. Through magic we
are trying to manipulate the world around us, trying to bring it
into accord with our needs and desires. It is important, foremost,
that we observe and know the world around us so that we may
understand both cause and effect and the interconnectedness of the
world around us.
The LAW OF SELF-KNOWLEDGE
An obvious derivative of the LAW OF KNOWLEDGE, this law
carries additional connotations, as a mage who does not have
knowledge of himself does not have knowledge (and therefore
control) of his own magic. This law is one of the reason's
"evil" mages are very rare - a dedication to "evil for evil's
sake" is usually due to a lack of introspection and awareness
of oneself. It is difficult to do harm to others when you
understand fully what that kind of harm would do to you. Know
thyself.
Going back to Fortune's assertion that magic is simply applied
psychology, we must keep in mind that the magic we do has more of
an effect on us than it does on any other aspect of the world.
The LAW OF CAUSE AND EFFECT
A simple scientific understanding - if exactly the same
actions are done under exactly the same conditions, they will
be associated with exactly the same results. Magicians have at
least as much belief in cause and effect as modern physicists
do, they just realize that a good ritual, like a good
theatrical performance or a good bread recipe, isn't always
predictable. In truth, a spell involves so many variables,
that controlling or even understanding them all is impossible.
The key to magical success is learning which variables are the
most important, and how to keep them constant. Control over
the variables is icing on the cake.
The LAW OF SYNCHRONICITY
Two or more events happening at the same time are likely to
have more in common than the merely temporal. Very few events
ever happen in isolation from other events. There is no such
thing as a mere coincidence.
The LAW OF ASSOCIATION
If any two patterns have elements in common, the patterns
interact "through" those common elements, and control of one
pattern facilitates control of the other(s) depending (among
other factors) upon the number of common elements involved.
This is a very important law, up there with the LAW OF
KNOWLEDGE.
The LAW OF SIMILARITY
Having an accurate physical or mental representation of
something facilitates control over it. This one is fairly
obvious in it's usage - having a model, picture, or other
representation of your target (like a voodoo doll) gives you
power to effect the target. Look alikes are alike.
The LAW OF CONTAGION
Objects or beings in physical contact with each other continue
to interact after separation. Everyone you have ever touched
has a magical link with you, though it is probably pretty weak
unless the contact was intense and/or prolonged or repeated
frequently. Magical power is contagious. Naturally, having a
part of someone's body (nails, hair, spit, etc.) gives the
best contagion link.
The LAW OF NAMES
Knowing the complete and TRUE name of an object, being, or
process gives one complete control over it. This works because
a name is a definition (yes, even "Harold", "Marie", "Kunte",
and "Jasmine" were at one time) as well as a contagion link,
and an association (if you call something the same name over
and over, that name becomes associated with the thing). This
also works, because knowing the complete and true name of
something or someone means that you have achieved a complete
understanding of it's or their nature. This is why, in most
pre-industrial cultures, people are given "secret names", as
well as "public names", and why the sharing of a secret name
is such an act of trust - because the secret name is
considered to be very close to, if not identical with, the
person's true name.
This is a part of the reason for magical names. It is the grounds
for having a secret craft name which you share only with the gods.
The LAW OF WORDS OF POWER
There exist certain words that are able to alter the internal
and external realities of those uttering them, and the power
may rest in the very sounds of the words as much as their
meanings. Many of such words are names, though the meanings
may have been lost or forgotten. Very many magical tools
require words to be inscribed upon them and/or said over them
during their construction and/or use.
As examples of words which have the power to alter internal or
external realities I would give 2 words. First, take an educated
Black man. He is, under normal circumstances calm and rational,
fully in control of himself and of his emotions. Call that same
man a niger (please understand that I hate this word) and you can,
in more cases than not, watch him transform before your very eyes.
As another example, a recent thread on our mailing list brought
this into focus. A calm and rational discussion of good vs. evil
became volatile at the simple mention of Hitler. Suddenly the
abstract discussion was weighted by the associations which people
on all sides had with the connections to nazism.
Words have tremendous power over our conscious and subconscious
minds. The associations we have with various words are important
to consider in all aspects of our communications, with each other,
with ourselves, and with our gods.
The LAW OF PERSONIFICATION
Any phenomenon may be considered to be alive and to have a
personality - that is, to "be" an entity or being. Anything
can be a person. Most weather mages personify the winds and
the clouds, for example, and thus find focussing their magic
on the atmosphere much easier to do.
The LAW OF INVOCATION
It is possible to establish internal communication with
entities from either inside or outside oneself, said entities
seeming to be inside of oneself during the communication
process.
Silver RavenWolf defines *invocation* as bringing something in from
without. In this case the law refers to internalizing any form of
spiritual or magical communication. Whether you are conversing
with your sub-conscious or with the divine, in the case of
invocation your dialogue exists within you and becomes a part of
you.
The LAW OF EVOCATION
It is possible to establish external communication with
entities from either inside or outside oneself, said entities
seeming to be outside oneself during the communication
process.
Here again, RavenWolf's definition of *evocation* is to call
something out from within. A good example of this might be a spell
to break a bad habit. The spell caster would identify the aspect
of themselves which perpetuates the habit and externalize it,
separating it from his/herself and using that separation as the
focal point of the spell.
The LAW OF IDENTIFICATION
It is possible through maximum association between elements of
oneself and those of another being to actually become that
being, to the point of sharing it's knowledge and wielding
it's power. This is the law that controls most lengthy or
permanent possession phenomena.
To illustrate the law of identification, when I choose a
significator for myself from my tarot deck I often select
Temperance because the card represents to me qualities which I
would ideally like to have. When I first began doing this I often
feared that the balance and moderation represented by the card were
qualities which I would never be able to fully embrace. As time
has past and as I have continued to represent myself as Temperance
I find that I am more balanced and more moderate in my approach to
life. I have associated myself with that archetype and am actually
becoming what it represents to me.
The LAW OF PERSONAL UNIVERSES
Every sentient being lives in and quite possibly creates a
unique universe which can never be 100% identical to that
lived in by another. So called "reality" is in fact a matter
of consensus opinions. This law is nowhere near as obvious as
the other laws in it's applications, but if you can figure
some out, you can use it.
The LAW OF INFINITE UNIVERSES
The total number of universes into which all possible
combinations of existing phenomena could be organized is
infinite. Anything is possible, though some things are more
probable than others. You might consider this to refer to the
"alternate probability worlds" of science fiction, but it also
has a much wider application.
The LAW OF PRAGMATISM
If a pattern of belief or behavior enables a being to survive
and to accomplish chosen goals, then that belief or behavior
is "true" or "real" or "sensible". If it works, it's true.
Another rather obscure law, but it does have some very useful
applications.
Combine the law of pragmatism with the law of infinite universes
and you arrive at the conclusion that "Truth can be defined as a
function of belief." Sometimes a pattern of belief is the most
convenient possible explanation to choose. It introduces
simplicity and economy to a complicated phenomena.
The LAW OF TRUE FALSEHOODS
It is possible for a concept or act to violate the truth
patterns of a given personal universe and still be "true",
provided that it "works" in a specific situation. If it's a
paradox, it's still probably true. This law is basically
useless, except to justify use of the above three laws without
screwing things up in your version of the real world.
This is the "Don't ask me why, but it works" law... it's the same
principal which causes me to sleep with my head pointed west. I
had horrible nightmares and a tendency towards night terror when I
was an adolescent. I read something somewhere about the magical
associations with the direction your head points when you sleep
(the library book, which I didn't take seriously on any other
point, which I don't own and don't even remember the title of
suggested that creativity was enhanced by pointing the head of your
bead to the west.) I figured it seemed like something to do, and
it certainly couldn't hurt anything, so I moved my bed... Whatever
was going on in my life at the time, my nightmares and night
terrors gradually started tapering off until now, at 29, I no
longer have a serious problem with them. At this point I associate
the end of my sleep disorders with the direction in which my bed is
turned. I *KNOW* that this isn't true, I know that when I turned
my bed it had nothing to do with the sleep disorders, but I choose
to believe it. That makes it a "true falsehood."
The LAW OF SYNTHESIS
The synthesis of two or more "opposing" patterns of data will
produce a new pattern that will be truer than either of the
first two were. That is, it will be applicable to more levels
of reality, and this new pattern may not be a compromise, but
may be something rather new indeed.
The LAW OF POLARITY
Any pattern of data can be split into (at least) two
"opposing" characteristics, and each will contain the essence
of the other within itself.
The LAW OF OPPOSITES
A sub-law of POLARITY. The "opposite" of a pattern contains
information about that pattern, by providing information on
what the pattern is not. Thus, control over a pattern's
opposite (or close to it's opposite) facilitates control over
the pattern itself. (Note that this one I alone take the blame
for, as it is my own extension of POLARITY and SIMILARITY)
The LAW OF DYNAMIC BALANCE
To survive, let alone to become powerful, one must keep every
aspect of one's universe in a state of dynamic balance with
every other aspect. Extremism is dangerous, as the extreme
being becomes so associated with the extreme aspect, that they
lose the ability to avoid that aspect at all. This is another
reason "evil" mages are rare, as continuous association with
pain or death will cause a mage pain or death, ending the
mage's ability to continue actively with "evil". This is also
why "good" mages, especially healers, tend to live a long
time.
The LAW OF PERVERSITY
Sometimes known as Murphy's Law. If anything can go wrong, it
will, and in the most annoying manner possible. Magical
associations sometimes operate in the reverse of what was
desired, and meaningful coincidences are just as likely to be
unpleasant as pleasant. Even if nothing can go wrong, some
element of the universe may change so that things will go
wrong anyway. Whether we like it or not, the gods (or fates,
or what have you) do have a sense of humor. Emotionally
healthy mages have less problems with this law than others do,
as the mages own subconscious mind is probably a major
perpetrator of this law.
The LAW OF UNITY
Every phenomena in existence is linked directly or indirectly
to every other one, past, present, or future. Perceived
separations between phenomena are based on incomplete sensing
and/or understanding.
_________________________________________________________________
Topics of Discussion and Assignments
------------------------------------
1.) In your notebook, copy the LAWS OF MAGIC and write a paragraph
on what each of the laws means to you. How do you interpret
them? Can you think of any examples of them? Are there any
which you would like to see discussed?
2.) On separate pages of your notebook write the headings
Magic/Science, Religion, Religion vs. Magic/Science. On each
page write about your feelings on each of these subjects. You
don't have to write a lot, a paragraph or two would probably
be plenty, you just want to have a point from which to measure
as your thoughts and feelings grow, change, adapt, and expand.
3.) RavenWolf points out that "When you are dealing with any
religion or form of esoteric study, you will find it colored
with human ideas and attitudes that are as varied as the
personalities of the people involved." It can be valuable to
discuss these ideas and attitudes. Discuss your definitions
of magic on the list. Find definitions on the web, or in
books, and share your findings with the other people on the
list.
Document Copyright (c) 1998 Andi Woods-Fasimpaur
This and all related documents can be re-published only as long as no information is changed, credit is given to the author, and is provided or used without cost to others.