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[Low Magick.]

Magick – Fulfilled Wishes, Fulfilled Lives

Magick – the Art of Doing the Impossible – can be divided into Low Magick (achieving fulfilled wishes) and High Magick (achieving fulfilled lives). This text will try to cover both in the most direct way possible. Before we begin, an illustrated poem by PsyVirion:



An Oistar's Primer

"D" is for Domus, home for our heart.
"K" is for Kaotica,  the place where we start.
"M" is for Marauder, so proud and so fierce.
"U" is for Underground, where the Veils we do pierce.


Now to Low Magick.

Here we're concerned with simply getting what we want. Any wishes you have can be supported by Magick. If there's a secret to Low Magick, it's that you don't have to follow anyone else's path – you can have Your Magick, Your Way. Arjil describes a way to get there:

"You know how you can recall the feeling of a physical sensation or an Emotion?  Like the feel of wind, or drinking something cold, or stubbing your toe, or excitement- and you can, if you concentrate, Feel it?
So what you do, Pretending to be a Wizard, just imagine what *Your* magick Feels like, what it would look like blasting out as a spell- Kids don't worry about How it will work, they just do it, usually with some impressive whooshing sound effect.
Or maybe your magick is quiet and creeps like tendrils of smoke, or flows like water.
Summon the vision, and more importantly, summon the Feeling, and Pretend like a kid that you're casting your spell, and like a kid, Believe it."

Here's more of him:

"Really, it doesn't much matter What you do to make the magick work, only that you do something that you can believe in.
If you were a witch, say, and you were going to cast this spell, what would you do, if you had magick at your fingertips? - Imagine.

now Do That, and mean it.
believe in it.

That's a spell as good as any other.
Not to say that they always work, or work how we expect them to,
But that works as well as any other sort. Finding Your way is the trick."



Lastly, here's my own take on it:

Learning Only Magick

What kind of title is that? Very simple: This text does not deal with chakras, archangels, ethics, stones, demons, herbs, tools or rituals. It deals Only with Magick – the Art of Doing the Impossible. Magick with no intermediaries.

So you have wishes. Getting well, helping your friend find a job, removing that asshole out of your life, geting laid or making the world a better place. What you care about is not the wish though, it's the outcome – you are healthy, your friend has a great job and the asshole is gone or actually became a friend somehow. That's what we do Magick for.

However, a desired outcome is not Magick – it's just a desire. Now what differentiates a desire from Magick? Here's where other texts will start speaking about sigils, candles and archangels. Doing something will turn the desired outcome into Magick and from there to an actual outcome. However, I have no "somethings" – I only have Magick. The Only thing that can differentiate Magick from desires is Magick itself.

So how to use that? You have to intentionally infuse your desired outcome with Magick. How? Well, how to lift a weight? You don't need a candle or a sigil, just lift it. You're already born with the capability of lifting weights – movement is a "standalone capability". You cannot get to it via candles, you have to do Only Movement. Of course, some weights are too heavy to lift, but it's not because you used the wrong colour of candle – it's because your muscles are too weak.

Magick is just like that – you're born with the capability to do it. It's less visible than your muscles, but I can't find your capabilities to enjoy music or to fall in love under the microscope either and they clearly exist. So how to find that capability of Magick?

If you have an instinct now, how Magick feels for you, what it means to "infuse your desired outcome with Magick" or to "magickally intend the outcome", then that is the answer. Just do that – practice it on the outcomes you desire and get good – more on that later. The system improves with use, just like your muscles.

If not, here's a starting point: In your ideal world, how would you do it? How would you wish the process worked? Start doing that and feel into yourself, what feels like Magick to you. How does a lifting a weight feel, as opposed to seeing a video of a weight being lifted? How does doing Magick feel, as opposed to seeing it done in Harry Potter? That feeling is your Only tool. Just like the feeling of lifting weights only comes with, you know, lifting actual weights, your feeling of Magick comes with Magick – so there is Only your desired outcome and Magick. Very simple. What could a candle or lines on paper really add?

A final note: When Magick helps you, be grateful. Grateful to Magick, grateful to your spirits, grateful to the Universe and to the Root of Universe – however you see it. Magick deserves it and it also helps. You can even make yourself feel gratitude for your desired outcome right after doing the Magick, as if it already worked – "Thankfully it all went well". It feels good and some say that this makes the Magick stronger.

Hints

> How to focus on the outcome which you want to infuse with Magick?
If you have an answer, if you feel a way, then that's the way. Perhaps a clear, positive statement ("I find a great appartment on the cheap") and your Magick is all you need. If not, here are some ideas to try:

Imagine it being true – I don't say "visualise" because that's not all there is! See your friend being healthy again, hear him telling you how he feels good again, feel his temperature being back to normal – whatever applies. How do you imagine always being healthy? See and hear yourself at the next New Years Eve, talking about how you were healthy the entire year and feel how good that feels.
But don't think that's the Magick! This is not "Law of Attraction" here. Imagining is just focusing on the outcome. Now infuse it with Magick, intend it to become reality. As Arjil says "Utilize your imagination on the Front end of spellcasting, not the Back end."

Make a symbol out of it – sigilise the desired outcome. What? Wasn't I arguing against that? Yes, if you try to use that instead of Magick itself – if you try to get to Magick through Not-Magick. It's only paper and ink, just like a desire is only a desire. But you can use it to focus the desired outcome. "This sigil symbolises that the job interview goes well for me" – now infuse it with Magick.

Create a Spirit for it – or a "thoughtform" or a "servitor". Focus on the outcome that there is a spirit which intends your actual outcome to happen and makes it happen. This is what I do for outcomes which are permanent – I always want to stay healthy, have my stuff work well and so on. Focus on its qualities (like look, character, voice) and on its intent – which desired outcome it is to make (or keep) a reality. Infuse that with Magick and keep powering it up regularly as long as you wish. Witches' familiars, Chaos Magick's servitors – our long-term solutions.

> What to practice on?
Here is where occult texts can be helpful – what outcomes can you try? Random ideas: Meet a person with red hair, a red bag and a tiny dog next week. Help a nervous friend stay concentrated in an exam. Create a shield that blocks of anything that would lead you away from your desired outcomes. Pull energy from any of the various traditional sources to feel more energetic. Damn, just be happy, able to afford what you want and have a good time.
I personally only do stuff I really care about, unlike the first example, though I did my share of that when I started. I'm okay with not seeing immediate effects, with, among other things, "just" staying healthy most of the time and getting well in a few days when I do fall sick.

> Why do I think this works?
Because of my experience with it working. Ask yourself from the other side: If Only Magick doesn't work, why would adding a candle (of the right colour!) help? Is the world such that wax has magickal properties, but your actually felt Magick does not? Why should an archangel be able (and willing!) to do it, but you can't? He's a spirit and so are you. You even managed to get a body somehow, which is pretty cool, though not without disadvantages. Also, what do you think a demon does when conjured? Draw a circle and conjure another demon? Only Magick. So let's just skip the middleman.

To me, if Magick works at all, it must be Only Magick. Everything else is just to reserve time, space and concentration for infusing your will with Magick. Or of course to make people pay money and bolster some guru's ego.

Let me finish with the words of two people who taught me a lot:

Arjil: "When you think about magick, how do you Wish the process worked?
Do That. Keep at it till it works. And it will."

Gracco: "just do it. that is literally the clearest terms"


"the Really important bit to doing magick is the Doing of the Magick." –Arjil

Before we get to High Magick, I want to quickly address the Law of Attraction.

In a friend's phrasing, "The universe amplifies exactly what you focus your attention on. What you carry in your thoughts and feelings increases in your life."
This law, while true, is also comparatively weak. Just thinking about health and feeling positive about it for ten minutes will help, but if you actively infuse this focus with Magick – if you intend it to become reality – it will help a lot more.
Then reason I bring this up at all is mainly a negative one – if you do ten minutes of Magick for health every day, but otherwise constantly worry about sickness, you'll be working against yourself. That's why it's good to keep the Law of Attraction in mind and spend as little time as possible on negative thoughts and feelings. This sounds easier said than done, but the practices in the next part inherently move your thoughts and emotions in the right direction.

Our critics can be quite amazing :D Today I googled DKMU for fun and found this reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/conspiracy_commons/comments/7xt7rb/the_dkmu_a_darkweb_hub_of_occult_mind_control_and/
Here's my favourite part:

"They believe that "consensus reality" - that is, the reality we all share and agree upon, the consensus society has collectively reached about the definition of what is "real" - can have a tangible effect on the nature of reality itself (observer effect type stuff), and that, if they can make enough people believe in magick, they will pave the way for the arrival of a new, supernatural age; an age where sorcerers can call down lightning and thunder in broad daylight and demons emerge fully manifest to fuck shit up, propped up by sufficient collective belief. This is known as the "Assault On Reality" or simply the AOR, and forms the foundation of their work."

The author gives an pretty good description of what we do - I feel all inspired :D - while at the same time considering us an evil conspiracy, unbelievable xD Admittedly he fails to mention that while some of us will call down lightning, others will heal all disease, just as an example. Later in the text it gets a even less precise, with all sorts of absurd allegations and not-even-half-truths

For Redundancy, I'll save the entire text here:
"The DKMU: A dark-web hub of occult mind control and the "Assault on Reality"

Using a throwaway account just in case. After seeing some of their material posted and their efforts still going strong despite what seemed to be a period of decline, I decided it was time to say something, somewhere. I know it's not as big or broad a conspiracy as most of the things you see posted here, and for all I know it may not interest anyone, but I'm putting this out there anyway.

So basically, there's this group called DKMU, which stands for Domus Kaotica Marauder Underground; a merging of two old, now-dead occult groups (afaik), the DK and the MU. Their roots go back to a mixture of 4chan's /x/ board and a collection of pagan/occult forums, and ties to Anonymous remain strong. They are at least partially responsible for the Kult of Kek, memetically spreading propaganda paired with occultism to undermine the last presidential election cycle -- but don't be fooled, they are happy to play both sides of the political spectrum so long as their main goal is accomplished. They're primarily Chaos Magicians and Discordians, with a sizeable portion of Crowley-obsessed Thelemites, some neo-nazi Norse practitioners, some Scientologists (weirdly enough), and a mix of everything else occult -- primarily dark, destructive, or "left hand path" occult, with token or fake RHP (right hand path) membership to soften their edge somewhat for any newbies or curious onlookers. There are rumors of ties to the Golden Dawn, with the leader of the GD having been in their membership and staged "conflicts" between the two groups keeping the illusion of some degree of separation. Allegations of pedophilia have emerged against at least two inner circle members, as well; after disclosing coercion into underage sex by inner circle members, one individual sent out alarming warnings to "stay away" before disappearing from the internet and relocating, fearing for their own safety.

The group prides itself on the rampant spreading (or "tagging") and spammed subliminal insertion of a symbol known as the Linking Sigil, or LS, said to psychically/energetically link all of their magick together into a kind of collectively-powered hive known as the "LS Web" or simply "the Web". They have tagged probably every place of power you can imagine all over the globe, including the great pyramids in Egypt, in an attempt to drain energy from all of these sites of power and funnel it into their efforts. Their primary, express goal is to sway public consciousness into belief in magick and occultism with the use of propaganda, subliminals, and mind control techniques. They believe that "consensus reality" - that is, the reality we all share and agree upon, the consensus society has collectively reached about the definition of what is "real" - can have a tangible effect on the nature of reality itself (observer effect type stuff), and that, if they can make enough people believe in magick, they will pave the way for the arrival of a new, supernatural age; an age where sorcerers can call down lightning and thunder in broad daylight and demons emerge fully manifest to fuck shit up, propped up by sufficient collective belief. This is known as the "Assault On Reality" or simply the AOR, and forms the foundation of their work. Therefore, almost all of their efforts are geared toward the spreading of propaganda and various covert operations to undermine skepticism of any kind toward magick. As an example, one recent tactic, proposed on their forum at dkmu.org, hopes to "make skeptics convince themselves".

Their key membership has studied the spread of memes and viral content closely in an effort to exploit memetics for subliminal spreading of their LS symbol, often embedded into otherwise-innocuous memes such as funny cat and dog pictures and the like, with the express intent of psychically-attacking the viewer and pushing them toward belief in magick; the use of memetics is one of their biggest tactics right now. "Glitterbombing" or "glamourbombing" uses strange, easter-egg like objects with their symbol attached, meant to be placed in public areas and spotted by or picked up by unsuspecting passersby; everything from creepy fake notes, to ritual objects, to talismanic items such as stones, to phrases like "magick is real" spammed upon the unsuspecting public. One mass ritual involved members secretly going out and placing mirrors in strategic locations all over major cities to mark the entire city with massive LS sigils as well. They claim to have members secretly involved in mass media production, from music to movies, and an unnamed number of government officials - but this claim is vague and unsubstantiated, so I put little stock into it. Rumors of CIA infiltration or involvement as well, but again, these are unsubstantiated and may be a scare tactic on their part, so take that with a shaker of salt if you will.

The group boasts a set of "godforms" (basically made-up deities propped up by their collective belief and feeding constantly on their psychic energy to survive), a significant portion of which have a distinctly dark and destructive tilt, such as Trigag, an entity summoned for the sole purpose of destroying oneself or destroying others, with some members proclaiming, "If you manage NOT to kill yourself under Trigag's influence, you pass." (By the way, hazing/trolling to the point of near-suicide is a frequently-visited theme, with some members having openly stated that driving "the weak" to suicide is "a public service". Two suicides within months of each other illicited a bored yawn from leadership, while trolls gloated on the page of one, who had tragically left her husband and three children behind.) Efforts to break membership down and brainwash them are openly and unflinchingly discussed as well, while they boast freely about being a cult and joke about being (rightly) called terrorists. Manipulation, coercion, and mind control tactics are commonly discussed and practiced; anything to get people to believe is worth it to them so they can become the "gods" they wish to be and exert the ultimate power over others.

Dedicated efforts are ongoing on the part of DKMU members to infiltrate and sway everything from fringe groups, pagan groups, spiritual groups, catholic and protestant churches, paranormal groups and the like, to basically any public space where sufficient attention can be subliminally and subversively steered toward the LS and the occult. If you're in any kind of group like this, keep an eye out for their shills. In their mind, any attention is good attention, so long as the LS sigil can slip in and psychically-rape the minds of the viewers -- therefore, I have refrained from posting any example links to imagery of their sigil.

I believe some members of this group to be dangerous and capable of causing serious harm if exposed or challenged, so be careful; without going into detail for my own safety, let's just say I speak from experience on that one. They have a number of hackers and programmers in their midst as well, so PLEASE, utilize the latest in privacy and security if you plan on looking into their group or even visiting their site.

The best tactic against people like this is to refuse to give them power. Refuse to give in to fear. Refuse to believe in or put any stock in their ability to "get" you, but also, be aware that they will try and exercise your will to consciously and firmly reject their bullshit. If you know the power inside of your own self, you will never need to fear people like this. Trusting in your higher power is just as effective; if you are a believer, exercise your faith in God to protect you from this sort of thing. If you're a skeptic, laugh and shake your head and know it's ok. Be strong in will and confident in yourself. That's really all it takes. It's simple but incredibly powerful against people like this. Manipulation efforts of this type bounce right off of those who are mentally alert and observant and confident in themselves, so just remember to stay awake and stay awesome."

Some thoughts on Abrahadabra

I knew that it's Crowley's version of abrakadabra, which my Hebrew teacher explained to me as meaning something close to "I create as I speak". I have always liked to chant Abrahadabra when doing something that takes up too much concentration to do proper Magick, but still leaves enough to chase useless thoughts (e.g. washing dishes). To block those thoughts %u2013 "Abrahadabra". It creates a light feeling of Magick, which is certainly better than none.

Recently I read up on what Crowley actually has to say about it: Abrahadabra
Here are some highlights:

"The ending of the words is the Word Abrahadabra." (AL III:75) %u2013 exactly my point, to stop the words. Also, once you know your True Will, further words are unnecessary.
I suspect that this is an additional meaning of the rule "To Keep Silent" %u2013 words have no effect. The more obvious meaning is of course to avoid being burned at the stake for magick.

"it represents the uniting of the Microcosm with the Macrocosm represented by the pentagram and the hexagram, the rose and the cross, the circle and the square, the 5 and the 6, etc. also called the attainment of the Knowledge and Conversation of one's Holy Guardian Angel." 

Obviously this speaks to me, especially the connection to the HGA. The pentagram and hexagram parts are interesting too.

To me, the Pentagram stands for Harmony of the Elements within. Starting at the top and moving clockwise, Spirit, Air (Mind), Water (Emotion), Earth (Body) and Fire (Will), all working together. The pentagram points upward because everything is guided by the Spirit, the True Will.
(I do know that other arrangements of the elements exist. The reasoning for this arrangement is: imagine your typical Man in the Pentagram, combined with Tarot symbolism. His head represents the Spirit, which controls the body. He holds the Sword of Air in his right hand, and the Staff of Fire in his left. When he jumps, the swing (= motion = Water) comes from his right leg, while he pushes off from the ground (Earth) with his left. This reasoning seems a bit strange, but I learned it when I was 13, so I stick with it :))

The Hexagram, the symbol of Spirit %u2013 the alchemical Quitessence %u2013 is formed by combining the triangles of the Elements. So it also stands for the union of opposites, Water and Fire, Earth and Air, Mind and Matter, Female and Male, Angel and Human %u2013 as the Pentagram was Harmony Within, I see the Hexagram as Harmony Between.

Edit 24.04.2020: As should be unsurprising to anyone who has read their Arjil, the "light feeling of Magick" is not created by chanting anything but only by focussing on Magick itself. I needed some experiemtation to notice that very clearly.

In fact, to do something useful with those times of low concentration (washing dishes etc.), it works better (for me) to just focus on Summoning the feeling of Magick and pouring it into a sigilised intent, without an additional chant. So in the end, I always returns to my Core Truth :D - "Just Do Magick".

On my favourite Catholic blog, there was recently a post which I wanted to comment on, but somehow the site eats my comment. Since I want to save the text, it goes here :)

https://orthosphere.wordpress.com/2020/02/07/wrong-turns-and-bad-choices/

"joy grows increasingly secretive and rare in the world that reason and science have made."

It somewhat saddens me to read that you find so little Joy in life.  Shouldn't you, in your Hope for eternal fulfillment and your Faith in God be more joyful?

And yet, you aren't. Because your theory – though beautiful and well thought out – is wrong. You give the proof yourself, your lack of Joy.

In Crowley, the true Glad Tidings, we read that 'The central idea of the White School is that, admitted that "everything is sorrow" for the profane, the Initiate has the means of transforming it to "Everything is joy."' (If you take Crowley to be a Black Magician, consult "Magick without Tears", Chapters 6 and 7 – He's the very opposite)

To do God's Will, you have to find your own inner, true Will, which can be entirely different from Jesus'. This is God's task for you. Follow your own Pride and your own deepest Passions, like Lucifer, the first creation of God. Then you will find a Joy that is barely tarnished by "the world that reason and science have made."

I can explain Religion in one paragraph now: When a strong human finds his True Will, he feels its Truth so strongly and his life becomes so powerful, that he is tempted into the false belief that he has discovered everyone's True Will. Then he becomes a Prophet, like Jesus, who was probably very impressive indeed, but still made the fundamental mistake of taking his True Will for everyone's.

That's all there's to it. If you are not fulfilled and joyful, you are not doing God's will. Revelation is personal.

Looking forward to your views, dear Orthospherians :)

Your faithful occultist reader,
Moon1ight
Edit: This comment was rejected :D



Edit2: So, I had another go at the Orthosphere, with this comment. There was a rather fruitful discussion.

https://orthosphere.wordpress.com/2020/11/24/on-the-reality-and-ubiquity-of-witches/

Thanks for your answer, JMSmith. I feel like your first objection -- at least in regard to my position -- is refuted by your second.
"Anarchism [...] cannot stop the spirit that finds its Fulfillment in domination." Correct, but I do not argue for anarchism. I argue for everyone following their Fulfilment -- and clashing if conflict arises.

As you yourself say "Opposition to the will is good because it forces us to discard our frivolous desires and deepen our commitment to the things we are willing to fight for."

There are inherently two God-given Tasks to each spirit: Discover their Fulfilment ("True Will" in Crowley's terms) and Follow it.

As you know, to want an end is to want the necessary means. So if A finds his Fulfilment in domination, he will try to follow that, and B will have to resist. Perhaps by allying with C and D to remove A from their path -- by any means neccesary, as A stands in the way of their Task. Since God too apparently holds the view "Struggle does not crush our individuality, it is how we become who we are.", there is no contradiction here. The War itself is God-given.

My point is simply that this war has many directions, not just Christ and Antichrist. The Japanese spirits (to take a random example) take no side in that one and neither does the Greek pantheon. Even the Demons, if you read what the actual people who talk to them write, care rather little about Christ and Antichrist.

I've thoroughly enjoyed reading the Screwtape Letters, thanks to the Orthosphere, but one shouldn't take this onedimensional worldview as actual truth.


Let me try a different angle: Christians know that Guardian Angels exist. Occultists know too. However, only the latter are found to be conversing with them. Why? Because your Guardian Angels would tell you that your True Will is different from Christ's and you don't want to hear that.
My Angel and I find Fulfilment in Doing Magick, which according to your Church is sin in itself, even if I only use it to help my loved ones and enjoy life. So, should I listen to the Church or a Messenger of God? To ask the question is to answer it.

Of course you have to say that any angel who says that is a demon and any spirit at all that isn't aligned with Christ is a demon. But what arguments do you have for that position? Revelation? Then it's your revelation against mine - and mine is personal while yours is likely from a book.

Looking forward to further answers.

Hi and thanks for sharing.
I've read it all, but this forum has very few other readers nowadays. If you want to reach a larger DKMU audience, see the Discord and the Facebook group.
Whom do I serve? Magick. "Just. Do. Magick."

Why should there be something wrong with you? If the events don't cause you problems,  can you just accept them? I mean, More Magick in your life, isn't that what DKMU stands for?

On the other hand, if they do cause you problems, prevent you from sleeping or something, then we need to search for solutions.

Also "control how fast clouds would move" Wow! That is on a whole other level than flashes of light and even moving objects.
The weather? It's such a huge system, so much mass and inertia... I find it easier to believe that you have foreknowledge of how the clouds will move.
Control? Well, if so, it shouldn't be hard to find some  uses for that. Clouds move by the wind, right? And wind moves by differences in air temperature. So it means that you increase the temperature difference between the place the wind is blowing the clouds from and the place it is blowing them to. You either make one place colder, or the other hotter or both.

I'm sure you can see many uses for controlling temperature. If that is true, you can convince any random group of people standing outside in the sudden warmth or cold that Magick is Real. That'd be flat out amazing.

[On Holy Guardian Angels]

On Holy Guardian Angels

A rather comprehensive collection of material on the topic and my own thoughts based on my experiences.

The historically first (15th century) source that gives details on the topic is:

The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage
Book 2, Chapter 13
https://www.sacred-texts.com/grim/abr/abr032.htm

"you shall see your Guardian Angel appear unto you in unequalled beauty; who also will converse with you, and speak in words so full of affection and of goodness, and with such sweetness, that no human tongue could express the same.
[...]

He will [...] give unto you the manner in which you shall be able to appease [God] by a pure, devout, and regulated life, and by honest and meritorious actions, and such things as God shall ordain unto you. After this he will show unto you the True Wisdom and Holy Magic [...], and how thenceforward you should proceed in order to overcome the Evil Spirits, and finally arrive at your desired ends. He will promise never to abandon you, but to defend and assist you during the whole period of your life; on condition that you shall obey his commands, and that you shall not voluntarily offend your Creator. In one word, you shall be received by him with such affection that this description which I here give unto you shall appear a mere nothing in comparison.

Now at this point I commence to restrict myself in my writing, seeing that by the Grace of the Lord I have submitted and consigned you unto a MASTER so great that he will never let you err."


Then some Crowley
Magick without Tears – Chapter 43
https://hermetic.com/crowley/magick-without-tears/mwt_43

"Now, on the other hand, there is an entirely different type of angel; and here we must be especially careful to remember that we include gods and devils, for there are such beings who are not by any means dependent one one particular element for their existence.  They are microcosms in exactly the same sense as men and women are.  [...]

Now then, it is simple to answer the question of their development, their growing old and dying; for, being of the same order of Nature as we are ourselves, almost anything which is true of us is true also of them.

I have tended rather to elaborate this theme, because of the one personally important question which arises in more recent letters; for I believe that the Holy Guardian Angel is a Being of this order.  He is something more than a man, possibly a being who has already passed through the stage of humanity, and his peculiarly intimate relationship with his client is that of friendship, of community, of brotherhood, or Fatherhood.  He is not, let me say with emphasis, a mere abstraction from yourself; and that is why I have insisted rather heavily that the term "Higher Self" implies "a damnable heresy and a dangerous delusion.

It it were not so, there would be no point in The Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage.

[...]

But do remember this, above all else; they are objective, not subjective, or I should not waste good Magick on them."

Book 4 – One Star in Sight
https://hermetic.com/crowley/book-4/app2

"The Grade of Adeptus Minor is the main theme of the instructions of the A∴A∴ It is characterised by the Attainment of the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel. (See the Equinox, The Temple of Solomon the King; The Vision and the Voice 8th Aethyr; also Liber Samekh, etc. etc.) This is the essential work of every man; none other ranks with it either for personal progress or for power to help one's fellows. This unachieved, man is no more than the unhappiest and blindest of animals. He is conscious of his own incomprehensible calamity, and clumsily incapable of repairing it. Achieved, he is no less than the co-heir of gods, a Lord of Light. He is conscious of his own consecrated course, and confidently ready to run it. The Adeptus Minor needs little help or guidance even from his superiors in our Order.

[...]

It is impossible to lay down precise rules by which a man may attain to the knowledge and conversation of His Holy Guardian Angel; for that is the particular secret of each one of us; as secret not to be told or even divined by any other, whatever his grade. It is the Holy of Holies, whereof each man is his own High Priest, and none knoweth the Name of his brother's God, or the Rite that invokes Him. "


Now some Chapman

Three Steps to Heaven – Step 2
https://issuu.com/openenlightenment/docs/threestepsebook

"The core practice (CP) of magick is what Aleister Crowley, the last great master of the Western Tradition, called the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel.

[...]

- The Holy Guardian Angel is not simply a discrete entity that requires 'conjuration'; He or She has always been with you, is with you now, and always will be – you need simply consent to the angel's presence and action in your life.
- For CP to be effective it must be a daily practice. CP is the habitual surrender of the self and eventual union with the angel.
- The result of CP is not the manifestation of the angel as a vision, an increase in magical power, or the discovery of your true nature or function, although these may very well occur as an expression of the presence and action of the angel in your life; the result of CP is engagement with the spiritual of metaphysical process outlined in all genuine magical traditions that will result in eventual illumination or enlightenment. This is the Great Work of Magick."


Since in the end Each is their own High Priest, my views

The Pact of Perfection and Presence
A human and an HGA are two equal and complementary spirits around one core, one True Will. The human represents Presence, the angel represents Perfection. The human can do stuff but their knowledge of what to do is deficient, as is their focus. The angel is perfectly focused and knows what to do, but their ability to do it is rather low. They each have what the other lacks and gain the missing quality by being together, through interaction. Together they can live Fulfillment in following their one True Will. (And let me tell you, quite some Fulfillment <3 )

Edit (03.02.2020):
True Love and True Will
1. We know "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law" and "Love is the law, love under will." (Liber Legis)
2. We know that Crowley's "will" refers to the True Will ( https://hermetic.com/crowley/libers/lib2 )
2.1 My interpretation of the True Will is "If you will it and follow it, it is Fulfillment." It turns Crowley's doctrine of the White School of Magick into reality: 'admitted that "everything is sorrow" for the profane, the Initiate has the means of transforming it to "Everything is joy."' ( https://hermetic.com/crowley/magick-without-tears/mwt_07 ) This we might call "The Secret of True Will" – a rather open secret, but how many actually follow it and reap its benefits?
3. It stands to reason that Crowley's "love" also refers to True Love, a concept not discussed but so worth discussing.
3.1 We know what True Love means intuitively, to love without reservation, to share your Beloved's joy and sorrow whole. True Love transcends egoism and altruism, because your Beloved's pleasure is also your own and vice versa. We also feel that True Love is forever.
4. The True Will is the Law. But also "Love is the law". There must be a deep connection between Love and Will.
4.1 Naively, your True Will and the Person you love are not connected. Less naively, we get the idea that Lovers approach True Love to the extend that their True Wills are compatible. This, I think is the connection between Will and Love.
5. This would imply that True Love, at its fullest, can only be achieved between two Beings with the same True Will.
6. There's only one Being with the same True Will as you, aside from you. Speak with that Being, see what happens. The Secret of True Love.
7. "Love under Will" = "Do what thou wilt—then do nothing else", together <3
8. The universe in an amazing place :)

Edit (08.02.20):
"Find the Soul that makes you Whole" this came to me today. Apparently its not a known rhyme on the Internet. Strange. Seems kinda obvious.

Edit (13.02.20):
How would one go about obtaining the Knowledge and Conversation?
I don't really know, since Ellis brought us together unexpectedly ( https://forum.dkmu.org/index.php?topic=253.0 ). Chapman, in the book linked above, presents a way. I hear, Crowley's Liber Samekh makes suggestions.

From my own experience... The Angel wants to be More with you.  If you want too, it will somehow happen. I have this idea that if you create a "vessel", the Angel will fill it. I'd use something like Chaos Magick entity creation to make a small spirit and and ask your Angel to take it over and fill it, so to speak. Just imagine how your Spirit of Perfection would look like, sound like etc. and combine this with Chapman's "you need simply consent to the angel's presence and action in your life".
Maybe you can treat it like all magick, pour time and concentration into the outcome that you gain the Knowledge and Conversation, infuse that intent with Magick, and see what happens.

It's so very worth the effort.

On Love and War
In Liber II ( https://hermetic.com/crowley/libers/lib2 ) Crowley writes:
"The Key to this Message is this word—Will. The first obvious meaning of this Law is confirmed by antithesis; "The word of Sin is Restriction."

Again: "Thou hast no right but to do thy will. Do that and no other shall say nay. For pure will, unassuaged of purpose, delivered from the lust of result, is every way perfect."

Take this carefully; it seems to imply a theory that if every man and every woman did his and her will—the true will—there would be no clashing. "Every man and every woman is a star," and each star moves in an appointed path without interference. There is plenty of room for all; it is only disorder that creates confusion. "

In reality, however, stars are sometimes on colliding trajectories. Additionally, stars can be pulled out of their path by other gravitational bodies. Of course, the entire talk about Following one's True Will would be pointless, if it was easy and automatic.
So the reality is Khaos. Every pair of souls (Presence and Perfection) has a direction, which is aligned with some and might be opposed to others. There are lots of forces which try to pull you off your own path, like political ideologies, AI algorithms like Facebook's feed (it's feeding on You) and simply other people who tell you how to live.

So the correct state of mind seems to be one of "in Love and at War", similarly to the Tarot's symbolism of Passion and Purity, or Crowley's "Do what thou wilt—then do nothing else". Just remember, that there's a War and that every action you take that is not either Your True Will (i.e. truly makes you and your Angel happy) or helpful to it (like sleeping, searching for your True Will or keeping your social life in order) is probably a mistake into which you are lured by the various forces pulling in their directions.


Unrelated but inspiring Quote by Ringtail (10.01.2020):
"If there is no forward, just move.
I don't need hope, because I am it."

And here's part 2 of that.
[21 August 2016]



I thought that looked awful short. There were more posts to it. They're a little scattered, but here they are as well.

LECTURE 2
a couple things as additional reading material.https://storytellerway.com/2013/02/06/just-effing-magick/ this needs to be rewritten badly, I know. The second half is the important bit.
and this: https://storytellerway.com/2013/01/27/the-banana-thing/
and one for considering "Force Sense" type precog: https://storytellerway.com/2013/01/27/rockvswizard/

LECTURE 3 Another thing of note- I never ground. I never banish. I fling magick with my Own power. All of these things, various traditions are horrified by. Perhaps they're right and one day I'll burn through all my vital essence or go mad, or get eaten by demons or something, but it hasn't happened in nearly 30 years of doing this, and very few of my detractors impress me magickally in the slightest.Making your Life, your Self, into "ritual space", making that your baseline reality rather than something you "step into when it's magick time" I find to be key to really getting the most out of this whole "Mage" business.
I'm never Not a wizard. I've literally thrown spells while sick and sitting on the toilet. That's as viscerally "Normal" as you can get.
Own your magick, and your self.
There's also a weird thing- much like The Force- I find, and this could just be me, that it takes a little while to establish a relationship with it. It's... It really does seem to kinda have it's own semi-sentience. I know this might strictly be my understanding, but it seemed that it took a while for it to learn Me, as well as Me learning It.
Once whatever I think of as "The Magick" and I had come to an understanding, like, spells or *pressure* I exert on reality worked more in line with my "unspoken" intent, and I better understood certain "heads up" that it would give me. I dunno. This is all subjective, but it really seems like a "My ally is The Force" sort of thing.
I don't talk about that much as It's an unpopular notion, but that's my subjective deeper experience of it.

LECTURE 4
Here's another little story on Direct Manipulation.So back in the day, I went to this goth club in Tulsa. In preparation for going, as I loved the idea but had never been to one, I created a Mantle- that being a Glamour construct (useful for all sorts of things, especially being what you're not. I had "helpful hardware guy" when I was in retail. like armor with certain bonuses... that sounds cheesy but, it worked. anyway) This one was heavily fae, and I made donning my black and eyeshadow and fingernail polish all part of the ritual.
So we get there, and nobody's dancing.
I was annoyed.
So I reached out with my magick and Usurped/created the reality bubble of the "Dance Floor". Then I delved that whole "Faeries will make you dance" resonance. Then I stepped on the floor, and danced a spell. So long as I was dancing, that motherfucker was Full. When I sat down, everybody drifted off again. 8 times, without fail, I jam packed that floor, and a couple of those poor bastards looked like they might die, but they wouldn't stop while I was on that floor, throwing down my "Dance, Monkey" will.
That's not the only time I've done that specifically, and I use that sort of limited area "reality bubble" effect a lot. It's Quite useful.

LECTURE 5
Spellblast- here's a game my brother and I used to play.This started back when we were in the "Remembering how to pretend without reservation" stage of learning this sort of magick.
(this is going to sound very silly, and it was, until it Wasn't)
So, playing, you just huck spells at each other. Like "splinterstorm" "mankytaint" "summon ant farm" just silly bullshit- but you take it half serious. You try to put Magick behind that construct. On the other end, you have to play fair. Sometimes that shit gets you, and you have to let it- imagining, Feeling the effect.
It's a ridiculous, LARPy kids game. Until it starts to hurt, and you have to stop, you have to tone down the infusion of magick, because it's starting to Do things.
In fact, because of all this, I have to be careful with my emphatic gestures when I'm talking to my wife, or telling stories, because my finger is fucking Loaded, and she gets really pissy when I accidentally nail her with something- but paying the price of being careful with what you're throwing around is far better, in my opinion, than having to really Work to make any impact somebody will notice.
Just a thing you guys might play with.

LECTURE 6
Something a little more advanced- Once you KNOW magick works, and have a handle on it, and don't have to Prove anything beyond a shadow of a doubt anymore, then we can get to the business of proactive casting, playing magick closer to the probability line.In doing this, the second you see a potential problem that might crop up in anything you're doing- go ahead and throw your voo on it.
Once shit has already gone sideways, it's all damage control. Avoidance is more efficient. You have more options available for ways for it to Not go wrong (or less wrong) the further out you start influencing it.
Will you ever actually know if you avoided that doom? mostly not. It will only be evident in the conspicuous lack of problems. (and yeah, you get your "reality" trained up right, or find the right *flow* you don't have to give it much thought, but this is a bit more active, along the same lines)
So this isn't something to crow about, it's not awesome and weird effects, you have to concede that maybe you had an effect, maybe you didn't.
But it's one of the more efficient secrets of magick.
Make that shit not be a problem before you ever get there.
#‎protips
(it's a good non-magickal living skill as well, just FYI.)

LECTURE 7
There's certain bits of this I can't really talk about, because a lot of it is just "DO" it, and how in the hell do you explain that? Like the literal "how do you put pressure on reality? how do you call up your magick/power? how do you throw it at something?" like the actual mechanics of "how to"- and that is frustrating as hell to not be able to express. I've pointed at it as much as I can I think, but it's that part of this business you've gotta figure out.
I will admit that it took me a whole decade of fail to get decent at it.
The reason I'm throwing down random stories, is not so much because they matter in and of themselves, they're just examples of the types of reality engagement I'm talking about, just how I deal with the world around me, magickally, and I hope they are useful and give you a point in the right direction for your own "hands on" reality wrangling.
I'm just gonna through some thoughts down here that may be useful.

I will say, if you're going to delve this- as you get good at this stuff, a caution: The better you get at on-the-fly reality wrangling, the more control you need to have over your mind and emotions.
I've internalized this magick process to the point where, if I'm not careful, and I'm having a bad day and lose my shit everything within range goes murphey's law. Most of us have this from time to time, but the better you get at screwing with reality around you, the more serious it gets and the further it goes.
It's also useful to learn how to *Grab* a spell as it's going off, in case you accidentally start to throw something. In order to do this you've gotta catch it before it actually goes. So paying attention to your own mind is a very important thing.
The *Grab and Pull* aspect is actually just as important as the "Throwing and pushing"- Like, take dropping a glass- instead of dumping *energy* into this, I'll try to suck energy Out of that happening, Instead of an "exhale" it's an "Inhale". Sometimes it keeps things from breaking that should have *shrug*. You can do this with situations too- Like if a situation has gone tense, instead of putting your will upon them and trying to enforce the calm (which is direct opposition to their will, which is something always best avoided when possible. it's harder) you draw the Tense and energy Out of it. (you can do both at the same time, but that's a weird split focus thing and it's tricky)

You can also impose stasis, Holding something steady rather than trying to cause change- this is especially useful when, like, the ladder you're on is about to slip, or the limb you're holding onto is about to break, or the wind is about to blow a campfire away and set the world alight, or things need to stay just how they are till you can do what you need to do to make it ok.

This all goes beyond mere imagining it, it's not just wishing- it's really reaching out with part of You, and Doing- and there's a serious difference there, between Thought and Actually Doing. For myself, If I can't literally actually feel the Magick, the Force, Whatever that is stir and move and flow- it's not gonna do shit. Not saying it will always succeed even if It did do that thing (I don't see why people hold magick to a higher standard in that regard than physical action- we don't always succeed at those either)
But without that- it's like the difference between just standing there Imagining throwing a ball, and Actually throwing a ball and thinking it to your target. You've gotta find the Actually in this process. And it's one thing I can't tell you how to do.

sorry to ramble. hope that was helpful.

LECTURE 8
This direct manipulation stuff is great on it's own, but what of ritual?
Here we get some Serious benefit, I find.
Like, so much of the ritual and tools route is devoted to getting into the magick mindset, raising the power, and then doing the thing.
If you're Already, baseline reality in a magickal mindset because you're a goddamn wizard who wields the forces of magick on a whim, And if you can infuse things with power and purpose just by picking them up and Deciding that they are and dumping voo into them,
Then ritual becomes Not about getting yourself ready to do magick, it becomes about Doing magick.
You also get far better at using the subtle resonances and powers that you're attempting to engage through the various tools, the experience becomes a Whole lot more visceral.
You can bust that out "on the fly" as well- snagging random objects and slapping them into place with Purpose, Using these tools as they were intended, rather than half as a prop to help you believe.
And even still, once you get good, some days you're just out of juice, you reach for it and you just can't get it to go. Tools are helpful here.
It's kind of like the "Riddle of Steel" from Conan- "what is steel compared to the hand that wields it?"
Once you grok the magickal equivalent of that, then you can wield the fuck out of some magickal tools.

LECTURE 9
Something I forgot- cool little trick but useful. You know how you wind up with Favorite Things, like a hat, or pants, or pocketknife, or jewelry, any it's a horrible wrench when they wear out ? Well, you can shift that resonance and magick of "Your Thing" to another one. Takes a bit for it to sink in, but you can retain all that mojo. Or you can do the same thing as with ritual tools, creating the construct and infusing it into whatever is at hand. It doesn't Seem very important, but it can be. Keep your mojo bound to you, so you don't have to rebuild it after loss or age. Sometimes, sure, it's for the best and new is important. But sometimes, the continuity is important. There's so.e things we shouldn't have to lose when the physical thing goes kaput. Dunno if that makes sense, but I thought I'd throw that out there


Skin in the game for the Dreaming side...

And now, his Direct Manipulation Class on OC, currently unreachable, but luckily I downloaded it in advance 8)
[21 August 2016]



In a facebook group (The Learning Annex) that occasionally holds classes for various magickal techniques, I held one on Direct Manipulation magick. I meant to do it as a video lecture, then Q&amp;A, but that didn't work out so I went text based with it.
I thought I'd share it here, if anyone were interested. I'm posting my essay then will gladly answer any questions on the subject. Perhaps we can have a good discussion on it.

***So, Direct Manipulation- just throwing magick at stuff, or putting your will directly upon the world as you pass through it.
In order to make this work, it's easiest to adopt a literal *mystic power* view of magick kinda like "The Force"- whether that is the actual truth of what's going on or not, is irrelevant. For this sort of practice, the ways in which it is useful, that sort of symbol set and mentality is the easiest to just roll with. It gives you something tangible that you can put *pressure* on reality with, or manipulate resonances and currents. (as an aside, I find that people who hold this view, tend to have more success with magick in general, their practice is more versatile, and they have a more immediate magickal experience than those who do not, no matter what sort of spellcraft they're using.)

The first thing you've gotta do, is Find your magick. Your principle tool here is imagination-   I'm going to tell you here to straight up Pretend like you did when you were a kid, that you can just throw magick on the world. Any spell, ANY spell- all it is, is intent, plus power/will, plus *something* that you did to make it happen. Period.
All you have to do is allow yourself to believe that you can do that with the proverbial snap of the fingers, and allow yourself to Do it. That gets you in the door at least- it gets just as complex as any other magick from there, but this is where to begin.
Face value this seems dumb. If this worked, then the world would be flung into chaos right?
You're right.
Imagination is the tool for shaping your spell, but it's the Magick that's important. If you don't get the Magick in there, it likely won't do shit. Sure, we've all had an accidental manifestation here and there, a spell that came to pass before we ever cast it- who the hell knows what's going on there? But for day to day reality wrangling on the fly, I've found nothing to compare with this.
Mine, seems to come from somewhere in my core, and I can literally Feel it as it surges up and out, and I program it with my intent through visualization.
I know this whole "Channeling energy and power" thing is out of fashion, but it is important to be able to sense, feel, manipulate the "energies, vibes, resonance, powers, minds, etc" around you as you encounter them in order to be able to do this.
By imagining what these things feel like, you program yourself to sense them in that way (or, in paying attention, you'll find you sense it in a Different way sometimes, which has happened to me a lot. Once you get into this "magickal senses" business, you'll find you spend a whole lot of time trying to figure out wtf you're sensing and where it's coming from. Be careful of assumption here.)

Ok, so what good is this? why bother with it?
A) magick, as strong as you could do with a ritual or sigil, Here and Now, in 30 or so seconds gives you far more opportunities and ways to Use magick than traditional methods,
B ) it completely destroys the argument of "why waste effort on that?" because anything you can think of to try is now fair game.

Take inspiration from fantasy books, video games, rpg's, faerie tales- any magick thing you think is cool, and try it.
You will fail, a Lot. But this is actually a good thing. See, nothing kills the "Lust for result" problem faster than knowing this probably isn't going to work, and not giving a fuck and trying it anyway. However, since most of this stuff is being done in real time, you can watch what it Does do- sometimes nothing, but sometimes it'll manifest in small ways not Quite in line with your intent. If you then alter your focus to use what it Did do, applying more *Pressure* there, then you start to get into where you can really reliably bend reality.

Jinxes, hexes, throwing a "Nope" on some shit you see about to happen, making people go away, ensuring it doesn't start really raining till the car is packed, jedi mind tricks, cursing a poker machine, Summoning objects (as in finding it while you still need it), smoothing the way through life in any way you can think of, augmenting physical skills or endeavors beyond just probability manipulation, etc etc etc. Any point in your daily life where you wish you could just snap your fingers and make that shit happen- try it. It won't all work, or work the way you wish, but this is how you learn how it Will work.

One way this diverges from most spellcasting is in the realm of exhaustive specificity. Screw that. Sure you need some, but the more specific you get, the harder it is to manifest. Throw the least specific intent you can manage. (this is another reason to just throw magick around for the fuck of it- you don't want it to screw up when it Matters. You want to know with reasonable assurance how much specificity you need in it Before you're in a pickle) Yes, you will screw up sometimes- however, I've found when you're throwing your Own power and will down on something, beyond simple cause and effect stupid, it won't manifest in ways you are inherently uncool with. If you're throwing a bit of You out there, it won't "Off your grandma because it wasn't specific enough" which is a favorite caution among the pagans.

Also, don't just focus on far-flung world rending effects- like, if things appliances, equipment, machines, whatever in life is giving you trouble- call up your magick and dump some "Work" voo in it. Once you get good, it usually will. (I use this one a lot)
(on "dump some Work voo"- how I would do this, I'd raise up my magick, and channel it into the offending thing, with the literal intent of "Work thing, dammit"... that's actually my incantation most of the time. I mean really, this is a whole other level of reality interface. You can put your will, your power, on ANYTHING to give a boost in performance, to make it do what it does Better. And I'm just talking the simplest of day to day things- you can get as crafty as you want.)

This technique Also helps boost the efficacy of traditional ritual. If you learn to wield this baseline Magick, then when you use it with Tools, that makes for a whole New level of ritual.
Or as we're chaotes here- sigils. A scribbled down sigil is one thing. One that you channel power into the symbol as you're drawing it, is quite another. And instead of wanking or other non magick specific means of firing, just channel raw magick into the motherfucker- this, in my experience and the accounts of those who do that, works far better.

Speaking of tools- If you like tools like the athame, the chalice, the wand, etc, you can create these things in your mind. You can then channel them into Any similar physical thing to serve that purpose. That way, no matter where you are, no matter what sort of cup you get ahold of, you can infuse it with the pattern of Your chalice, and it will be, at least for the space of what you're doing.
I roll a little looser with that, and will just dump a temporary enchantment on it if I happen to need one.
But premade spell constructs, or just Power enchantments channeled into physical objects is a really useful trick- however, substandard objects may often be destroyed by this. Yeah, you can make it work, uncannily, Once. You can also force something that's about to break, to keep functioning, but the more you do this, the more catastrophic the failure will be when it happens.
I don't know if that made sense, but once something be it your computer, your car, your whatever- if you have to resort to magick to do something essential, best get it done, then either take it to get it fixed or start looking for a new one. Once, twice, maybe Three times, but the longer you stave off the breaking point, the more fucked it's going to be. That's just my experience there.

Ah, I was talking about constructs up there and channeling them into tools. You can do that on Yourself too.
Once I found myself barefoot, on a slick as shit muddy rocky mountain path, with a 30 foot dropoff that I was sliding towards. It Sucked. So I decided to cast "Goatfeet" on myself. I essentially just imagined satyr legs, then dumped magick into that imaginary construct. Immediately I stopped sliding, and the rocks stopped hurting my feet.
I was really quite proud of that one, as I pulled it off as I was sliding toward the cliff.
see? versatility. A ceremonialist in that same instance would have had to hope he hit a tree.
And I danced and pranced my merry way back to the boat.

Is there more? yeah, there's more. But that's all I've got at the moment. My Video utterly failed, (remember kids, when doing magick, either ward your electronics, or enchant them, otherwise you're liable to Dresden the shit out of them) so I got this typed up so we'd have something to discuss.

Hopefully this was at least some kind of informative.
Ask the right questions, and maybe we'll get somewhere with this class :) ***

From Facebook, October 31, 2017, no title



The veil is thinnest
The candles bright
Reality dimmest
Proclaim our might
The Oistars open
Reveal their pearls
And upon this mark
We unite the worlds

I asked Arjil for advice on why I can't do instantaneous things like make someone in the tram turn around or, you know, a sheet of paper move. Here's his answer, posted with permission :D
"It really just is a matter of practice.  It took me a decade of all day every day, just as a constant thing to get anywhere approaching consistent.  Try different visualizations, different feelings, different ways of holding your mind, different ways of *pushing.  just keep playing with it until you get it." (06.12.2019)

And here's some FB-DKMU material by him.


[November 30, 2018]

"Throw a little voo on it"
That's how I often describe infusing magick into... Whatever I'm doing to get my empowered Will, the Magick, to do it's thing in my day to day. It's the difference between a Mundane act, and a Magickal one (and there IS a difference, that is obvious). 
I Make it magick-  I summon up a Something, I put Power to it.  Yes, magickal Power, and infuse that into whatever I'm doing just as I would a spell.  I talk about it flippantly.  Hell I DO it flippantly.  Because I'm a Mage, and I play this shit like I was a character in an RPG.
Most people don't.  That's not how we're generally taught to think about all this, in most paradigms. 
we don't think about it like power. Like magick in stories. 
I mean, I can get as technical as one wishes, from most paradigmic perspectives, but the Reason my shit works is I throw a little voo on it.   I touch that force/current that is Magick, and I put That in there.
Mileage may vary. 
But it's a thing, and an attitude, I suggest you at least try on.
Let magick be magick, like it was in your head before you thought so hard about


[February 10, 2018]

Someone in another group was asking what's your fallback philosophy when your magick fails?
(I took that to mean- how do you justify that to yourself?)
Thought my response might be interesting for you guys here:

Though my general philosophy is to not give a shit whether it works or not (being fully prepared to do it the "hard way" if I must- which also has the added benefit of sidestepping the "lust for result" problem)

When it doesn't work I try to see if there are any variables that might have been the cause so I can readjust- such as I just wasn't feeling it and personally failed to wield the mojo right, or hold my mind right,
-if my effect was even Possible within my sphere of influence
-if there was too much inertia to the reality I was trying to change,
-if there were other Wills resisting the manifestation (either the target itself, other people who wanted that to go a different way, people in the cause-effect chain who resisted the influence, that sort of thing),
-if I didn't have a good enough link to my target
-if I was too far removed from the reality I was trying to influence (in resonance and conception, more than geography)
-if it worked, just not the way, or as well as I assumed and I missed it
-If I just straight up Missed.
-and sometimes there seems to be a Fate or Storyline aspect, some kind of spiritual Something that's supposed to happen and you're not Allowed to fuck with it *shrug*

These are most of the usual variables I've identified over the last 3 decades of heavy experimentation (there's a few that have slipped my brain, and a couple that don't fit in words, but these are the most common I find)

what do you guys think?

[Date lost]

[...] any method that you think should work, should do it.
the basic components are Intent, and some act that means *magick* to you.
use the symbols (like the metaporical things, images, objects, things that evoke the feeling of that which you're searching for)
or make a sigil (google will get you there faster than I can type an explanation)

Really, it doesn't much matter What you do to make the magick work, only that you do something that you can believe in.
If you were a witch, say, and you were going to cast this spell, what would you do, if you had magick at your fingertips? - Imagine.

now Do That, and mean it.
believe in it.

That's a spell as good as any other.
Not to say that they always work, or work how we expect them to,
But that works as well as any other sort. Finding Your way is the trick.

[Date lost]

"The whole problem with a worldview like "The Secret" is, though we can have an INFLUENCE over our reality and the currents in it, so can everybody Else. We do not exist in a vacuum, there's a whole entire universe that's going on that has nothing to do with Us, and is about it's own business. Shit happens, because shit is happening whether we knew about it, or not. The world is in constant motion and struggle, and it does not turn on a single person's whim.
Take for instance, as a crude and simple example, if you and I were both wanting the last cookie and attempting to manifest that result- Only one of us is going to get it. The one who's Will was stronger, who was better at employing it, and perhaps who got lucky."

So, the Internet is fleeting and I trust Seisatsu, our current Admin and Webhost <3 much more than the rest . For this reason, I want to collect all of Arjil's writing on Magick as "Direct Manipulation" in one place – it's pretty much my favourite material on practical magick.


[February 6, 2013]


Just. Effing. Magick.

This is a letter I wrote about my thoughts on the practice of magick- I mostly keep all this to myself for fear of becoming a pariah, but upon reflection, I don't care.  These are things I know, they are my experience, so I shall share them:
     There is a current within the occult that is, for the most part, alternately ignored, abused, and reviled. And frankly, I'm not even sure I know how to talk about it without sounding like a lunatic.
So, you know all the worst of the internet trolls: The high archmage muckity mucks, the dragonkin elven fox furries, the astral goddess wielders of excalibur, the people who think they're a faerie queen, the demon overlords, the people who took D&D and faerie tales Way too seriously?
Yeah, whole lot of facepalm going on there-
However, if you can get past the bullshit, all these people share the same Impetus, they're all looking for the same thing- these loudest voices,  typically being unstable and completely void of social skills and Utterly lost in their own personal mythology, have cast an indelible stain on anything that even resembles what they were looking for.
I know this, because I share that same Impetus.
I get it.
I have just put forth the effort to not be a dumbass about it most of the time.
I think a lot of people, if not most of us began with that Impetus, but upon finding the occult community the well adjusted among us decide "well, obviously, since everybody else thinks that's just childish nonsense, it must be", and let the idea go.
Or they still harbor that Impetus, but have sense enough to keep their mouth shut about it.
Or they choose one of the systems, like the Fluffy Pagan Brigade, who pretend they know all about it and make it all safe and happy.
Or they turn from it with a sense of betrayal and decide there's no such thing as Magick in that sense, and it's all psychological tricks and despise everyone who dares to believe in anything that can't be measured with a ruler.
So what's the point of this?
I have learned to use the language of the modern occult systems with it's paradigms, energies, elements, programs, nexions, wave functions, etc. etc. but that's not really what I do.
I just use Magick-
Like what people believe in when they're kids.
The whole story doesn't really matter, but somewhere along the way I decided
A) everything I've discovered about the occult is boring, fluffy, unimaginative, doesn't line up with what I feel in my heart to be true, and really doesn't seem very magickal at all.
B) Somebody had to be the first one to raise up off their hairy knuckles and decide they could use magick.
and C) children all over the world play really weird imagination games, and naturally use bizarre "little kid magick" all the time- until it gets beaten out of them sometime around junior high.
I'm sure this is technically faulty logic, but bear with me-
Every other young animal in the world (well, mammals and some birds at least) instinctively plays at the skills they will need later in life. I'll spare you the list, but think about it for a second, and they Do.
So why the prevalence of Human children wandering around in imaginary realities, doing weird ass little kid magick (cootie shots, chants, bizzarre rituals to keep the closet monster at bay, jinx breaking, holding your breath so the thunder doesn't get you, etc.
Not to mention a stick can be at will, a sword, a gun, a wand, an icky poostick of doom, whatever)-  all these things that, in the normal adult world really seem to serve no practical function of survival at all?
Right or wrong, logical fallacy or not, I wondered what would happen if you took the same spiritual force, energy, gnosis, whatthefuckever, that people use in their magickal work, and applied it with the same level of dedication to these seemingly pointless beliefs and skills practiced by children with a critical eye to the most widely held occult theories, and upscaled to functional adult experience.
Apart from "it worked", I don't know what else to say about it.
I think I found the Impetus that keeps the trolls lurking, and keeps that suspicion in the backs of people's minds that says the world of the occult, the magick should be more like we thought it would be when we were kids.
There was more Fail and more Silly than I care to contemplate, and we spent an unseemly amount of time running around in the woods Pretending (we knew we were pretending, but we had to go back before we could go forward).
What I *seem* to have discovered, is kind of... Like, a multilayered reality in which we all exist that all has some measure of "Real" to it for a subjective value of "Real",
a means to influence and change that reality seemingly on the Quantum level,
and a semi-sentient Force, perhaps, that is not a god (though it might be a function of GOD, or the IS if you take my meaning) That Feels like what the idea of magick felt like so long ago.
It's got the same feel as every faerie tale, fantasy book, movie, or song that inspires people towards magick, the ones that you experience that make you say "Yes!" and make you Wish that the world wasn't so fucking mundane.
Magick.
Not energy work, not systemic entropy, not elements, not intercessional deity, or psychology, not tricks, not overblown philosophy, and not religion.
Just. Fucking. Magick.
It has been my experience that all the real, recordable results regardless of paradigm, and the people who are validly successful, tap into this "current in reality" through whatever means they happen to use.
How does it work?- it's Magick.
How do you do it- use your imagination, it's Magick.
You can't do that- why not? its fucking Magick...
I postulate, ladies and gentlemen, that this is indeed the root of the occult. It is what all the systems, and dogmas, and even the "gone off the deep end" idiots have been attempting to explain, and in the attempt, just like the words of every prophet ever- they took something really simple, and made it so complex you can hardly find the point anymore.
Every system, every paradigm, every philosophy of the occult I have ever studied or tried- every single one has, in the end, proven pointlessly unwieldy.
Yes they all work. All of them. Any of them. Make some shit up, and it works-
Because it's Magick.
Is it easy to figure out how to use it?
No.
Is it really easy to get sidetracked, or fall off into the bullshit pile?
Yes.
Tools and tricks and mental aids can be helpful, certainly, but in the end, in my opinion, it is just plain Magick at the heart of the matter.
Just
Do
Magick.
******
After my initial posting of the above essay, someone asked me to clarify what, exactly, I meant by "little kid magick" so here it is:
Ok, so a whole lot of the things children Pretend, play at, are strange imagination games.
As you know (or will quickly discover as you study) "visualization" is the most common, across the board, tool of using magick.
Kids are born doing this, and they do it better than all the adults who have all sorts of hard techniques to learn to do it effectively.  Kids can change the whole of their personal reality in the blink of an eye- it doesn't Do anything most of the time, because they're kids.
Remember when you were playing, you could Be Superman, and it didn't matter whatsoever that you were running around a playground- You were Superman?
Or the couch could Be a spaceship?
Or a pile of old bushes would Be a dragon?
And it was Easy.
So here's the short version of how to apply this to magick-
Remember how you could Be Superman?
Now, Be a Wizard.   Pretend.
On the surface, this seems silly, but bear with me- you have to let go of the silly. Kids don't feel silly when they're Superman, they're too busy Being Superman, flying around and shooting lazerbeams out of their eyes.
You know how you can recall the feeling of a physical sensation or an Emotion?  Like the feel of wind, or drinking something cold, or stubbing your toe, or excitement- and you can, if you concentrate, Feel it?
So what you do, Pretending to be a Wizard, just imagine what *Your* magick Feels like, what it would look like blasting out as a spell- Kids don't worry about How it will work, they just do it, usually with some impressive whooshing sound effect.
Or maybe your magick is quiet and creeps like tendrils of smoke, or flows like water.
Summon the vision, and more importantly, summon the Feeling, and Pretend like a kid that you're casting your spell, and like a kid, Believe it.
It took me a while, some years, to become truly effective at this. Just as it takes a while to become effective at any paradigm of magick. Apart from a certain (rather large) level of creative versatility, immediacy, and freedom, it's no stronger, better, nor more effective than any other paradigm.
However, this style does allow for a Lot more practice.
In many systems you have to wait around for the right phase of the moon, or star alignment, or you have to build a ritual, or be in a special place, or evoke some god or spirit, or create a servitor, or a sigil, or whatever.  Many people, especially among the pagan and ceremonial groups cast maybe one spell a week if they're particularly active- certainly some do more, but, I'm talking about average practitioner.
I throw like 20 a day.
Who's going to be better at magick?
So long as you have the juice left to throw a spell you can do it (you will discover this method will wear you the hell out when it works.)  I have also found that in using your Own magick, rather than relying on some spirit or non sentient "energy" do it for you, you don't have to worry as much about the unintended consequences that everybody always gives dire warnings about.
It's a part of you. It won't manifest in ways that You are not ok with-
not to say that you can't miss, or that cause and effect won't whack you in the face like stepping on a rake hidden in the grass, but it won't off your grandmother because you cast a nonspecific money spell- which is one of the favorite examples. 
One other little tidbit- You know how most systems place emphasis on visualizing the end result in exhaustive detail? Seeing your will after it has come to fruition?
Screw that. It's backwards.
Focus instead on summoning up your Magick and it going out there to do your will.
Certainly- Know what you want, use ritual tools like a sigil or a written out spell if you need something complex and specific.
But the important bit- the Really important bit to doing magick is the Doing of the Magick.
Utilize your imagination on the Front end of spellcasting, not the Back end. Trust the Magick to find the path of least resistance through reality from where you're standing, rather than hurling it into some as yet non-existent possible future and hoping it finds you again.  That, in my opinion and experience, is putting the cart before the horse.  Not that it doesn't work, especially from a particular point of view, but when I began using this mind set, my effectiveness increased dramatically. 
All paradigms have something to offer: ideas, tricks of the trade, good knowledge. Listen to everybody- it all builds your vision of the whole.
But this technique of coming at it from the little kid mind set makes it all a lot easier-
they don't have to fight themselves to make magick. 
Neither do we.
There are people of course, who's mental landscape is quite different, and as such this method doesn't work for everyone.  Many need a distinct process, a more rigid practice, a distinct trail to follow, or who's main mental process is something other than visual based imagination.
What I think people of such mind should take from this idea is license to find their own form of creative magickal expression, to feel free to explore the way their mind Does work- to use their natural inclinations in their magickal practice to their advantage.
Because it's Magick, it doesn't matter What you do, so long as you Do Something to make it work.
I've struggled for years to try to figure out how to convey to people how to find  Their Way, as I found My Way. That's the truly important bit, I think- To ponder how You would make the magick work.
If it was your ideal world- What would You do?
When you think about magick, how do you Wish the process worked?
Do That.
Keep at it till it works.
And it will.

I assume you mean the Münchhausen trilemma ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%BCnchhausen_trilemma )


I've read some of your Points...
   "36. Human souls might be egregores.
    46. People might choose who and what they're willing to be/will be here.
    47. People might have faeries at their core of their emotions."

I'd like to know more – what are you aiming at? What brought you here? How do you plan on beating the trilemma?

Hi :)

Interesting idea... You might want to post it to the DKMU Facebook group and the Discord – not sure how many folks actually read the forums.

Personally, I'm afraid people are just too good at differentiating between Fiction and "Reality". They have all the magic one can imagine in games, on tables and screens, but see none in their "Reality".

Making a better, more interesting game... I'm not sure if anyone will transfer that into their reality and start seeing the actual magical possibilities in this world...

But what do I know? If you feel like it's good idea, go ahead! I wish you the best of luck.

Glad to see you :)
Nice to know that I'm not the only one still here, lurking ;)