Thursday, October 7, 2010

Is Magick Hard?

RO posted this about the difficulties of manifesting magick. In that post, he has some great lines.


It goes from the Idea-world to the Form-world, and takes on layers under the careful administration of vast powers and principalities. By the time a thing manifests, it's been influenced by the Intelligences and Spirits of 12 constellations, 7 planets, and 4 elements. They've got power and wisdom and skill in making things happen you just can't have. You're not old enough. They know the recipes for grass...

Funny and true.

Though, I strongly suspect the following things make magick easier:

  1. Having a tried and true system, even if it is purely your own and you made the whole thing up.
  2. Having an attitude conducive to your personality
  3. Being reasonable in what you are trying to accomplish
  4. Following Robert's Rules of Magick (Item 1)
Tried and True System


Magick is not what you think you know. Magick is about what you know so well that it is part of your nature. I can look up which incense is compatible with which deity. If I want to make magick easy I foster a relationship with the deity and skry the incense. If I take it on faith that famous author X wrote this about the deity and the Golden Dawn associated an incense with a particular sephira and I arbitrarily decide the deity belongs to that sephira, the working is going to be pretty hard to manifest. Manifestation will still occur but all that personal uncertainty will have its impact.


On the other hand, I have a personal system for the tarot. It takes almost nothing for me to change my relationship with any human being using the aces.


Attitude and Personality


My personality is one that has pretty rigid rules for acceptable behavior. This doesn't mean that I obey them all the time. I am human. For instance, I've had some well publicized disputes on-line. It was revealed to me that one person was concerned that I'd do something magickal in the process. There was no fear on this person's part but s/he was preparing or had at least thought about preparing. However, launching an attack based upon a petty dispute is so far out of range of my personality that I don't think I'd have any impact. I would get in my own way.


Could I put that part of me aside, conjure a spirit, say a prayer or the like? Yes, but putting it aside is work and this is about easy magick.


I have had someone try to get me fired from my job. She hated me at first sight. I didn't even have time to be an asshole before she launched a campaign. It was the easiest thing in the world to set a magickal booby trap. She ended firing herself. I have no problem defending myself.


Improving a relationship with the cards is easy because I do so in accordance with my personality. I can easily believe that my boss wants to like me. My boss wants to help me do a good job. My boss wants me to like him. Using a tarot card to help manifest such a mutual desire is easy. We do very good work. In part because I took a natural desire and amplified a way of manifesting the result both of us wanted and did so in a way my personality allows easily.


Trying to get someone to fall in love with me using the same technique would be much more difficult. It is outside my range of acceptable behavior and I'd get in my own way.

On the other hand I have an acquaintance that believes it is fun to hurt people, "It will hurt him but it will be fun for us." He sets magickal booby traps on a regular basis. They work. They work because doing harm to random people is within his or her scope of acceptable behavior. Magick is amoral regardless of tradition. It is the personality of the magician that matters. 


Being Reasonable


I do not do magick to make grass grow. I do not do magick to become a movie star. I do not do magick to influence world events. 

I have done a lot of magickal work. I've paid my dues. It is reasonable to do magick to bring that next teacher that can help me achieve that next level. Reasonableness goes out the window if you're doing magick to become the next White House Astrologer, unless you're the Baron.

Robert's Rules of Magick Item 1

All magick is relational.


Want to be rich? You're changing your relationship with money. Want a girl to love you that currently doesn't? You're changing your relationship with her. You want to grow into a more spiritual person? You're changing your relationship to yourself. You want that annoying person at work to stop being so annoying? You're changing a relationship. You want to move? You're changing your relationships with your job, state, city, friends etc.You want to astral project? You are developing a relationship with a skill set.


When you understand the relationships foci, when you understand how the mix of five elements impacts that relationship, it is the easiest thing in the world to do magick to change it.


Failure


My magickal failures are specific. There are aspects of my personality I have failed to change. There are aspect of my health, specifically my back, which while improved, are not perfect.


Those failures are the result of failing in the above. Maybe it is time to revisit those issues in light of this post.

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