Greetings folks!

So a really cool topic came up out of a long-dead one over at StudioArcanis, and it led to a damned good question being asked. I'm going to share both the question and the reply here, so as to record this for my readers who don't tend to hang out on forums.

The question:
"Wanderer are you suggesting a theory of magick that the older a symbol is and the more that it has been used, then the more efficacious it is?[...]"

-Amind


My answer:
"Sort of, but not quite so directly as that.

In my experience, three things matter when doing magic:
1) How established is that current?
2) How easy is it if for [b]you[/b] to get into that current?
3) Just how potent is that current capable of being?

And they really do matter in that order, for the most part.

Runes are ancient. We don't really know how old, but I suggest that you read Jan Fries' Helrunar, as it would indicate that there are some runic forms that go way, way back. Some of 'em were painted all over the world to boot, and usually that's for an unknown reason. Take what you will from that.


Age is only one factor in establishment of a faith, though. There are plenty of old systems that clearly didn't work all that well, as the cults did not survive. Those that were potent had pieces of themselves adopted by other, newer religions that still kept enough of the old ways to make it work (Sun Worship, anyone?). The fact that Christianity has survived and thrived may well be an indicator of just how robust it is as a religious system, even if its one I don't find particular resonance with.

Establishing a faith/system and keeping it going for thousands of years requires quite a bit of human interaction with said system. Furthermore, one could argue that it would require a fair deal of deific interaction too, so as to keep its tenants from being forgotten. When that happens, "grooves" are formed along human consciousness, and what your ancestors did is often easier for you to do. We can posit this theory because mice have been proven to inherit fear-based responses to stimuli like the smell of cherry blossoms (link).

The more something was done before, the easier it is to do again (theoretically speaking, anyway). This is why the status & establishment of a system matters.

Next up, we've got the point of "well, just how easy is it for you to get into that current?", and that goes along the lines of what I mentioned above. If your ancestors did it and you inherited genes that have those spiritual tendencies of theirs locked away therein, then it should logically be easier for you to get a sense of what they did and do it yourself. Likewise, your practices could well be inherited by your kids, provided you got into those practices before they were born.

If this is indeed true (and it appears to be, per science), then those whose families have practiced magical work for generations are going to have a leg up on others, so long as they follow the same line of study.

Finally, we've got the matter of power. How powerful can that system actually be? We've all heard stories of people levitating, crushing others under the weight of their psychic blows, and so on and so forth. These 'miracles' are said to have occur, but hearsay doesn't matter at this point; what matters is actualization. And whose to say how powerful a system is at the end of the day? That's a matter of crafting theories based on tons of resarch.

And here's the particularly important part about the 3rd piece of this puzzle: the pinnacle only matters if you can attune yourself to the system so effectively that you can actually utilize and channel the current at its full potency. If you can't do that, the glittering peak of power-in-a-system means nada to you.

.....and then you get into points of contention like "does this deity still exist?" and "is this accessible?". Some deities & spirits just won't like you regardless of what you do. Its not "fair", but "fair" is bollocks.

Its also worth noting that new systems can be damned powerful if based enough around old systems. I'm convinced that's why New Avatar Power works so damned well...our ancestors wouldn't have had the time to run around with a special dagger, tiger skin belt, and so on. They would have used the down, dirty, and quick way so as to fire their magics off quickly, without fanfare. Hushed, rapid whispers make more sense over grandiose conjurations if you look to history."


Continuing on, this is a topic I've asked spirits about, researched endlessly, and obsessed over for years and years and years now. Its a curious question to posit, but one with a potentially incredible impact. If we're being honest, doing magical work is about results. Would you agree?

If that is the case & success is your goal, adopting a system most prone to get you results is key. And no, I'm not recommending blindly following someone purely because they have the oldest magical system on the books - that would be idiocy. Instead, I suggest that success should be thy proof a la Crowley.

To that end, constantly tinkering with and trying new-to-you systems would be wise. As would integrating truths you find from different places and things.

We would be foolish to believe that these old systems have survived unmolested, and so piecing them back together and distilling them until we've found the absolute heart of the practice is incredibly important.

That is what I do, day in and day out. It is a passion of mine. Maybe it can become a passion of yours. ;)

Be well,
​SE

As mentioned previously in my post about Timing, astrological happenings can have a major impact on everyone.  How much of an impact and what sort of impact any heavenly changes and transits have upon an individual depends largely upon their personal natal chart, so some folks are bound to be more heavily swayed by an event than others.

Before I proceed further, its worth acknowledging the facts that by & large, astrology is a divisive concept: some love it and swear by it, others hate it and call it silly nonsense. Some fall right in between, and are admittedly rather agnostic where such concepts are concerned. Let there be no mistake: astrology and the associated changes are crucial to understand.  Like it or not, you're at the butt end of a giant cosmic joke where the aforementioned are concerned, and you can either acknowledge and use it or simply be used by those changes. You're never going to free yourself from their influence entirely, as its going to mess with you even if you don't want it to.

Modern science may well say its junk "science", but the reality is that Police Stations staff more officers during the full moon because they've seen this in action. Same goes for Emergency Rooms. If you think this is nonsense, pull up a lunar calendar and watch just how nuts people go during the Full and New moons. Observation trumps "science", in my experience, as there are plenty of things that we simply do not understand at this juncture. Give it another 30 years and we may then have a bead on why these events effect us so.

Having called as much into the limelight, the reason for my post today is that we are currently undergoing a Mercury retrograde. It started as of September 17th and will end on October 9th. Between now and about two weeks from the end date on the 9th of October, you're going to be dealing with the effects thereof.

We're also dealing with a Pluto, Uranus, Chiron, and Neptune retrogrades at this time. That's why things have been uniquely unhinged for the past while.

What that means is relatively simple: when a planet goes retrograde the darker side of its influence comes out to play and the positives get put on the backburner.  The Universe is in a constant balance of woeful and wealful influences, so right now we're dealing with the wealful influences of Mars, Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn. We're dealing with the woeful influences of Mercury, Neptune, Uranus, Pluto and Chiron. 

Yesterday, I discussed some of the potential uses of energy work. Went over its flexibility and a few applications. I also alluded to the fact that there are some risks. I intend to discuss those here.

When mulling over the particulars of any sort of magic, it's always wise to consider the pros and cons. By factoring in both sides of the coin and weighing the benefits and the drawbacks, you can come to a decision worth acting on (or, potentially, discarding a plan of action should the risks prove to be too great).

Bearing this in mind, as any form of magic has its benefits, energy work, too, has its potential drawbacks.

There's a phrase I've heard time & time again when learning from spirits: "what can harm can also heal". Logically, what can heal can also harm, so the equivocation goes both ways. This night not seem terribly important, but not considering this fact is a good way to get yourself in hot water.

When dealing with any magic, you're channeling forces that potentially may be outside of your control or aptitude. As with anything you eat, anything you draw through yourself changes you all the same. That's why those exercises I wrote about previously are so damned crucial.

Knowing this, consider what you're doing when you cultivate ill-intentioned energy.  If you are what you eat or channel, the reality is tha tyou're basically putting liquid decay in your spiritual, emotional, and physical bodies.  That malice will wear on you, and most folks aren't able to sort themselves out very easily after working with such things. That's why demonic magic, vampirism, blood magic, or other sorts of baneful work tends to cause problems on both ends of the equation.

To make matters worse, its addictive.  If you're emotionally invested in doing the deed, you're going to obsess, focus on, and bathe in that muck.  As Buddha once said, holding on to anger to hurt another is like carrying a hot coal for the same reason.  Bear this in mind, as it will mess with you.

How much will depend on how good you are at letting go and cleansing.  Some things will never wash out of your soul - that may sound melodramatic, but its true nonetheless. Keep it up long enough and you'll require the services of a sin eater like myself to begin to feel better. Sometimes its worth it, sometimes its not - up to you to make the decision. Remember, this isn't an ethical decision, so much as one that has everything to do with your well-being and long-term survival.

I've seen plenty go from magically predating upon others to harming themselves. Many develop psych issues that seriously hamper their ability to be happy or "normal".

Regards,
Chris

As discussed in my previous post on the subject of energy work (Henceforth EW), it can be an incredibly useful tool. As with all tools, however, its use depends on the skill of the one wielding it.  One doesn't need to be a plumber to use a wrench, but they do need a bit of know-how to use it appropriately. Put another way, any person can use a knife, but a delivery man is going to use a blade differently from a chef.  Becoming well-learned in the art of using said knife is one of the many pieces of learning to use this art effectively. Like being a chef, magic through EW is more of an art than it is a science.

The applications are largely endless, but getting to the point where you're able to successfully apply this tool appropriately requires a great deal of development. Some will have a better knack for it than others too, so learning to take stock of your skillsets so you know what to work on is crucial.


Following is a brief overview of the faculties you'll need to develop to effectively utilize energy work:

• Cultivate internal and external awareness. What you feel and see and the intersection of those two types of awareness will drive what you do. What you perceive is key, as perception drives response.
  
  Ideally, you'll want to get to the point where you can shift your focus with ease, as being aware of what's going on within you, being able to become aware of what's up in someone else, and learning to notice what happens as a result of the interaction between yourself and someone else will be incredibly useful.
  
  
• Cultivate the ability to focus intently without being easily swayed by distractions. This is hard, but it is one of the most important skills to learn here.
  
  
• Develop your physical body. As you do so, you'll be better able to manipulate the energies inside of you. Once you've learned how to do that, you'll be better able to work the flows outside of you.
  
  
• Read incessantly.  The more you know about a variety of things, the better able you'll be to apply the aforementioned points in a useful way down the road.
  

This will not be an easy road to follow.  You're going to be training a whole set of muscles that haven't been used all that much. Its easy to make a great deal of progress with a little bit of effort, but you can expect to be mentally "sore" after working through this.

Regards,
SE

Beauty spells are a thing of much discussion and little serious discource where magical work is concerned. It comes up frequently, but for whatever reason its an intimidating subject. That may well be because of the physical nature of te work in question.

There are two categories of beautification rites:

1. Physical remedies and changes
2. Glamours

Understanding the distinction between the aforementioned is incredibly important, as both have their place.

The first sort is physical, and, as the label implies, is geared towards creating some sort of apparent change in the body.  This can be weight loss, growing bigger boobs, changing the size of one's penis, modifying the health of one's skin, beautifying your hair, changing someone's height, etc.  This is not an area where the eye of the beholder has quite as much to do with the changes one seeks, as this should be abstractly measurable.

The latter is not at all physical, but instead takes place in the minds of those viewing the subject upon which the spell is placed. Glamour magic is, in short, an illusion placed on upon a subject to garner a specific sort of attention from whomever views the target. It can be criteria-based, or the working can simply be attached to the target so that everyone sees it.

While physical changes are often what we seek, its my experience that glamour magic is usually a hell of a lot more effective for two reasons: 1) People are lazy, and frequently don't want to exercise, eat healthy, or change their habits in a way that would allow them to lose weight, have bigger breasts, or seem to have a larger penis.  2) Physical changes are a hell of a lot harder to make to start, so the first hindrance really causes problems in the short and long term. It can be done, but its costly where the amount of effort one puts forth is concerned.

I've been working towards one physical change for the past 6 months, and I've been having outstanding results thanks to the efforts I've been putting forth: I've been working to lose weight.  I'm now down 23 pounds as of today, and that is wonderful.  However, its also not easy. Even with magical work behind it, I've had to change my diet, go to the gym regularly, and modify my habits to support what I'm doing.  I feel better, though, and I am committed to succeeding here. If you want physical results, your level of effort will have to either mirror or surpass my own.

Glamours, however, don't really require much effort on your end once they're applied. Its an illusion that can be used to make you seem more charming, more likeable, more affluent. You can use it to really make your eyes stand out in a crowd, like the bolded text you see in this sentence.  Magic can be wrought to make your hair seem glossier or your butt look better in those jeans.  When used on otherwise comely men and women, I've seen plenty of toady folks steal the limelight from much more attractive individuals because the work changes the way others view you.  Beauty is, after all, in the eye of the beholder.

The best way to really make beautification magic stick is to generate results through both glams and physical changes. Do so, and you're going to have a leg up on others in business, love, lust, social interactions, and so on. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, after all.

Vas thu heil,
Chris/SE

I've spent the last several days talking about the properties of various herbs that can be used in magical work.  I've spent relatively little time discoursing on the subject of actually using those herbs...more specifically, how to do it. The point of today's lessen is to remedy this.

Working with herbs is all about relationships.  What you cultivate is key, and if you don't have a relationship with the spirits behind the fleshy, fibrous mass that is their corporeal form, the roots, stems, leaves, resinous chunks, seeds mean nothing to you and have no power outside of what you create and will.  What you imbue into them, if you will.

'Ello again folks.  Hope all is well.
We're around again for another round of herbs that can be used for protection.

Greetings folks! Hope you all enjoyed your Valentine's Day and weekend thus far.  We're getting back to protection magic in full swing.  If you've been reading the previous articles, you've probably realized, by now, that I've been speaking on magical herbs in alphabetical order.

That isn't to say that there are only a handful of herbs in each category that can be used for magic; really, the information is there to whet your appetite and spark a curious fire in you so that you can use the info I've provided to delve deeper into the Artes Magickal. They are, after all, a passion of mine. ;)

As a continuation to yesterday's post, I'll be talking more about herbs in this one. We covered a few helpful tidbits previously, and we're going to do the same thing today.

Herbs can be flexible, and that gives them great power and potency if you're wise in their use.  There's a reason folks who did magical work in Europe were once called Cunningfolk....cunning and intelligent are two traits you must have if you want to be successful here. Otherwise, you're just going to wind up being a dumb patsy who can't get anything done. Nature spirits are from nature, and thus have no real concern regarding whether or not they're honest, helpful, or harmful. Sometimes interactions with humans are there solely for the sake of the game. Just something to consider.

As discussed over the past two entries, protection is a multi-step, many stage affair that has a great deal to do with preparation, awareness, skill, and flexibility.  Learning to improvise is good, but being prepared is better.

When your preparations have failed you, its time to get creative and work with what you got.  In keeping with this theme, I've decided to discuss herbs that can be used for protective magic.  Some are offensive, some are defensive, and some are a mixture of the two.  There are those in this list that only work (for protection) when combined with other materia magica too.  I'll do what I can to summarize a portion of those tidbits here, but rest assured that you're going to have to play with the mixtures you want to use to learn the ins and outs of the spirits behind the flesh. I'll be using both folk names and Latin names where possible.