Ethics and the Development of Will

“The Will” is an important component of Western Magic, if often ill-defined in practice and discussion.

I have defined it as a personal coherence, wherein ones self is so unified that its directives and activities produce clear results - be that in magic or other activities. I consider it essentially the same as “Te” in Chinese culture, the Self of Jungian psychology, or the Freudian ideal where an aware Ego replaces incoherent Id and mechanical Superego.

Building Will, exploring Will, etc. is of course something important to a Magician - that quality is what lets us achieve results as well as personal well-being. There are meditations, exercises, goal-directings, banishing of demons internal and external, etc. that people apply to clear their minds and develop that curious, important quality.

One technique I find useful in developing the Will, is ethical self-analysis and adaption of ethical stances.

Our initial ethical stances and beliefs do not come to us by choice, of course. If we are lucky our parents, peers, and culture provided us a useful ethical system and encouraged us to analyze, understand, and improve our stances. Or if we’re unlucky, we get something, to put it charitably, that is less than ideal and is more pure imprinting than anything else.

Unfortunately I think a lot of us aren’t overly fortunate in our ethical upbringing and experiences. Ethical situations and issues can be unpleasant, constricting, and confusing because of our pasts and our culture. Trying to imagine a sane discussion of ethical issues on American News, for instance, is something I put in the realm of “extremely unlikely”.

So, let’s work on our own ethics. When one examines ethical situations and choices, when one decides ones stances and decides on ones codes, one can actually have very profound experiences:

• To understand why one holds beliefs is very informative - even if at times one discovers unpleasant truths.
• To confront unpleasant situations and analyze ones beliefs and actions is informative and strengthens one’s resolve.
• To make conscious decisions as to how one can and will behave - and why - is to take responsibility for oneself, providing freedom from unconscious imprinting and making choices conscious.
• To understand how ones magical system(s) affect and recommend ethics helps one connect themselves to that paradigm.
• The exploration of ethics allows the exposure of deep psychological structures so they may be leveraged, addressed, or healed.
• Exercising and developing one’s ethics also lets one be “inoculated” against surprises in the future where one can be paralyzed by an unexpected ethical conflict.

I myself find a good sit-down with ethically stimulating literature to be great for personal growth - a little Confucius, a book of classic tales and legends, etc. can provide wonderful fodder for consideration and analysis.

Working actively on my ethical development and contemplation has been helpful to my magical work, especially that of a psychological nature and in my energy work (obviously). I’m more comfortable with myself, more sure of my choices, and better able to rally my resources, and feel more ‘in place’ in the magical systems I work within. In short, it helps develop my Will.

So next time, before that meditation or work at banishing that personal demon, consider a read of a good classic on ethics or similar.

Energy Work update

I’ve recently been working with Mantak Chia’s Cosmic Fusion energy technique, which builds off the elemental fusion work. I’ve so far done two of the trigrams, and I’m going to add the third tonight with the breath work I’m doing. The benefits I’m noticing are a stronger cleaning out of the energetic and physical body, but also a condensing of the energy being recycled…so basically it enhances the elemental fusion work.

I have to say that the Taoist system of energy work is probably the most thorough one I’ve worked with so far, especially because the emphasis is on integrating the energy work into the body. I feel the effects and my health has improved because of doing the energy work. It’s much easier to maintain my energetic reserves as well. I’ll post updates as I continue with integrating it into my life.

A methodical approach to magic

I tend to be a generalist when it comes to magic, which is to say I don’t specialize in a particular area or discipline of magic. I prefer to learn as much as possible about a wide variety of topics (most of them not even overtly magical). I admire people who can focus on tarot or a particular type of ceremonial magic to the exclusion of much else, but I don’t find that ever works for me.

I actually recall once being called on that by another magician. This person asked me what the benefit was of taking such a general approach, as opposed to specializing in something. My argument was that I was finding the connections between all those general areas and tying them together. I still feel I achieve a decent depth as it were in my studies, because inevitably what I’m studying in one area, intersects with another area of interest.

In fact, the method to my madness is a very methodical approach to magic and other areas of interest, where I find and start exploring as much as I can about diverse areas of interest…and yet still stay focused on those areas. I’m not bouncing around all over the place with what I’m reading or doing…I like to stay relatively on topic, really get into the heart of the territory I’m exploring. And that’s where a method comes into play, because even if you’re a generalist such as myself, you still want to devote enough time and energy toward learning about an interest in-depth, especially if you plan on applying it to your life on any practical level.

I know as a generalist, I can’t learn everything there is to know (supposedly the last time that could be done was with Aristotle, but I don’t buy that he knew everything there was to know in his time period), but I can still learn a lot, about a variety of interests and get something meaningful out of it, as well as offer something meaningful to others.

I admire the people I know who can really focus in on a given topic. I’m awed by what they do and where it takes them. Being a specialist definitely has it’s perks.

And yet, it’s a generalist’s path for me! And heck, I’ve found a few others as well, so I’m in good company.

Some thoughts on time

After reading Evola’s article on precognition and time in Introduction to Magic, and in particular two passages, I’ve been musing further about the illusory nature of time and how much a sense of time is derived moreso from routines than we might think. The passages in question is:

“The overwhelming majority of people are so enslaved to habits, craving, instincts, and fixed reactions, they are such slaves to things and to their selves, that it would truly be surprising not to be able to forecast their future. Knowing the so-called ‘character’ of a person, we can already know in an approximate way what he or she will do in certain circumstances” (Evola and the Ur Group 2001, p. 310).

and

“Wherever the basic condition of ‘desire’ is overcome, and thereby the object is purified from an object of desire into an object of contemplation, the overcoming of the temporal condition ensues naturally. I am referring here to the liberation of the self and of the object and thus to the possibility of capturing in a synthetic way what ordinary consciousness would regard as events analytically arranged along a temporal series, as a mere sequence of ‘facts’ or events more or less endured” (Evola and the UR Group 2001, p. 313).

A lot of what Evola writes about in terms of habits, cravings, etc is is quite true. Contemporary studies in neuroscience show the people act more so on emotions and cravings and desires and then after that initial impulse end up rationalizing their choices. Given that the amount of neural connections that go from the emotional systems to the rational sections of the brain is substantially more than the connections going from the rational systems to the emotional systems, it’s fair to say that the emotions have a significant impact on our choices (no matter how we might like to conceive of ourselves as rational thinkers). Add in the fact, that in sales it’s recognized that you sell the feeling in order to hook a potential buyer, and you have people who do in fact plan on the future likelihood that a person will react in an expected manner.

A conversation with my neighbor tonight yielded another insight, which is that if a person feels really good about the lifestyle s/he has, s/he may be perfectly content with the predictability of hir routines. This then brings into question what the motivation for change needs to be to shake up that routine…point is though that time becomes more of a reality through the predictable routines we use to navigate life. In fact time can be conceived as a measurement of those routines. this is most noticeable in the eight hour workday, where time is used to measure how long a person has to stay at work. But it can also be seen in other activities…Calculating the commute for instance.

An astute reader will note that I mentioned time’s nature is illusory, but might wonder if that’s really the case, given what I just wrote above. But what I wrote above amply demonstrates the illusory nature of time in the sense that time is used as a predictor and measurement of activities…when they should occur, when they could occur, etc….We use time as a measurement to determine and predict when something happens, and create routines out of that prediction.

The second passage of Evola’s is intriguing to me, mainly because I’ve experienced it…i.e. the alignment of events and occurrences that cause a situation to manifest favorably for me. And I think he hits on a key point, that the overcoming of desire greatly enhances the potential of the events aligning in a person’s favor. The reason is because you’re no longer engaged in specific routines that you believe will get you what you want. We use routines to provide us comfort as well as to fulfill desires, but those same routines are predictive of the actions we’ll take, and can limit the possibilities/opportunities a person could manifest.

The choice to overcome the basic condition of desire is really the choice of being able to perceive the desired outcome in a dispassionate manner…to no longer want it, and thus to no longer need your fixed routines that you’d normally use to get it. Unsurprisingly the result of this is that a person is much more open to possibilities or opportunities that are unconventional, yet still lead to the same outcome. A personal example I’d use is my deliberate choice to not concern myself about the out come of my most recent job hunt. Instead of worrying about when I’d get a job, I focused instead on other matters that I cared about. I did of course still do some job hunting, but ultimately the job I ended up with came through a different venue than what I’d normally have found. Everything came together at at exactly the right time.

It occurs to me that linear time is really another means of measuring desire, measuring how much effort you will put into getting something…whereas non-linear time  is an acceptance that the desire isn’t essential, and consequently this opens up new vectors which can bring that desire into fruition…the act of not wanting it causes it to occur. Sounds contradictory, but the more desire we emotionally feel, the more invested we are in attempting to obtain something, and as Evola notes and I have noted myself, both from personal experience and from reading a variety of texts on the subject, the feeling of desire can trap us into particular routines, while blinding us to different perspectives that may not be as based in desire (or linear time), but are based on being open to the random opportunities that cause reality to align and manifest what the person was seeking. It’s exactly when you give up desire on an emotional level, that you open up to non-linear time and allow what you wanted to come to you through unconventional methods.

Paradox…

Midsummer issue of Rending the Veil is out

The midsummer issue of Rending the Veil is now available. Features articles, by myself, Lupa, Gerald Del Campo, Donald Tyson, Patrick Dunn, and many more.

Review of Introduction to Magic by Julius Evola and the UR Group

The title of this book could be a bit misleading, as it’s fair to say that the majority of the articles in this book are not intended for people who are just coming into magical practice. The articles requires at least an intermediate knowledge in Hermeticism, Alchemy, or Buddhist Meditation techniques, for the most part. With that said, I definitely recommend this book for anyone who is interested in reading and practicing the different techniques described and discussed in this book.

These articles were written in the late 1920’s by a group of experimental magicians called the UR group, lead by Julius Evola. This book presents a fascinating glimpse into ceremonial magical work being done in that time by magicians who weren’t overtly associated with magical orders such as the OTO or Golden Dawn. The articles are detail oriented, but all of the writers manage to discuss the concepts with enough brevity to explain what needs to be done and how to do it, without unnecessarily waxing poetic about it.

One article I particularly liked was what I would suggest was the first article ever written on space/time magic…but rather apt for what it suggests about the nature of time and how a person interacts with it. This is definitely a book I will read again and again and get more out of each time I read it. I recommend it to any person who wants to either get a better historical perspective of magical practices or wants to continue honing his/her practices.

My interview with Occult Sentinel

Occult Sentinel

We discussed Taoism, Space/Time magic, Tarot, and my magical philosophy.

A slight change in title

You might notice that the title of this blog is now: The Experiments of Magicians

While I plan to continue posting here, I thought it might be neat to get a few other people to post about their own experiments with magic, as well as the culture of the occult.

I’ve invited Vince Stevens, a contributor to Manifesting Prosperity, and Innowen, another experimental magician to post about some of their ongoing works. Vince’s first post, on Role Models in the Occult, was posted earlier tonight. I may be adding a couple more people as time goes on, so be on the lookout for posts about experiments that other magicians are engaged in!

Magic and Role Models

The Occult and Role Models

Humans are social creatures, and we inevitably seek people to model our behavior off of. Magicians and mystics are no different.

My experience with the occult, from some early Robert Anton Wilson, Jung, and general mysticism, has largely been from Taoist sources. Interested in meditation, Chi work, and philosophy, it was a natural for me - and Taoist lore has a rich source of colorful tales, characters, and practitioners. My experiences, thus, are a mixture of Western psychology, and an Eastern mysticism containing everything from mental exercises to tales of drunken poets.

Taoism of course provides a lot of fascinating role models, from legendary to more contemporary figures - writers, magicians, scribes, humor writers, and more. There’s an emphasis on people who pass on teachings, advise others, find teachers, and so on. Role models are, in short, a part of it’s tradition, from the mystics to the doctrinaire religious teachings.

However, this influence on me was not something I noticed until lately, and considering how I would look at legendary figures and modern translators as role models led to me asking the question about role models for other occultists.

At least in my experience, I find little consideration given to role models in occultism. People certainly have them, as noted it’s human nature, but I rarely see it discussed. However occult practice involves creating change, it involves symbol and association, and thus I’d say the role models an occultism choses are of paramount importance to what one achieves.

As discussed here on this blog, not everyone is exactly thrilled with Aleister Crowley. I give him his due, but I do consider him to be overrated merely because his reputation seems to be far more than deserved. However, I’d ask another question - how many people is he a role model to, and is he a good choice? I’d say he was smart - but I wouldn’t want to be a copy of him.

Or for that matter other mystics - Phil Hine, Grant Morrison, David Lee, Isaac Bonnewitz, and so on - how many people out there are basing their lives on them? How many, for that matter, know it?

If you’re an occultist, ask yourself who your role model is - and you can be sure you probably have one or two or more, even if you don’t like to think you do. Why did you pick them? Are they a good choice? Are you living up to them? Are you exceeding them?

Examining one’s occult role models lets you understand yourself, your choices, and what you become.

That, of course, is a major part of magic.

- Vince Stevens

Facial Action Coding and Posism

Something Bill Whitcomb turned me on to recently is Facial Action Coding (FACS). It’s a coding system that attempts to taxonimize human facial expressions (just imagine the correspondence charts with that!). For me this is interesting, because I see some related threads in the neuroscience works I’ve been reading in terms of how facial expressions have been used in experiments with emotions. Add in, what I consider to be some potential for magical work via the usage of facial expressions, in terms of invocations or for identity work and FACS could have some pretty cool applications.

Now what’s really interesting though is when you can combine posture and gesture into something like FACS. To some degree we do this already on an automatic level, but of course my interest is on a conscious level…and we can thank Pascal Beverly Randolph for some suggestions toward that. In his book Sexual Magic, he discusses a concept called Posism, which is a method where you use body language, gestures, and postures as a way of embodying a concept or emotion you want to work with magically. You can see some of his stage magician background with this technique, but I’d be interested in finding out if he was influenced by 18th century rhetoric schools which taught rhetoricians poses and gestures that could be used to evoke emotional responses from their audiences.

For Posism to work the magician creates a mental state which s/he associates with the gesture. The idea is that the gesture then creates the thought, which in turn acts as an influence on both the magician and the environment around hir. Sounds an awful lot like NLP anchoring, doesn’t it? Actually you can probably base some of the influence of ritual poses in Western Magic on Yoga, but also PBR’s Posism techniques.

In anycase, Posism, combined with NLP techniques and FAC  might provide some intriguing possibilities in terms of creating different emotional states and other altered states of consciousness through the use of body posture, gesture, facial expression, and of course anchoring. I don’t know enough about FACS yet, but I’ve started using Posism and NLP for certain engagements and it’s proving helpful…so when I learn more I’ll be sure to update.