Nothing in the world can take the place of Slack. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful Magickians with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost guaranteed. Education alone will not; the world is full of educated dissidents. Unadulterated Slack alone is omnipotent.
Riding The Chaos Tsunami: As in Belief; So in Doubt
The one pre-requisite that makes itself readily apparent is your willingness to embrace change (possibly even radical change) because once your Magickings begin picking up speed the frequency of crucial decision making events will also start increasing. This is not to say that complacence is somehow your enemy (although discontent usually acts as a formidable ally), but stubborness and unwillingness to change certainly may offer an enormous obstacle for the Magickian in training. The deliberate alteration of who and what and how (and quite possibly where) you are should be at the root of your Magickings.
Once the swell rises you can choose to either surf the crest, swim to shore, or sink below the turbulent surface repeatedly enough to thrash even the faintest glimpse of direction from the core of your doing. Hopefully this book will provide you with the tools to survive any of those three options or fabricate an entirely new solution on your own. The simple fact we're trying to convey here is that Magick is real and that Magicking works and more importantly that even small amounts of effort will pay off and produce results and you will find yourselves receiving a lap-dance from the Fates so make sure to break your currency down to smaller denominations as gratuity for those fine ladies shaking their stank in your face.
In other words, things will start happening that you will need to deal with accordingly. I offer this warning especially to enabled escapists who imagine that Magicking is somehow a communal religious phenomena (as opposed to an intimate mystical one) that will guide their choices in life and provide them with the power to keep themselves safe, sane, and sure through devotion to one or more philosophies or doctrines. In that case you may have mistaken the Astrum Argentum for Alcholics Anonymous. The only type of liberation that occurs from the admittance of powerlessness is the liberation from thinking for yourself. Don't get me wrong, a Magickians effectivness is the direct result of hir adherence to specific boundries (as the Magick which exists without conscious formulation (intent) can be said to act independently of the Magickian hirself), but the only dogma worth adhering to with astringent tenacity is that of disobedience to any set of ideals, philosophies, politics, traditions, beliefs, or techniques.
There is very little in the way of proof for us distinguish between doubt and belief as they appear operationally identical. In simple words, a lack of belief is still a belief so be careful not to invest too much faith in the mechanism of doubt as it produces the same effects that belief does. When we examine such idealogues as Atheism, Nihilism, and Agnosticism under this lens we find that those who build their beliefs purely upon disbelief only serve to amplify the validity of the subject itself; not their specific opinion of it. Atheists only strengthen the grasp organized religion has over the populus, Agnostics only reaffirm that humanity seeks purpose through the intangible one way or the other, and Nihilists reaffirm that the boundires of tradition will indefinitely sculpt our cultural indentity whether through adherence or abandonment to those traditions.
The idea here is to keep your work fresh and keep yourself interested. Revitalization is necessary for you to remain adaptable throughout any undertaking. You'll do yourself no service holding true to one side of any thing despite its opposite. It's imperative to seek out that which repels you. Make a habit of deconstructing your personal taboos and you will rarely find yourself in a stale head space as the things we fear, hate, and ignore are the very things we seek to change as Magickians. You need not even bother wasting too much time asking yourself why. Simply engage in an activity or espouse a belief that's completely alien to your default personality. This simple habit of holding your nose to the cough medicine may very well initiate a domino effect that begins trampling obstacles in your path. I suppose this goes along with the whole business of "knowing thyself" eventhough I still interpet that piece of advice in the biblical sense of the phrase.
The Magickian-in-training will often reach a point of antagonism in acclimating to reality's realities. For those who find themselves hindered by this particular satrap I will offer one further warning. Before you dowse yourself with Abramelin oil, draw blood from your finger in Azathoth's name, and scream poorly enunciated gibberish Enochian barbaric backwards at the top of your lungs butt naked under the full moon in an attempt to steer the chaos thunderbolt toward the unquestioned fulfillment of all your earthly desires, please recognize one thing: Magicking does not represent a means for enabled escapists to learn how to deal with reality, to the contrary, Magicking provides us with an engine for manifestation that allows us the time and space to manipulate probabilities for our own ends within our pre-existing reality. Magick does not offer you a way of life. You have to find that for yourselves. Enabled escapists would do themselves much more benefit and save much more time and effort by simply picking up a self-help course or a get rich quick scheme or calling an escort service because Magicking will not instantly generate miracles for you no matter how well you calculate probabilities.
Without Fluff You May Very Well Remain Flacid
I hope to clear up any misunderstandings in regards to what is meant by the term fluff. We are not implying fluffy white bunnies as that would lead us by way of metaphor into the adjective realm of gentle softness and cuddly tree-hugging care bear-ness. That is not what we mean by fluff. When a male porno star is fluffed (usually by a fluffer; the one doing the fluffing) it means that outside help is utilized to get the actor aroused. So, what we mean by fluff in Magicking is something that gets your blood pumping. Something that when you read it enables you to complete further research, conduct further experential tests, perform further experiments. Fluff is what gets you going. It's what kindles or rekindles your interest in something that for all intents and purposes is completely imaginary fantasy world solipsistic mental masturbation (disciplines of the body notwithstanding, martial arts, yoga, qi-gong, tai-chi, etc).
There is nothing wrong with fluff as long as you know that it's fluff. I will be the first to admit that I make fun of fluff-driven Llewellyn publications, and karmically obsessed white-lighters, but I have no doubt in my mind that all of that crap works. In fact, anything will work. And that fact should be as mutually terrifying of a concept as it is liberating. Fluff is a tool that needs constant upgrading and increased grandiosity to remain effective. It is an agency for mystical experience or at the very least a primer for entering into the proper mindset to perform some sort of work that requires us to temporarily abandon ordinary consciousness. Although, you don't have to know anything about the historical practice of Magicking to be a Magickian. Some of the greatest Magickian in history may have died laughing at the idea of waving wands for the sake of wanton wizardry, but no doubt there contributions to humanity's greatest achievements as inventors or scientists or politicians are still evident. These people are still the makers of Magickal mythology.
This collaborative effort is filled with lots of objective, conceptual overviews, opinions, and obligatory recipes that all intend to wet the appetite of the Magickian-in-training with further hunger for mystical knowlegde and magickal power. Most books on the subject of Magick provide the reader with a mechanical overview of the art, but Magicking is not a philosophy, nor a way of life, as it does not contain any inherent forms of doctrine, dogma, or do's and don'ts aside from the evidence we gather through trial and error. All that Magick is is a technology. It is quite literally the technology of belief. Herein lies the difference between Magick in theory and Magicking in practice. And obviously our continued use of the word practice denotes the imperfectable nature of the craft which is a holistic mirror of humanity itself. I will go only as far as to admit that spirituality is very important to Magicking when it is defined properly. Spirituality should equate to the Magickian's attitude. You can get almost anywhere and do almost any thing or any one based solely on the proper attitude. Fake it if you don't actually feel it.
Snowball Momentum: Enduring The Scorpion's Sting
I will offer the recomendation that the Magickian-in-training atempt a series of Retroactive Enchantments (what Steve Wilson has dubbed Reverse Time Magick) in order to build up momentum in their work. Essentially, the retroactivation of magick employs the use of some form of sigil as an anchor to enchant for what already exists in your life. This type of excercise allows the Magickian-in-training to imagine that she has created (willed forth) this reality for hirself. It allows us the oppurtunity to take credit for who and what we are, how we got there, and where we're going. It builds up a certain special kind of momentum that propels the intensity of your work; further engraining the idea of the Magickian-in-training as responsible for hir own realities deeper into hir mind. Eventually it will turn into an involuntary reflex embedded in the Magickian's muscle memory.
In order to allow yourself access to the past and future you must place yourself at the cross-current in the continuum of here and now. This is achieved by first concocting a ritual wherein we sigilize for something which already exists or has existed in our life. The next step in this ritual consists of sigilizing in the normal fashion (for something we want in the future) with a statement of intent which has some degree of similarity to the pre-existing result we've taken credit for in the reverse time sigil.
This is an oversimplistic illustration of how the Magickian deprograms and consequently reconditions hirself from the inside out. In no way shape or form can the practice of Mind Control be overstressed as the more you expand your consciousness and open yourself up to Chaos the more difficult it may become to control your psycho-somatic responses. And also that Mind Control implies bi-directionality as the Magickian who does not set out to control hir own mind will assuredly find someone or something else attempting to control it for them.
As the title of this section infers, the scorpion's sting in this instance refers to the possibility of boredom and/or loss of purpose along the way. You may ask yourself "What the hell am I continuing to pretend that I have willed all that I am, own, and experience?" and my only answer is that patience and persistence will prove that the practice of pretention tends itself toward plausible perfection. The repeated performance of Retroactive Enchantments helps the Magickian-in-training to grow aware of the actual mechanism behind Magick. Building up momentum also serves as the test zone for theoretical Magickings you may have concocted on your own.
By taking stock and credit for everything in hir own life the Magickian-in-training may soon realize that manifestation is not bound by moral restraints, it simply finds the simplest route and takes it. So, enchanting for immortal wealth or some vague notion of god-on-earthhood will probably not work at all or if it does it will manifest in such a bizzare, remote fashion that you never take notice, but it may also put a great strain on nature, or injure some cherished person or thing in your life. The world can't be changed, but the Magickian's reality can. The only life preserver inherent to Magicking is commonly called a banishing although even this is something that builds up effectiveness over time as it works its magick on the subtle psychosomatic plane also known as your sphere of sensation. The simplest and most effective form of banishing seems to be laughter in both formal magickal and informal everyday situations. Live to laugh and learn to forget.
One of the main reasons Chaos Magickian have a reputation as unsavory characters is their ability to laugh at almost any situation whether it be light, heavy, beautiful or disastrous. The momentum built up from training yourself to laugh at any situation makes us appears as rather maniacal creatures, but the real definition of enlightenment is to lighten up, to not take things so seriously. We learn to react without judgement first and once the possibility of poor response is removed we are allowed a greater perspective on every situation. At a cursory glance it seems as though we're saying "everything in your life is your fault, accept it", but that applys a negative linguistic reinforcement (fault, blame) actually we're trying to imply that it may be more benefifical to us as Magickian to accept that we are in varying control of what manifests around us.
It would quickly become a boring world if we were constantly in total control of everything in our lives, but it seems rather obvious that total control is illusory. If a magickian eventually finds themselves blaming themselves for some tragedy in their lives or the lives of those they love it should serve as a distinct marker separating what aspects of manifestation truly can or cannot be controlled. It should also help to allow the Magickian-in-training to be more specfic in their intentions and be more attendant to the prioritization of their desires.
Sociological Seidwork: Practical Applications for Human Behavior and Anthropology
People in my life (i.e. my friends, relatives, neighbors, and associates) come to me with their problems. Simply put, I'm a problem solver and a go-to Mage on many and varying levels for my friends, relatives, neighbors, associates and their friends, relatives, neighbors, and associates (which, after exponential calculations, amounts to a hell of a lot of fuckin' people). Some of these people actually pay me for my problem solving services as I am that resourceful of an individual. It would be a prodcut of overweening neglect if I imagined all of those people who seek out my help as gullible or naive. It seems inherent to the human condition to need other people. Other people to reassure us we are not alone and not insane. Whereas much of my career as a go-to man began doing favors for a few small social circles who sought to entertain my reputation, it has now reached the level of everything from the construction of fetish objects on a problem-specific basis for clients to the performance of quasi-ceremonial spectacles intended to improve certain apsects of their lives or work as an apotropaic agent against negative influences in their lives. It sounds so much more ridiculous and pompous as I type it than it actually is as I live it.
I believe I may have inherited this role as somewhat of a lifestyle consultant from my grandmother who was prone to offering advice to her friends, relatives, neighbors, and associates who in turn directed their friends, relatives, neighbors, and associates to my grandmother who received payment for her help. She went about making complex handicrafts for certain individuals while promising to light candles and say novena's for others as she had gained a reputation as some sort of hedge witch. The one thing she taught me indirectly is that the Magickian-in-training may not have to learn the value of hard work as that line of ethics implies tedious labor, but what she does have to learn is how to hustle. The Magickian is just a paradigm hustler.
Your mythology boils down to nothing more than your reputation. This is where the term Nothing is True comes into play in a very non-tenuous way. By redefining your past, taking stock of your present, and projecting into the unknowable reaches of the future you are in turn making-up a new you. By altering your perception of yourself you are exerting your will on reality. You can fabricate and re-fabricate your reputation (personal myhology) just as easily as your personality. And, even other people's attempts to demonize to defame you will only serve to amplify your notariety of your mythology as there is no such thing as bad publicity. Method acting proves that faking what you don't actually feel tends to work very effectively as the psyche eventually softens up and becomes vulnerable to repeated suggestion and re-affirmation of any given trait or idea or view of self. The lens is easily tinted with the knowledge that Magicking offers circumstancial transformations that do not necessarily guarantee effects as one results or its opposite will still demonstrate that Magick works as it confirms the context in which a person lives their life.
Visualization, Abstraction, and Concentration
Writing about Magick is no daunting task if you wish to avoid beating the dead whores to a bloody pulp. In fact it may even be said that it is an act of Magick in and of itself. The reason for this is that there is simply too much of an inclination for poetical tirades and broad overviews that smack of Kenneth Grant rather than raw objective technique and subjective layman explanations. What is written as a framework within the pages of a book can in no way prepare one for the extremity that a ritual or ceremony or initiation actually contains. It's messy business. It's driven by spontaneity and unexpectedness (even in solo performances) as the entire business of Magicking consists of convincing yourself of something extraordinary. It is Magick afterall and the world is indeed a stage, but no place is the stage more well equipped with special effects, lighting, and image generation than the Magickian's mind.
To imagine that reality exists solely in the mind is bullocks. We realize that the exertion of Will must in many ways circumvent the ideal of our own and other people's Perception. That is, the mind consists of many realities which are all vying for their slot as the realest reality (that being the most affectual one, of course) and while this plethora of realities (possibilities) is engaged in the game of dominance we attempt to manipulate the unmanifest possibilities (realities) through the alteration of our Perception (think or looking at reality differently) or the exertion of our Will (commanding or choosing a particular reality). It seems apparent that humans are creatures that function and interact with one another primarily in a world of prolific symbols. Humanity is much less likely to pay attention to exactly what you're saying (content) as it is to pay attention to how you're saying it (context). This should illustrate what we're looking to extract from ancient traditions as it is not the aesthetic of ritual which is important, it is the mode by which Magicking is approached and applied to everyday life. We don't really care what the ancients were doing we mostly just care to know how they were doing it.
Our powers of concentration are measured most accurately by our ability to defer our attention (e.g. sleight of mind). We might see this in an unflinching monk who has ordered his disciples to light him on fire as protest. The act itself does not have any meaning whatsoever outside of the observer's reaction to it. The monk who uses this type of self-illumination (literally) as their vehicle for conveying their protest is manipulating our reality through a powerful symbolic gesture. We can define three different types of Magicking that utilize the world of prolific symbols as their engines for manifestation. Those are: imitative Magick (achieving results through mimicry), contagious Magick (using materials which have been in contact with the object of the magic), and sympathetic Magick (using items which symbolize the intended object).
Lesser Magickal Glamour: Getting By On Our Look
From direct experience I have to agree with Dr. Christopher Hyatt as he mentions in The Psychopaths Bible that most people get into magick for three reasons to get rich, laid, or even (money, sex, or revenge). All of these can resolve themselves back to the common denominator of Power. Most of us get interested in the occult arts in search of magical power, but this should not come from a source of helplessness or powerlessness as. I always appreciate hearing the answer "Nothing Else Worked" or "All Else Failed" as it pertains to the overachiever in us all and the Apotheosis of Magickians.
No matter how you dress or how you talk you already have something going for you as a magickian (and yes we are all born magickians) your look. And by look I do mean both the way you look and your gaze (the way you look at someone) Sexy (lust), Cute (trust), Intimidating (muscle) Examples: self-lust: try masturbating in front of a mirror.
affirmations [iot article]: tell yourself you deserve to have your desires met. reaffirm what you Can do by Trying
Take advantage of your time. [elemental nomenclature] The only certain price of immortality is the complete and utter acceptance of our own outright terminal mortality. The less energy you invest in the quest to "be heard" the more you'll find the world is listening.
Improvisational Freestyle Sorcery
All that is necessary to effectively 'work' results-based magick is Gnosis (Altered States of Consciousness) and Intent (Conscious Formulation). This is called the bare-handed or open-handed approach. Many well-known Chaos Magickians such as Jan Fries, Frater U.'.D.'., and Austin Osman Spare are practioners of this freestyle approach.
religion is oriented towards transcendental beings (gods, spirits, etc.), but the magician "supplicates no higher power: he sues the favor of no fickle and wayward being.... He can wield his power only as he strictly conforms to the rules of his art, or to what may be called the laws of nature by him.
Hormonal Exhaustion and Spontaneous Evocation on the Dancefloor
Gnosis in the mosh pit, in danceclubs on E, charging sigils, shared hivemindspace conjuring relevant powers thru seemingly nonsensical chants of fomulae (incantation). the movement of the body as an indeterminate particle, chaotic dynamic system intermingling-involuntarily interpreting sound returning the body psychosomatically to its vibrational-informational origin. hyperventilation, sexual energy, aggression release, sharing of sweat, blood, and rythmic pulse heart-breath circulitory stress-endurance-collapse point.
Self-Condemning Hypocrisy and Over-The-Counter Illumination
Honestly, in this day and age anyone who continues to offer you the definition that magick equates to "causing change" (which is simply a misappropriation of Crowley's old "causing change in comformity with will") has not only misunderstood the viral neurolinguistic agency of similarity between coincidental missynonyms (homonymn?) slangs which form deeper psycholexic confusions, but also the inherently problematic supposition of determinate causality. Nothing in our multiverse has the ability to not change. It is a fundamental law of physics. Funny, that when the most people say or write "cause" as in cause and effect, they mean Affect. but apparently affect and effect sounds too silly to become a household hypothesis so we're stuck with the easily misunderstood linguistic misnomer/tumor.
The production of effects in the world by actions, often ritualized, whose source of power is not open to observation