Okay, so one doesn't have to scry far to work out which poster's triggered this. It's something I've been thinking about for a while, though, having observed people I know professionally and/or personally fluctuate in terms of their active interest in magick. I want to make it clear that I'm very tentatively advancing a theory (from the viewpoint of a pshrink whose experience of magick is largely second-hand) about some magicians at certain stages of their lives. I am not simply saying, "all magicians are saddo losers".
It's well recognised that very evolved conspiracy theories often include an element of grandiosity on the part of the conspiracy believer (the underpinning idea being "if They are after me, I must be a special person") and, a few years back, I initiated a long Barbe-discussion in which I suggested that the conspiracy mindset might be a psychologically protective mechanism, an (extremely efficient, if 'psychotic') way of never having to examine or own one's own failures ("I would've achieved great things if They hadn't worked to keep me down").
I wonder sometimes whether a strong interest in magick serves a similar purpose - distancing oneself from creeping disappointment or feelings of underachievement in more 'mainstream' spheres of living - but, instead of obtaining significance through the thrill of persecution, the magician gains his sense of power through the theoretical framework itself ("I may seem insignificant, but I exert my influence on the magickal plane"). Any need to demonstrate material results can be explained away by arguing that the practice of magick is 'above' results-based systems, or that although one possesses great powers, using/showing them would somehow be 'against the rules' (the rule of three times three, etc., etc.) - both responses having the benefit of making the magician appear loftily mystical or more ethical/thoughtful than thou.
(I suppose many self-proclaimed 'psychic vampires' could be said to employ similar methods, IMHO more irritatingly. Y'know, they're not just exhausting, self-obsessed bores; they're sexxxy psychic predators of the vampenergy plane...)
There's not necessarily anything wrong with using magick as a means of feeling good about oneself and one's place in the universe. I do feel, though, that - as with the committed conspiracy theorist - the paradigm can be a devouring one, particularly where social skills are concerned. I've met several magicians who are, basically, rather timid people who seem singularly ill-equipped to deal with normal human interaction, and I can't help but think magick has provided a refuge from the messy world of human contact, a refuge which has become a ghetto, but a ghetto to which they stubbornly cling. This is where the rather unpleasantly misanthropic narcissism comes in, the sub-Nietzsche 'sheeple' crap. It grates because it does nobody any favours; it's a rather adolescent, paper-thin 'fox & grapes' way of projecting one's own fears and failings onto muggle humanity en masse.
Aaanyway. What do other people think? Does this seem familiar, or am I perhaps overgeneralising from my contact with a subset of the magickal community? Also, do Temple-frequenters feel their magickal practice waxes and wanes in direct or inverse proportion to their sense of achievement in other areas of their lives? |
