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Why magic?
I'm not sure I understand what magic is, and to me it looks in many cases, as Quantum says, decoration.
I have no experience of magic to talk of. By this I mean I have never performed something I would consider magical. My wealth of knowledge about magic has been derived soley from a reading of Generation Hex, scan reading some Crowley, a couple a of magazine articles and the occasional reading of the Temple - so feel free to tell me to shut up.
Sigil Magick - I fail to see what the purpose of the Sigil is. If there is something I need help with, an object I require, or something needs to be done it is only natural to think and focus upon this after which normal life is resumed and the thoughts drift underneath conciousness, when the object or answer is found you remember clearly the initial energy you put into finding the solution. It seems to me the sigil is a very mechanical ritualised form of something that is entirely natural. Why conceive a thought, translate it into a picture, memorise the picture, associate it with the thought and then try and forget it all*.Would it not be much easier to visulise the intent then allow to slide away to the recesses of the mind - a process I find entirely natural and helpful in day to day life.
The use of Gods - I am wary of talk of gods and interactions with them. I had a solid catholic upbringing until the age of 14/15(I'd decided most of it was bullshit by the age of 11 or 12) and I see scary similarities between catholics use of saints and the magicians use of gods - wether this is good/bad/indifferent I'm not sure, it just fills me with dread. As a catholic I used holy water going in & out the house, talismans would be used for holidays and exams, recently dead would be prayed to and for to elevate them to saint level - after which they could be called on for favours. It sometimes feels that the gods could be catholic saints only with much cooler artwork and far more hit points. This is one of my problems with catholicism, it seems to spend a lot less time devoted to God due to the amount that has to be spent on Mary/saints/ old popes** etc. Why mess about with intermediaries, I would rather have meaningful relationships with my, human/animal, friends and spend the other time trying to find the source(for want of a better word) of all, not something stuck on another plane.
To continue my tirade I will approach drugs and magick. I spent a few years experimenting with drugs and thouroughly enjoyed myself, got some real insights, and forged bonds with people I feel will never be broken. I have no problem with people using drugs for magick I can see it would be espicially useful to attain particular states of conciousness and is bassically a shortcut to states that would otherwise take a hell of a lot of work and discipline. What I didn't get was something I read in Generation Hex it involved months of planning, preparation, opening, closing and a lot of Auming. I can't recall who wrote the essay and I'm aware they may be reading this, I'm not trying to cause offence and I'm certainly not saying it's wrong, I just don't get it. Surely being natural with those you will be hanging out with during it, spending time together, ensuring you are comfortable with each other and bassically having good friends you know and trust along with a good atmosphere is enough for exploring the mind with friends. The magical side seems again to me like decoration. I was shocked that a blanket/rug was used to open and close the trip, it sounded like a young child needing their special blanket when going to bed. From my experience a trip doesn't need to be closed, people start coming round to reality, some normal music a cup of tea and some biscuits restore normality perfectly well.
I guess what I'm getting at is that if magic is real and it's everywhere, even in washing the dishes, then what's the point of ritual. Surely life is the ritual of magic and living life well is performing magic well. For me the processes seem to get in the way of the doing it - Gypsys' trance walking mentioned in Generation Hex, why not just walk home talking everthing in, appreciating the world and listening to it, why walk under an archway or whatever and bring magic into the walk? (starting and ending with the begining and end of the jouney makes far more sense to me).
I've posted this with no experience of much of it which I have seen can be a problem in the Temple, however, I was hoping that because the post was outlining why I'm having difficulty entering in to a magical frame of mind, I might manage to escape with no more than a few cuts and grazes along with a new angle with which to approach or start approaching maahhjikz.
I have typed much of this rant without much careful consideration of content or wording( aside from a spell check). Please question and at least allow me one attempt at defence before ripping my arsehole out and feeding it to the gods to power your Sigils***
I was intending on posting something similar in the stupid questions thread but figured this might fit the bill
*I have no idea if this is correct
** the old popes bit might be rubbish but it didn't feel right with only two examples.
***light hearted fun poking I hope. |
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