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Magickal utopia or prison planet?

  
 
Gypsy Lantern
10:41 / 18.10.02
I was going to post this in the 'random questions' thread, as it grew out of my thoughts on 'does magic work?', but thought I might give it a thread on its own as it rapidly became several interconnected questions:

Do you think magic is for everyone? And if so, do you envision a possible future where every human being is a magician, taking responsibility for their own perceptions of reality, with each human being living in the kind of world that they would most like to live within. Although this may sound like an unlikely scenario, is it more unlikely than fish climbing out of water and growing legs to walk on land? Is the practice of magic synonomous with initiating a personal evolution?

Therefore, should everyone be encouraged to practice magic? Can the popularity of magically derived 'self-improvement' courses such as NLP, be seen as an indicator that this evolutionary process is in effect within the populace at large? If you are a practising magician of some years standing, do you at some level consider yourself further along the evolutionary scale than those who don't practice/believe in magic? This is a somewhat fascistic paradigm, but is it not inherent within the concept of magic as path to evolution?

If we accept (for the sake of this discussion) that magical practice = evolutionary process, can everyone then be transformed into a magician? Aren't there a lot of people who are never going to get it, and would that not make them fairly talented monkeys in comparison to yourself as a magician/evolving being? In the Utopia scenario posited above, what will happen to all of the people who just don't have it in them to become sorcerors? How do you juxtapose the inherent cruelty of the evolutionary process with the feelings of compassion that are generally implied in the notion of a magickal Utopia?

Do you really think such a self-created Utopia will ever be possible? Or are we actually just a viral intelligence genetically programmed to use up all of the earth's resources, and in the meantime fight for meager opportunities to eat and procreate within the oppressive industrial environment that we've built and filled with all the fear, madness and cruelty common to our brutal animal nature? If the latter option sounds more likely, how do you consider your role as a magician within this environment?

When I first started getting into magic it was the early 90's and I remember feeling a genuine expectation of light, life, love and liberty. Chaos magick still felt new and exciting, my reading material was filled with things like The Invisibles, Robert Anton Wilson, loads of dodgy New Falcon titles, books on psychedelics, etc.. 'Rave' was still (just about) in full swing and I'd recently discovered the wonders of E, wherein all music was the music of the spheres, and the phrase 'every man and woman is a star' really was an undeniable reality, not a Thelemic platitude. The Millenium was a handful of years away, and popular culture was filled with all manner of bizarre instances of Millenial fever, aliens and the whole X-Files/conspiracy thing, a phantasmagoria of Utopian expectancy.

And then the year 2000 kicked in, and from my perspective, the ground has shifted considerably. The world and magickal environment in the 00's ('the zeroes' somehow seems far more fitting than 'the naughties') looks very very different to what it was when I initially got into this stuff. Which could easily be due to something as mundane as the fact that I'm older and more jaded, or perhaps something as exotic as Grant M's much touted sunspot theory, I dunno, but it's something I find quite interesting to speculate about. I think my questions can probably be summed up/simplified as: If the magician is an evolutionary agent, what do you consider to be the role of the magician in this current decade?
 
 
illmatic
11:06 / 18.10.02
Bloody Hell! That's a whole heap of question whcih I am not even going to attempt to answer totally as I am on my lunch break (the fact that my time is stil dictated by things like lunch breaks might indicate that I'm not that far up the evolutionary ladder). Just to say, you mught want to have a look at Tom's thread "The New Futility" in Headshop which seems to be addressing the same loss of optimism that you're talking about.

A lot of what you're talking about ie. notions of indviduality etc. seems to be quite Thelemic - I think we are become increasingly indvidualised at least in the West but there's a chance we might slip back into the mire quite quickly, especially as our indviduality is so bound up with consumerism and it's associated ruining of the ecology. As for the construction of Utopia (quickly), Crowley tried in Cefalu, and failed. Due to his own hubris and general failure to look at his own condtioning amogst other things. I don't know if I'd want to live in Utopia, Thelemic or otherwise. Perfection is always scary. Perhaps some things should stay on the plane of Aziluth to inspire, rather than getting grounded in Assiah to fuck us up.

By the way, I found this essay quite inspiring: 3 Pillars of Thelema which perhaps talks about what you're looking at from a different angle.

I'm aware that I haven't even begun to answer your questions - so more later.
 
 
gravitybitch
14:14 / 18.10.02
Quickie before I run off to work -

I think everybody "should" be evolving on a personal level, but I think some folks would be better off taking a non-magickal path... I don't think magick is for everyone, but that doesn't mean that non-mages can't find enlightenment!

I'd love to see a general acknowledgment of magick in society, think it's essential that acts of magick poke holes in the ideals of "consumer culture" which is basically nothing but a glamour anyway...

The role of the magickian in this decade? I'd settle for exposing the lies behind consumer culture and generating the feeling that *everything* is interconnected. Raise the levels of synchronicity somehow, get people to realize that everything they do has repercussions and that what they choose to do actually does make a difference.
 
 
Wrecks City-Zen
20:42 / 18.10.02
... do you envision a possible future where every human being is a magician, taking responsibility for their own perceptions of reality, with each human being living in the kind of world that they would most like to live within...

Flashback to the "dark ages" my friend, that was the time you speak of. Until ended abruptly by The Mage Wars and soon, everyone was being forced to "share" reality instead of having a personal one...all by way of the church/monotheism forcing us to believe in "one thing"

At least that's what I heard...
 
 
penitentvandal
21:05 / 18.10.02
What is the role of the magician in this decade? Christ, that's a huge bloody question! Thinking cap on...

The last decade marked an astonishing interpolation of heretofore 'secret' magickal memes into the culture at large. The Invisibles. The Matrix. Fight Club. Harry Potter. Philip Pullman. Even Buffy! What were formally our own 'secret' ideas are now floating around in the general headspace. To take Philip Pullman as an example - school-age kids are now getting, essentially, books about Blake, Milton, and gnostic theology, all wrapped up in a nice, readable heroic-fantasy format. This is very cool.

The next stage, I think, is for us magicians ourselves to emerge. To come out and take point, and enter into the actual systems of our culture. The logistics. Grant Morrison setting up gmword and adopting the trappings and systems of 'business', for example. What would happen if we had a statistically noticeable movement of magicians into education, the health service, local and national politics? It's a thought worth thinking. In an era of astonishing change and upheaval, couldn't it be argued that the magician's role as an evolutionary agent is to reconfigure the synapses of our culture, by invading and inoculating them? Maybe we could even nudge the system toward accepting Pete Carroll's 'chaocracy' idea...

That's my suspicion, anyway. But I'm open to other suggestions.
 
 
Boy in a Suitcase
01:03 / 19.10.02
I agree. Perhaps there should be more roles for magicians to fill other than the traditional "guru" or "rebel." Maybe we can come up with those kinds of things here.

Can't vouch for Chaocracy but I definitely think we should be working to push all of the culture out of the green meme and into the Turquoise Level of spiral dynamics.

As for the new futility: I wonder if it's not the 2012 information barrier itself that makes some of us feel as if we have no say in the world? A dodgy theory but it's a decade off and I can really feel it coming deep in my bones... like rain if I was on old farmer... how do we face an apocalypse that will consume everything, including the strategies we use to face it?
 
 
cusm
01:03 / 20.10.02
I think Utopia is in itself a failure, as in perfection is stasis and in stasis death. Life evolves, changes, strives towards something better. It is that evolution itself continues that is of prime importance. If the magician is an evolutionaty agent, as one aware of this process and thus able to act, hir responsibility is then to make sure it continues to happen. Stimulate change, free information, and combat memes which seek to dominate all others. It is by opposing utopia that we move closer to it.
 
 
SMS
02:06 / 20.10.02
I don't think a magician is any higher on the evolutionary ladder than an artist or a businessman. Then again, I don't think that there's an evolutionary ladder, or a well-defined hierarchy of universal greatness.

Is magic for everyone? Magic has such broad, sweeping definitions that it may very well be that the answer is yes. Not everyone needs to have an association with Greek gods or to charge sigils, of course, but that's only a portion of what might be used.

do you envision a possible future where every human being is a magician, taking responsibility for their own perceptions of reality, with each human being living in the kind of world that they would most like to live within.

I doubt that it is possible for everyone to take responsibility of his own perception of reality. The interplay amongst the people of this world is much more complicated than this. My idea of reality has been formed by the language I use, the language and symbols of my parents, my friends, and so on. Without these things, it isn't clear that there would be such a thing as reality, or even perception. The world that I would like to live in is itself a world imagined only in the context of this world. Our desires are not independednt of the world. They are shaped by the world and they shape the world. The only way I can see some kind of equilibrium forming here would require the freeing oneself of attachment that so many religions have discovered.

If we accept (for the sake of this discussion) that magical practice = evolutionary process, can everyone then be transformed into a magician?
I hope I'm not rejecting the equality by doing this, but I would suggest that magical practice = spiritual development of some kind. This avoids wonky science, and I think it makes the answer clearer. Yes, everyone can, in theory, be a magician.

If the magician is an evolutionary agent, what do you consider to be the role of the magician in this current decade?
I've always thought of the magic itself answering this question. What is my role? It turns out that the answer I get isn't unique to magicians, but is certainly unique to me. The magicians job might be simply to live in and amongst society, making efforts to do what is right and just and to keep food on the table. I think that's what this decade is going to show us. The magician stops being hip, cool, and different.
 
 
Nietzsch E. Coyote
07:37 / 20.10.02
No the magician becomes hip, cool, and different rather than weird or crazy.
 
 
Wrecks City-Zen
19:51 / 20.10.02
Yep.

Magician is to the 2000's as DJing was to the 90's...
 
 
Rev. Wright
20:28 / 20.10.02


Can ya feel the force?
 
 
gravitybitch
02:09 / 21.10.02
The next stage, I think, is for us magicians ourselves to emerge. To come out and take point, and enter into the actual systems of our culture. The logistics... [snip] ...In an era of astonishing change and upheaval, couldn't it be argued that the magician's role as an evolutionary agent is to reconfigure the synapses of our culture, by invading and inoculating them? Maybe we could even nudge the system toward accepting Pete Carroll's 'chaocracy' idea...

Interesting. Innoculating with what? (my reading has not yet embraced the concept of chaocracy)

For some reason, I'm seeing the role of the magickian as a small but important one in the near future. Think of a local "fixer" - concierge, facilitator, consultant... This could make life much more pleasant for the folks cool enough to patronize such a practitioner (anybody for a tax-free barter system?), get the "magick works" meme out there, and increase the weird quotient... something I'm all for!
 
 
Rev. Wright
10:13 / 21.10.02
My personal/professional opinion on this is that the Magickian will come full circle and be the wounded healers/shamans for the Comm.Unity. Facilitating society with many of the functions of local council.
As depicted in the photo above, I have integrated my practice with my entertaining and film-making. To pass information (which is empowering) back to the people via stories/documentaries and ritual celebration.
 
 
rorkboy
11:00 / 21.10.02
I think in today`s society magicians or wannabes ( like me ) are more important than ever. Hacking reality, seeing it your own way, burning dogmas, thinking for yourself and gaining power it`s the real humanity today. When more and more factors want to control every aspect of our live, thoughts and views on reality - the more ' brain dynamites ' and ' invisibles cells ' are useful. Like Nietzsche said - ' i am not a man, i am a dynamite '. The more people can say that about themselves - the better world we will live in. Sorry for weak English.
 
 
illmatic
12:10 / 21.10.02
Izabelle: What you're talking about sounds like the traditional role of Shaman? (BTW, this is why I have such a problem with people who call themselves "Shamans", most of the time they do fuck all for any kind of community, apart from charge the earth for overpriced workshops).
Perhaps the growth of practicioners of alternative medicine fits this role, alongside the tendency to self-medication, self-help? (Bit too "broad" this I know...)
 
 
Gypsy Lantern
13:21 / 21.10.02
"For some reason, I'm seeing the role of the magickian as a small but important one in the near future. Think of a local "fixer" - concierge, facilitator, consultant..."

"the Magickian will come full circle and be the wounded healers/shamans for the Comm.Unity. Facilitating society with many of the functions of local council."

"The magicians job might be simply to live in and amongst society, making efforts to do what is right and just and to keep food on the table."

"Perhaps there should be more roles for magicians to fill other than the traditional "guru" or "rebel." Maybe we can come up with those kinds of things here."

So much of what is being said on this thread is in-line with my own feelings on the above issues. I'm becoming more and more convinced that what's emerging is a 21st century update of the 'local cunning man/woman' job description - which kind of ties in to Mr Morrison's recent speculations about 'lo-fi weirdness'.

A lot of the above posts on magic as an evolutionary process have helped to crystalise some of my half-formed notions on this kind of thing. I'm increasingly inclined to think of the role of the magician as a facilitator or even 'midwife' for the evolutionary process, existing at the sharp end of things and responsible for safely navigating the community through the turbulence of this process. Which obviously can (and will) take as many forms as there are magicians to engage with it, but I definitely reckon 'the community sorceror' is an interesting expression of this.

There's something very appealing in the irony that the latest ultra-modern futuristic 21st century expression of the role of the magician, may turn out to be identical to that of the first Stone Age shaman. Guiding the community through the evolutionary process, and doing our best to help people with the practical concerns that may arise amidst the turbulence of the shift. Putting food on the table, making sure everyone in the tribe makes the transition, making sure nobody gets lost along the way, etc...

You could probably draw a comparison/speculate that it was the earliest Shaman equivalents who guided the species that became the human race through the various stages of evolution. Developing and disseminating alien powers such as 'language' throughout the tribe and allowing them to perform feats of 'communication' and 'organisation' that were seemingly miraculous to the advanced apes who lacked these magickal powers. You could maybe speculate that we're living in times equivalent to this, and there's never been a more important time for the magician/shaman to perform this kind of function.

The New Futility vibe almost forces us to go back and work at a grass roots level, as it's no longer an option to ride on the currents of optimism peculiar to the pre-Millenial period. In my opinion, every act of sorcery aimed at doing practical stuff like helping somebody find a job, or stopping a local MP with a bad track record for environmental policy from getting into power, or keeping a local library open, etc.. is worth a hundred mass sigil chargings for abstract unprovable utopian concepts.

I think it's just about doing what you can at a practical level using sorcery or whatever abilities you may have (writing, art, music, business skills, whatever) to guide the people in your community/tribe through the turbulent times we're living in and towards something better. Finding footholds on the evolutionary cliff-face and letting other people know where they are, digging and sign-posting psychic escape tunnels from the rat-race/mouse-trap of consumer society, etc... and doing this by living in and engaging with society and using magic to serve the practical needs of the people who are travelling with you - in the same way that the metaphorical stone age shaman bloke might have taught everybody how to use language, but also sorted out the hyper-sigil cave paintings that helped his tribe catch their dinner.
 
 
pacha perplexa
20:43 / 21.10.02
Do you think magic is for everyone? And if so, do you envision a possible future where every human being is a magician, taking responsibility for their own perceptions of reality,

I'd like to imagine so, but "everyone" seems so utopic. Have to think more about it.

Anyway, it could be a matter of evolution, which would imply that those who know magick are the 'ubermensch', somehow superior, 'evolved'. Doesn't fit the fact that I've met or learned about people who didn't have a clue about manipulating reality, and still were capable of incredible insights and knowledge.


with each human being living in the kind of world that they would most like to live within.

Reading this makes me want to cry, because is such a fantastic image and so unattainable when you come to think of actual people. My mother works with malnourished children and their moms (obviously very poor) on her spare time, and she was saying that many of the women are so deeply unnacustommed to being asked what they wanted, what were their feelings, how could they be helped, that they simply didn't know how to reflect on life, the very thought of 'thinking' is buried and starved somewhere in them. Many of them live to watch soap operas and try to take care of home and kids, and I can't see magick fitting into this.

I think it's just about doing what you can at a practical level using sorcery or whatever abilities you may have (writing, art, music, business skills, whatever) to guide the people in your community/tribe through the turbulent times we're living in and towards something better.

I absolutely agree with that, you summed it all up. It's not about being a magician, in the end.
 
  
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