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March 12, 2004
Magick
True stories about magick, and some random thoughts about it.
What is "magick?"
As a concept far removed from "magic," which has become associated with sleight-of-hand and parlour tricks, magick is a real, everyday occurance.
What does it mean, and how does it work?
I can't really speak for anyone other than myself, and my own experiences with it. I can say that to me, magick appears to be a directed prayer. I am not a scientist, so I can give only a non-scientific interpretation of how the directed prayer works.
First of all, the concept or thought of the need or the reason for the prayer must be conscious to the mind of the magick worker. It must have a concrete, solid thought form in the magickian's mind.
The magickian must then acknowledge his or her connection with the Deity, in whatever name he or she can relate to, in order to relate the request.
The magick prayer will have beneficial effects, as long as it is phrased correctly in positive terms and as if it has already been accomplished. (Spirit tends to have difficulty with the human concept of linear time, and works best when prayer is acknowledged as having already come to pass.)
I checked back through some of my directed prayers from years past, and I found some wonderful things had come to pass. One of the best ones was a directed prayer from about four years ago that outlined where I wanted my life to go in the future. I specified that I wanted to find the perfect husband for me, get married, move out of the area where I was living into a nicer area where the raising of a family would be possible, and finally, have a child before I was forty.
Needless to say, all of these things came to pass, even though I had no idea at the time how they would come to pass! I had not even met my future husband, yet.
An important aspect to any magick working is acting in accordance with the prayer. For example, someone who is working magick to quit smoking should stop buying cigarettes!
I once had a young member of the congregation where I was an associate pastor tell me about her magick-working. She had done a ritual, she said, in order to obtain her perfect car. (As I recall, this was no ordinary vehicle-it was a Porshe!) She was very young, with no educational background or employment history, and she had almost no money. She was still living with her parents.
I asked her what she had done in order to obtain the car.
"Oh," she said, "I told the universe that this was the car I wanted, and I went to where the car was in the night and I wrote my name on it in an inconspicuous spot."
I asked her, "So, what are you doing to obtain the money you need to buy this car? Have you gotten a job?"
"No, I don't want a job!" she said.
"Well, how do you expect to get the car?" I asked.
"That's what the magick is for!" she answered.
Well, as I explained to her then, all the magick in the world isn't going to get you a Porshe if you don't act in accordance. This means, basically, GET A JOB!
It's just common sense.
The universe, Spirit, Deity or whatever you want to call it wants you to be happy. Spirit really wants you to get exactly what you want out of life, as long as it doesn't harm anybody else. However, they want to see some commitment towards your goals. If you set your mind to it, and work towards your goals, as well as doing the magick, then that's when the amazing things start happening in ways you might not possibly have imagined.
Posted by Jessica at March 12, 2004 03:35 PM
Comments
Here are some of my thoughts. I find the most difficult things about talking about things like these are the limits of translating experience to words. Vocabulary is insufficient and ambiguous sometimes; that leads to dozens of ways to say some things and no good ways to say others. This is just the best way I can describe my experiences, but your viewpoints and ways of describing the same thing will undoubtedly differ.
Magic and prayer are very powerful tools – ways to acknowledge your connection to life, place your faith in it, and bring about the changes that need to happen in this world. Entrusting your intentions to the hands of the divine is an act of trust, of reverence, humility, and empowerment. Knowing that life will watch over you if you place your trust in her, a simple faith of potential and possibility… Sensing that you are surrounded by beauty and spirit in all that surrounds you, revering the divine presence infused in life around you… Humbling yourself to realize that you are but part of an unending and ongoing reality… Your own divinity and connection to life empowering you to overflow with life, become the person you need to be, and make a difference in this world. God is the sum of our potentials, and we all do our best to live up to that divine obligation.
I believe that magic works by a deliberate change of perspective. When I pray for change, I ask for the wisdom to better understand the situation, the empathy to better experience the viewpoints involved, and the strength to make the right decision. Life tends to work through you, rather than for you – by acknowledging your need for help and trusting the spirit of life, she often works amazing wonders by helping you to see things from different points of view, and opening your heart to the path that is right for you. To actually take the step is up to you. Your reality is in how you perceive life -- to change your perspective is to change your own reality, and therein lies the true power of magic.
I learned long ago that if I place my faith in life, she will take care of me. That in itself is a beautiful and simple prayer, and the more I go through life, the more deeply I feel it to be true. That simple act of trust always seems to make things turn out. Whether things actually work out better, or if I’m just more capable of shifting my perspective to see the positive and the potential of the situation, I’m not entirely sure. I suspect there may be no difference between the two.
Several years ago at college, I was feeling under a lot of pressure to not be myself. Surrounded by very literal-minded engineers, faced with the prospect of graduation and immersion in responsibility, I felt like I was somehow supposed to do away with awe and creativity and just get down to the business of practical life. One cold April day, on a deserted Lake Superior shoreline, I took a gold ring, dipped it in the cold clear water, and prayed to the spirit of the lake to never let me forget my imagination, never to let me fail to be moved by beauty and wonder… and then put the ring on. That magic ring has never come off to this day, and every time I see it I am reminded of how important that world of wonder is to me. That deliberate prayer to keep my eyes open and my spirit alive has had a lasting impact for many years.
Prayer and magic definitely have the power to make real changes in this world. Trust your intentions to the divine and deliberately ask for wisdom with an open heart, and life can work all sorts of miraculous changes through you by helping you experience and understand things from the perspectives you need to see.
Posted by: Ryan at March 16, 2004 08:23 PM
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