#elements of spellcrafting

[blindwyrm]

Notes on Magick

Notes on: The Elements of Spellcrafting, Jason Miller Key 1: What Magic Actually Does ‘Magick is the Science and Art of causing Change to occur in conformity with Will.’ - Aleister Crowley Magic is an influence, not a cause. The key here is to take out the idea that Magic is a direct cause of change, and instead make it an influence upon change - one influencing factor among many, the nudging of fortuna. Whatever the effort, your influence is in competition with other influences, some of which support your goal, some of which work against it.  When we get into Magical goals, this idea is key. It shows us why spells that aim to divert a coming storm will work better than attempts to make it snow in July. One of these is an event that just needs a nudge, the other requires a drastic suspension of the laws of nature. Magic as an influence rather than a cause is why enchanting for a better job or to start a successful business is a good investment of time, while spells to win the mega-millions lottery are a fool’s errand. An influence on what, exactly? In general, Magic is an influence upon two things: events and minds. Events, meaning anything that has a probable chance of happening, from a storm, to a car accident, to a raise at work. Magic doesn’t make these things happen but it can influence them. Minds, meaning the classic enchantment of spellbinding - influencing what a person, or even groups of people, think. A lot of people get concerned that they might be robbing someone of free will by doing Magic for this, but it’s important to remember that Magic is just an influence like any other. The mind is is even more resistant to influences from the outside. That is not to say that minds cannot be influenced with Magic - Enchantment is one of the oldest forms of Magic, but it’s rare someone does a complete 180 turn on an issue just because of Magic. Enchanting someone’s mind is not difficult if it is something they are at least open to doing, and you’ll do non-Magical things to help that along too, but the idea that you are going to psychologically dominate someone through Magic is not so easy to do, even if it were ethical. There are some over-the-top methods for this, but most people avoid them. Sometimes you might be doing Magic that you expect to affect the mind of a target, but will instead manifest as an event. Magic always presents an influence over events and minds, but that influence is not always enough to sway the situation. When crafting a spell, let your awareness of how Magic works inform what you use it for. When Magic doesn’t work or work the way you think it should, ask yourself: What was I trying to influence and how much resistance was there to it? Is there a more probable angle and manifestation that I can approach this from? Am I aiming to change minds, events or both?

[blindwyrm]

Notes on Magic

Notes On: The Elements of Spellcrafting by Jason Miller Key 2: Stop Making Crappy Goals Set a long term goal for something you want to change with Magic. Analyze it through these steps.  Impossible and Highly Improbable Goals There are no spells that are going to make you invisible. Put off your plans of magical bank robbing. You can’t change your appearance to look like Sailor Moon or create a girlfriend like in Weird Science. These are impossible goals. It’s not that miracles never happen or that paranormal phenomena do not ever manifest, but you shouldn’t ever bank on them as a life plan. Highly improbable goals are also crappy. This doesn’t mean hard goals, but highly improbable goals, like winning the lottery or casting a spell to get someone struck by lightning. It’s not worth spending a lot of time on. The Lame Goal This is the opposite of the improbable goal. It is uninspiring and barely worth the effort. A good goal is inspiring. It lights a fire in the belly. It is a reason to charge into the temple at dawn or head to the graveyard at 3 A.M. Just because we are not going for the impossible or highly improbable does not mean we can’t strive for greatness. We should not limit ourselves. This is not true only of material success, but spiritual goals as well. We may think we are being humble by saying we only seek modest attainments, but examples of great people exist to inspire greatness. In stories of the great Sorcerer turned Saint Milarepa, his attainment and wisdom seemed so far beyond his students that they insisted he must be the incarnation of some powerful Holy Man or Buddha. He scolded them and said that to insist that they were incapable of the same results showed a lack of faith in the teachings which promise enlightenment to any who dutifully practice. Even if we don’t become millionaires or celebrities, deliberately cutting ourselves off from that right at the start is no way to live your life. Vague and Immeasurable Goals The next type of crappy goal to avoid is the vague and immeasurable goal. Things like “I want wealth,” “I want to be healthy,” and “I want to be enlightened  are all noble, but vague and immeasurable.  Take “I want to be rich” for example. If you evoke Tzadkiel, the Angel of Jupiter, and say “I want to be rich,” what is the metric he’s going to use? Maybe he looks on the world and sees that people who make over $40,000 a year are in the top 1% of the world and then looks at your $60,000 and decides “you look pretty rich to me already.” However, if you ask to get promoted to a position where you are making $100,00 a year, as well as boost sales on your side business website by 30% this year, this is something specific he can grab onto. It’s also something you can measure yourself against. If you want to lose weight, then you need to know how much you want to lose. If you want to make money, you need to know how much you want to make. If you want to have a fulfilling romantic life, you need to know what you want out of it. If you want to reach spiritual enlightenment, you need to know how you are going to measure it. Whatever it is you are looking to do with your magic, you should be able to measure it somehow.  Setting Goals is Not an Accomplishment Did you set a good goal? That’s awesome! But you haven’t done squat. The last type of crappy goal is one that is not acted on. If you really take the time to examine your life, discover a lot of the self-sabotaging and negative inner scripts that you have been running, and take the time to figure out where you really want to be spiritually, materially, romantically, or socially, it can be a hugely satisfying and uplifting experience. It provides direction where formerly there was none. Avoid fetishizing your goal.Your goal does not need to be written in a Moleskine bought specially for that purpose; it just needs to be accomplished. Sigilize the goal for a working, but don’t obsess over it. So, What is a Good Goal? Pretty much anything you want to do with Magic that avoids these traps. Your goal is difficult enough to warrant using Magic, but not so improbable that it would need a miracle; important enough to warrant action. A great goal seems to have its own gravity that pulls you towards it. Lastly, it’s measurable. It’s something you can look at and say  “That worked!” or “That didn’t work. Time to try something else.” A rule of thumb that will always keep your goal on track: Make a plan that can happen without Magic. Then use Magic to make sure it does. The Take Away Three suggestions after setting your goal: 1. Take action immediately after setting your goal. What is the first step? 2. Plan out the next several steps that you need to take after that first one, and assign them dates and times. If it doesn’t have a date and time, it’s not a real step. 3. A week later, look at your steps. If you did not do them when you said you would, you need to examine why. It usually is either a) you realize that you don’t want this right now as much as you say you do, or b) you need to figure out some way to keep yourself to it using pleasure/pain principals because will power alone isn’t cutting it.