What
is magick? Aleister Crowley defined
magick as “any event in nature which is
brought to pass by will." A magical act can be anything from
blowing one’s nose, to various forms of glamour, or creating
suitable conditions for much needed rain. The size and extent of any
magical act is dependent on the amount of energy, focus, and will
that is placed into the desired outcome.
Magick
and magic are not the same things. Aleister Crowley coined the term
"magick", as an alternative to the word 'magic', or slight
of hand, in order to distinguish the difference between the two
separate terms and definitions. 'Magick’ is spelled with a ‘k’
and pronounced differently – mage-ick – to differentiate it from
stage magic and the arts of illusion. The addition of the letter 'k' (the eleventh letter of the Latin alphabet) is
believed to enhance the power and meaning of the word itself, as the
number eleven, in numerology, symbolizes hidden energies.
Throughout
all of history magick has been practiced in many forms, although
often under the pretext of other names. For instance, Old German
magick was known as gandno (Jones, Prudence. A History of
Pagan Europe. New York:
Routledge, 1995, pg 114. ISBN 0-415-09136-5); in Scandinavia and
Iceland magick was known as seiðr
(Ibid., pgs 150-151); and the Pennsylvania Dutch referred to magick
as braucherei
(Thorsson, Edred. Northern
Magic: Rune Mysteries and Shamanism.
St. Paul, Minnesota: Llewellyn Publications. 2005, pgs 146-147. ISBN
1-56718-709-9).
One
can most easily compare magick to prayer; it is the process by which
a desired change is brought about to an object or subject that is
capable of such a change. It should be understood that magick is not
capable of violating the laws of the physics; however, it is quite
capable of bending or using them as a means by which to overcome a
physical condition or state. Basically, magick can do whatever
energy can do as it is merely the process of channeling information
and energy. This is done through the use of what are known as the
Laws of Magick.
The
difference between magick and physical action is simply the method
one uses to direct their intentions; however, all of these methods
begin at the same source; that source being conscious or unconscious
will. Each individual consciousness directly influences physical
reality in both obvious and subtle ways. Magick is the subtle
influence which consciousness has on physical reality through the
mechanism of association and intent. In other words, magick is the
attraction of a specific physical reality through physical
associations and their relationship to the intent of our conscious
being.
In
theory, magick is the learned use of quantum-entangled states through the influence of seemingly
individual conscious intention upon the panconsciousness of the
universe. That is, the universe or multiverse, or whatever one
wishes to call the whole of everything which exists, is utterly and
entirely conscious, down to the very smallest and most minute
particle – and wholly entangled, as if all were a giant body off
atoms and cells, and flesh and bones – enabling anything to act
upon anything through mere intention and physical association.
This
influence is subtle, so it can take awhile to manifest. The longer
the influence takes to appear as physical reality the more one can be
assured their conscious will is not in alignment with the
panconsciousness or common will – disharmony.
Since the more energy flows in a similar direction the less it
will be effected by any resistance it meets, it follows that any one
individual does not necessarily influence the manifestation of an
event in time, but rather multiple persons or forces, or all persons
and forces each play a role – this is because everything is
entangled.
Physics
shows us that the entire universe is quantumly entangled; that is,
everything truly is connected and One (and outside of time). This
also means that all minds are entangled. Magick is possible because
each one of us are in an entangled state with all things; one need
only see the universe through a panpsychist lense in order to fully
grasp the concept of this reality.
But what evidence is there to support
the existence of any sort of phenomenon that could be interpreted
throughout history as magick? Certainly, one could agree that magick
would be considered by most to be akin to paranormal or psychic
phenomena. Is there any scientific evidence to support paranormal or
psychic phenomenon?
In turns out that, although still
contraversial, quite remarkable scientific evidence for psi phenomena does exist. For example, an experiment
published in the journal Science in 1965 reported that when
one identical twin was asked to close their eyes – which causes the
brain's alpha rhythms to increase – the alpha rhythms of their
remote twin were also found to increase, providing evidence for a
sort of quantum entanglement. (Dean Radin. Entangled Minds.
Paraview: New York, NY. 2006, pg.18. ISBN: 1-4165-1677-8)
In 1957 Czech physician Štěpán Figar measured the fingertip bloodflow of couples who were isolated from one another in order to test for the existence of any unconscious telepathic connections. Neither member of the couple was aware of the other's involvement in the test, nor were they told the purpose of the experiment. Figar found that when one member of the couple was asked to perform mental arithmetic, the blood pressure of the other person changed noticeably. (Ibid., pg 74)
Also, University of Edinburgh
pyschologists Paul Stevens, Marios Kittenis, and Peter Caryl
reported, in 2004, a correlation between remote pairs of individuals
being monitored by an electroencephalograph (EEG), in which the
"sender" is exposed to a flash of light and the remote
"receiver" appears to be stimulated at the exact time and
moment as the "sender". (Ibid., pgs 138-139)
Furthermore, numerous experiments
involving the alteration of random number generators (RNGs) through
the mental intention of distant human "senders" have proven
over and over again to yield quite extraordinary results. Such
experiments can easily be
found by any mediocre researcher.
So the scientific evidence is out
there, but what philosophical grounding exists that could possibly
support the interpretation that these experiments yield positive
evidence for the existence of magick? It turns out there is one very
strong position with an extremely long history: panpsychism.
Both mind and matter are intimately
entangled in the panpsychist ontological worldview. Consciousness is within
everything, for both mind and matter are necessarily coexistent. A
number of very persuasive philosophical arguments have been offered
in favor of a panpsychist worldview throughout history. Two of the
most famous contemporary proponents of panpsychism were the English
mathematician and philosopher Alfred North Whitehead and the pioneer American psychologist WilliamJames.
More recently, the philosopher
Christian de Quincey argued in his book Radical Nature that "given Whitehead's naturalistic view
of experience, extrasensory phenomena involving action-at-a-distance,
such as telepathy and clairvoyance, are no longer problematic."
He then goes on to state "physical events 'external' to the
body of the experiencing human, may prehend or feel and respond to
human experiences in ways consistent with the data of psychokinesis."
(Christian de Quincey. Radical Nature. Invisible Cities Press:
Montpelier, VT. 2002, pgs 175 and 176. ISBN: 1-931229-15-5)
In the panpsychist worldview, and
contrary to the mundane and anachronistic physicalist worldview, it
is actually quite within the realms of possibility and probability
for conscious thought and intention to be projected on and manifested
within physical reality by means of what has been commonly referred
to as a "magick" without violating any physical laws or
logic. Furthermore, it is postulated that the focus of "intent"
through the mechanism of entanglement may very well be the means by
which all magical or psychic phenomena occur.
As Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa stated in his
Occult
Philosophy: "It
is therefore imperative that whoever desires to study in this
faculty, be skilled in Natural Philosophy, wherein are found the
qualities of things, and in which lie the occult properties of every
being (substance and accidents), and be skillful in mathematics, and
in the aspects, and figures of the stars, upon which depend the
sublime virtue, and property of every thing; and also learned in
Theology, wherein are manifested those immaterial substances, which
dispense, and minister to all things, or he will not be able to
understand the rationality of Magic. There is no work that is done by
mere Magic, nor any work that is merely Magical, that does not
include these three faculties;"
therefore, it is imperative that the individual understand the
various sciences and philosophy, as well as their self (as Socrates
is known so well for suggesting), in order to comprehend the
existence, rational, and mechanism of magick.
No magician can hope to
understand the principles and mechanism of magick without first
having a proper understanding of the trivium
and quadrivium.
The magician should seek out a classical education, from early youth
if possible, before embarking on the path of magick. These seven:
grammar, logic, rhetoric, arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy
are key to an excellent foundation! With these the individual may
then study philosophy and theology (the basis of all religious and
ceremonial systems), through which they will be fully capable of
understanding the rational of magick.
Of
course one may simply jump right into magick, but you are not going
to understand it, nor will you find it working very properly, if at
all, without the necessary tools described above.
Blessings,
Alraune