Clearly defining magic

General Discussion
1

there are 3 kinds of magic.

ceremonial magic, witchcraft ,and auric magic.

lets begin with ceremonial magic:
this is the act of projecting the energy of the self in a predefined format within a magician’s circle to achieve manifestation. this format is initial visualization, drawing the sacred symbols, and calling 4 spirits to turn those energies.

witchcraft:
i define witchcraft as any operation of magic that uses physical objects to achieve manifestation. (yes this includes sigil magic)

auric magic:
this final method is magic of the aura. this is a pretty open ended way to do magic. this can include, but is not limited to; evocation, psychic vamparism, and radionics of all kinds.

what do you guys think of this? am i way off? do you agree? let me know.

i think its completely correct because most things in the universe work on the mystery of 3, so why shouldn’t there be 3 types of magic?

2

I think topics like this are a bit silly. It creates unnecessary distinctions based on opinions from incomplete or casual observations without understanding methodology. Ceremonial magic, sorcery, witchcraft, or hoodoo all work in the same fashion. Methods may have slight variances but at their core they are fundamentally the same. Rather than discussing the theory of how to drive a car, why not focus on the most efficient way to get from A to B?

3

Quite limiting, don’t you think?

Magic is, first and foremost, individual with several paths and personal interpretations on each path. We have the “basics” of evocation, invocation, rituals, seals, astraltravel etc. And through that “basics”, there’s several branches and methods that leads to one thing: Results, getting from A to B.

I have a completely different definition of ceremonial magic and I have used a method that worked successfully. Your definition isn’t that clear, as I see it. Since you didn’t elaborated on your point of view on ceremonial magic, I wonder of it’s actual purpose. Why not make a thread about that particular technique, making it less bias?

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[quote=“WiseManEcho, post:1, topic:5901”]auric magic:
this final method is magic of the aura. this is a pretty open ended way to do magic. this can include, but is not limited to; evocation, psychic vamparism, and radionics of all kinds.[/quote]

I agree with the concerns that this is limiting, and also, I’m not sure how one’s aura is involved in evocation?

Are you talking about the middle pillar and similar traditions?

Stephen Flowers has three interesting classifications described in his book Hermetic Magic, which I’ll try to summarise:

  1. Goêteia: “With goêteia the sorceror, or goês, uses elements in the objective universe to affect the will generated in his own subjective universe. Gods, goddesses, angels, or daimôns, or even magical material substances (such as herbs, sacrifices, and so on) are called upon or used to do the will of the sorceror. Each time the goês wishes to have a magical effect on the objective or subjective universe, he or she must engage the formula or do the magical operation specific to that effect.” (p. 102)

  2. Mageia: "The magician, or magos, is one who has attained a certain level of personal initiation which causes him or her to act on a divine level. The magos does not ask gods to do things for him or her, or use substances to create wondrous effects - he or she acts directly (usually through signs or words of power) from his or her subjective universe upon the objective universe.

… He is said at that point to have become ‘the son of (a) god’ - he or she has been adopted by the god and elevated to a divine stature while still in life.

Another term used in ancient times that conveyed some of the same meaning as mageia was thaumaturgy… Wonders are worked by means of the will of the magician without the necessity of intervening gods, angels, or daimônions." (p 102 - 103)

  1. Theourgia: "Literally the term means ‘divine work.’ …it depends on the ‘sympathy of enchained forces.’ Theurgy must work in harmony with the gods, in harmony with the laws of the objective universe, or at least with the characteristics of the powerful subjective universes that surround the theurgist…

The theurgist must take much that is in the macrocosm outside himself into account when designing and executing his operations…

What makes theurgy unique is its concern with being ‘philosophically correct’ - and harmonious with nature - rather than just being effective and powerful." (p. 103 - 104)

I think he’s onto something with this, and I think he’s looking at that aspect of using the self as a channel for the divine which your categorisations (with respect) don’t include as clearly?

Goêteia is the work I do most often, I guess, but mageia is where I aspire to and where most of my research is leading, as I believe (as posted here and several older threads) to have experienced that ability. I believe his definition above is closest to my own stated aim, “to command the powers of a goddess within my lifetime.” :slight_smile:

1 Like
5

I quite like Aleister Crowley’s definition.

Upon first encountering the definition, it seemed somewhat silly to me. I mean, that makes brushing your teeth and taking out the trash magickal acts.

It makes sense though, in a Thelemic perspective at least. After all, the operative word of “Do what thou wilt” is “Do”.

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[quote=“WiseManEcho, post:1, topic:5901”]there are 3 kinds of magic.

ceremonial magic, witchcraft ,and auric magic.

lets begin with ceremonial magic:
this is the act of projecting the energy of the self in a predefined format within a magician’s circle to achieve manifestation. this format is initial visualization, drawing the sacred symbols, and calling 4 spirits to turn those energies.

witchcraft:
i define witchcraft as any operation of magic that uses physical objects to achieve manifestation. (yes this includes sigil magic)

auric magic:
this final method is magic of the aura. this is a pretty open ended way to do magic. this can include, but is not limited to; evocation, psychic vamparism, and radionics of all kinds.

what do you guys think of this? am i way off? do you agree? let me know.

i think its completely correct because most things in the universe work on the mystery of 3, so why shouldn’t there be 3 types of magic?[/quote]

I’d say you are on the right track in evolving your own definitions and thinking for yourself. Most simply accept what is out there and are limited to others views. In your case you are already way ahead, having an independent mind is a great advantage.

One thing I’d caution against is thinking something is ‘complete’ or in this case ‘completely correct’. In such a case there is no room for evolving the thoughts further, to expand your own knowledge.

It’s interesting to note in this case that you refer to the mystery of 3, and how that has given you a unique insight. Consider the effect of using the four elements, the traditional seven planetary archetypes, the ten cabalistic sehpiroth, the twelve signs of the zodiac, etc. Each gives a unique and beneficial conceptual set of hooks to hang reality on. Each is complete in itself, yet different in application. None are fully complete, yet sill each retains a benefit in organizing a body of insight and information in a way that makes it usable.

7

this is a pretty good litmus test of the mindset of the people on this blog. you all seem to be under the impression that the limiting force of the universe, the kabalic energy of Binah/Saturn, can be circumvented and in fact avoided. the fact is it cant.

granchemin, while you are inherently correct you forget many people do not know the method, listen to more advanced practitioners, and run themselves into a wall trying to achieve what you can.

succupedia, i in fact DID outline more clearly the method of ceremonial magic in a previous posting called “ceremonial magic to get anything you want”. and i really hope your definition isint just any old ritual done however you want. there are clearly defined parameters to the grand old ceremony.

lady eva, evocation is auric in nature because you create the body of the spirit out of the energy within and around you. it is then inhabited by the consciousness of the spirit by calling the its mind out of the ether using your voice. all ceremonial magic involves standing in the circle, the middle pillar and cross of the kaballah are the basis of the tradition i employ. oh and mageia is the level i am at currently though i still find great power in Goêteia.

DohnJee, crowley’s definition is an oversimplification. consider this: magic is a series of energetic manipulations cast forth into the universe in order for it to rebound back upon the world as the desired manifestation.

NariusV, the law of secrecy serves the magician well does it not? by forming the post into a form where you all thought i was asking a question i made you all believe that there was the possibility this information was a random thought. the opposite is true i channeled this. i left it here to gauge the minds and possible arguments of the magicians on this forum. why you ask? to see how many of you would catch the WORD. that word was FORM.

3 FORMS of magic. you should not think of a form as the ONLY way a thing can exist or that there are only those forms that i mentioned. think of this word as the martial artist views the word form.
here is a good example:Dragon Form - YouTube
a FORM for the martial artist is fluid motion of the body that creates muscle memory that can be applied in fighting. so the forms of magic are roughly the same, fluid motion of energy projected forth…i said this already… do not think the 3 forms i listed are the only ones that exist, theres always another mystery :slight_smile:

8

Could you possibly elaborate on this? Interested to know why you think this, and what you mean exactly?

9

Thanks for clarifying your use of words - the word “aura” is not, as far as I’m aware, the one used in any traditional descriptions of evocation.

It’s got rather new age connotations and doesn’t seem to fit my experience of the several energy bodies of humanity, either - it seems to mostly be applied to a local phenomenon.

Have you yet manifested things from thin air (not through known routes, I mean made them appear right in front of you) with your mageia?

If so, did you use the method of making the entire universe your energy body? This is the method I used, cut down to basics - I’d love to compare notes, onlist or off.

I’m not sure I agree about “the limiting force of the universe, the kabalic energy of Binah/Saturn”, but that’s another topic - I believe overcoming that is the goal of mageia: [url=http://www.skyscript.co.uk/7bodies.html]http://www.skyscript.co.uk/7bodies.html[/url]

When one becomes the universe, the limiting forces become the net that catches one’s own creation, and holds it stable, at least that’s been my experience so far?

10

akasha and eva, excellent questions. what i mean about Saturn and the force of limitation is that while you can NEVER avoid it you CAN work with it. now im going to speak in metaphor to help you understand what im talking about;

upon looking at the map the woodsman saw the shortest distance between point a and point b was a straight line through the forest. however the map did not tell him that the trees were so tightly packed together that he had to cut down the trees in order to go anywhere. he hacked and hacked until he found he was only a few feet from where he started. you see the topography of the forest was such that while he thought he was still on track he was in fact going in circles. had he only paied attention to his MAP he would’ve see the road that goes completly around the forest. yes it may look like a shorter distance to cut through the forest and blaze your own trail. but long before you ever came men and gods made roads for us to travel upon. yes they wind round and round you may feel you need to stop at certain points and take in the sights. but make no mistake the roads they made always lead to where they say they do. getting lost in the forest is a non issue if you follow the road.

the point im trying to make is that if you fully commit yourself to one school of magical learning you will in fact be better for it, you will have guides that know well the path, and your power will grow exponentially.

as to your other question eva, i havent really thought about making something from thin air. i’ve been so focused on my other works that it didnt occur to me to do so.
although there was that one time where i really wanted to get high and some weed manifested itself…does that count?

heh, astrology… did you know that its not the movements of the stars at all? the movement of the stars we observe is only how the light waves filter through our atmosphere. the true movement of astrology is the motion of the sphere of Da’ath through the abyss. (#planetsdontmovebackwards)

one more thing, why are you limiting yourself to the universe? there’s alot more up there than just that.

take it from thoth: [url=http://www.crystalinks.com/emerald14bw.html]http://www.crystalinks.com/emerald14bw.html[/url]

heres the whole book: [url=http://www.crystalinks.com/emerald.html]http://www.crystalinks.com/emerald.html[/url]

11

omg sorry! i totally forgot to address the expansion of the spiritual form fully. being a practitioner of ceremonial magic i preform a rite known as the “cross of the kaballah” i’m sure you’ve heard of this. the initial portion of this rite has you expand you astral self to an enormous degree. not alot of people know this, but you can actually keep expanding even when you no longer fit in the universe. and you can expand further and further. you may encounter in this expansion some spirit or voice telling you to stop. DO NOT LISTEN! its a test! the GOD can expand out of his form so vastly that he/she can become one with god itself. (oh and just cuz you may see fluffy clouds does NOT mean you are one with god) the ritual of the cross anchors you at whatever size you may have expanded to and keeps you there while you visualize, draw the pentagrams, and turn the energies. its pretty perfect in its design and usage for what you’re talking about. back to the expansion itself, the last chapter in “the emerald tablets of thoth the atlantian” is all about this expansion. he even gives us the password to the final gate :slight_smile:

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Mr Koetting In The Introduction of Works Of Darkness writes.magick is magick,its what you do with it that makes it black or white.published in 1949. Elizabeth M. Butler was a professor of German in The University of Cambridge. One Of the introductions of Elizabeth M. Butlers books Ritual Magick She Writes,There are three main branches of occult knowledge and practice.Astrology,which aims to guide human fortune by means of foreknowledge,Alchemy which tries to secure power through the agency of the philosophers stone and Ritual Magick,which seeks to control the spirit world.Elizabeth Butlers classic study of the traditions and practices of ritual magick uses a wide range of texts and sources from the pre Christian rites of the Akkadians and Chaldeans to the Solomonic Clavicles of medieval Europe,to create a lively,detailed and absorbing history of human attempts to achieve mastery over the spirit world.Throughout,there is extensive quotation from the documents themselves,providing the reader with an authentic sense of the richness and power of these texts.Professor Butler also examines the careers of noted magicians of the fifteenth to nineteenth centuries,and considers the history of ceremonial magick in England,the myth Of Satanism and the rituals involved in the Faustian pact with the devil.Ritual Magick is a work of deep scholarship.

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Elizabeth M Butler also writes, That so called black magic is rarely as black as it has been painted is one of the conclusions to which I have been irresistibly drawn by a close scrutiny of texts available.

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The Fundemental aim of all magick is to impose the human will on nature,on man or on the supersensual world in order to master them.

15

the powers of manipulations designed by darker cosmic beings,that are designed to alter the human senses of the gross material body and world.
cult leaders and gang leaders that speak,often have a strange power of darkness that can not be explained.because when they speak or command hundreads of spirits obey and use their manipulations in agreement to dominate others,with manipulations.women use sex manipulations to dominate others.any manipulation to overcome and intimidate or capture another person is an occult,witchcraft operation.you can see this lawless animal system of occult operations used in criminal orginizations like the Italian mafia. there are four major mundane propensities used by the powers of darkness to daily manipulate the development or advancement of humanity towards the animal system in every stage and degree of civilization.these are called animal propensities and they include sex,sleep,fightand food.sexual force is the highest secret power used in all ramifications of occult and psychic manipulations to dominate and control thoughts,words and behaviours of others.the powers of darkness manipulate everyway.