by Nathaniel
by Nathaniel
The Essentials of Magick. A Complete Guide to Common Elements of All Magical Systems Copyright (c) 2013 by Nathaniel
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical articles and reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the author.
FIRST EDITION
ISBN: 978-83-935633-3-3
Self-published under the A State of Mind brand, an official website of the author.
A State of Mind (http://astateofmind.eu)
Email: [email protected]
Wegierska Gorka, 2013
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Additional Credit:
Primary font for title and A State of Mind's Logo: Fertigo, by Exljbri. Additional font: OptimusPrinceps, by Manfred Klein. Gentium font: http://scripts.sil.org/gentium
Acknowledgement
I'd like to acknowledge Agnieszka Cupak, Tomek Mankin and Pawel Gajewski, for great help with general ideas of magick they offered me.
My gratitude to Arkadiusz Lisiecki for sharing his knowledge of Reiki, Buddhism and Taoism concepts.
I had many teachers, lesser and greater, some of them on-line, some of them off-line. Thank you all!
Finally, my gratitude to all my students and people interested in magick, who asked question, to which I provided answers. Their curious minds hungry for magical knowledge helped me decide what should be included in this book.
Disclaimer
The information presented in this book has been carefully researched and passed on to my best knowledge and conscience. Despite this fact, neither the author or the publisher assume any type of liability for presumed or actual damages of any kind that might result from the direct or indirect application or use of the statements in this book.
The information in this book is solely intended for interested readers and educational purposes and should in no way be understood as diagnostic or therapeutic instructions in the medical or psychological sense.
Magick is neither simple nor safe – it's an art that requires patience, inner strength and emotional stability.
As author, I do not even pretend to write a universal book about magick – I even believe it is impossible to do so. In this work, I have explained the commons of most magical and spiritual traditions. The basics: the existence of spirits, the need for magical cleansing, grounding, the basics of magical self-defense and similar elements, are common for all systems. The theory of magick, energies and such is general, and I understand that some people will not agree with my words. Still, I hope that those who are beginners, will find the techniques and knowledge from this book useful and that this knowledge will keep them safe on the first steps of their journey until they find more effective techniques by themselves.
In this book, you'll find quite few references to Reiki, mainly in footnotes. This is so because I practice and teach Reiki, and this school of spiritual thought is close to my heart.
Preface
For the past ten years I explored different schools of magick1 and spiritual work. I've seen schools of Chaos Magick, Wicca, New Age and mysterious arts of the Far East; schools of modern Huna2 and ancient African magick; paths of healing Reiki3 and destructive arts of black magick. By gaining knowledge and experience over time, I've realized that these different schools of magical thought have many elements in common. Elements that are essential for successful and safe practice. And yet, at the same time I was never able to find a proper book that would introduce me to the very basics of all magical practices – these basics that are common for Chaos Magick, Wicca, Reiki, Huna and hundreds of other systems.
What I could find was a large set of books entitled "introduction to magick", yet what these books represented was all but the essentials. All of these books were circling around the Western arts of ceremonial magick, mixed with Wiccan witchcraft, and rarely any of these books managed to go deeper into the subject of correlations between different schools from different areas of the world. Thus, I had to learn everything by myself. Which I eventually did, after battling countless numbers of personal demons of my mind, and quite physical (energetically) malicious spirits that thought of me as of pray that can be fed upon.
Thus, I've learned a lot in the past nine years, and because of this, I decided to write down what I know in this book, and to share my knowledge with those who make their first steps on the path of magick – magick of different schools. Because it doesn't matter if you practice Huna, Reiki, Wicca or classic European ceremonial magick. The basics, the essentials, are still the same.
Some people believe that magick experiences are subjective, and personal, that they have no objective elements and that everything can be explained only from a subjective perspective. In the result, in the eyes of many people there is no such thing as the set-in-stone collection of basics for magical arts. But the truth is that whether you curse someone with Christian magick, Wicca ritual or ceremonial technique, the effect will be the same; and whether you make a Norse god, or forest spirit, or Buddhist demon angry, you will get a punch into your "third eye".
Some people do not wish to admit it, but there are some common basics for every magical system in the world, basics which you need to learn if you do not wish to get possessed and your life destroyed. This book is not sweet, nor colored with rainbow – I show you things as they are. And you should definitely learn about them if you wish to remain safe in the world of magick or esoteric arts of different sorts. Because in esoteric arts, whether you call number #1 "one", "jeden", "uno" or "un", it's still number 1, and 1+1 equals 2, no matter how do you pronounce it.
So, this book is not sugar-coated, not at all.
In every tradition, there are some similar effects – because the world of magick and the way in which magick works is always the same – the terms and practices might be different, though. This book has been written in such way that after reading it, you can figure out practices related to your own schools of thoughts, and understand which paths that you walk miss some important, almost mandatory practices.
This work is not a guidebook to any specific esoteric path. Rather, it is a guidebook that explains the basic commons of every tradition, from Wicca to Buddhism. I'm going to explain the archetypes of energies and entities – from ghosts to gods. Then, you're going to learn about the tools of the trade – incenses, candles and more. All of this will be supported by examples and stories from my own practice, and practice of people I have met – as friends and teachers.
Although I understand that this book won't suit everyone, I hope that most readers will benefit from it; thus that they'll be able to understand what they're missing in their practice, and why some practices that they've learned are important for their safety and success.
Who Is This Book For?
The word "magick" in this book's title might be misleading, so I wish to explain who is this book for. Not only practitioners of European magick will benefit from this work – actually, anyone who is interested in modern magick, occult or spiritual work, like the one promoted by New Age movement, should read this book. It is because everyone who is dealing with things like energy healing; law of attraction; manifestation; rituals; summoning; spirit communication; channeling; divination and even spiritual development, deals with energies and entities, as well. And because of this, one must know the basics that are common for every magical or spiritual schools.
Thus, this book is for:
Practitioners of ceremonial magick – whether it's Enochian system, modern Chaos Magick, "Golden Dawn" based systems and so on.
Pagan practitioners – th
ose who follow practical pagan and neo-pagan paths. By practical we understand those paths, that include magical practice and rituals, and the practitioner chose a solitude path.4
Witches and shamans – those who walk the path of witchcraft as solitude practice and as part of Wiccan religion (or other system of witchcraft, for example those based on "Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches"); and shamans5, guided by spirits who would like to learn a bit more about essentials of magical practice.6
Psychics – those who have awakened their extra-sensory perception and are using their skills on a daily basis, for example, to offer psychic readings, psychometry or psychic healing.
New Age followers7 - those who use the Law of Attraction, or participate in New Age workshops, or practice different schools of self-growth and spiritual development.
Card readers and fortune tellers – those who practice divination with Tarot, runes or angel cards, or use any other method of divination and fortune telling.
Healers – those who are Reiki healers, or Pranic healers, or those who use other forms of energy for the purpose of healing.
If you feel you belong to one of these categories or similar, then this book is definitely meant for you.
Seek Your Own Answers, Yet Know the Essentials
The most important thing, which I want to teach you, is to seek your own answers. If you have become interested in the art of magick or spiritual development, then it means that you seek a way to change your life, one way or another. This is why people get to practice things – they want to become richer, or they want to find true love, or they want to help others. Or they want to seek power to control others, too because there are different intentions that people have – some are positive, and some are negative. I hope that this book will help you realize that negative intentions are dangerous, and it's far better seeking "power" through positive growth, rather than through manipulation and black magick.
But, ethics aside for now, if you truly wish to change your life through magick, then you must read and learn a lot. Through reading and learning – from books, people and your own experiences – you gain knowledge and you grow. Thus, you learn how to achieve your goals more effectively, and yet how to remain safe at the same time. This book is a guidebook – it guides you on your path. But it doesn't provide you with definite answers, which you require. But we'll deal with this later. When you're done with this book, think about what you have learned, and look for more books that can give you the answers. Because I do not provide you with recipes for success.
I provide you with knowledge about energies and intentions; entities that exists and will come in contact with you as soon as you begin your magical work; collection of safety rules, which you should keep in mind in order to remain safe. These are the essentials – to understand how the "world beyond" works and what you can find there is the key for successful and safe practice of magick. And this is what you truly need, when you're still a beginner – the understanding of basics. Without this, you won't be successful on your magical path, simple as that.
Introduction Endnotes
1 The term "Magick", with the letter "k" at the end, has been introduced on the beginning of XX century by Aleister Crowley. It was meant to distinct practical, occult magick from growing movement of stage magic - based on illusion and tricks.
2 Modern Huna isn't as traditional as some people would like to believe. It is based on reconstruction of Polynesian beliefs and practices, yet it has been created in XX century by Max Freedom Long. Still, it is based on some traditional beliefs and practices, and one has to admit, it's very effective practice when used properly.
3 Reiki is a form of energy medicine, and even if it's considered being more of a spiritual healing, it is based on the principles of Magick, as I shall explain soon.
4 Those who are members of larger groups of practitioners understand that there is always someone skilled in magical work, a form of a "priest", and it is he who teach about practical aspects of his craft; if you're a student of such teacher, this book will serve as a reference work, only.
5 Although the name "Shaman" originates from waste regions of Siberia, today this name is used to describe those people, who have been chosen by spirits, and have passed initiation by these spirits, and finally, who are guided by the spirits; and it's all based on more animistic approach to magick and spirituality. Shamanic practices include rituals, and "ecstatic" trance states, in which shaman performs healing, or travels to higher or lower worlds (planes of existence). It is worth mentioning, especially for those who walk the path of New Age that one cannot become a true shaman if he won't be chosen or initiated by spirits. No workshop nor any diploma will make you a shaman, and a true shaman does not require workshops or diplomas since he is guided by spirits.
6 It is essential to know that a true shaman is guided by spirits, and these spirits will teach him or her everything that the shaman has to know. Also, it is worth knowing that if you suspect you've been chosen by spirits to become a shaman (whatever this "position" is called in your culture), you should become a fan of reading, and definitely seek someone to explain you what's going on (for example, other shamans).
7 By the word "followers" we understand those who practice schools associated with New Age ideology and movement. It does not suggest any religious connotations.
The Book of Theory
Everything starts with theory. You can never begin your practice if you won't learn the theoretical aspects of it – it is the order of things. The essential theory of magick can be limited to two primary things. First, definition of terms, which helps understand what we understand as magick. Second, the understanding of intentions (your Will) – the primary force that governs all magical activity. Let us waste no time, and start with the definition.
The Definition of Magick
Before we explain the essential elements of different schools of magick and spiritual work, we must define the term "magick" itself, first. The best way to do so is base ourselves upon an encyclopedic definition. We can read in a great work of John Michael Greer, "The New Encyclopedia of the Occult":8
(…) Originally, the word – in Greek, mageia; in Latin, magia – meant the knowledge or art of the magoi or magi, a hereditary caste of Persian holy man.
Later on, we can read the definition of Eliphas Levi:9
(…) Levi defined magic as the art of manipulating the Astral10 Light, the mysterious substance-energy that in his view lay behind all magical activities.
And finally, few words later:
(…) Aleister Crowley (…) proclaimed that magic – or as he spelled it, "magick" – is "the science and art of causing change in conformity with will".
From the essential point of view, magick is all these three things. First, it's an art, and knowledge. Then, it's knowledge of using and manipulating energies – that exists all around us. And finally, it's an art of manipulating these energies in order to cause change according to our will. Whether you use Reiki, Huna, Wicca or ceremonial magick, you still do the same thing – use the knowledge to manipulate energies in order to achieve a change in the physical world.
Let me give you some examples so you can understand magick better.
In ceremonial magick, you have a goal. In order to achieve this goal, you perform a ritual. A ritual is a form of activity, that based on knowledge, focuses your will upon your goal. Thus, this leads to manipulation of energies in order to achieve the goal – the change of reality.
In Huna, you have a goal. Therefore, you collect energies from your environment in order to fuel your subconscious mind, which then uses its power of shaping the reality to change the world, and achieve the goal – the change of reality.
In Reiki, you have a goal of healing something – by healing you understand the process of returning something back – a person or idea – into a state of perfect harmony. Thus, you open yourself, and you allow the energy of Reiki to flow from the source into the person or idea and heal it. With time, t
his subtle energy of Reiki brings harmony back, and the goal is achieved – the change of reality.
Similar process can be noticed in many schools – modern Law of Attraction practices, Wiccan rituals, Pranic healing, Buddhist meditations, or shamanic (animistic) practices. The life of the practitioner and the goals might be different, yet the principles are the same. Still, the change of reality is just one of many goals of practical magick. There are at least two primary schools of thought when it comes to magical practices.
Some people try to influence the world around them via magical means, by performing rituals, casting spells and working with energies and entities. These are exoteric practices – acting on the outside. This is what people often calls the actual magick.
Some people use meditation11, mantras12 and rituals in order to change their own mind as they believe that the mind is what creates the reality. These are esoteric practices – acting on the inside. This is what most people understand as spiritual development.
Finally, there is a third school of thought, in which a person doesn't try to change the reality, but seeks final enlightenment through spiritual practices. This "third path" requires some basic knowledge, as well, so you should keep reading this book even if you seek enlightenment, not a change in the world.
What is this change that we talk about, and what are the other goals?
Why do People Practice Magick, and the Types of Magical Effects
There are many reasons, and thus many different effects of practical magick. One who practices magick might wish to change things, or to bless things, or to thank for things, or finally, to see things. And it's just the basic division.
