Part One

I write this in hopes that someone might find some use in it. I hear a lot about how some spell did not work or how people are interested in practical results, and then other who say how the practical results are not as important as the spiritual refinement. Here are my comments concerning such things. There are a lot of things that need to go right for a spell to work, and a great deal more needs to happen for the student to again many of the famed occult powers. A difference is called for because people often confuse the two. Clairvoyance is not divination, and charisma (the sort of that draws people to you and sways them to your will) is an occult power- they arrive by developing the spirit, body, and mind; they are part of you. A spell is made by you in accordance with some tradition and given power then released to accomplish a particular goal. Most people can do magick at some level but the occult powers are more reclusive, harder to attain, and less obviously useful. I write with the intent to show how magick without some level of occult powers is less effective, and also to dispel some of the misconceptions that prevent people from taking up this most useful endeavor.

Yet, first I will talk about spells: they need intent, will, power, direction and to work with rather than in opposition to events and people. A spell needs power, and a lot of it. The closer to the physical plane the intent is the more power results take. It does not matter where it comes from –gods, thought forms, auspicious arrangements of magickaly latent objects – but it is required that the power be of the right sort. Mostly this is done by correspondence and associations, though other more direct ways exist. Unfortunately, correspondence charts are not all the same and differ even within a single magickal tradition; wildly so between culturally different traditions. Some of this is no doubt refinement and differential usage, each tradition uses the correspondence it creates within a larger context of its founding culture, to work with a system of magick that it finds useful. They are classification schemes intended to link the user to the subtle aspects of reality by association. This is, as well, done by mediation on the aspect as by mixing parts of this and that. I find that there are relatively few objects that have a magickal nature apart form the associations attributed to then; mostly substances and plants that have an observable affect on the body- e.g. some medical herbs. To use magickal associations with out knowledge of their cultural significance lessons the chances of success. Further, and I know is will be unpopular, a magickal system of any kind will have its own philosophy in addition to whatever philosophy is present in its originating culture. That philosophic approach is every bit as important to the system as its copper daggers and magick ink. If you are not aware of, and understand the philosophy, you will lesson the chances of success. Just in the same way that using a computer will give you results some of the time if all you know about it is “to push some buttons and it works”; it will work most or all of the time if you know the workings, purpose, and limitations of each part and how they interact. Magickal associations are energy, but it is a particular energy which may not even come from the object itself but rather the conception of the object within the system. This does not imply a psychosocial explanation for magick, although that is a valid exploration. Instead, the conception may allow you to draw upon the correct type of energy from wherever you may- be within yourself, in the ether or some other pain. Fail to understand the systems view of something in a deep way and it will make you’re life difficult.

Because the associations are links to the subtle aspects of reality, they are important. They must represent as closely as possible the spells intent, otherwise it may work but not how you want. There is also something to be said about making it yourself. A lot of places will sell you this and that premix, but setting aside the skepticism that they even know what they are doing, the more time you put into something the more energy gets absorbed and the clearer your intent become. Soon the paraphernalia you’re making becomes the spell. Metaphysically the props no longer simply represent an aspect of the spell, rather having been imbued with the makers intent each prop is the spell and all together they become a grand working of your will where each element focuses your intent while also enhancing it with its own unique energy. Such a confluence melds separate energies in their chosen aspects with the strong intent on the mage one the tools whose purpose is manifest in their design.
Intent is therefore important to consider; it is all well and good to intend money to show up, but then you might find a penny. More power is not a guarantee either as you could just find that penny faster. Intent is where you want to define as precisely and simply as possible the outcome of the spell. Precise to insure you get what you want and simplicity to avoid confusion, ask of yourself “what do I mean by (wealth/power/luck/love)”. Power is vague and asking for “love” is like asking for “freedom”. Instead, focus on what sort of power you want, the sort of love you need, and freedom from what, and how they will manifest.

When your intent is clear the direction is obvious. A spell must work in some way, and depending on the intent you are attempting to manifest, your cause is best served in a way proper to the outcome. Bearing in mind you can cast a spell to rattle the rafters, but money, love, power, and everything else still is not simply going to fall out sky in to your lap. Magick is an active force and the mage actively shapes his world- armchair magick works less often. If you want money use magick to make money easier to get, to make people more agreeable to you, to find such and such a position of power or gain a reputation that influences. Still less effective is casting a spell and not seeing its effects. It amazes me to no end that someone will cast a spell and the next day someone offers them the solution to their problem as it where and they can’t comprehend that what they will has manifested.

It is also worth noting that abstractions like power and love belong to other realms, so if you want them to show up on this one, you had better think of its logical equivalent in this realm. The plain of existence you cast your spell on and what plain it was meant to work on also make a difference as events in one place will affect events in another. Generally, I find that the best practical results (money, love, power, ect.) come about by working in this plain. That being said, the causal sphere, the space of Wuji, and the sepherath of the Tree of Life are all useful as they are places where some particular energy presides and some things are made easier by its nature.
Knowing the nature of the person, event, or place you intend to affect is also important, as it will take more power to get someone to do something not in their nature, or make an event change the course of its development to suit your needs. It is also easier to change with events, and in relation to other people, than it is to change them. That is not to say I suggest a new age-y “all live in harmony” approach to magick, but if an event is already developing in a useful way, don’t go looking for something else. Discover how you can benefit from events already happening and use magick to help them along. Find the person best able to bring about your intent and use magick on that person. The more focused the spell the more efficient it is and the more likely you get what you want.

For each spell you must do all that, and do so affirmatively because if your mind gets jumbled with worry or discontent, your mind which directs your energy via will, becomes unable to perform. Ever have a complex issue to deal with that just sucked to work with to the point where you did not want to touch it? How well did that turn out? Occult powers on the other hand do not work that way. They are for the most part passive, a part of you that needs no more coxing to work than your fingers. The future will come to you in one form or the other, we call it clairvoyance; inner thoughts become like spoken words, we call it telepathy; people follow you, we call it charisma.

There is the view that all this and more will come to those that patiently cultivate the spirit and seek enlightenment, and as the student becomes enlightened the want for these lesser things dies. This is true to an existent, though I have never been one to ascribe to the Seek Perfection in the One approach. You can do every fun things going that way, but some of us need to live in the lesser world and not go wandering in the wilderness for thirty years and stare at the sky seeking perfection. Some of us need to make rent. I’ve always been partial to the understanding that enlightenment is the elevator of a very tall building, and one gets the most useful results by going up and down as you please. Though the same analogy as was conveyed to me also spoke of how most people never get off the ground floor, and others only make it so far while some make it to the top and cannot come down.

The advocates of spiritual refinement do have a point though. A student will find that the occult powers desired are available in the course of things so long as they do not think about them and diligently apply the prescribed method. Yet they presume a non-duality and while right or wrong makes it makes it hard to use by people who want to live in this illusionary world- it being not completely without its fun bits. To work practical results you must assume that there is in fact a separation of the object desired, the mage and the bar of gold he might desire. Systems that advocate spiritual refinement see no separation and so their systems weaken the intent of the spell. People who are spiritually powerful do not want material things and so there is no intent to manifest them. Some have taken advantage of this non-dual relationship in one form or another to gain practical results (Taoism, Mako, and Shamanism are the better known ones I have found) but on the whole they are rare.

On the other hand, systems that are designed to produce practical results require one to “really want something”, that is focus on intent, over power, direction, and sometimes disregard completely any environmental factors. This leads to magick that is imprecise, and often underpowered. Wanting is not enough; you need do something to manifest that intent. I all too often feel that magick is conceived of, or at least presented as a really strong intent that forces reality to change to fit it. That view was never satisfying to me being that intent is only a desire with a Will to give it shape, and there are a lot of people with that; magick should be more if it stands a chance of asserting itself amongst all those other Will backed desires. Often enough acting like something is, and doing so in such a way that forces people, spirits, and everything else to respond in kind will produce results. I will quibble however, and say this is magick in its very lowest form; only able accomplish small things. To do greater acts of magick and accomplish more you need a level of understanding about reality and what it is made of, how it functions, and how to apply that understanding. Unfortunately, understandings of reality come first from understanding yourself.