Sorcery, merged with older thread Options

“Sorcery has no bounds or limits, except those that are put in place by the practitioner. It is the Study of Raw Power and often of Dark Energies. It stems from an Inherent need to delve into the deepest and darkest parts of One’s Self and although it may be dangerous and painful to Realise your Primal fears and desires it is well worth the effort”.

I was somewhat disappointed but not surprised to see so little interest in this category. I know that information is hard to find but so is anything that is worth the effort.

Although this is not the Path for everybody I hope that at least some of you are interested.

I am therefore inserting a basic description.

EDIT - text reduced to normal size. Mediocracy 01/04/2005

Sorcery is the need to study the deepest and darkest parts of ones self. Through understanding their primal desires, obscure passions, and emotionality the practitioner than draws on his or her own Raw Power. Most Sorcerers adopt an aggressive stance in their magical works. They tend to ignore whether or not they use their power for “good” or “evil, and often dismiss such concepts from their lives altogether.

Sorcery cares not what it changes.... it simply changes

Central to sorcery are Balance and Polarity within ones self, this can then be transferred to the world around us. The sorcerer is an expert at bending things to their own will. The most common way of achieving this is by using Twilight – this is a realm of the mind which is characterized by its extreme distortive properties, roiling energies, and occurrences bizarre enough to shock even the calmest, most accepting individuals. The practitioner can make changes in this shadow world that will then manifest themselves in the everyday world.

The unique art known as Sorcery is one which knows no bounds and has no limits, except those which are allowed by the user.

Another aspect of Sorcery is Glamour. This grants its wielder immense powers of persuasion. Ultimately it changes the way People Perceive the Person that is using it. It can Instill fear and create harmony. Oh and if you wish to temporarily change your appearance it can be useful to.

Hope this was some Help

This post has been edited by mediocracy: Apr 1 2005, 09:18 AM

hmm,

if you do not want to send it into the earth. Then you might try to condense it into your solar plexus, it may be a bit dangerous if it is much energy.

Another technique that i often use:
Send the energy into a big stone or rock. when you need energy later you can draw from that rock. I have one such big rock in my room which I use for many magical workings.

Just place your hands on the sides of the rock and send all the energy into it. See and feel it flowing into the stone.

I will take a picture of it once i am true with the current working, i don't take pictures of a work in progress, since i believe it may disturb the magick.

hmm,

if you do not want to send it into the earth. Then you might try to condense it into your solar plexus, it may be a bit dangerous if it is much energy.

Another technique that i often use:
Send the energy into a big stone or rock. when you need energy later you can draw from that rock. I have one such big rock in my room which I use for many magical workings.

Just place your hands on the sides of the rock and send all the energy into it. See and feel it flowing into the stone.

I will take a picture of it once i am true with the current working, i don't take pictures of a work in progress, since i believe it may disturb the magick.

Keep me updated, I'd love to see your rock. oh and may I ask, how does taking a pictuer disturb the "magick"? Is it the flash? or is it that the camera makes a duplicate which mis-guides the energy's path?

1)What distinguishes sorcery from other paths of magic? Specifically, what distinguishes it from ceremonial magic?

I think perhaps one of the most significant differences between 'sorcery' and any other kind of magick is in the sorcerer's view of the purpose and attitude of the magickal lifestyle. The Adept sorcerer is sensitive to the flow of energy in the world around him and reacting to it either mystically (i.e. the will, movement of energy through direct application of intention), or practically. Most magicians live a lifestyle that either only includes magick during ritual or magickal function - considering the rest of life the 'balance' to the magical life. Ceremonial magicians often have devices which establish a magickal identity solidly, as a 'conduit' to the magical potential within. A sorcerer learns - either through life experience, from a teacher, or most likely from his own instinct and insight into the subtle universe - to have a life that is strictly magickal. That isn't to say that the adept sorcerer holes himself up in a shack where he can commune with the universe all day - although he might - but rather that he has expanded his consciousness to include the perception of the subtle world as a natural state of living.

Also, the sorcerer sees magick as a system of laws governing the basic foundation of exchange and permutation in the universe. He is objective, and recognizes intuitively how to apply his own energy towards the manipulation of the subtle world around him based on the raw mechanics of these metaphysical laws. In a way, sorcery is actually the root of all ritual or traditional magick. Traditions of affecting change became collected into traditions and then built around the central methods of affecting change. However, tradition often becomes bogged down in subjective dogma and mythology, which can limit the immediate application of magick to a situation.

The roots of sorcery will be found in the yogic and eastern traditions from which the western ones normally deviated in their inception. It is the application of a personal relationship to the energetic universe that is the basic principle behind the actual practice of sorcery.

2)What is the goal of sorcery?

The goal of sorcery is as specific as the goals of any individual and as varied.

IMO, the absolute goal of the sorcerer should be to transcend death, and survive to inhabit another body. Not by some arcane means - rather, it is the reaction to the knowledge that we are not garunteed survival after death. There is life beyond the physical world, but not everyone is going to get it just because they are in a body. The soul needs power to survive and be incarnated into a new body. All sorcerers are spiritualists, but not all spiritualists are sorcerers. Really, spirituality is the essence of the cultivation of - naturally - spiritual energy.

3)What tools are involved in sorcery, as well as practices?

Consciousness, the Sixth Sense, and the Will. Because sorcerery is raw magickal effect, it can be clothed in whatever tradition one chooses - and it has been said before onthis thread that Chaotes are the current Sorcerers. And they are, but you can see that over time some general practices become common to many chaotes. In the fullness of time, it will codify as well, and there will be even more radical practices, probably a lot more effective, too. Magickal evolution.

A good beginning practice, though, is meditation. the ability of the sorcerer to unlock his own mind and it's connection to his spiritual energy, is the cornerstone of effective developement.

4)Generally, I've heard that sorcery is more of a "dark/LHP" practice, however I think this idea comes from the belief that sorcery is concerned with the outcome of events, not how you get there(i might be misinterpreting that. but that's why I'm here!).

The meaning of a word changes over the course of history and becomes more subject to context. Romantically Sorcery is a term used to describe the practitioners of arcane arts all together. In this current context, sorcery can be used towards either negative or positive ends. And, a sorcerer understands better than perhaps any other practitioner how to avoid the consequences of negative magick, because if he is mindful and adept, he can easily effect the flow of spiritual energy, we will say 'causal' energy, magickal energy, whatever - he can recognize the reactions to a magickal effect and diver them away. This might mean litterally percieving the movement of energy as astral light, or having a good repoire of communication with your own instincts.

When an inexperienced sorcerer learns to manifest change in his world, I think we all go through a point where we try to fullfill our desires, but it takes a great deal of experience and wisdom to understand how to divert the negative consequences of messing with the currents of energy. There can be coincidental or 'bad luck' type of karmic backlash, physical injry or illness manifested in the world, normally, psychological consequences such as megalomania, insomnia, afflictions of this nature which change the attitude and personality of the sorcerer. Given all of this, a sorcerer gone bad normally selfdestructs and ends up in a hole they can't climb out of. The ones that do gain the wisdom to live in society and have a successful life know enough about the art to normally get what they want without doing to much damage to themselves, although I imagine the relationships they have with people to be superficial at best.

5)Why practice sorcery instead of other branches of magic?

Sorcery is a calling, plain and simple. Some people will never be able to approach it, by simple circumstance of how their brain was set up to direct their experience in life. To those that are called, a traditional branch of magic comes with a tidy package and instruction booklets, and is much easier to lean on than the notion that you could spend your whole life never mastering the subtlties of the will, and you have to spend that entire life struggling to keep your eyes open. It becomes second nature eventually, but that is a daunting journey with many distractions, especially in the west. Most will grow up and either leave it behind all together, or settle into a peaceful, quiet spiritual existence under some label or another. Sorcery requires ingenuity, curiosity, and the balls to accept that there is an answer and you know it.

6)What are some resources for the beginner in sorcery, or to get an idea of what it is? Books, websites, articles, etc?

I suggest any book that deals with the expansion of consciousness. Your perceptions are the key to unlocking a greater world. If you can expand your mind, your perception, to include the subtle dimensions of the universe, then you can begin to gather spiritual energy and acquire the power to reach outside of your shell and effect the energetic world - or simply study the movement of energy in the world and learn how to redirect it through practical means. One effective method of sorcery to effect change involves percieving the energy of a situation as it is, then imposing one's own version or the intended energetic change over the energy percieved. the sorcerer then holds this energy while opening his mind to his 'catalogue' of the phenomenal world - litterally everything that the unconcious or perhaps even superconscious mind recognizes as the phenomenal manifestation of subtle energy - and awaits for a phenomenal pattern to arise which when acted on can effect the desired change. Here direct perception and interaction with energy results in a divinitory practice so that magick is used to discern a practical solution for the problem.

Expanding your catalogue is the first, best way to cultivate the sorcerer's talent. Carlos Casteneda is good, fiction or not - he offers a look into a lifestyle of living in an altered state of consciousness, and some very powerful philosophies which help one cultivate a sensitivity to the fullness of one's being. Meditation programs out there can help you explore the corners of your mind and spirit - I personally suggest the Higher Balance Institute - http://www.higherbalance.org. For the already adept this series will inspire fresh and creative approaches to using meditation to access all sorts of dimensions. For the beginners, this is a good solid foundation in the basics of acquiring energy and a very broad set of core applications of energy. A little creativity and dedicated interest, and even a novice could easily be seeing a drastic shift in everyday consciousness within a year.

Don't shy away from technology when it comes to magick. Remember that everything material reflects it's astral equivalent, and that the same energy can manifest many different ways. As we manifest technologies through our reasoning which grant us greater efficiency in evolving our energetic selves, we are channeling the raw energy of the Evolutionary process which is being manifested in our phenomenal world.

The universe does not work so fantastically as in RPGs and storybooks. Perhaps it might one day, but probably not soon. Our reality is expanding because of the magick workers through the ages. Our evolution is the culmination of the very nature of magick - to change ourselves for the better.

Peace
Vagrant

ps. As this topic seems to involve defining sorcery, I will start a seperate thread involving my own personal take on the step by step approach - intellectually at least - to becoming a competent sorcerer, as there seems to be some demand for such a topic specifically. it is true, as mentioned before, that in the past the traditions of sorcery are normally secretive, this overall paradigm has changed since the nature of our evolution has changed, and now more than ever our reality is expanding drastically. This is the perfect time to spread the wealth because the current malleability of reality will continue to persist as long as we continue to keep pushing the boundaries.

This post has been edited by Vagrant Dreamer: May 20 2006, 09:04 AM