Black Magick Musings..., Seductive Rhetoric Options

It has been said by the philosophers that God is dead. Yet Satan lives.

It occurred to me yesterday that many people are more deeply affected by their fear of black magick, are more convinced by the possible reality of 'demons', and more influenced by the perceived powers of "satan," than they are affected by another mainstream or off-beat spiritual system.

Case in point, I know atheists who laugh at the idea of a "God" or other spirits, but who become very afraid at seeing a copy of The Goetia or The Satanic Bible. I also know Catholics who don't take their "religion" seriously, but who take "evil black magick" very seriously; one's prayers may be completely ineffective, but be sure that anything incanted by mean Mr. Crowley or Anton Lavey and their followers will be sure to have real outcomes.

The dynamics of deliberately using the threat of black magick, to gain worldly influence aside, I'm very interested in what this means about us as spiritual seekers who grow in a climate where these factors are often true. For if Satan has all power in the world, and can be relied upon to answer at the worshipper's beck and call by our power to fear, feel, and thus invoke him, is Satan then not God?

"...there is an old parable which relates how the hound that had tempted man the whole length of his perilous journey, devoured him on the Summit of that Mystic Mountain; and how that Ancient DOG was indeed GOD himself." (Temple of Solomon the King).

...would a rose by any other name smell just as pungent?

...especially if the black magician tricks himself into following God!

In sum though, the question remains...where does the pied piper lead if he is followed? I look forward to your responses...

p.s. This would be more an example of a "Theistic" sort of demonology or Satanism than otherwise.

This post has been edited by monkman418: Jan 18 2011, 11:17 PM

I see some assumptions in this discussion that no one has mentioned.

First, do all of you believe that Firth was wrong in saying that any spirit you evoke can have no greater power than you have?

Second, making analogies between mundane and occult actions. Mundane weapons are anonymous. A magickal attack forms an energetic link; I've used that in responding to attacks with great success. Human, elemental, demonic, deistic, whatever; it has built into it the unique resonance of the originator and I've never seen that successfully hidden.

A magickal attack forms an energetic link; I've used that in responding to attacks with great success. Human, elemental, demonic, deistic, whatever; it has built into it the unique resonance of the originator and I've never seen that successfully hidden.

Could you explain this a little bit more? How do you personally see/sense/know the energetic link?

Could you explain this a little bit more? How do you personally see/sense/know the energetic link?

Can you feel the "flow"? It's basic to energy work. It's the movement or concentration of chi (subtle energy) involved in all magick. If you can, do your normal protection, confine the contact you have from the sending, put yourself in a receptive state (NOT accepting, just receptive) and feel/listen/look at the "flow" that comes from the sending. If you're not practiced enough to visualize it often helps to use the energetic port on your palm. If it's from a person you'll get their energetic signature. Memorize that. If it's through an entity you'll get that first, then command the link to extend to the sender. Quietly consider the signature you've gotten until you have no trouble keeping it in your mind. Then send what you want (or return the entity if you work that way).

Experience: nasty self-maintaining entity sent to me by someone I met (and had no reason to do so, except viciousness). As far as I could see, was designed to promote a cancerous growth. Sent it back. Last I heard he got cancer of the jaw.

Can you feel the "flow"? It's basic to energy work. It's the movement or concentration of chi (subtle energy) involved in all magick. If you can, do your normal protection, confine the contact you have from the sending, put yourself in a receptive state (NOT accepting, just receptive) and feel/listen/look at the "flow" that comes from the sending. If you're not practiced enough to visualize it often helps to use the energetic port on your palm. If it's from a person you'll get their energetic signature. Memorize that. If it's through an entity you'll get that first, then command the link to extend to the sender. Quietly consider the signature you've gotten until you have no trouble keeping it in your mind. Then send what you want (or return the entity if you work that way).

Experience: nasty self-maintaining entity sent to me by someone I met (and had no reason to do so, except viciousness). As far as I could see, was designed to promote a cancerous growth. Sent it back. Last I heard he got cancer of the jaw.

Thank you for the detailed explanation.

I am trying to understand what you mean by "the flow." Are there any sources/books/traditions you are thinking of in particular here? I ask because there are many approaches to energy work. Would "the astral plane" or "astral link" be an appropriate translation, or do you mean something else entirely?

This post has been edited by monkman418: Feb 2 2011, 07:18 PM

Thank you for the detailed explanation.

I am trying to understand what you mean by "the flow." Are there any sources/books/traditions you are thinking of in particular here? I ask because there are many approaches to energy work. Would "the astral plane" or "astral link" be an appropriate translation, or do you mean something else entirely?

Something else. I'm not talking about the astral plane, I mean something that directly affects the physical. IMO training in ceremonial magick has a couple of big holes in it. One is insufficient emphasis on mental state, but that's another story. The other is energy (chi) work. The conscious control of chi enormously amplifies magick or can be used by itself. The "signs" used in rituals are obvious attempts to direct chi. Traditions? Yes, Chi-Gong training eventually gives control of chi, but modern procedures are much faster. Most of the modern systems use tactile sensation and memory as a key to directly controlling chi flow. The two training systems I'm familiar with are Astral Dynamics and Quantum Touch. Both are simple and give effective control of chi flow, though Quantum Touch integrates directly into ceremonial magickal practice.

I've had two fairly advanced ceremonial magickians sneer at me when I said I did energy work. They had no idea what they were missing (and I didn't tell them (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) ).

Something else. I'm not talking about the astral plane, I mean something that directly affects the physical. IMO training in ceremonial magick has a couple of big holes in it. One is insufficient emphasis on mental state, but that's another story. The other is energy (chi) work. The conscious control of chi enormously amplifies magick or can be used by itself. The "signs" used in rituals are obvious attempts to direct chi. Traditions? Yes, Chi-Gong training eventually gives control of chi, but modern procedures are much faster. Most of the modern systems use tactile sensation and memory as a key to directly controlling chi flow. The two training systems I'm familiar with are Astral Dynamics and Quantum Touch. Both are simple and give effective control of chi flow, though Quantum Touch integrates directly into ceremonial magickal practice.

I've had two fairly advanced ceremonial magickians sneer at me when I said I did energy work. They had no idea what they were missing (and I didn't tell them (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) ).

Cool, thank you for this explanation. I have the "astral dynamics" book, so I can get a sense of what you're describing now. I think some people would identify these techniques with workings on the astral plane, which only goes to show how there really isn't much agreement from person to person on what these words mean in a technical sense.

One interesting idea you mention here is that the signs of magick are used to direct chi. Since this is (as you rightly point out) not explained in any sources, perhaps you would be willing to describe some of the more popular postures and how the chi would be directed if used, both for signs and in magick in general. I would encourage you to even start a new topic in the "ceremonial magick" subforum, since we'd be moving into something new if you were willing to do so.