Learning to "Think Like a Magician"
Jul. 5th, 2010 09:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
qosEarly on in my priestess training, my teacher told me that one of the tasks of the path was to learn to "think like a magician." I resisted this at first (and for a long time) because practicing magic was not something that interested me.
To say I had a limited understanding of "magic" would be an understatement.
When I thought of magic I thought only of spellcasting as presented in Wicca 101 books, which had never interested me -- and my glances at hermetic magic books which interested me even less. I defined myself as a mystic. I went inward, silently, and connected to the Divine there. The external components and rituals of spellcasting felt like unnecessary dress-up -- or, to put it less perjoratively: tools for people with different spiritual temperments than mine. I also made a fairly firm distinction in my mind between being a priestess and being a magician. It was possible to do both, of course (and my teacher was clearly an example of that) but I didn't think "doing magic" was necessary for the spiritual path I thought I was on.
It's been about three years now since I started this path. Three years, and I'm finally starting to understand what it means to think like a magician. Starting to understand.
Yesterday I started -- again -- to read John Michael Greer's Circles of Power, his book on ritual magic in the Golden Dawn tradition, which is based on Qabalah. The first couple of times I tried to read it, I had my usual allergic reaction to the Names of God, lists of correspondences (planets, parts of the body, colors, etc.), and gestures. Why? Why? WHY? was always my gut-level reaction. This is all so unnecessary!
Last night, I found myself nodding in understanding and feeling eager to finally start applying the knowledge and wisdom I found there.
What caused the change?
Part of it is as simple and straightforward as finally being able to accept that There are more things in heaven and earth. . . I grew up in a religious but rational and materialistic household. The only spiritual experiences recognized as valid were those which took place within the boundaries of mainstream Protestant theology and practice. LM and Michael, who were my first true magical teachers, would refer to my "rationality filter" which made it hard for me to accept and process anything that was outside that paradigm. They gave me my first stark exposure to the reality of what did lie beyond, but I was not able to open up my own inner capacities on a consistent basis. Since then, my teacher and a couple of good friends have reinforced that larger reality and over time I've come to accept it as normal.
The other aspect has been my Qabalistic studies, which I came to gradually, kicking and screaming all the way. Qabalah outlines a model of existence that is highly rational and utterly mind-blowing at the same time. There are multiple levels of existence, with macrocosm and microcosm reflecting and interacting with each other; everything is interconnected.
It's the complexity and interconnection that made the difference for me. As a Queen of Swords, I can appreciate complex systems, but when I think I know what I'm doing I can tend to be too quick to make simplistic assessments. I suppose it's possible to take a simplistic approach to Qabalah, but since my primary textbook is Greer's Paths of Wisdom that hasn't been an option for me. Don't get me wrong: it's an extremely readable book, but he doesn't water anything down.
I banged my head against those complexities for well over a year before the pieces started coming together in my mind. And slowly, very slowly (did I mention the "kicking and screaming" part?), I started to grasp not just the patterns but their implications.
Everything in the universe exists on multiple levels and it's all connected. We exist on multiple levels, even if we can't consciously access all of them. There are ways, however, to expand consciousness which also have the effect of balancing the personality and the soul, leading to a whole cascade spiritual benefits.
And a knowledge of how everything fits together means that a human being's tool box for affecting change -- internal as well as external -- is far larger than most of us will ever credit.
And yes, "being a magician" has a lot to do with my priestess path. Aside from the personal spiritual benefits of Qabalah, the ability to function on other levels of existence is very relevant to the work I want to do, and there is far more to accomplish with ritual magic than my simplistic assessment of spellcasting 101.
I'm pretty sure there's more to "thinking like a magician" than this. (My teacher will let me know later, in private, I'm sure.) But this is a beginning.
To say I had a limited understanding of "magic" would be an understatement.
When I thought of magic I thought only of spellcasting as presented in Wicca 101 books, which had never interested me -- and my glances at hermetic magic books which interested me even less. I defined myself as a mystic. I went inward, silently, and connected to the Divine there. The external components and rituals of spellcasting felt like unnecessary dress-up -- or, to put it less perjoratively: tools for people with different spiritual temperments than mine. I also made a fairly firm distinction in my mind between being a priestess and being a magician. It was possible to do both, of course (and my teacher was clearly an example of that) but I didn't think "doing magic" was necessary for the spiritual path I thought I was on.
It's been about three years now since I started this path. Three years, and I'm finally starting to understand what it means to think like a magician. Starting to understand.
Yesterday I started -- again -- to read John Michael Greer's Circles of Power, his book on ritual magic in the Golden Dawn tradition, which is based on Qabalah. The first couple of times I tried to read it, I had my usual allergic reaction to the Names of God, lists of correspondences (planets, parts of the body, colors, etc.), and gestures. Why? Why? WHY? was always my gut-level reaction. This is all so unnecessary!
Last night, I found myself nodding in understanding and feeling eager to finally start applying the knowledge and wisdom I found there.
What caused the change?
Part of it is as simple and straightforward as finally being able to accept that There are more things in heaven and earth. . . I grew up in a religious but rational and materialistic household. The only spiritual experiences recognized as valid were those which took place within the boundaries of mainstream Protestant theology and practice. LM and Michael, who were my first true magical teachers, would refer to my "rationality filter" which made it hard for me to accept and process anything that was outside that paradigm. They gave me my first stark exposure to the reality of what did lie beyond, but I was not able to open up my own inner capacities on a consistent basis. Since then, my teacher and a couple of good friends have reinforced that larger reality and over time I've come to accept it as normal.
The other aspect has been my Qabalistic studies, which I came to gradually, kicking and screaming all the way. Qabalah outlines a model of existence that is highly rational and utterly mind-blowing at the same time. There are multiple levels of existence, with macrocosm and microcosm reflecting and interacting with each other; everything is interconnected.
It's the complexity and interconnection that made the difference for me. As a Queen of Swords, I can appreciate complex systems, but when I think I know what I'm doing I can tend to be too quick to make simplistic assessments. I suppose it's possible to take a simplistic approach to Qabalah, but since my primary textbook is Greer's Paths of Wisdom that hasn't been an option for me. Don't get me wrong: it's an extremely readable book, but he doesn't water anything down.
I banged my head against those complexities for well over a year before the pieces started coming together in my mind. And slowly, very slowly (did I mention the "kicking and screaming" part?), I started to grasp not just the patterns but their implications.
Everything in the universe exists on multiple levels and it's all connected. We exist on multiple levels, even if we can't consciously access all of them. There are ways, however, to expand consciousness which also have the effect of balancing the personality and the soul, leading to a whole cascade spiritual benefits.
And a knowledge of how everything fits together means that a human being's tool box for affecting change -- internal as well as external -- is far larger than most of us will ever credit.
And yes, "being a magician" has a lot to do with my priestess path. Aside from the personal spiritual benefits of Qabalah, the ability to function on other levels of existence is very relevant to the work I want to do, and there is far more to accomplish with ritual magic than my simplistic assessment of spellcasting 101.
I'm pretty sure there's more to "thinking like a magician" than this. (My teacher will let me know later, in private, I'm sure.) But this is a beginning.
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Date: 2010-07-05 05:29 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-07-05 09:39 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-07-06 01:17 am (UTC)Everything in the universe exists on multiple levels and it's all connected. We exist on multiple levels, even if we can't consciously access all of them. There are ways, however, to expand consciousness which also have the effect of balancing the personality and the soul, leading to a whole cascade spiritual benefits.
And a knowledge of how everything fits together means that a human being's tool box for affecting change -- internal as well as external -- is far larger than most of us will ever credit.It's difficult for anyone raised in a materialist culture, but this is IMHO what it's all about.
And yes, "being a magician" has a lot to do with my priestess path. Aside from the personal spiritual benefits of Qabalah, the ability to function on other levels of existence is very relevant to the work I want to do, and there is far more to accomplish with ritual magic than my simplistic assessment of spellcasting 101.Absolutely.