magic

Most people would define Magic as the ability to cause changes in the environment without deference to the laws of causality. This fallacious concept of Magic is built on the reductionist-materialist idea that cause and effect is a law of the universe, rather than a phenomena, and that the relationships between all causes and effects are physical and can be discovered with proper scrutiny. Materialists are unable to see the bridge between cause and effect that enables Magic to happen, yet they are often willing to accept religious/heirarchial ideas that make the practice of Magic seem like the most boring set of bookeeping chores imaginable.

Their thoughts are distorted because they are unwilling to look at alternative ways of viewing the bridge between causes and their effects. This bridge is sometimes called psychic energy, but this is an inadequate term, because psychic energy is a byproduct of Magic, not 'the power that makes it go'. The true bridge is what the Japanese call Kami, the closest concept that we have today to what the ancient Egyptians called Neter. Because of the intellectual prejudices that pass for Egyptology today, Neter (and the more familiar term Kami ) is usually translated as "god". Both of these ancient concepts are inclusive of deities, but not exclusive to them.

Neter are the aggregate of forces that both move us and respond to our intent. For those who know, the gesture/word of the same nature as the Neter with which it has harmony will link a seemingly unrelated cause to an effect. This is, of course, the goal of Magic, but our inner radiance, which 'attracts' the 'presence' of the Neter is the subject of the work. This is why so many cultures emphasized purification, which has been distorted into an insult to the human sprit, as has what passes for Magic today.

There is an energetic atmosphere surrounding us as real as the one that we breathe. Every living thing participates in this sea of energy, and it is through this energy that 'the breath of Neter' can nourish us. The ebb and flow of the psychic atmosphere's energetic qualities is often measured by various cycles of time. Unfortunately, modern humanity is conditioned to think in artificial time, and to base actions on irrational fears – both of which break connections with the subtle realm.

In ancient cosmology, each segment of time had its own special quality. Each hour of the day, each month, every season and year, the regular phases of the Moon or cycles of Venus, and other rhythms of the celestial sphere all have their individual signatures. In the chrono-acupuncture of China, certain times are more favorable for specific treatments than others. In India, certain forms of therapeutic music are performed only at a specific time of day. Usually when we hear a joke or speech that is delivered poorly, we say that the speaker's sense of timing was off. This means that his efforts do not have the Magical effect of changing the audiences' emotional state. To call a person anachronistic, or out of step with the times, is a polite way of saying that their personal Magic is impotent.

Sounds also express the essences of the cosmos, but only when they are qualitatively proportionate to that which is the subject of the act of Magic. This is the basis of Kotodama, the 'word-soul' of Japanese mysticism, as well as the original Kabbalah. Through attuning to the cyclic natures of the universe, and understanding the true power of rhythm and counterpoint, one can harmonize with time and space and call the limbs of nature, the forces of Magic, into action.

The secret of Magic is the threefold understanding that faith is belief without believing "in", that language is more than a sequence of sounds with specific meanings, and that timing holds the key to the bridge between cause and effect. This is the first and last knowledge acquired on the path of Magic. The practices evolved from this knowledge can loosen the conceptual framework and open experience into a truer, more natural and infinitely more fulfilling way of being.