I am conscious The Aggression Cycle doesn't take the typical approach of introducing a new model to our magical practice. Stealing from Gestalt Psychology - a specific type of psychotherapy many magicians and even psychologists mistrust for various reasons - and applying the insights found to ritual magical practice might just push the boundaries a little too much. Well, I am not sure it does.
Read MoreAnother year comes to an end. An opportunity to clean our desks, get rid of dead freight, misperceptions and to answer some essential questions. To me the essential question I take away from this rich year of magical practice, learning and sharing is this: ‘Why use Magic?'
Read MoreIn the previous part we looked at how magic works from an inner perspective, wether triggered consciously or unconsciously. The focus of the model shared was to examine how our 'True Will' and our unconscious desires interact with the world around us, in order to create experiences that resonate with their charges. It also showed how the impact of our behavioral reply - both on ourselves and our future experiences - will vary wether we chose to think about it, talk about it, act upon it or process it in form of a ritual.
Read MoreAfter all the inner work of recent months I needed a break and happily returned to a different kind of work - something a little more structured and outwardly focussed. In fact I had started this piece of work more than five years ago and then continuously refined and adjusted it. Still, sharing it today doesn’t mean it is final - like all models it will always remain work in progress. Yet, hopefully it has arrived at a stage where its logic is consistent and can be advantageous in sparking new thoughts about how magic actually works?
Read MoreWith the recent release of the Magical Knowledge III I thought it's a good time to share a fundamental magical insight I only realised through Josephine McCarthy's liminal books. Actually it's a quite embarrassing to admit that I have spent so many years practicing magic without understanding this very basic principle - as everything you want to achieve in magic really flows from it. Yet, embarrassing or not - a life led to looking good must be pretty boring? You simply miss out on all the playfulness. So here we go...
Read MoreOn writing the fourth chapter on the Holy Guardian Angel I discovered something interesting. It relates to our readiness to translate philosophical theory into living ritual work - and how this competence changes, evolves and matures over years of practice and experience.
Read MoreIn the previous posts of this series we discussed the basics of Power and Magic. In Part 1 we introduced a simple model allowing us to connect the What, How and Why of Magic and explored its impact on our own ritual practice. In Part 2 we took a look at the fundament of magical power built from experience and meaning and how these need to be in balance for a living approach to magic. Furthermore we examined an example of abuse of magical power that can be encountered both in past and present times.
Read MoreTime to explore some more about magical power. In the first post we dealt with the fundamentals of what blocks or opens access to power for any practitioner of magic. We found it is based on the coherence of (1) their actual ritual practice, (2) their understanding of how this practice forms part of a larger tradition as well as (3) their inner clarity of purpose and motivation to act. These three layers of magical power can be depicted by a model of three concentric circles.
Read MoreThroughout the ages Power has always been at the centre of magical practice. Wether we look at the herbs and potions of the witch, the fires in the ancient temples of Greece and Egypt or the intricate circles of the Medieval mage - the desire to consciously affect changes on the inner or outer realm always established the fundament of the Arte.
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