I am writing this to serve as an introduction to those who may be considering the Gnostic path. First let me explain what the “Gnostic path” means. One who is Agnostic believes that the truth cannot be known. That all one can know is the material reality and anything besides this, one can only guess. The Gnostic laughs at this. The truth can be known, but one must have the correct key in order to open the door. Those who hold the key have been called many things, including wizards, sorcerers, magus, enlightened ones, magicians and Gnostics. All the answers that you need lie within yourself. But most people do not know how to unlock these secrets. There are countless books today that try to tell you things. So how do you find the truth? How is it that you can gain control over your life? These things are easy. It’s when you are trying to shoot fireballs that things get difficult. I hope that this treatise will serve as a good introduction into what magick is, and dispel a lot of myths about it as well. I will try to answer a lot of the common questions that I get from beginners. You won’t walk away from this a wizard or sorceress, but you may be prepared to start the path.
What is Magick?
First of all, what is magick? St. Aleister Crowley said that magick is “The art and science of causing change in reality in conformity to Will”. I agree with that definition. It means that first you have a will to cause a change. Say for example, you want a new car. That is a desire of your will. Now, you could go out and buy one like anyone else. But it doesn’t take a wizard to do that. So, through the methods of magick, you force reality to give you a new car. You rewrite history before it has begun. And the act of doing this is both an art and a science. There is a lot of preparation in doing this, but I will get to that later. The idea is that through magick, your will can accomplish anything.
Now there are a lot of books on magick out there. There are books that promise to teach you the secrets of magick and list “spells” for wealth, money, love, and so on. Do not waste your money on these so-called “spell books” as they are useless. Sturgeon’s Law states that 90% of everything is junk. I find that this is especially true in the case of “magickal books“. Magickal theory has been so distorted in new age books, that it is no wonder people walk away feeling dissatisfied.
There are many divisions into different schools of magick.
Wicca: Also known as witchcraft. This system of magick stretches back a thousand years or more in history. This is the type that about 80% of books in the stores will talk about. Most, if not all of modern witchcraft is taken from the ideas of G.B. Gardner. He learned most of his techniques from St. Aleister Crowley. Gardner then simplified these ideas and added a Celtic flavor to them, thus creating modern witchcraft. Most witches believe in the god and goddess whom many call Diana and Pan. I am not going to spend too much time on Wicca. I do not have a very high opinion of this system myself, and do not use or teach any of their techniques. Also related to this is some more modern systems based on paganism and different mythologies.
Shamanism: This is the most ancient of all systems. It is a very simple system, but it can be very effective nonetheless. Some people may confuse Wicca with Shamanism, because they are both earth based systems. Shamanism is characterized by using certain herbs to enter into trances, or spirit quests. Another common theme in Shamanism is the invocation of animal spirits. In many cases drumming and dance are used to alter consciousness.
Hermetic Magick: Under this category I include kabbalistic methods and ritual magick. This school of thought is characterized by such groups as the Golden Dawn, A.'. A.`., OTO, Rosicrucian, Freemasonry and the illuminati. This is the classic style of magick stretching back to the time of the Egyptians. It teaches a very structured system of ritual magick. It was the style used by St. Aleister Crowley. Hermetic magick is really a conglomeration of many different things. The strongest point in Hermetic magick is kabbalism. This style of magick is taken from the kabbala of the ancient Hebrews. As such it makes many references to the god Jehovah, and bases a lot of its magick on these ideas. It is very ritualized system, and really forms the backbone of all hermetic magick. Some of the most important things from this system is the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram, and the Middle Pillar Ritual. Also drawn into this system is ideas from Yoga, Enochian, Tantric, Buddhism, and other sources as well. This is the path of magick that forms the foundation of the Silent Hand.
Chaos Magick: This is a more modern system invented by Austin Osman Spare. Even though Spare is considered the founder, the greatest advances in chaos magick has been the work of Peter Carroll. There are some really good ideas in this system, but I believe that it is lacking some essentials. I would recommend it as a companion to Kabbalistic thought and as a supplement. This system puts forward the idea that everything can be reduced to the essentials and that there are a few basic ideas that one needs to know in order to perform magick. While this is good and all, I believe that the system has taken out too much. It also introduces a new paradigm, by replacing the idea of God with chaos. The system has a very scientific feel to it and Carroll has many advanced theories on Quantum physics as well.
Now I will briefly describe the basic ways in which magick can be performed.
Ritual Enchantment: This is classic magick in which one performs a ritual in order to cause a change. You cause the probability of a future event to bend in your favor. This type of magick is usually begun with a banishing ritual, such as the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram, otherwise known as the LBRP. This is an essential ritual, and should be learned before any other ritual work is performed. It is the foundation of all ritual work. The content of a magical ritual is a means to an end, the end being the deliberate manipulation of consciousness. Many people believe there is something inherently magical about ritual, that it can be done, like cooking, from a recipe book; that prayers, names of powers, fancy candles, crystals, five-pointed stars and the like have an intrinsic power which works by itself, and it is only necessary to say the correct words and perform the correct movements and then you will be a mage. Symbols do have magical power, but the real power of them comes from directing the consciousness into the symbol. Magical power comes from the person (or people), not from the superficial trappings of ritual. The key to ritual is the manipulation and shifting of consciousness, and without that shift it is wasted time. The important thing to remember is that it is not what you do, but how you do it.
Invocation: This is the act of calling another being into your body. To invoke something is not to be possessed, but rather to become something else. It is far more an act of transformation than an act of possession, although to an outside observer, it might be difficult to distinguish the two. The pagan and Egyptian gods are often used in invocation, as collectively they represent the entirety of the human psyche.
Evocation: This is the act of calling up a spirit or entity to do your bidding. A servitor is an entity that is bound into something and used for a prolonged state of time by a mage. Often such servitors can become very powerful. Some entitles are centuries old, and others are simply created by the mage. Often a mage will have several different servitors to serve different functions. There are an infinite amount of these spirits, of various types. Some represent elements, while others represent animals. Some servitors represent an emotion, such as hate or fear. Often a magician will use a fetish, which is a physical representation of the servitor.
Divination: This is performed for the purpose of gaining information or insight. It can be used to see possible outcomes for the future, or to gain a better understanding of oneself. There are many different forms of divination, including tarot, bone casting, runes, crystal gazing, magick mirrors, and fire gazing. The most commonly used is the tarot. The tarot, along with other form of divination, is a link to your subconscious mind. It is an outlet in which it can deliver messages to you, which otherwise would be unavailable. There are many different spreads to use, some better than others. One thing I want to say about the tarot, however. It can be good to look into the book and see what the author says the explanation of the card is. However, it is much better to look at the card yourself and draw your own interpretation. If you simply look each card up in the book as you are doing a reading, and listen to that, then you will never learn to read the tarot. You can use what they say as a guideline, but in the end you must decide for yourself. It is your subconscious. The ones that are most important are the trump cards, which is also known as the Major Arcana. If you are just beginning to work with the tarot, only use these cards at first, until you know them well. Only then put in the Minor Arcana.
Gnosis
Essential to performing magick is raising gnosis. This can also be termed as achieving an altered state of consciousness. I like the divisions that Carroll uses in Liber Null & Psychonaut. (33) He creates a division between inhibitory mode and excitatory mode. Inhibitory mode uses methods that shuts the mind down and closes it off. Excitatory mode uses methods that overloads the consciousness with information. The chart that follows is not exhaustive, but provides some good examples. The purpose of altering the conscious is to occupy it so that the subconscious can come to the forefront. When working with gnosis, you can use more than one method simultaneously, but it is generally not a good idea to mix the two modes. It is hard to meditate while being tortured. But they can be used one after another. For example, after doing a crystal gazing, you could then begin dancing.
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Symbolism
The next thing I would like to touch on is the pentagram. It is one of the most important symbols in magick. There are actually two different pentagrams.
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Upright Pentagram
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Inverted Pentagram
Neither of these pentagrams represents either good or evil. The upright pentagram is the one used by default. The pentagram represents the classic elements of nature, which are fire, air, earth, water, and spirit. It also represents man. The upright pentagram represents the ascent of man to the divine. The inverted one represents the left hand path. The left hand path is a bit darker and its practitioners often used what some call black magick. Where the right hand path uses magick in order to gain enlightenment and purification of the soul, the left hand path uses its magick for whatever it wants. Of course, it is not as simple as that. There is much more to the left and right hand paths. I do want to stress that those on the right hand path are not necessarily good, and neither are the ones on the left hand path necessarily evil. The best way to describe it is that those on the right hand tend to be selfless, and those on the left hand tend to be selfish. Just remember this in your magickal working, and in everyday life. Everything you do is going to have an impact on someone or something. One should understand as fully as possible the
consequences of the things one does, and to decide whether we are prepared to live with the outcomes.
Magickal Tools
There are four classic tools of the mage. They correspond to the four physical elements, and to the four parts of the magician-self. They are as follows: The dagger, which is the tool of air and destruction. The wand, which is the tool of fire and will. The cup, which is the tool of water and magical perception. Lastly is the pentacle, which is the tool of earth and physical plane formulation. A pentacle and a pentagram are not the same thing. A pentagram is a five pointed star within a circle. A pentacle is one of the classic magickal tools. A pentacle is a disk, usually of wood or metal, with a pentagram painted upon it. It is used to represent earth and as a defensive weapon. One other thing I would like to add is that not all wands represent fire. There are many other wands which a magician can create for other purposes. Also, it is not necessary to have these tools to perform magick. But I do think that they can be very helpful in performing magick. Every mage should have one magickal weapon, however. It could be a wand, a knife, a ring, or anything else that represents your will. If you do not have a weapon, you should start thinking about what you would like to use. Find something that you feel represents you, magickally. When doing rituals, there are many other things which can be helpful. I have almost never performed a ritual except by candlelight. This does not mean that I cannot, but much of magick has to do with having the proper mindset. I consider candles to be an essential tool. Incense is very good to have as well. Then there is ritual clothing. The best thing to have is a ritual robe. If you cannot afford one, then try to find something else. It is better at first to not perform magick in your everyday clothing. Find something in which you feel magickal. As in all things magickal, it is best to trust your instincts. The purpose of the clothing, candles, tools, and all material aspects of magick is your mindset. Belief is essential to magick. You cannot hope that you are a magician, you must know you are. If you want to perform magick, it is good to surround yourself with things that seem magickal. You are building up the belief in yourself that you can do these things. You have to set in yourself an altered state of consciousness. When you are standing there in a candle lit room in your robe with incense burning, it separates this from your everyday life. Your mind will then say “Begin the ritual!”.
The Mind
This brings me to another important part of magick, the mind. The mind is a very strange thing. Magicians often divide the mind into three sections. The conscious, the subconscious, and the True Will. Your conscious mind is your mind that you use in everyday life most often. It lets you talk, write, and do all of the other basic things in life. Most would consider it a pretty useful thing. But in magick, it can be your greatest enemy. It will try to rationalize magical effects that you produce, and it will never stay quiet. To illustrate my point, try to sit and think about absolutely nothing. Do not even think about the fact that you are not thinking. Most will find it extremely hard, if not impossible to do. A magician must be able to quiet the mind totally in order to operate in the subconscious. Or, at least distract the conscious so that it doesn’t know what is going on. The subconscious is the root of tremendous power. It is a very primal thing, and does not operate like the conscious mind. It thinks mostly in images and feelings and often speaks to us in dreams. The True Will, also known as the higher self, is what many people call God. It is the reason for the drive, the feeling that there is something greater in this world, and indeed there is. It can speak to us as well, although to know your True Will is not an easy task. In order to get to your True Will, you have to go through your subconscious. This is why it is so important to access the subconscious through methods such as the tarot. Development of the mind is very important to a mage. The mind of a Master Wizard is a fine tuned instrument.
One thing needs to made clear. A person’s mind and a person’s brain are not the same thing. The mind is a made up of the conscious, the subconscious, and the True Will. The brain is the physical outlet for the mind. Just as your voice box does not contain the words that you speak. The brain is what it is because of the mind, and the mind is something that is greater than the brain. The mind is not inside the brain, rather that the brain is inside the mind. With that basic idea, it would be ludicrous to imagine that you can fix a psychological "problem" with prescription drugs. Which opens up a new case in point.
Who is it that decides who has a problem and who is sane? Perhaps those that are trying to treat others are actually the ones that are mentally incompetent. If this is true, then these "treatments" are actually bringing a sane person into their psychosis. I think that some of the psychological lines have been drawn wrong. This is another area that I intend to correct. The most promising students that I have seen are people whom others would say had a psychological “problem”. The only problem most of these people had is that they refused to buy into all the bullshit that they have been fed for most of their lives. What separates a madman from a genius? Well conventionally the beliefs of the masses. If what you say fits into the system of beliefs held by the majority, then you are a prophet, otherwise you are quite mad. If I were to proclaim that I spoke with the god Thor and that he has given me the power to heal the sick, many would think I was crazy. But everyday on TV, there are preachers who claim to heal in the name of Jesus. Jesus himself, in objective psychological terms, could be considered a madman. So it is still a very biased and un-objective system which is grounded too much in the popular belief of reality. In madness there is wisdom, this is for sure, and in acquiring great wisdom, most will think the wise man foolish and crazy as they continue to be the busy little ants, digging their tunnels.
Dreams
Dreams can be a very important thing. When a person is dreaming, sometimes it is a message from the subconscious mind. At other times, the mind will just play and there is no deeper meaning. I want to make something very clear. There are a number of books out there that say they will tell you the meaning of your dreams. They are all garbage. If you dream of a fish and I dream of a fish, it will more than likely mean totally different things. If you really want to delve into your dreams and find out what they mean, there is only one way. You must keep a dream diary. Keep a notebook next to your bed and as soon as you wake up, start writing. Don’t wait until after you brush your teeth or any other nonsense. By that time, you will have forgotten most if not all of your dream. Every night that you sleep a full nights sleep, you dream. The problem is that most of the time, a person cannot remember because it is in the subconscious mind and not in the conscious. So it has to be during that time, when you first wake up, before your eyes even adjust, start scribbling. Your subconscious mind will still be very active at this time. Later you may be surprised at what you write down. After keeping a diary for a couple of weeks, you can then go back and start to look for patterns in your dreams. And only then will you start unraveling the secrets of your dreams.