A Concise Introduction to Magic and Magical Training: Part I, by Virgil
A concise Introduction to Magic and Magic Training
by Virgil
Overview
I dedicate this series of articles to Natalie Portman, in recognition of the fact that she’s cool.
There is no art that is easy to master, and magic is no exception to this rule. That said, although the process of mastering magic can never be made easy, there is no reason for it to be unnecessarily difficult. Unfortunately, many aspiring magicians are having an unnecessarily difficult time becoming an adept because they do not even know how to begin their training.
The purpose of this series of articles is to provide aspiring magicians with enough guidance for them to begin their training, and to point them in the direction of the further guidance they will need to complete their training.
Part I: What is Magic?
Part II: The Importance of Magical Training Systems
Part III: Magical Training Systems
Part IV: Introspection
Part V: Self-Transformation
Part VI: An Introduction to the Bardon System
Part 1: What is Magical Training?
Part I: What is Magic?
Do not be quick to embrace any definition of magic; by the same token, consider well before you reject it. Above all, think for yourself.
~Donald Tyson
Description : generic levitra uk is used to treat erection troubles, it is suggested to first find the root of your issue and work through how to get around it. The treatmentoptionscall for a monthlyinvestment of as much as $2,000 and upwards cialis generika of 48 injections. Researchers super cialis professional unica-web.com said, there are no certain causes of TMJ disorders, however they uncover this condition connected with adrenal fatigue. They all help levitra no prescription release nitric oxide in penis area which results in erection.
Let’s begin with the obvious. There are many people who call themselves magicians, and not all of them agree on what magic is. Different “magical” systems, schools, and traditions often have vastly differing views when it comes to what the purpose of magic is and what distinguishes it from related or similar esoteric disciplines.
According to many systems, schools, and traditions of magic, magic is about service. The magical system I trained in was the Bardon system.i Because the Bardon system is one of those systems that views magic as an art centered on service, I am going to adopt this view throughout the following discussion about magic.
If we choose to view magic as an art centered on service, the first question that naturally comes to mind is who or what we magicians are serving when we work magic. According to some magicians, magic is about serving Divine Providence. According to others, magic is about serving the universe. According to others, magic is about serving society. According to others, magic is about serving the Light. This latter view can be seen in a passage from Donald Tyson’s book New Millennium Magic.
In the final analysis, the only worthwhile use of magical attainment is in service to the light – not because self-sacrifice is somehow noble, and not because the purposes of the light are more worthy than those of darkness, although both these premises happen to be true. The magus follows cosmic law for wholly practical and pragmatic reasons. Only by living in harmony with the light can the magus realize his or her highest potential as a human being.
I believe these all to be more or less equivalent. In other words, there is no fundamental difference between serving Divine Providence, serving society, serving the universe, and serving the Light. They are different angles through which one can look at the purpose underlying the art of magic – service. Practitioners of Bardon’s system generally view service to Divine Providence as the purpose of magic, so this is the specific angle I will use throughout this series of articles.
If the magician is to serve Divine Providence, then the magician must know the will of Divine Providence. Wisdom is the capacity to cognize the will of Divine Providence. This explains why wisdom has traditionally been considered central to magic. For example, the Biblical King Solomon is believed by many to have been a powerful magician, and many grimoires (ancient textbooks of magic) are attributed to him. One of the most well-known stories in the lore of general Western magic is the story of how King Solomon became a magician. According to this story, God once asked Solomon what he wanted and Solomon replied that he wanted wisdom. Because Solomon did not want money, women, the death of his enemies, or some similar base desire, God rewarded Solomon by giving him wisdom, as well as many magical skills and abilities. Among these magical skills and abilities were the ability to control spirits and the ability to understand the language of animals.
The story of Solomon hints at a powerful and profound connection between magic and wisdom. The nature of this connection was already explained previously. The magician strives to serve Divine Providence, and wisdom allows him to perceive what exactly it is that Divine Providence wants him to do. Therefore, it is imperative that the magician acquires wisdom.
Having established that the magician seeks to serve Divine Providence and must know what the will of Divine Providence is in order to do this, let’s discuss what the will of Divine Providence is. In other words, what does Divine Providence want? Of course I cannot list every possible situation you could face and explain what Divine Providence would want you to do in that situation. Your wisdom will have to tell you what Divine Providence wants you to do in each specific new situation you encounter in life. Despite this, we can certainly discuss what Divine Providence wants in more general terms.
In general, Divine Providence wants the universe to be blessed. Therefore, the magician strives to make the universe more blessed. Needless to say, the universe is a pretty big place, so in practice, the magician usually focuses his efforts on making his own little corner of the universe more blessed. By that, I mean the world in which he lives.
In traditional religious lore, angels exist to serve Divine Providence. Like magicians, they do this by carrying out her will. In a short story written by the magician William Mistele (Bill) titled “A Council of Angels,” an angel says the following about the task Divine Providence has assigned him and his fellow angels to do.
Our task is to bless all beings, to see that their lives are fulfilled in every conceivable way, to grant them every opportunity to follow their highest path of life, and to discover within the depths of their hearts the destiny they wish to fulfill as their contribution to the unfolding of creation.
Since magicians, like angels, seek to serve Divine Providence, this task is not just the task of the angels, but of magicians as well. In fact, in some systems of magic such as the Bardon system, the magician is seen as not only a person who does the same tasks as the angels, but as an angel-of-sorts herself – in other words, as a powerful spirit with intense astral and mental powers who strives to carry out the will of Divine Providence. If this idea is difficult to wrap your mind around, realize that all humans are spirits. In the case of humans who are not currently incarnated, this is obvious. However, just because a particular human spirit also has a physical body does not mean she is not a spirit. When you put a cookie into a cookie jar, the cookie does not cease to be a cookie. Similarly, when you put a spirit into a body, it does not cease to be a spirit. According to Bill, the Bardon system is designed to help its students develop “a capacity to move as a divine being among other divine beings and on occasion to participate directly in the divine workshop engaging in highly creative activity.”
In his book The Practice of Magical Evocation, Franz Bardon describes numerous powerful spirits who serve Divine Providence.ii These spirits are truly “divine beings” because they all possess a deep inner connection to Divine Providence and reflect some aspect of Divine Providence. They each play a big role in facilitating the evolution of some aspect of human culture, science, technology, and art. As a result of her training, the magician eventually becomes a divine being similar to them. She is powerful, her will is aligned with the will of Divine Providence, and she is determined to do what she can to manifest the will of Divine Providence in the world. However, there is a big difference between the magician and the spirits Bardon describes in The Practice of Magical Evocation. The spirits Bardon describes usually reflect one aspect of Divinity and embody one type of universal force. For example, one of these spirits might reflect divine mercy, while another might reflect divine justice. The magician, in order to remain balanced, must reflect all aspects of Divinity and embody all universal forces.
Later on in the same story by Bill quoted earlier, Divine Providence asks the angel “Why have I commissioned you to bless men?” The angel’s reply is as follows.
Because it is your very nature and essence to bless all things, to see that life is fulfilled in every conceivable way. You offer to men the opportunity to choose a destiny so they become like you – a creator who makes things new.
The passage is interesting because it asserts that genuine magicians aren’t just like angles; they are like Divine Providence herself. The student of magic seeks to become a co-creator of the universe; but to become a co-creator of the universe, one must have the same nature and essence as the Creator. Thus, the nature and essence of the magician must also be to bless all things and to see that life is fulfilled in every conceivable way. She must seek to be a blessing to the world.
In a nutshell, being a blessing to the world means reducing the amount of unnecessary suffering in the world and increasing the amount of joy in the world. Without a doubt, there are many people who strive to do this. In order to do this more effectively, some of them choose to undergo a process in which they establish mastery over all aspects of themselves, learn to use forces most people are unaware exist, and connect with spiritual entities that can provide them with arcane knowledge. That process is the process of magical training.
Stay tuned, Part II will be available next week. To find out more about Virgil please visit his author page, to purchase his titles and other related works please view below:
[wpbooklist_shortcode]