The understanding of ritual is the understanding of a spiderweb. The easiest way to put it, is to say one is using a myriad of symbols to create a message that is sent to the subconscious. The
subconscious then modifies either the energies in the environment, the actions of the caster, or both in order to bring about the desired results. The myriad of symbols used are those things which excites certain responses in the mentality through sensual suggestion. The most basic of these suggestions, and probably one of the most dominant for humans, is using the sense of sight, specifically color, to trigger certain ideas. A common example is using the color green, such as a green candle or green cloth, to trigger ideas such as luck and money.
Different people however, may use different colors for different things. A good example is the color black which, in the western world anyway, often signifies negativity. Due to this association it is often used for working with negativity, especially absorbing negative energies in an area. By contrast, the orient has a completely different set of ideas about the color. In Korea black signifies knowledge, more specifically a kind of complete knowledge. This is true also in the martial arts where one seeks to attain the black belt. In china and japan black signifies the idea of a feminine, yielding, receptive idea in black's association with yin.
Even two people from the same hemisphere may have different ideas. Earlier it was mentioned the green was commonly used to represent luck and money. Some people, on the other hand, prefer to use purple for money, wealth, and success because in history the color of royalty was a deep purple. Still others associate purple with ideas of nobility and honor rather than wealth and money for similar reasons. Therefore, it is often best to figure out what different colors means to the caster rather than working off of the ideals of someone else. Generally there are 8 colors which should probably be considered, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple, Black, and of course White. Brown, Grey, and Pink are often used in many spells as well, so too many people use light blue and dark blue in different ways.
It may be best to consider, for each spell, what ideas you want to represented and what color or colors you associate with those ideas. It might also be a good idea to keep a journal of what you've associated with each color. Be careful though as a person's associations often change throughout life and while you once used green for money you may develop a closer link of purple, silver or even gold or yellow which will serve you better where you once used green.
Aside from simple colors, images and symbols can be used to trigger the same ideas. An octagon to many people reminds them of a stop sign and may be used as such to halt or slow down events in motion. Other people may think of the 8 directions of a compass rose, the 8 fold path of enlightenment of Buddhism, or any of a number of other ideas. Again it is best to consider for each spell what images one wants to use.
Moving beyond sight, hearing can be a strong inducer of thoughts and emotions helping the caster focus more and more on the spell. Things such as music, chants, and drum beats are all effective mind triggers to use in ritual work. Smell and taste can be incorporated into incenses, sachets, foods, and drinks to help with the practitioner's focus. A rich meal by candle light using green candles and listening to Mozart may trigger ideas of high society living to help with a money spell. If one then changes the green candles for red, mozart for something romantic, and the meal replaced by chocolate covered strawberries; throw in a little perfume or cologne and you have a good start to an excellent spell to attract love or at least a little romance.
Using the senses to trigger emotions and excite the subconscious to action is only the bare surface of a ritual. While rituals based only on these ideas might work they will not be as affective as they could be with the proper study and information. There are many added benefits that one can include in craft-work that can help to enhance the effectiveness, power, and precision of one's spell work. Understanding the uses of herbs, stones, runes, sigils, numerology, and zodiacal influence can all come into play to either help or hurt the effectiveness of spell-work. Perhaps the first among these are certain ideas which have collectively been called the Law's of Magic.
These laws are less like actual laws and more like ideas that can be used to help create the desired affect and expand one's awareness of spiritual truths. They come from a variety of sources and inspirations including, modern science, philosophy, psychology and anthropology.
Perhaps the most important laws relative to ritual are the Laws of Contagion and Similarity. Together they or the primary Laws of Association. These laws are anthropological laws first proposed by George Frazer in his book “The Golden Bough.” These laws are primarily used by anthropologists to understand ceremonies and rituals of various religions and the symbols behind the actions and tools used in those ceremonies. Using these laws as a frame of reference is invaluable in studying other ritual workings, while applying the ideas within these Laws to one's own spells can help increase the influence of a spell.
The Law of Contagion states that any two objects or person's which have been in contact with one another continue to have influence over one another unless that link is specifically broken. Furthermore the longer and more intense the contact between the two objects the stronger the link between them and the stronger the influence.
From the law of contagion we get the ideas of using things linked with a specific person to cast spells on or around that person. A lock of hair, a drop of blood, a locket or ring special to that person are all examples of objects that can be used to affect the person. It is also said that the longer or more intimate the contact between the person and the object the greater the influence. Let's say for example that a person has a wedding ring they have worn for 10 years and a necklace they recently got from a friend. The wedding ring used in a spell has a stronger connection and therefore a greater influence over the person than the necklace would. We can also take this further and apply it to things like hair, which isn't just an adornment but was previously part of them, or even blood, fingernails, etc. All of these have a extremely close contact and allow for a greater influence over the person.
The law of similarity on the other hand says that two objects which resemble one another can be influenced to affect one another. This is extended by the axiom, “results resemble causes.” Its from this law or this line of thinking that we get the ritual of the classic voodoo doll. A doll often made of wax, dough or clay is made and and used to affect the person or object in question. Often times these dolls have things attached to them which represent the person such as a picture, but they can also be in contact with things that have been in contact with the person such as a locket, or the hair of the doll being made from the hair of the person the caster wants to affect. This latter example, however, in incorporating the Law of Contagion into the ritual. Combining the two laws into a single ritual is preferred when ever possible.
Beyond the idea of imagery such as dolls and photos for similarity actions can be a similarity as well. Throwing water into the air and letting it fall like rain can be effective for causing rain. In bygone ages people would run through freshly planted corn rows jumping as high as they could in order to get the corn to grow higher and produce better.
One modern example listed in The Witch's Magical Handbook by the Frosts, is a witch who wanted to to get a little closer to one of her coworkers. In order to do this she used two candles one which represented her and one which represented her coworker. She placed the candles in opposite corners of the room and each day she would perform a ceremony where she would draw the candles a little closer together until they were side by side. At this point she bound them with a string and let melt together until they burned out.
This example is valuable for a multitude of reasons. While it displays the ideas of actions as similarity it also shows that we need to be careful when planning the actions. While the spell worked and she did get involved in a long relationship with her coworker, the relationship quickly went downhill and became a very negative influence in both her life and the life of the coworker. She had made the mistake of letting the candles melt together and burn out which means the spell would have been very difficult if not impossible to undo and she had to wait until the spell had ran its course which put her through several years of misery.
The next Law that should be included here is the Law of Knowledge. Put simply, the greater the knowledge one has over an entity or situation the greater control one has over it. This means understanding not only the person or events your trying to manipulate, but understanding the
motivations, causes, and effects, or in the case of a person the drives and fears of not only them but the people around them. The greater the understanding the greater the affinity and greater the influence. It might also be said the more you understand the less you need to do in order to get the affects you want instead of a big shove it may only take a little nudge to get things headed in the direction you want them to go.
Magic is about manipulating the forces of nature in conformance with one's will and desire. Going beyond the basics there are other ideas which act as catalysts to these manipulations. Herbs are one of the most common catalysts one can use with spells but the knowledge of herbalism is not a simple thing. Its not as simple as tossing a plant leaf into a spell or even using an oil extract. Each herb has its own powers, alignments, and resonances that come into play. Hollyhocks, for example, are good to use when calling upon spirits for assistance. However, one must understand that hollyhocks have a resonance with the powers attributed to Venus. While it is not necessary to go into the ideologies of planets and their meanings here, it is enough to say that hollyhocks, while helpful for summoning any type of spirits are more likely to summon spirits associated with the powers of Venus such as love, lust, and beauty, and feminine spirits such as dryads, naiads, and nymphs. Hollyhock then is not likely to be very helpful when calling on spirits of ancient warriors (except in cases such as the amazons and even then there are better ones).
Another example of a widely used herb is mugwort which is used for protection. The nature of mugwort however is related to the element earth, making in a solid unyielding element good for
protections, but it is also feminine which means it may not work well against presently active intrusions but rather keep energies from trying to intrude into one's life in the first place. Once an energy starts trying to intrude the feminine side of mugwort may make it too yielding to be an effective protection. Given this information we then begin the study of potions and incenses made from a variety of herbs which blend together towards a single purpose. Give the example of mugwort above we might combine mugwort with frankincense which is characterized as having a fiery disposition and a masculine manner. It is active and projective but it is also used for protection and it would be a good use for a protection that actively repels present would-be intrusions. Mixing mugwort and frankincense in equal parts then results in a potion, incense, or oil which has the properties of earth and fire but is energetically neutral the feminine of mugwort and the masculine of frankincense. It also has the protective energies and associations of both items. This spell can be further expanded to include air, and water elements to bring about an ideal balance which is good for a protection spell.
On the other hand not all spells should be balanced. A spell for money one would probably want to be balanced towards earth. This does not mean you can only use one earth herb and be done with it. Mugwort, while being used for protection is also used for wealth and money. How then do the energies we assemble key in to the ideas we wish. By balancing the equation. Using mugwort to give us a money use with an earthy element is a good start. Using another herb that maybe fire oriented and still another that is water helps cancel the elements of fire and water out (or combines them into a neutral form depending on how you want to look at it) leaves only the earth behind. If the fiery herb is used for protection and money and the water herb is used for money and love then we have the idea of money or wealth keying in from all three with the earth being the only element not neutralized. The resulting mixture is then keyed towards our purposes and our ideal elements.
Using the formula above seems to reduce magical potion making to an act of mathematics. You can reduce a cake recipe in the same way but somehow, even if you follow the recipe, the cake is never quite as good as what your grandmother or mother used to make. “Why?” You may ask. The
ingredients are the same, the timing, the temperature why isn't it the same? The problem comes in a couple of factors. In the case of magical potions, knowing the associations of an herb from a book and
understanding the nature of the herb from familiarity are two entirely different things. True the herbs will still perform as intended but a person who has an intimate familiarity with the herbs will be able to coax a greater effect out of them. For this reason many practitioners tend to have a selection of a very few herbs they use regularly and even grow themselves in order to have that level of understanding with the herb. Other practitioners prefer to experiment with new herbs all the time trying to find the combination that grants the best results.
Stones, like herbs, each have their own meanings and alignments. There is virtually no difference between stones and herbs in their magical abilities, only in how their used. Stones usually do not readily mix into potions, but the presence of stones during a spell and focusing on those stones and their properties can coax energies out of the stones in the same way one uses the energies inherent within herbs. Furthermore while herbs are usually mixed into an incense or oil, stones are usually used as more permanent decoration and decorated themselves with runes and sigils.
Since we mentioned runes and sigils, they are also the next level of magical application. While plants and stones have an inherent power and inherent sympathies based upon things like structure and the like, runes have developed their power over centuries of people pouring belief into their special abilities. These are the classical runes, ideograms, alphabets, and glyphs from the ancient world. Perhaps the most well known among practitioners is the Elder Futhark, while the most well known among lay people is usually Egyptian hieroglyphs. In either case each rune or glyph has its own symbolism and unlike our alphabet today, can not only represent a letter or syllable but an entire complex set of ideas that is associated with it.
For example the rune of Fehu is the Norse letter F. Beyond that the name of the rune, “fehu,” translates to literally mean cattle. But in the minds of the Norse and many generations since up until quite recently cattle also stood for wealth, prosperity, ownership and property. The rune kennaz is the Norse K and literally translates as torch, but it also translates as the verb, “to know.” From this we can glean the kennaz doesn't necessarily simply mean torch but enlightenment, wisdom, illumination and foresight. Indeed each of the 24 runes of the Elder Futhark can similarly be expanded. Furthermore the runes are divided into 3 groups of eight letters known as aetts. Each aett is presided over by a rune whose symbolism bleeds through each of the 8 letters in its house. One of the groups is known as Tyr's aett for example. Tyr was a sky god and god of victory especially in battle. Can you consider what affect this might have on the meanings of the runes under Tyr's aett?
Beyond the Elder Futhark are a myriad of meaning in other runic systems as well. From the Elder Futhark we get the Younger Futhark containing only 16 runes and the Anglo-Saxon Futhark which contains upwards of 35 letters each with their own meanings. The Irish Ogham is similar.
These runes as well as glyphs in several other languages have developed a power all their own over the centuries. Many practitioner’s find themselves drawn to a particular set of glyphs whether its the European runes, the Egyptian hieroglyphs, the Hebrew davidic scripts, or the ancient cuneiform writings. Much like herbs each glyph will perform for a practitioner and some practitioners are driven to understand each system to some extent to find the one post potent for each practice. Such a
practitioner might use Egyptian for spells relating to knowledge and wisdom especially in mathematics or healing as the Egyptians had no shortage of specialty on both in the ancient world. They might then turn to the elder Futhark for affecting the physical world especially in contests either of legal natures or sports as the vikings were known for the strength in battle. And then turn to the Hebrew system of character's to help them transcend this world in astral projection through the qabbalistic tree of life. Another practitioner may stick with a single system and like the herbalist who sticks with a certain set of herbs all the time will develop the ability to coax more out of their set than the broader practitioner will out of the same set. Still all in all they generally balance out.
Understanding the runes or glyphs themselves are only the beginning of such image magic. From the runes we then evolve into sigil magic. Complex symbols incorporating multiple glyphs into a single symbol keyed to a whole idea. In this respect it might be thought of as each rune being a single
herb and the combination of runes into a sigil develops into a true potion. Some sigils far more complex than others but generally they have many of the same elements.
Here the Author see's fit to divide sigils into three hierarchies; bind runes, cartouche's and sigils. These three categories are not recognized by any literature known to the author but breaking them down seems to be a way of making the whole process simpler for the student.
Bind Runes being the first and simplest to make are a combination of 2 glyphs overlaying one another to form a single character. A good example would by the Latin capital letters A and E when placed side by side form Æ which is a singular complex symbol a binding. One could easily expand this by using the letter M between the two so it would be binding the letters AME into a single idea. Such art is often used in modern logos for companies or organizations. Bind runes on the other hand are not about binding sounds together or images but ideas. Fehu is the symbol for wealth, Isa is the symbol for ice in elder Futhark which rune-masters have come to relate to unchanging ideas. So a person with wealth or a person whose wealth is threatened might protect it by binding Isa and Fehu together. On the other hand Hagalaz is the symbol for hail and generally signifies destructive forces Isa bound with Hagalaz may mean something about eternal disasters or inscribed differently Isa may form a barrier between the practitioner and impending doom.
Creating bind-runes is generally limited only to the elder Futhark and its derivatives the Anglo-saxon and younger Futhark This does not mean that a practitioner must limit themselves thus. The Egyptians were known on occasion to overlay one hieroglyph with another to create a new glyph with an entirely new meaning and an entirely new power derived from the meanings of the separate glyphs. While the classification is bind runes, the subject matter can be virtually anything including
incorporating planetary signs with the zodiac signs. Overlaying the sign of Venus over an elder Futhark rune may create the perfect idea one wants to convey and bring the influences of both signs into play.
The 2nd category of sigils is the cartouche. Named for its Egyptian counterpart the cartouche does not overlay symbols but stacks them in a prearranged pattern. For example creating a box and dividing it into four sections with a different symbol in each section that leads to a working idea is a cartouche. More importantly this allows the inclusion of another symbol. For example one method that has been used for a cartouche incorporates a bind-rune in it as well. Take for example the pentagram. The 5 pointed star is commonly thought of as a symbol of Satan worship. Wiccans however, will say that it is a sign of protection and balance among the five elements (earth, air, fire, water, and spirit) but the most ancient use for the 5 pointed star is a representation of Venus This definition, going back some 6 thousand years makes the 5 points star perfect to use in love rituals. You can take various symbols of love, lust, fertility, potency, and fidelity and place one in each of the point. The phallus for potency, the alchemical sign of Venus for love, etc and over lay them to create a bind well defined bind rune in the center. This is a transition phase that is almost enough to be considered a sigil but the format is still that of a cartouche.
If runes are words, then bind-runes are sentences and cartouches are paragraphs then sigils can be made into entire books. Sigils can use virtually anything to give them power from the standard rune up to the cartouche. Some sigils are actually multiple sigils united in some way to make a more
complex form. Simple sigils, however, are made with some certain guidelines. Like a cartouche a sigil usually has a boundary an edge. Most often this is a circle, although squares, diamonds, and ovals are often found as well. In the sigils created during the middle ages and early renaissance these sigils were divided into sections so that you had a double ring around the outside. Within that ring was often inscribed various symbols, usually zodiacal in origin, or quotes from biblical sources usually the old testament. Within the double ring was often an image with its own associations, an old man for wisdom, a unicorn for love, etc, and more symbols were added into these. In the case of one grimoire the center of several sigils had a table that was 4x4 or 5x5 or some such and in it was inscribed magical names or words of power one letter to each box of the table. The table itself forms a glyph set within a
circle around which is a corresponding verse from the old testament.
One of the most notoriously complex sigils of the renaissance was inscribed by Dr. John Dee in the early part of the 1600s. Dee took the sigil from an older 12th century manuscript and modified it making more complex than its original. The whole of the diagrams is a double circle around which is inscribed runes based on the Hebrew alphabet. The runes are placed in such as way as to create a cypher of various angelic names. Within the outer circle is a 7 sided figure with further names inscribed in Latin Within the 7 sided figure is a 7 sided star this also done in a double line so that between the lines are 7 sacred names. Within each point are more names. In the center of the star is another heptagon with still more names and in the middle of that a cartouche of a pentagram with names
forming a circle around it. Within this single sigil you have another sigil, the heptagon within the circle within until you eventually reach a cartouche in the very center of the star. This sigil, known as the Sigillum Dei Aameth is one of the most complex, and most mysterious to come out of the western occult tradition.
Sigils, bind runes, and cartouches have a variety of purposes. In one system Hebrew based cartouches are placed under each of the legs of a table to separate it from the earth and prevent other forces from interfering with the ritual on the table. Larger sigils such as summoning circles are used to protect the practitioner(s) or to imprison a dangerous spirit. Individual runes have been used for generations to impart their power on a variety of objects from having the full set of 24 runes engraved on a blade in the Norse lands, to having prayer scrolls encased in a necklace as a talisman or charm. Each of these uses of image magic adds a new level of power, focus, control, and precision in the practitioner’s casting.
Number's play an important role in magic. Magicians understood early on that numbers were the key to unlocking the universe, but rather than concentrating on the mathematics, they concentrated on similarities between numbers and the universe around us. The number 4 is often important in the magic of the western hemisphere for according to the ancients there are 4 directions; north south east and west; 4 elements, earth, air, fire, and water; 4 seasons winter, spring, summer, and fall; in fact the ancients had a long list of associations with the number 4. Understanding and generalizing these associations became an entire branch of study in occultism. 5 another important number 5 points to the pentacle representing Venus, balance, or protection, depending on which age you want to look at. 5 senses to the body, sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell. Further more as is noted by Davinci's figures there are 5 protrusions from the center mass of the body of a man 2 legs, two arms, and a head. We could go on 6 is a number often symbolizing balance, the hexagram, also called the star of David, is often related to the eastern yin-yang symbolizing the union of opposites such as masculine and feminine, active and passive, etc.
The list of numbers and their symbols continues on up the list. It doesn't simply stop at whole number's either. The golden ratio is approximately 1:1.16 and has been considered sacred for much of man's history. It appears everywhere, in the spiral of the universe to the spiral of a conch shell. It occurred in ancient constructions pretty regularly too. Many of the ancient marvels from central America to china to the middle east are built according to the golden ratio. Pi is another example of a number the ancients were aware of and considered sacred. Many people only attempt to incorporate numerology in their sigils but the Norse incorporated it into their chance. The few pre-christian magical spells we have from the Norse are chants that are composed in 7 or 9 syllables per line for example.
Astrology in another major interest in the occult world. Astrology is the study of the heavens and the positions and courses of planets, constellations and other heavenly bodies and relating these celestial events to terrestrial ones. True astrology is far beyond what most people think of today. Many know their sign, which is actually only their sun sign. That is to say what zodiac constellation the sun rose in on the day of their birth. But so much more comes into play, depending on this further
prominent of all the symbols. Among these other symbols is the moon sign, the position of the planets and their relationships to each other and to the zodiac. For example one may have the sun sign of Scorpio, but if the moon is in Leo many of the aspects of Scorpio are seriously weakened and if mars resides with Gemini they are weakened even further.
Astrology isn't just about where things are at your birth, that only creates a picture of you, with an astrological chart we place this “picture” within the environment of where the stars are or will be today and that gives us interactions which help astrologists to predict things a person may want to avoid and other things a person may want to seek out. But this is only natal astrology.
In occult astrology, or the astrology that is most often practiced within magic the same
influences with roughly the same meanings come into play. But we are looking for where these events cause the energies in the earth to align with what we wish. If we want a love spell having we may want Venus in ascension. On the other hand if we want a spell of victory for a court case we may want mars and Jupiter to be influenced by Leo or Taurus before we cast our spell.
By the time you pull together the basic mind triggers, combined with potions to anoint any candles or objects you may be using, incorporated the laws of similarity and contagion, included any runes or sigils and calculated the correct time to cast the spell, one has put in a lot of work into it. Understand that simply coming up with the ideas of the spell, putting them together and going through the motions isn't enough.
Native Americans, at least in the past, had a religion that is totally foreign to us today in many ways. To us religion, faith, and spirituality is a sometimes thing. It's a Sunday thing, its a sabbath thing, its a thing when we need or want something. For the native Americans it was an all the time thing. The men went out and hunted, they began the hunt with a prayer for a good hunt, when they hunted every step they took as the traveled through the grass or forest was a step on the path of the sacred. When they took game such as a deer or rabbit they thanked the rabbit for sacrificing its life so they could eat. The traveled home and celebrated and gave thanks for a good hunt to their spirits. The rabbit was skinned and dressed, this act was an act performed as if every pass of the skinning knife had to be done properly and mindful of the spirit of the rabbit and the spirits of the ancestors to see that it was done correctly. Every act in the tribal life was an act of their religion.
Orthodox Jews today sometimes have just as much religion. And to many of us it is alien and sometimes even funny. Many of us may give thanks for a meal or pray for a win at the big game. The Jews have a prayer to thank god for giving us holes in our bodies so that we can urinate. Think about what would happen if we didn't have those holes in our bodies?
While the author here is not necessarily suggesting that you have to live all life in a religion manner such as the native or go around praying for everything such as the Jew; At least when you working on a spell, writing it, drawing the runes, mixing the potions, anointing the candle even if your not actually casting the spell, only doing the preparations for the spell it would be good to approach these acts as the natives approached skinning the rabbit. Every herb is sacred, and should be handled that way. Every candle is sacred and the anointed oil is sacred and should be handled that way when anointing them. Before using a pencil to inscribe runes onto a sheet of paper use a quick blessing and purification on the pencil and treat it, and the act of drawing as sacred, as though if you fail to make the perfect circle, then you fail not only the spell, but the spirits around you. That is not to say the circle or rune has to be perfect, but it should be your best.
When you treat the act as sacred then you impart energy into the act. The longer you work on designing and constructing the spell the more energy you put into the spell. It like winding a spring tighter and tighter with each new act of preparation then the spell itself releases the spring. The tighter you've wound it the more energy that is released.
Another aspect of magic which many people don't consider when writing their ceremonies and rituals is the model of magic they use. As far as the author herein can tell the only person which has created this structuralist view of magic is a german magician called U:D: Frater. This is not his real name as far as I can tell but more a title. Many years ago I found a document creating a structuralist view of the history of magic attributed to him. Whether or not he was the one to actually write it, I have never been able to verify, but its ideas have been invaluable in my studies. Most of the next pages will be paraphrases and summarizations from this excerpt.
The models of magic are an attempt at classifying magic into various groups to work with based on the practitioner's understanding on how magic works. Frater presents 5 models, they are the spirit model, the energy model, the psychological model, the information model, and the meta model. Each of these models have a different perspective of magic and how it works. By considering one's own belief system one can attribute themselves to one model or another, although most practitioners fall, ultimately, in the metamodel. By understanding the different aspects of each model one can then better write spells to work with their systems.
The Spirit Model is perhaps the oldest form of magic and still a very powerful system. In the Spirit Model all things which occur occur because of spirits, whether those spirits are physically manifest such as humans and animals, astral projections such as dryads which are the projections of trees, or completely unmanifest such as ghosts and faeries. Disease, which we know today to be caused by micro-organisms such as germs, viruses, and bateria, was once thought to be caused by disease spirits. In a more modern outlook both systems may still be taken as true. The microbs, being unintelligent as we define the word, are manifested and controlled by the spirit of the disease. Luck, inspiration, wisdom, knowledge, and love are all worldly manifestations of a spirit. The greeks believed love to be a manifestation of aphrodite and/or Eros (venus and cupid in roman). Inspiration, depending on the form may be the result of contact with a daemon or genius which are two
classifcations of ancient spirits whose names have survived with different meanings into the modern world. When a person demonstrated in the hellenistic or roman world that he was gifted with science or mathematics he had a genius. Poets were inspired by the more well known muses.
Many tribal societies today work their magic based on the spirit model. The Native Americans, Africans, and Aboriginees all work magic in much the same way. Their shaman has contact with good spirits and evil, helpful and harmful spirits. When a person comes down with a sickness it is the shamans job to get rid of the disease spirit residing within them. The shaman does this through rituals wherein they demand the name of the disease spirit inhabiting the victim. If the shaman already knows the name of the spirit then he uses the name to control the spirit through a combination of force of will and the power of the possessing spirits true name.
Their are several ways a shamans ceremony might work. Among the Lakota (sioux) tribes of the United States, a crow or raven is often brought in and as the shaman demands the spirit leave the crow is set free. There are a number of examples of birds being used in healing in the spirit model systems. The intended purpose of the bird is somewhat different depending on the civilization, for example in one culture the bird is supposed to inspire the disease spirit to take flight as the bird takes flight leaving the victim. In another culture the spirit is driven into the bird, or into the bird's grasp who then carries the offending spirit away.
If the shaman does not know and cannot obtain the true name from the spirit the shaman will have lists of names of other entities which he may use to combat the possessing spirit and drive it out. Aside from using these names the ritual is further enhanced by the uses of burning herbs and oils. Again different cultures use the herbs, incense, and oils in different ways. In the hebrew traditions the herbs were often burned on the belief that the disease spirit cannot, for some reason, stand the smell and will be driven out by the burning of certain herbs. Among other however, the spirit is not looked on as malevolent so much as a spirit is exacting justice for a crime comitted by the person. In this case herbs are burned as offerings to placate the attacking spirit so that it will become peaceful again.
Shamanic rituals often make greater use of music, not simply chanting but musical songs intended to contact the spirits and placate them. Shamanic rituals use herbs heavily but often only a few types local to the area in which the shaman works. The true names of spirits the shaman knows is usually learned in a long apprenticeship to another shaman and often remain very secretive. For this reason much spirit model magic has been lost over the years. Still many names are available in books from around the world but it may take much hunting and seeking to locate them. Otherwise it would probably be best to enter into an apprenticeship under a shaman to learn them, or at least some of them.
While these shamanic rituals sound like a wonderfully natural system to use for spells there is a darker side to them as well. That darker side reached its height around the 1600s or so when the entirety of europe was fascinated with all things spiritual, including demons and the power to summon them and control them. The grimoires of the middle ages and renaissance are pact with spells and rituals to summon demons and constrain them to the practitioner's will whether or not the demon was willing. This magnificent feat of magic was accomplished through using symbols and sigils and true names not only of the demon but sacred names of the Christian god.
The basic format of the ritual involved spending days, months, or years, purifying oneself and praying to god for forgiveness and favor. Many included ritual fasting or abstaining from sexual intercourse to purify the mind and the body. Once this lengthy portion of the ritual was complete the supplicant or magician would enter into a specially prepared place inscribed with complex sigils like the one by john dee described earlier. The sigils were meant to serve as a protection for the
practitioner. He would then, using other instruments, have many prayers for god. After these prayers he would command a demon “by the power of god and thy true name.” to manifest itself. After the incantation adjuring the demon to manifest itself the practitioner would again pray to god using many sacred names such as Jehova, Adonai, Elohim etc. And again command the demon or on occasion spirit to come forth and make its presence known.
This darker side of the spirit model was powerful in an age when people didn't understand the power of it. Simply forcing a spirit or demon to appear against its will often angered the spirit. In these cases things could go terribly wrong if the protection sigil was not good enough. They could also go wrong later after the magician released the spirit the spirit may come back for revenge on the
practioner or his friends or family. As such this form of summoning spirits rather than asking them for aid is often considered to be the darker side of magic and best to be avoided, at least until one has become knowledgeable and practiced in the lighter arts.
A third version of the spirit model involves a type of impersonation. It is well documented among the greco-egyptian magical papyrii that magicians would, during a ceremony claim to be a god. “I poseidon do command you,” or some such. This wasn't simply an impersonation or attempting to trick a spirit into doing what the practitioner said, no. This was a way for magicians to channel divine energy. The ritual itself began much as those from the middle ages with fasting and prayer and
abstaining from a variety of things.
During the final ritual however, the magician recited long complex incantations that included secret sacred names of a god and recited the stories of that god according to certain formula. The idea was to identify one's self with the god. To truly, at least for a moment become the god by uniting with the deity in a spiritual union which imparts part of the deities authority to the practitioner allowing the practitioner to command the various spirits the deity normally would. Poseidon for making a sea voyage safe, aphrodite for invoking love, Zeus to provide wisdom etc. Of course in order to invoke a deity like this one must first believe the deity exists and has the power to do what the practitioner wants to do.
The Energy Model of magic is second in age only to the spirit model and even that is somewhat in question. In the orient the energy model seems to have grown into existance along side the spirit model with practices such as Chi Gong and Tai Chi Chuan. Also the oriented started with a very early understanding of elements and the ideas of Yin and Yang. In the western hemisphere the idea of the
energy model didn't begin to develop until around the 17th century and still didn't really take hold until the 1800s nearly two centuries later.
The pure form of the energy model of magic states that all things happen as a result of
interacting energies. The power of will is in and of itself a form of energy and this energy can be used to affect other energies. In Chi Gong one learns to use the powers of focus and will to manipulate one's own chi or life energy. One can then use this energy to create spectacular effects. On the other hand chi is an energy constantly flowing through the body and if that flow is interupted it can manifest itself in less desirable ways such as bad luck, clumsiness, insanity, or disease. To continue along the
comparison line we will use disease as the example here again.
The practitioner of the energy model would not see a possessing spirit but a negative energy, nothing with will or intention but simply an imbalance caused by an influx of too much of some type of energy which then must be syphoned off or a lack of a certain type or type(s) of energy which must be boosted in order to restore the body to its naturally functioning state. Other forms of disease are caused by blocking the flow of energy and in this case the blockage itself must be removed in order to cure the patient.
Traditions such as Reiki and Acupuncture from the ease specialize in this form of manipulation and have massive volumes of books dedicated to understanding the flows of energy through the meridians (kind of like veins and artery's for spirit energy) through the body. They then use needs, herbs, and rituals to work out and restore balance to the body allowing it to return to its natural functions.
The Energy Model is probably the most accepted model of practitioners today. Most likely because we cannot envision a life so ruled by other intelligences as that of the spirit model. Also because the energy model seems more scientific and logical while still satisfying humanities need for the mysterious and mystic. Energy model practitioners are often the types that are eager to experiment with new resources such as new herbs, stones, and sigils and runes that can help them get the most out of each spell.
What energy is being used in this the energy model is a question of debate between various schools of magic. Helena Blavatsky coined the term “luminous ether.” In her day this was a theorized semi-fluid semi gaseous substance that filled all of the universe. This ether was theorized to be reactive to mental processes such as imagination and will. Later on it was theorized that will could directly affect electro-magnetism. The orient has its own name for the energy worked with that of Chi. According to oriental practitioners chi is a kind of vital essence that all things possess animals, trees, rocks, water, people and the like. Through meditation and discipline one can learn to focus one's chi and use it to create affects. Discipline's such as Chi Gong Kung Fu and Tai Chi Chuan specialize in the manipulation of this chi.
Today there are many theories of what type of energy is being manipulated by a practitioner of this model. Some of the names it goes by include Orgone, Animal Magmetism, and Odic Force. Other practitioners say there are many forms of this energy and usually associated it with the 4 basic elements (although some schools have more than 4).
The Psychological model works less with what magic is and more with how it is performed. The model is based on the work of Carl Jung. According to young the people of this planet have what he referred to as a “collective unconscious.” A kind of thinking system that is created from the
subconscious ideas of the entire race. From this unconscious people derive certain ideas and beliefs. This was Jung's explanation for similarities between cultures that had no contact with one another. Jung developed a series of “archetypes” general sets of attributes that reappear personified in every culture. For exampled Jung's archetype of the trickster surfaces as anansi, coyote, and crow in native cultures and appears as loki, lugh, and hermes in european cultures. Beyond these spirit figures certain symbols reappear with similar meanings across the world. Pyramids, stone circles, and star shapes occur with similar meanings.
The psychology model uses these archetypal figures as guidelines to creating their spell work. While spirit practitioners believe their true names forces of influences a spiritual entity and the energy manipulator believes they are influencing lines or forces of energy, the psychology model says they are not doing so directly. Instead the pscyhology model says they are using symbolism in their spells to create a letter to the subconscious. The subconscious then draws upon the knowledge and resources of the collective unconscious to guide the practitioner, and the people in the practitioner's environment towards his or her goal.
For example in the psychology model when the practitioner casts a spell of healing his ritual triggers the unconscious which then access's the collective unconscious the desired result is then in the collective unconscious and is transmitted to the sick person. The subconscious of the sick person then boosts the immune system to get rid of a disease healing the sick person.
Frater, in his essay includes very little functional information on the information model. I have been unable to draw out any further information that what is presented in the article by Frater. Because this is an area with so little information I find in necessary to simply reproduce his entire article on the information model for what it's worth as follows;
The information model of magic is being developed since about 1987 and there is still considerable debate about the direction it shall ultimately take. Its basic premises to date are as follows:
a) Energy as such is "dumb": it needs information on what to do; this can be so called laws of nature or direct commands.
b) Information does not have mass or energy. Thus, it is faster than light and not bound by the restrictions of the Einsteinian spacetime continuum. It can therefore be
transmitted or tapped at all times and at all places. In analogy (but of course only as such!) it may be likened to quantum phenomena rather than relativistic mass-energy. It can, however, attach itself to a medium e.g. an organism or any other memory storage device.
At the start of the theoretical debate it was still believed that the postulation of morphic (or, more precisely, morphogenetic) fields as hypothesized by Rupert Sheldrake had to be an essential factor by way of explaining the mode of actual information
transmittance. This, however, while still being discussed, does not appear to be strictly prerogative though it cannot be not ruled out that an act of information magic may create such fields. It does seem more probable, though, that the concept of information matrices will prove to be the most promising theory in the long run.
The application of the as yet evolving information model has led to the discipline I have termed Cybermagic (from "cybernetics" or the "science of control systems"). Contrary to the other models described above, Cybermagic does not rely on magical trance to achieve its effects. Rather, the Cybermagician activates either his own main memory banks, namely brain and spine (the Golf-club chakra, so-called because of its shape reminiscent of a golf-club) or those of the target person. The desired information is then called up and transmitted quite similarly to a copy command on an MS-DOS computer. The copy command analogy holds good insofar as the information (not having mass) is not actually "lost" in the process (as energy would be) but rather is duplicated. This is an important point as it allows for the magician to perform his magic even in a state of very low physical power, possibly even when almost completely intoxicated, as long as his basic "life support systems" are still functional and the command syntax is
employed correctly.
It is, however, obvious that this technique demands a fair control of what used to be termed kundalini effects and practice has shown ever and again that a good amount of Yoga and meditation experience is a great help in achieving to Cybermagic.
Unfortunately, the full theory and practice of Cybermagic cannot be described here due to lack of space and will thus have to be the subject of a separate article to be published later. To date the main experimental research work is being done within the Magical Pact of the Illuminates of Thanateros (IOT) and some quite astounding results have already been achieved, especially in the field of language and knowledge transfer as well as magical healing.
In spite of its very modern, untraditionalist outlook the basic principles of Cybermagic may in truth well be the oldest form of magic extant. For we can, for example, find a number of reports in the East to the effect of a guru transferring all his knowledge to his successor before his death, which is usually achieved by an act of long, mutual
meditation.
This goes to show that magic as a whole has always existed in many, coexisting models. What has changed, however, is the stress laid on one model or the other in the course of time.”
Frater's Meta-Model is probably the most widley used form of magic today. But it is, in and of itself, not a true model of magic but rather a cheat. Those who follow the meta-model are perhaps best described as eclectics of the previous model. In the meta model a magician may work with both the spirits and the energy, he or she may give favor to either one a good example would be a meta description of a summoning.
In the case of the meta-model a summoning might be understood thus. The magician uses jung's theories of archetypes to create a ritual effectively sending a letter to his subconscious, but instead of contacting the collective unconscious the subconscious directly percieves energy which it manipulated to create a kind of lasso. It then uses this lasso to rope in the creature and bring it before the magician.
In this case the ritual is based on the psychology model, the lasso is the energy model and the intelligence that is brought before the magician is the spirit model all used in a single spell. Another way of looking at the meta-model would be through invocations. A practitioner again using young's model, attempts to summon an archetype. But rather than summoning the archetype from somewhere else uses his own energy (energy model) to create the archetype from within (hence the term
Invocation) as he or she perceives it. This collection of energy reacts as a spirit and is formed by the ideas of the practitioner and his or her envisionment and personal associations with the archetype summoned. It reacts as a spirit but it is in reality an extension of the practitioner.
Some practitioners put more emphasis on spirit, some on energy, some on psychology. Some focus entirely on psycholgy and energy and ignore spirit. But in the end the meta-model is “what you believe in exists for you and that's all that matters.”
At this point the Author would like to clarify that he uses the meta-model extensively. The influence of the psychological model should be evident in the initial explanation of the ritual triggers and colors. The Author puts a great emphasis on the energy model but also believes in the existence of spirits which may aid or harm the practitioner. These spirits have their own classifications and categories and need not be discussed here.
both with the creation and performance of the ritual. A few of these laws were discussed in brief earlier we will now go into a little more depth on those and more laws.
The Law of Cause and Effect
The same actions under the same circumstances produce the same results.
This law sounds simple enough. If you cast a spell and it works then you cast it again then the same thing should happen. The problem is exactitude. Within magic exactitude is a problem and there are many influences that come into play that are hard to reproduce with precision. The easiest example is the position of the sun, moon, stars, and planets. They have an affect on us, especially the sun and moon. If you get everything else right but the moon is in a different position then the spell will not work in exactly the same way. Conversely, most spells will work in roughly the same way though they may be more or less effective based on the influence of the heavens. Different positions may work to weaken some spells and strengthen others.
Besides the heavenly influence, the state of mind of the operator comes into play. If your mind isn't thinking the same way this time, isn't as focused, isn't in as deep a trance or some such then it will weaken the spell. By the same token if your more focused, also if the spell worked previously you may have more confidence in the spell which will strengthen it. As such The Law of Cause and Effect applies to magic but one must understand the exactitude necessary for it to be precisely correct. Generally however, if you cast a spell that works once it will work again whether or not that is to the same degree as previously may be in doubt but it will work.
The Law of Knowledge
“Greater understanding produces greater influence through greater affinity.”
The Law of Knowledge may be the most powerful law of magic. In magic and the occult knowledge translates directly into power. The knowledge of runes, numerology, zodiac obviously lends to power in this realm. But so too the knowledge of biology, physics, and psychology. Knowing what happens when a person is attracted to another on a chemical basis can help you influence those chemicals in a love spell, knowing the psychological state of two people who are angry with each other can help you calm the situation. The law of knowledge is the foundation of esoteric and occult study. The entire point of magic is to learn to understand the hidden laws of the natural and spiritual worlds and to apply that knowledge. Some would add for the betterment of mankind, but knowledge in and of itself is neutral, so is magic. Its how one uses it that creates good or evil. This Author will leave the questions of good and evil to the philosophers, or at least not include his opinions of such in this article.
The Law of Self Knowledge
“Greater understanding of self leads to greater control through greater affinity”
The law is fairly self explanatory. Its uses are not. In short this law advises the practioner to “know thyself.” This means understanding of one's thoughts, ideas, philosophies and ethics. One must be careful when doing this however. There are many times when we consider ourselves one thing and show ourselves to be different. “I'm an honest person who doesn't lie or cheat and I pay my debts.” “even if he leaves me I love him and i'll always let him see his kid and I won't file for child support.” How often have I heard those words or something like them only to have the speaker prove themselves wrong weeks, months, or years later. When questioned on it somehow calling in sick to work when we want to go play or get some extra sleep doesn't count against our honesty. And for some reason while we pay our debts to our friends, we forget the electric bill because its a big company and they have the money to afford to wait. And now that the lover has flown the next they have cheated and wronged
them and they deserve it. Looking at unpleasant truths about oneself and finding out one is not as honest or as good as one believes is a difficult task indeed! Yet, when it comes to self knowledge these are exactly the truths we need to look at and understand.
Once this self knowledge is gained one understand's their strengths and weaknesses. In the magical field “i'm creative, but I can't stay focused for more than 3 minutes.” tells us we need to work on meditating and disciplining our mind to focus. If the opposite is true then perhaps the magician needs to spend more time releasing the mind in artistic mediation or brainstorming activities.
Aside from a self improvement tool, applying this self knowledge has other affects in other forms of magic. A understanding of self, leads to a greater confidence in one's own identity which leads to a stronger will which applies to magic greatly. Furthermore, in many ancient systems of magic the magician would actually create a temporary change in their identity to achieve a specific result. When such changes occur only a strong sense of self and identity may lead the practitioner of these dangerous arts back to humanity. True also the sense of self identity helps when traveling in astral form, this sense of identity helps prevent one's spirit from being lost in the various worlds of consciousness and spirit.
Law of True Names
“Having greater knowledge of an entity's true and complete name leads to greater control through greater affinity.”
Also known as the law of true names or barborous names, this is one of the most ancient laws of magic. To paraphrase would be to say that knowing a things true name is to have a kind of power over the thing. Now this branches out in many directions from here. There are many ideas of what constitutes a true name. Some say it is a secret name which every thing has unique to itself. This often applied to mystic beings. The Judeo-Christian god for example has a whole list of these “true” or “sacred” names which in ancient traditions must be invoked in order to truly get his attention.
One of these above all the tetragrammaton a combination of 4 hebrew letters but the
pronunciation of which was lost many centuries ago and semitic languages didn't record vowel sounds until much later. Beyond the tetragrammaton the word ba'al has an interesting history. In modern day ba'al is the name of a christian demon written about in many grimoires and texts. The word ba'al however, is not a name, its a title. In ancient semitic regions a deity's name was a sacred thing, to sacred to pronounce regularly in public. Instead they would replace this name with a title, in this case ba'al meant master similar to the way modern christians use the term lord. Be'lial is another example and is actualy a conjunction between the word ba''al and Zebub turned into beelzebub which would show up prominently in the new testament.
So far we have only discussed true names in one form. In the above statements the true name exists in the form of a secret or hidden name that all things possess, and having access or knowledge of that name gives you power of a kind over them. There is, however, another classification for true names. The Author has dubbed this The Descriptive Name and it is a sub category of the Law of Knowledge.
The Descriptive Name is a name which, instead of being a proper name for a being is a name which describes the being as closely as possible. Instead of saying “so and so's true name is Paul.” we say the person born on such and such date, a male, to the parents of so and so. We go on in greater detail which may include a family line in the description, the person's physical characteristics such as height, weight, eye and hair color, perhaps distinguishing marks so that the description limits the identification to only a single person in all of history past, present and future. Having the detailed level of knowledge of a person required for a complete descriptive name is impossible, but one can come
close enough to limit possibilities in the universe to the intended person, place, thing, or event. Having a piece of the person's biology, especially blood, contains that person's DNA which is almost a true name on a biological scale and in this manner would relate the descriptive true name to the law of contagion as well.
The descriptive true name is a powerful thing and can be used to control a set of events as well as the secret true name, especially since the secret true name is, well, a secret and therefore hard to come by.
Law of Word of Power
“Having Greater knowledge of words of power leads to greater affinity and influence.” This is on the surface related to the ideas of the secret true name described above. Often times the ancient words of power seem unpronounceable, or meaningless assemblies of syllables and their meaning is impossible to trace. One of the most famous words of power Abracadabra's meaning is mostly lost to us at this point though several people have related to many early languages. One of these etymologies states that its a twisted form of an old phrase meaning “I bless the dead.” however its usage for the last thousand years or so has been as a form of protection especially from sickness. Word of power however are less about secret names and more about the sound of the word itself. In hindu belief different sounds produced in different ways create a kind of resonance with both the physical and spiritual worlds. The most widley known resonance from Hindu is Om. According to many religions with their origins in the indian subcontinent the sound created as Ohm and said “for the time it takes to say three syllables,” is the sound which first manifested to create the rest of the
universe. As such the om sound is an excellent sound to use in a chant or mantra designed to manifest something.
Many other words of power exist throughout the ancient world, some of which are simple to say but not simple to truly use because of the focus and meditation that goes into their use. Others are simple to use, the simple sounds producing a resonance or serious of resonances towards and ideal.
Unfortunately the actual pronunciation of many of these western complex words of power has been lost and only through experimentation and meditation can one discover their proper pronunciation. Or at least discover “a” proper pronunciation.
Laws of Association
“Greater common characteristics between 2 manifestations with greater knowledge of commonalities produces greater affinity and hence greater influence.”
The Laws of association are a collection of laws that originate in anthropology through study of rituals and ceremonies of multipled cultures. To paraphrase the definition of the laws of association would be to say if two things have something in common then they have a type of link. A magician can use that link to use one thing to affect the other. Bell's theorem in quantum mechanics suggests that every particle in the Universe affects every other particle. There are two sublaws that come from this law which have already been discuss but will be covered again below.
Law of Contagion
“Two manifestations which have been in contact remain in contact”
When we think of the word contagion we often think of a disease, and the law of contagion works something in the same way. If a person is sick with a contagious disease and comes into contact with another person, that person is likely to contract the disease. In much the same way if two things
come into contact with one another, a link if forged between them. That link can be manipulated from one end to affect the other. Earlier we used examples such as a piece of jewelry, hair, or blood to affect a person. But this applies for objects as well.
One might keep a piece of jewelry in a bag with another object for a period of time creating a link, the longer the objects remain in contact with one another the stronger the link. After a period of time one might give one of the objects to someone else and then be able to send energies through the other object to the person, or vice versa draw energies from the person through the objects to one's self. The law of contagion also applies to ideas. A rock from a rainy area will have strong assocations with rain and can be transplanted to a new region and used to encourage rainfall. By the same token a branch of sunbleached wood from a dry desert might be used to help prevent flooding in an area.
Law of Similiarity
“Two manifestations which resemble one another have an affinity and influence over one another” Also “Effects resemble causes.”
There are countless examples of this through the classical systems and the midevil period. Scott Cunningham, in his book Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs, says that rice thrown into the air will help it rain. This is particularly logical in magical thinking since rice requires a great amount of water to mature and resembles rain drops when thrown into the air and left to fall. Hand Fasting rituals of modern pagans usually involve binding a couples hands one to the other to symbolize there bonds of love for one another. Other examples of the law of similarity include eating walnuts to strengthen the brain because of a walnuts similarity to the brain, and using phallic shaped objects to improve male potency, fertility, or create lust.
Perhaps the most prolific use of the Law of Similiarity can be found in ancient egypt. There are countless stories in ancient egypt where skilled magician-priests were able to transform images into reality. One account talks about a magician who used a spell to turn the effigy of a crocodile, through images and prayers into a real crocodile, and a large one at that, who then ate an enemy of this priest. In ancient tribal societies and early forms of civilization writing was very sacred and often limited to the priest class because they believed that writing was a magical or sacred act. When one wrote or scribed the word for scorpion that word written on that paper or inscribed in that stone was considered to be just as dangerous as the animal itself. Handling it improperly may result in the person becoming sick as if stung by a scorpion.
There are two major differences between a word inscribed back then and a word we write on a piece of paper today. The first is that we don't think anything of it, which means we don't pour energy into the word when we write it down and down activate it. The 2nd is that todays letters often don't resemble what they originally were made to represent and so no one creates the connection.
Heiroglyphs from Egypt however may be quite different. Pictographs from earlier tribal cultures may also serve well to using image magic. The greeks, romans, even societys of the middle ages passed on the image of medusa as a powerful protective amulet until it could be seen as a charm against the evil eye as late as the early 20th century in Italy. If one were to inscribe the image, word, or runes with the intent and power and belief of the ancients those writings may very well have an energy or spirit about them that will cause good or harm to a person in their vicinity or directly handling them.
Law of Identification
“Complete knowledge equalst absolute affinity which equals identity.”
Earlier we mentioned that in classical spells often times a magician would work to become a god. This applies under this law. Through study and understanding of an entity one can become the entity. The greco-egyptian magical papyrii have countless examples where a magician works to identify with a god or other supernatural being, while the native americans have a tradition called skin walking where one
changes their own identity to that of an animal. In each case the magician become an inheritor of the powers and personality of that creature. By altering your own thoughts, feelings, and views to the patterns of another entity you become that entity. The Law of Knowledge applies strongly to this Law as greater knowledge of the entity leads to stronger affinity. By the same token the law of self
knowledge is used to help return the magician back to his own patterns. Law of Synthesis
“two opposing views of reality, or two realities, engenders a thrid which is more real than either of the originals.”
This is more of a principle which allows you to hold two seemingly contradictory ideas simultaneously. Reality is what it is, not how we concieve it and sometimes our views of reality imply two
contradictory ideas are simultaneously true. A great example of this occurred through the 20th century in physics.
For a significant part of the 20th century is was argued between two schools of though whether light was made of particles or waves. Several experiments were performed in order to rule out the other side. Some of these experiments proved that light was a wave, while other experiments proved it behaved as a particle rather than a wave. Yet up until this point nothing had simultaneously behaved as both. This lead to the revolutionary idea of particle-wave physics which assumed that light was a particle and a wave simultaneously since it seemed to be both. The details of this school of thought however, need not be discussed here. Suffice it to say that if you think something is true, and yet there is something out there which goes against what you think is true, then perhaps with the proper amount of research you can either rule one truth out, decide that one is the truth with certain exceptions of decide to synthesize the two like particle-wave physics.
The law of synthesis is less a law of magic and more of a philosophy for research, learning, and understanding. Its use however, is invaluable to a magician because the philosophy's of the occult are many and varied and often contradictory or seemingly contradictory. A.E. Waite, creator of the modern tarot deck, once wrote “magic is the place where the circle is squared,” a contradictory idea in and of itself.
Law of Polarity
“Any Manifestation is divisible into two antithetical sets of attributes, each of which contained in the other.”
Anything can be separated into two opposite parts with each part having its own existence. This law is essential to many mystical statements and arguments. Also, it is essential in denoting characteristics of objects. As such this law is important when createing descriptive names (see the law of true names) as according to plato, “a thing is what it is and is not what it is not” therefore one can create a descriptive true name by listing all the things which it is not.
Law of Balance
“Greater balance is required for greater affinity and influence”
The law of balance has many meanings in many different contexts. In the original papers from which many of these laws are drawn it states that, “The Law of Balance is simply a statement for conserving personal energy and achieving the greatest proficiency. . . This energy level is best maintained by avoiding extremes in thinking and action. One must be open minded, able to consider all alternatives, but strong enough to determine one's personal course in life.”
While this philosophical outlook on the law of balance is an excellent means of living, studying and understanding the Law of Balance also incorporates many other ideas. For example by walking the middle path one can understand sides better by contrasting them both from without and from within. Further more in can also be applied to the idea that when working with energy a certain
