"Separating the magick from the mundane"

[1137]

I heard an occultist online recently argue against my theory that magickal circles (lol) create a psychological weakness and fear in the practitioner by saying they are not for protection. His explanation was that, during ritual, he separates the magick from the mundane, the spiritual from the physical. The circles are, themselves, evidence of more fluffy, pseudo-magick but I was surprised that anyone with any occult knowledge could believe they can separate magick from the "mundane".

This is when I remembered how much such topics vary, how different we define these terms. For me, magick is an intentional act of will, but I realize this is not supernatural and fluffy enough in a lot of cases. So I'm wondering how fellow occultists in my own vein of practice view and define magick? Is there merit to the idea of separating magick from the mundane in ritual?

 

[Gjallarhorn]

Sounds like semantics and personal preference. If you don't separate the ritual from reality you get, well, most magicians.

 

[Infinitum]

I actually happened upon a very compelling argument in favour of banishing just a couple of minutes before stumbling here. To sum it up, there's a major problem among magicians/occultists with people who get way too involved with the supernatural side of it all. They believe themselves to the the reincarnation of some powerful god or magician or extremely powerful in their own right; they channel new scripture that is the basis of a new word religion and are entirely convinced all other magicians (or their spiritual equivalents) are out to get them. This is an issue I've been very vocal about myself as well. Especially if a person has any form of mental disorders or a rough past magic(k) can not only be empowering, it can also severely mess with their sense of themselves and/or reality. I've seen it happen often enough I keep my magical practices for myself if I'm not 100% sure I'm talking with a mature and well-balanced person.

The solution to delusive behaviour like this is to keep a healthy distance between magical and mundane reality. We often talk about how a lot of every-day actions have a role in magical work and I don't think anyone is going to tell you that throwing in a little magical thinking here and there is going to drive you insane, but it's important to understand the limitations of our psyche. If we condition it to viewing every single bird flock flying past as a sign from the gods we're going to have some real problems at our hands. Therefore, ritual circles and banishing (which I truly dislike as a word, but let's go with it).

The benefit with ritual settings is not only that you're able to snap out of it when you're done, but it also allows you to prepare yourself mentally for stepping into the magical world and push aside your usual doubts and rationalizations for the time being. With my background with self-hypnosis I can see a clear parallel here, since hypnotists use spoken cues or gestures in the same way. When you exit hypnosis it's very important that you're back to normal again. I think of it as opening and closing the door to your subconscious. If the door is open, anyone is able to get in and you don't necessarily have any control over what they turn over or leave in there.

 

[1137]

I actually happened upon a very compelling argument in favour of banishing just a couple of minutes before stumbling here. To sum it up, there's a major problem among magicians/occultists with people who get way too involved with the supernatural side of it all. They believe themselves to the the reincarnation of some powerful god or magician or extremely powerful in their own right; they channel new scripture that is the basis of a new word religion and are entirely convinced all other magicians (or their spiritual equivalents) are out to get them. This is an issue I've been very vocal about myself as well. Especially if a person has any form of mental disorders or a rough past magic(k) can not only be empowering, it can also severely mess with their sense of themselves and/or reality. I've seen it happen often enough I keep my magical practices for myself if I'm not 100% sure I'm talking with a mature and well-balanced person.

The solution to delusive behaviour like this is to keep a healthy distance between magical and mundane reality. We often talk about how a lot of every-day actions have a role in magical work and I don't think anyone is going to tell you that throwing in a little magical thinking here and there is going to drive you insane, but it's important to understand the limitations of our psyche. If we condition it to viewing every single bird flock flying past as a sign from the gods we're going to have some real problems at our hands. Therefore, ritual circles and banishing (which I truly dislike as a word, but let's go with it).

The benefit with ritual settings is not only that you're able to snap out of it when you're done, but it also allows you to prepare yourself mentally for stepping into the magical world and push aside your usual doubts and rationalizations for the time being. With my background with self-hypnosis I can see a clear parallel here, since hypnotists use spoken cues or gestures in the same way. When you exit hypnosis it's very important that you're back to normal again. I think of it as opening and closing the door to your subconscious. If the door is open, anyone is able to get in and you don't necessarily have any control over what they turn over or leave in there.

Very interesting point.

 

[Mindmaster]

I guess it depends on your psycho-magickal conception. There is a lot of gobbledygook about possession, malignant spirts, and the like who can somehow mind control people or whatever. I tend to be of the view that my power over myself is likely stronger than any power external to me. I don't use banishing rites for that reason. I feel they are unnecessary.

 

[The Sum of Awe]

I think that the mundane can become magical when influenced

 

[Mindmaster]

I think that the mundane can become magical when influenced

Moreover, I think the illusion of the separation is just that. The forces which keep the macrocosm/microcosm moving aren't ceasing to work just because you don't believe in them. Magick is merely the glue holding it in place, and not some strange conception that is difficult to understand. Learning to manipulate this feature of the universe isn't some dark art. Mind you all of Magick is really about tricks -- tricking your brain into believing you have the right to do it, deceiving yourself temporarily to block your inhibitions and learned responses, and very little of it has much to do with technique. That's because there is more than one way to skin the cat -- the WAY is much less important than the fact that your self-created obstacles are blocking the way.

Magick is much like crawling and walking -- we all instinctively are able to manage these tasks even if we were never shown by an adult. The problem lies where someone believes they can't walk so they never try to get up on two legs. That isn't a lack of an ability that's just ignorance of it. I would however consider magick and things like communication with spirits/demons/undead two different things. Often occultists lump them all together, but to simplify -- magick is like using the levers of the universe to get what you want; summoning/communicating is more like asking others to do it for you. They both work, but obviously they are completely different.

We all constantly use magick whether we are aware or not -- a baby has psychological effect on surrounding adults whether or not those adults are related by blood. Adults will at the moment a child cries go rushing over even if they are not responsible -- the baby hasn't learned not to use the magick medium. We all feel the need to respond in that case, but if you really pay attention to what goes on in the situation you will feel the emotive/spiritual energy being broadcast. It is obvious there is magick here at work -- and for good... It's a survival mechanism for our species that we are born with this. This isn't some dark peculiar thing that is hard to understand. The next time you hear a crying baby clear your mind and try to 'feel' the energy of that -- I guarantee even the most stumbling intellectual will immediately, and deeply understand the message. This technique works with animals as well -- they haven't learned not to use their ability either; they use it when communicating with one another. Sure there are all these noises humans and animals make to communicate, but they are merely gestures that accompany the instinctual message.

That ability can of course be used consciously for other purposes, but I think the imagination is able to fill in the gaps from there.