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- ** MAGICK 2 -- THE SUBJECTIVITY OF EXPERIENCE -- **
-
- Your awareness of the physical world and of your
- place within it is mostly based upon the physical senses
- (hearing, sight, smell, touch, taste). These five senses
- continually send information to the mind, and it is up to
- the mind to select and interpret them. If you could not do
- so, your senses would overwhelm you and be meaningless.
- Selection and interpretation of your sensory inputs is
- essentially an automatic, mostly subconscious function of
- the mind. The program or map which the subconscious follows
- as its reference point is called a model. The model is a
- subconscious mental photograph of how you believe the world
- looks (ie. worldview, mindset, egregore, or belief system).
- It was built up from an early age by your religious and
- cultural background through interaction with family and
- others. It contains your experiences, attitudes, and
- habits. And whether you realize it or not, most of your
- behavior, thoughts, feelings, and habits are based upon and
- conditioned by that model; even personality. The model is
- one of the mind's master programs. Change in behavior
- generally requires a change in the model. These limitations
- built into our way of thinking cause our perceptions to be
- subjective. That is why Hindu philosophy looks upon the
- world as illusory (maya); the world itself (object) is not
- an illusion, however from our viewpoint through perception
- (subject) it is.
- Thus we are all conditioned by experience. Except
- that our perceptions, hence our experiences, are first
- conditioned and limited by the model. Our perceptions and
- experiences tend to conform to what we expect. We tend to
- misinterpret or ignore things which do not match our
- preconcieved notions about them. This is automatic.
-
- THE TRUE WILL
-
- The forgoing demonstrates how it is that there are
- so many different versions of 'truth'. One's particular
- view is almost arbitrary. Although numerous religions,
- philosophies, and occult systems abound, they do not
- contradict one and other as much as it might appear.
- Rather, they describe the same (universal) reality taken
- from different perspectives. For there can be no ultimate
- truth in the physical world. We can only base our actions
- upon assumptions and agreements. All experience is
- subjective.
- Yet, there is a separate reality within each of us
- which is often ignored unless we seek it. This inner self
- is in magick called the 'true will'. The true will is the
- center of consciousness and identity. It is the 'real you'.
- Everything else is an interface or link to it from the
- outer (illusory) world. Since that interface is based upon
- our model, it is conditoned and may sometimes produce false
- information. 'Do what thou wilt' (Crowley) is an axiom of
- magick; for the true will expresses our exact desires. And
- what we truly want ('down deep') we tend to automatically
- get. This isn't always in our best interests, since the
- true will can be conditioned (tricked) by the illusion; and
- then we might desire and obtain that which is not
- ultimately good for us. (Karma strikes again!) The task of
- the magician therefor is to awaken his awareneess of the
- true will, to be free of conditioning, and thereby to
- transcend maya. ('My will unconditioned is magical' --
- Spare).
-
- HAPPINESS IS BEING HAPPY
-
- There is no great secret to changing behavior or
- habits. It is largely a matter of determination. It
- requires that you ignore the 'pull' of the model when you
- strive for changes within yourself. The model is, after
- all, a collection of 'habits', some of which must be
- unlearned for permananent change to occur. There are two
- ways to do this: direct, through will power and awareness
- alone -- observing and acting out in an unattached or
- indifferent manner; and indirect -- through conditioning
- such as affirmation (explained later), self-hypnosis, and
- magick. Meditation may help too, by relaxing tension and
- conflict.
- Emotions follow physical expression: smile and act
- happy and you will tend to feel and be happy. The same is
- also true for other emotions. Also, emotions can be
- purposely used (or programed) to replace other emotions.
- Using this technique, a magician is somewhat like an actor
- in that he learns how to turn his emotions on and off at
- will. Note that this is not 'fakeing it'; the magician is
- probably more in touch with his true feelings than most
- people. And for these reasons we say that happiness is
- being happy.
-
- SYSTEMS OF MAGICK
-
- Magick always involves self-hypnosis. However, it
- is more than that too. For one thing, there are objective
- forces involved (or so it would seem). Deities, spirits,
- and cosmic force can have an independent existence. And the
- repetitive physical movement sometimes involved in ritual
- can itself generate PK force. On the other hand, it could
- be argued that all of this is subjective to the magician.
- Perhaps all magical effects could be produced through
- hypnosis alone. But the effects are certainly real.
- Great complexity is not necessary in magick.
- Although basicly magick is a medieval system of symbolism
- (in a modern context), any cosmological system will work
- from Cabala to Star Wars. We usually use the medieval one
- in magick because it is convenient and traditional, and
- because it seems to fit our thought processes well. What
- really matters is that the model of the magician be
- understood and programmed, and thus that the model and the
- cosmological system do correspond.
-
-
- REVIEW QUESTIONS
-
- 1) Contrast subjective with objective.
- 2) What is a 'model'?
- 3) Explain the task of the magician.
-
- BOOK LIST
-
- Eric Berne, Games People Play.
- Fritjof Capra, The Tao of Physics.
- Carlos Castaneda, The Fire From Within.
- Arthur Koestler, The Roots of Coincidence.
- John C. Lilly, Simulations of God.
- Alan Watts, The Book (on the taboo against knowing who you are).
-
-
- ========
- Phil Hansford, 7/86
- THE OUTPOST RCPM
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