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| A spell involving a Jupiter Lightning Glyph and two monkeys. |
And given that it is the first day of the New Year (2013), it is now time to make certain of my critics happy and issue yet another bloody annual disclosure statement.
This year's complaint--I do materialistic mundane magic.
Now why does this need a disclosure statement?! Well, according to some extreme opinions of some experts, you cannot do magic to affect the physical mundane world while also working on spiritual development. In fact, some of these experts believe that all mundane related magic is black magic...in other words, only spiritual development is white magic.
It won't be so bad, except that some of these so-called experts state that once you do mundane magic, you can never complete the Great Work. Ever. No matter how much time, energy, or lifetimes you spend doing the Work.
Therefore, because I do materialistic magic, and I started off doing material magic, I can never complete the Great Work...therefore, why are you reading this blog?
Now, personally, I believe that not only is this idea extreme, it is also wrong. Yes, I said--wrong. It is based on the idea that the material world is evil, and that the spiritual (heaven) is good. It is an idea that affects our entire culture, thanks to the ideas of Judaism, Christianity and Islam (all of whom inherited it from Zoroastrianism). Therefore, it is understandable hearing this from occultists who come from esoteric groups that require or emphasize one of these religions, such as most Golden Dawn groups.
The really sad part is that I hear this from pagans and Wiccans who are drawing inspiration from other religions that do not have this fatal duality.
And the really annoying part is that Golden Dawn enshrined this idea right into its Outer and Inner Order Oaths. Yes, you can be expelled from GD just for doing a simple money spell. It is better to live under a bridge homeless than do a spell to gather a little rent money in an emergency.
(Please note that in two of the Inner Order courses that I suffered though, I was required to do mundane magic--I am guessing that by the strict classic version, they would not be considered really Golden Dawn.)
Here is a hint for the Wiccans who believe in this duality--read the Charge of the Goddess which states off with: "Whenever you have need of anything, once in the month and better it be when the moon is full, then shall you assemble in some secret place and adore the spirit of me, who am Queen of all witches." How can you start an invocation like that, have no concept of heaven, and still end up with a severe duality that says the material world can never be spiritual?!
And for those of you who are curious, the BIORC does not view all materialistic magic as black magic (it is complicated determining what black magic is...but just because it is aimed at the material world does not automatically make it black magic), and spiritual development is tied to developing the mundane side of one's life at the same time. It is little things like that which will ensure that the BIORC is not considered Golden Dawn by everyone within ten years (if we are not already beyond the point of no return).
Of course, if you are really concerned about my behavior, you better tell Jason Miller that I am misusing one of his Jupiter lightning glyphs to try to promote evil monkeys. (I am quite sure that he has something to say about this subject.) And for the so-called experts, well, they are always right and I am always wrong as far as they are concerned, which is why you are supposed to be reading their blog and forum posts and not mine. Listen to their superior wisdom because I am busy making things up as I go along, and they have the experience of excellent teachers that I didn't have.
Happy New Year!
[Update: July 2013: Due to differences in sales expectations and business philosophy, in early July 2013, I ceased to be involved in the Turtle Monkey project.]
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3 comments:
"White magic is poetry. Black magic is anything that actually works." - Victor Anderson
I'm all about magic that works, and I believe that Holy Poverty is for nuns, not Wiccans.
Just between you and me; Jews and Judaism do not believe that the material world is evil. :)
It amazes me that there are still people around who actually believe that if you ever perform practical magick you can never complete the Great Work. That's utterly silly. I don't know that I've ever met a magical student who has never performed any sort of practical working. Just about everybody at least tries it out when they first start studying, though sometimes those attempts go poorly and as a result they decide that doing so is a bad idea.
Given how common that situation is, in fact, I think a good case could be made that if we're bringing multiple lifetimes into the equation every one of us probably did at least one practical operation either in this life or a previous one. Keep in mind that any sort of prayer directed at a tangible outcome counts, since prayer is a form of magick. I'm pretty sure that the vast majority of Christians have done that at least once in their lives.
So thinking over the math, I can't help but come to the conclusion that if any one instance of spiritual practice dedicated to a materialistic end bars you from completing the Great Work forever in this or any future lifetime, statistically speaking we all must to be doomed. So we might as well spend our time casting away at the material world for as long as we can, right?
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