Magic is NOT for everyone

Late last night, a person posted, in the Golden Dawn Facebook group that I help moderate, that they and their partner were in the process of creating a new course. This course is to be aimed at a mainstream audience, so it could not be too occult--but they are planning on cherry picking techniques from Golden Dawn and other systems...so essentially the occult would be disguised. And most importantly, the course had to be effective and reliable for the average individual in western society--all in the name of empowerment.

To say I have a few problems with this idea would be understating things. Personally, I think that the whole idea is a giant bag of poo. Here are a couple of comments that I made about it before the entire discussion got deleted (and not by me...I think that the original poster did not like what I had to say about his project):

"My mind keeps coming back to a problem I see with aiming it at the average individual---your average person is averse to change; your average person is averse to work. So unless you are making another "Law of Attraction" level course (most LOA stuff is...well, flawed---the only real work most of it does is to transfer money from the clients pockets to the person running the course), you have to figure out a way to make your average person accept change, and a way to make them actually work at the process."

"Unfortunately, GD methods are full of change and work....so you are probably going to have to lose this part of your course plan if you want your course to appeal to your average individual."

"And yes, if I was to create a course myself, aimed at the average individual, I would not go for anything more than happy New Age talk aimed at confirming that individual's opinion and biases are absolutely correct....because that is the amount of work and change that your average individual is willing to accept---absolutely no work and no change at all. Therefore, all the GD stuff has to be left out....along with the working bits of any other spiritual development system."

When the person shot back that they want to create human beings that think--I merely rolled my eyes...I have seen what passes nowadays as "critical thinking" training (basically if you do not agree with what the creator of the course thinks, you are labelled a troublemaker and showed the door). And I have seen firsthand the lack of actual thinking in this person's own postings on the internet, so I do not hold out high hopes that they can teach something that they themselves seem incapable of doing.

My "polite" parting shot was: "Here is the bottom line---if any of us knew how to accomplish this goal, we would be doing it already. And that includes you--if you knew how to pull this off, you would not be asking for input."

At this point of time, I was declared a defeatist by the other person, who then cited Gandhi, Einstein, and Tesla as people who had vision and had made a difference. It was right after this that I said "I guess that you are the Messiah."

I didn't get to say anything else because someone (and I think that it was the original poster, aka the creator of this "soon to revolutionize humanity" course) deleted the entire discussion.

Seriously, ideas like this worry me. Every course I have ever seen aimed at the masses is nothing more than a control and asset reallotment scheme (think like me, and give me your money! and feel good about yourself for making a difference....in other words, thanks for being gullible and buying me a new jet). And this individual's idea that people who subscribe to courses actually do the work is flawed---just look at the numbers of subscribers that pay for the BOTA course, who do not do a lick of actual work with the course...and that course is about empowerment and change.

No, the only real reason to create an occult course, no matter how watered down, aimed at the masses, Joe Q. Common, is that you are running a scam and want to fleece people of their hard-earned money, so that you do not have to work hard yourself.

If you actually want to make a difference, you aim at those individuals who can and are willing to become exceptional--you do not have to disguise the occult or make them feel good about themselves--and you never mistake them for the common herd.

Yes, magic is for all of you---and God wants you to send me your money because I need a new jet. 

Poor magicians

One of the reasons that I am welcome as a plague in certain circles is the simple fact that I became a magician to keep the wolf away from the door. I am not in the esoteric arts for spiritual development or to be a service to mankind; I am here merely because I was looking for a big enough stick to smack the wolf on the nose and survive the crisis of being a poor kid and young adult.

Now, there are some that will roll their eyes, and ask how poor could I have been when I entered the field. Let's see, my father lost everything that he owned; I am the oldest of eight kids; and I grew up constantly wondering if I would have a roof over my head tomorrow. Plus, where my next meal was coming from was always a concern. I wore whatever could be brought at yard sales for a quarter. When I left home, I joined the military...because I was poor. I was a high school dropout that got bad grades because my folks could not afford a real babysitter. And I worked twenty years in food service making minimum (or just above) wages.

And if you still don't believe that I know what it is like to be poor, just remember that I have done Tarot readings and practical spells for the payment of government surplus cheese and peanut butter--because all I had to offer was my skill as a magician, and all my clients had to offer was some food (which I was very glad to eat).

Just admitting this stuff bars me from entry to certain select circles. Part of it is simply misunderstandings of what magic is. [If you want to know why I started to think about these matters today, go read this entry on Aaron's blog.]

Talk to most people in the Golden Dawn/Western Mystery Tradition community (and this includes Thelema and Wicca) and you will hear that the purpose of the mysteries is spiritual development and service to mankind. In fact, there are groups that will bar you from entering if you say anything other than those two reasons for wanting to join. Anything else, especially practical magic, is viewed as black magic and power seeking.

But this is what the documented record of Western magic is all about--weather magic, power magic, legal magic, treasure magic, health magic, love magic--all about fulfilling basic needs in a hostile wolf at the door world. Even alchemy was about the practical nine times out of ten. Yet we in the modern world are not allowed to have these needs or desires.

Why? Because H. P. Blavatsky tells us that it is wrong. Yes, the modern view that the only acceptable uses of magic are spiritual development and service to mankind comes straight out of the writings of Blavatsky, the mother of Theosophy. And the modern Orders have embraced this fact, rejecting anyone who admits that they actually need to practice practical magic. Blavatsky made the esoteric Orders into the mystic dreamlands they are today. You can mediate all you want on the glories of the divine, just don't attempt to better your life conditions with practical workings.

Therefore, we do not find truly poor magicians in the ranks of the Orders (unless they lied to get in). The members of a Law of Attraction group are always living above the poverty level. The members of your typical esoteric Order can always pay their annual dues, no matter how much they are. And people can charge hundreds of dollars to do workshops, to teach magic that does not actually work, because everyone who attends can afford for magic not to work. It is all theory and no practice because anything other than spiritual development and service is considered black magic.

In the meantime, people like myself tend to remain outside the Halls of the "True Mysteries" working our small low practical spells, hoping to keep the wolf from the door for one more day. We are simply too poor to be worthy of proper training. And Heaven forbid that we ever decide to retake the mysteries back; after all, we are the unwashed, unsaved, impure masses.

Jumping on the New Age and LoA Bandwagon

Hear ye! Hear ye!

Let it be known that Morgan Drake Eckstein, the slimest type of writer (one that would like to occasionally get paid for his writing), has jumped onto the New Age and Law of Attraction Bandwagon. All should avoid reading his ebooks. His expulsion from the ranks of honest occultists and decent Golden Dawn leaders will happen on the next slow Golden Dawn news day.

Message ends.

Or so it will go as soon as some critic decides to get upset with me because I said something that they did not like. Let's be honest, I have several strikes against me.

First, I am one of those writers who occasionally would like to make enourgh from my writing to pay for my cats' food bill. This desire to be paid has only increased this semester, thanks due to a major foul-up in the student loan system.

(In fact, if you would like me to quit writing short occult ebooks for the rest of the semester, please help the rest of my loan money get to my bank account. Heavens knows I would rather be focused on finishing up my senior year, so that I can move on to the masters program. If I am busy in school, I will not have time to annoy you.)

(And if you are one of my friends, help me get the rest of my loan money into my bank account. That way I do not have to go begging to feed my cats.)

Second, I am one of those occultists who did not burst into flames when I read The Secret. In fact, I can see how it would relate to magical work...through I will admit that I do not completely agree with how most people view the Law of Attraction.

Third, I am one of those people who tends to treat the various forms of magic as variations on a scheme. For me, Golden Dawn, Wicca, and the New Age are kissing cousins.

Fourth, and worst of all, I honestly think I know what I am talking about. And let's be honest being an opinionated loud-mouth is the greatest crime of them all.

Five Reasons Why Magic Fails now available on Smashwords.

Why is my universe currently focused on The Secret

My universe lately have been fulled with blips that have "The Secret" written all over them. And this despite the fact that I consider The Secret (both the movie and the book) to be more or less just a long commerical for life coaching. For instance, today's Pagan Blog Prompt's weekly blog prompt is (drumroll please) The Secret.

Hence me writing about the Law of Attraction today. My apologies.

I will admit that I have used the Law of Attraction as a magical model or guideline. Every once in awhile, you run into someone who has worked a spell and you can see their real focus is on their debt, or lack of a love life, or their illness, or whatever. And you can just see where all their energy is going. When I notice this, provided that the person is a reasonably open-minded person, I will point it out to them.

I do not mention the Law of Attraction or The Secret. Mainly because most of my friends would mock me for doing so. Especially the monkey loving lodge member.

So why is my universe currently throwing The Secret at me? If the universe is in one long conversation with me, then what is the universe trying to tell me?

I think that the message is that I need to continue to focus on my long term goals, and that I should not let the current bad state of circumstances derail my plans (monetary problems if you are curious---same as everyone in the current economy). So the universe tossing mentions of the Law of Attraction at me is merely the universe trying to give me a hug and a reminder that in the end everything will work out fine as long as I stick to working on my long range goals (getting my college degree and finishing large hunks of writing).

In other words, Work equals Prayer, and the Goddess will Provide to those who Work. It is not how most people would read the conversation, but it is how I choose to.

The recession is all in your head

Good news everyone! We are not in a recession. The recession was officially over in June 2009.

Just too bad that most of us didn't get the memo.

So why are so many of us still suffering with unemployment, upside down mortgages, and are on the verge of being officially below the poverty level?

Maybe it is all in our heads.

Or at least that is the conclusion that you can jump to if you embrace the Law of Attraction. In a nutshell, the Law of Attraction says that the things and conditions that you focus on the most are what you are going to attract.

Worry about being unemployed, or becoming unemployed...you attract unemployment.

Worry about keeping your home...you attract foreclosure.

Worry about being dirt-poor...you attract more bills and less income.

Gee, it sounds so simple, doesn't it?

Now, all we need is someone to point out that our economic illness is all in our head, to shout at us to walk it off, and we can all go back to being middle class in no time.

Differing definitions of magic

Today, I spent the day writing Law of Attraction articles in my mode as a copywriter. (To the person, who thinks that the Law of Attraction is just a New Age gimmick, just remember that there is a market for these articles and I do need to make a living---who am I to deny myself a living?) Or to be more exact, I finished one five hundred word article (pending cool-down and final edit before submission) and started several others. (I also pulled some weeds, did some laundry and dishes if you are curious.)

During the writing of these Law of Attraction articles, I caught onto the fact that I am using at least two definitions of magic. Around ordinary non-magical people, I am using magic to mean "instant results"; with students of the occult, I am using magic to mean (more or less) "a tool to manifest coincidences."

Either definition will make everyone happy. And I am quite sure that the students of the occult will be more upset with me...especially considering both definitions will be viewed as completely wrong by the most vocal of magicians. For the record, I was copywriting with the expected audience being normal everyday people...you know those people who have never see the inside of a lodge or circle (those whom the only experience they have with magic is the Harry Potter Hollywood Dungeons and Dragons style).

I did find it interesting that I was insisting that the Law of Attraction is not magic, despite the fact that it sure seems to work by the same laws. Again, I was copywriting (my name is not going to be attached to this stuff) for ordinary people...I have to use the vocabulary and definitions that they are familar with.

Anyway, now that you know what my definitions are, I am curious about yours---please leave your definition of magic in the comment section---and if you are using a different definition depending upon who you are dealing with.