I’m taking a marketing class right now through the local Small Business Development Center, and I’ve been taking a small Business Management course through most of the year. I’m also taking Jason’s Strategic Sorcery course, and of course I’m also educating myself at my own pace with a variety books I’m reading and exercises I’m trying. I’m a life long learner and its something I apply as much to my magical work as to anything else. Every book I read, every experience I have, or class I take all has the potential to offer something that not only improves my business or life, but also inspires my magical practice.

Whether its formal education or educate yourself, the real value of continuing to learn is that it challenges you to grow as a person. I the variety of topics I can learn about fascinating and I know that I’ll never learn everything, but I know learning as much as I can inspires me and excites me. There’s a thrill I feel when I’m learning something or trying something out, the thrill of being alive, the thrill of the moment.

It’s easy to get pigeonholed into one subject or area of interest, but the peril is that you become myopic in your perspective. I’d have never discovered the joys of experimenting with magic if I just continued to read books on magic. It was reading books about a variety of subjects that really made me wonder if I could apply magic to those subjects and vise versa. The joy in doing something unconventional, just to see what would happen, that became the overriding focus of my magical work and its still there to this day. I couldn’t have discovered that if I hadn’t diversified my interests and started learning whatever I could about any and everything.

I can’t say that I’ve always been able to apply everything I’ve learned, but I’d like to think that my unusual perspectives are cultivated by the choice to learn any and everything, regardless of how relevant it seems to be. Sometimes it doesn’t seem relevant, but then at some point it becomes relevant. I figure with magic, especially if you want to manifest specific results, its good to have a foundation to draw on that can inform the magical process you are using to manifest that result.

The first step was to contact Tzadkiel. I meditated on the astrological symbol of Jupiter and Tzadkiel’s sigil, as well as vocalizing Tzadkiel’s name. It took a little while to make contact, but eventually I did. I asked him, if I could get a symbol for Jupiter that represented the planetary energy and associations with wealth and other areas. He was happy to provide it to me, but then we got into a discussion about the associations. I asked him about the association of wealth with Jupiter and what made Jupiter as a planet have anything to do with wealth. He replied it was less about the planet and more about how people perceived the planet (and associated God) with wealth. That what made it powerful had more to do with the perceptions that people invested in the planet. What I’m really tapping into are those perceptions of the power, the perceptions about the associations and how those associations can be worked with.

Since then I’ve taken the symbol and put it on my whiteboard and each time I’ve done anything associated with my business or a financial transaction, I’ve mentally imprinted the symbol on the business or financial transaction, with the idea of drawing on those associations to provide a favorable outcome for me. I plan on doing work with the other planets (and their archangels )and also with Tzadkiel, but it is an interesting thought, to look at the planetary energy in terms of the perceptions invested into it.

The process of magic course is starting tomorrow. You’ll get 24 lessons for $80 dollars on the process of magic and how to develop your personalized approach to magic while also learning the fundamental principles of how magic works from a process oriented perspective. You’ll learn:

• What process is and how it can be applied to magic.
• How to take apart any magical working you’ve done and identify what is and isn’t working in it.
• What the principles of magic are and how they can be applied with any tool or technique you can think of.
• Why internal work is a necessary part of your magical process.

Those are only a few things you’ll learn when you take this class. Over the course of 24 weeks we’ll cover magical techniques from a process perspective, identify your definition of magic, and explore how to use results to refine and improve your magical process. You will get:

• 24 lesson for $80 dollars (That’s less than a dollar per lesson)
• A FREE e-book Creating Magical Entities
• 5 homework assignments to help you apply the concepts to your magical workings.
• The ability to work on the course at your pace.

If you want to sign up for the class or you have questions, contact me.

The books are How to Meet and Work with Spirit Guides and Enchantment of the Faerie Realm. Perhaps what I liked best about the books then and even now is the balance between practical techniques and theoretical information. As I looked through both books the other night, I felt a smile appear on my face, rediscovering a sense of wonder I first felt when I began practicing magic. As a teenager these books were doorways to a better life than the one I was living in. They provided me a sense of empowerment, a feeling of control, and a sense that I could actively make a difference in my life by employing magic. I still feel that way, but holding those books and flipping through them brought a sense of nostalgia and happiness over the memories themselves.

And flipping through them also provided inspiration for a working I did recently and am still engaged in currently, which I’ll write about on Wednesday. It illustrated to me that going back through something you’ve kept for almost 20 years can still provided you surprises and realizations that you can work with.

What was your earliest influential texts that changed your approach to magic?

In a recent conversation about the process of magic, one person mentioned that they felt that mystery was an essential part of what makes magic magical. My response was: “Why does there need to be mystery? Mystery is a trope associated with magic, but its just a prop in the end. Looks nice…the real question is does it serve a real function or purpose in the process of magic. If it does, use it, but if it doesn’t, strip it away.”

The counter response was that removing mystery made magic a rational process or a scientific experiment. But I don’t think removing mystery guarantees rationality, as emotion can still factor significantly into a magical work. More importantly the person’s experience and perspective is also a significant factor in magical work and not something that automatically lends itself to rationality. I don;t really hold rationality in a esteemed position anyway, as I think its an artificial state of being. In other words, there’s no such thing as a purely rational state of mind. There’s always some level of emotion or feeling involved. Perhaps the closest experience of rationality is data, but even the interpretation of data is not wholly rational, as there is always an agenda and argument for how and why data is interpreted a particular way.

Regardless that’s a topic for a different blog post. Getting back to mystery…I don’t feel mystery is a necessary part of magical work. It’s a trope, a prop that is associated with magic, and also with secrecy, which is another trope associated with occultism. I dislike secrecy, as I feel what it ultimately encourages is a potential loss of knowledge, experiences, and information that could benefit others. Nonetheless secrecy is one of those tropes that magicians hold fast to, much as mystery is held onto.

When I look at mystery and secrecy I see power games being played, the secret club handshake, the knowing wink, and the decision about who is included and who is excluded. And yes it can have its uses, to create a sense of atmosphere, but ideally the magician can accomplish without needing to resort to such theater unless it serves a purpose.

I’ll admit I take an approach to magic that has been describing as a stripping down of it. Yet I don’t feel I’m missing out on anything by doing so. Removing all the extras has just provided a way to get to the heart of the magical working, to the connections that are made with the spirits, with the possibilities, etc. without needing to draw on the props. Some people find the props necessary and if that’s the case, then that’s what they need to use, but magic is ultimately a variety of paths. I just like to explore how you can strip it down and build it back up to fit your needs, while getting rid of what you don’t need.

I’ve been reading Thee Psychick Bible for a little while now and came across an article by Genesis where he notes the following:

No matter how short, or apparently unrecognizable a sample might be in linear time perception, I believe it must, inevitably, contain within it the sum total of absolutely everything its original context represented, communicated or touched in any way; On top of this it must also implicitly include the sum total of every individual in any way connected with its introduction and construction within the original culture and every subsequent culture it in any way, means, or form, has contact with forever.

It’s interesting perspective about cut-up and one that Burroughs alludes to in his own writings, but in not so explicit a manner. My own approach has favored the idea that the act of cutting up text frees it from its original author and meaning, and that the rearrangement of the text is the appropriation of it by the person doing the cut-up in order to create a new message, but I can also see validity in Genesis’s approach to cut-up, especially if you apply the concept of spiritual transmission to cut-up.

Burroughs talks about how doing cut-up allowed him to catch divinatory glimpses of things that could occur, but it stands to reason as well that in a way you can’t really cut out the original author of a text. You can rearrange the text, change the meaning, but there is still a connection of sorts to the author, to the original vision of the text. If we think of words as a means of connection with the author, not merely in terms of meaning, but in terms of an actual spiritual meeting with the author it changes our approach to text in some ways. We see it not even as a divinatory practice, but as a practice that allows us to meaningfully connect with the essence behind the writing. The rearrangement of text, and the reading become an invocatory practice that shifts us into an experience of transmission from a variety of sources.

It always fascinates me with how people approach a given technique and end up using it in different ways than others do. It demonstrates, to me, that magic is much more of an experiential process than anything else. Different people will have different methodologies and perspectives on how a technique works and all of them will be right.

I’m very pleased to announce that my first correspondence course: The Process of Magic is now going live. The class will officially start May 16th. It is a correspondence course, which means that I’ll send a lesson once a week. There a total of 24 lessons which explore magic as a process. A Full description of the class can be found here.

I previously offered a live version of this class and one of the attendees had the following to say about it:

By describing the process of magic(k) rituals, Taylor Ellwood taught me how to enhance my work. He taught me how to analyze and improve some rituals I had made, how to apply proved techniques to experimental rituals for internal magic and how pop culture can also be useful for creating pantheons more in relation to oneself. After this class my rituals have been really effective, and I started to think of magic as a means for transforming myself to get the best out of my environment. Highly recommendable class, I’m really happy I took it.

I’m currently offering this class for $80. You will get the following when you take this class:

• Access to forums where you can ask questions and learn with other students.
• Access to me, so that you can ask questions and get a response that is helpful.
• 24 written lessons sent out each week on Wednesday which includes exercises to help you develop and refine your process of magic.
• Homework to help you proactively apply the principles of this class to your magical practice and life.
• A Free E-book copy of Creating Magical Entities

If you’ve always wanted to develop your own personalized system for magical work or just wanted to understand how magic works and can be used to improve your life this class is for you. To sign up for this class contact me at magicalexperiments@yahoo.com.

I’m looking forward to sharing this class with any who take it. We’ll be refining your magical practice, and examining what really makes magic work!

The first author it ever happened with was William S. Burroughs. He was dead by the time I read his books, but reading his books put me in touch with the Old Man on the Mountain. Burroughs was there in the text, ready to come forth if the right person read his works. It’s no surprise to me that his work has influenced my own approaches to magic, both in terms of textual magic and design and in other forms of practical magic. Even though I never met him in person, my encounter with him via text was one I’ve never forgotten. He is always there, ready to be found in his writing.

The second author and the only one I’ve ever met is Storm Constantine. I read her Wraeththu series and while it was a fantasy series, it was one that nonetheless felt channeled. My encounter with the spirit of Thiede, who became a permanent part of my pantheon was a powerful one, and subsequent books in the series have continued to embody that. But I also got a sense of Storm the writer and when I contacted her via email there was an immediate connection between us that is sustained to this day in the work we do together via Immanion Press. It’s fair to say that Storm is one of those people I needed to meet in order to move forward with my calling and spiritual process.

William G. Gray is another author who’s spirit I’ve encountered via his books. It’s fair to say that there has been something of a spiritual transmission, at least in terms of how I approach the process of magic. Gray, in his own writing, is very systematic in his description of magical processes and I’ve felt his presence as I’ve read the books. In discussions with several people who actually knew him, I’ve described his presence and they’ve indicated it was an accurate description of him. I don’t feel his presence as much now, because I think I’ve gotten the gist of what he wanted me to know via his writing, but as with Burroughs I can still sense his presence when I read his works.

The last author is one I’ve recently started reading, and I’m not sure if it’s so much a spiritual transmission from him or just the fact that I can pick up something of William Gray’s influence in the writing. I haven’t met R. J. Stewart at this point, but when I read his writing I feel a sense of familiarity with it, and with the systematic descriptions that he provides, and it turns out that at one time he did study under Gray. So with this one I’m less certain as to whether its really a spiritual transmission or just the fact that there is some resonance in the writing that reminds me of the spirit of an author I have encountered.

I’ve met many other occult writers and read their books and I’ve gotten a lot from their works, but this kind of intimate connection is something that has been rare for me to experience. Have any of you had such experiences?

Join the forums and lets talk magic on them. I will check up on the forums on a regular basis, and I hope to get into many intriguing conversations with all of you!

I also want to give a shout-out to Cassie Bruce who patiently did the majority of work getting the forums set up. Having that kind f help is priceless.

Book Review: The Well of Light by R.J. Stewart

In this book R. J. Stewart explores in further depth his tradition and how to work with Faery Allies as well as why the work is done. Perhaps what’s most unusual about this book is the emphasis on doing on spiritual work for the benefit of the planet, as much as for the self. R.J.’s writing is crisp and he defines and explains various magical processes in exact detail. Even if you don’t follow his tradition (I don’t) you’ll get a lot out of the book, especially because it will prompt you to think about your relationship with the Earth as well as how you work with spirits.

Change is one of those understated elements of magic that is part of any and everyone’s process. That’s probably why its understated, because change of some kind or another is expected to occur when you do magical work. So why even focus on it?

I think it is worth focusing on, especially when we look at change in conjunction with results. Your result is the explicit indicator that change has occurred. Without a result you wouldn’t really know if your magic worked. But change is more than just a result. Change is a transformation of the environment around you and within you.Respecting that aspect of the magical process is really important for understanding how magic work. There needs to be a change built into your process. Magic is a causative agent of change, and the employment of it is a signal that you want to bring change into your life. But its also worth noting that even though you might get a specific result, you might also get other changes that are connected to the result, but weren’t necessarily desired. This occurs, not because of the magic, but because of a lack of specificity about the result, or because specific consequences are triggered when a specific result occurs.

Change is a constant in our lives. We change moment to moment, but intentional change is something a person chooses to create, and that’s what makes magic distinct. It’s a methodology used to to produce intentional changes. When we recognize that change is intentional, then perhaps we consider it more carefully, recognizing that what it brings isn’t just a result, but also the consequences that come with that result.

Radio Interview

If you missed the interview on Stirring the Cauldron you can listen to it here. It was a good interview with some great questions.

Book Review: Rebounders by Rick Newman

In this book, Newman discusses the characteristics of the rebounder, a person who is able to take failure and turn it into success by learning from it. Newman uses over nine case studies to demonstrate how various people have rebounded from failures and mistakes to become successful in their fields, while highlighting the mental skills and tools that are necessary to accomplish this. I found the stories to be inspiring and useful for helping me see how I could become a better rebounder.