lesson 4
The Science of Magick
You don’t need to understand how a car works to drive one, and you don’t need to study magick theory to do a spell, but magick theory is a science that can be studied. I know many people who have opened a book, done a spell, and had great success with it, but they had no idea how it worked. Magick theory allows serious students of the craft to find an intelligent, sophisticated model of the universe that deals with the use of abilities usually dismissed by mainstream society. Doing a ritual or reciting a spell can seem silly the first time around, but understanding the reasons behind the ritual or chant can lend it credibility. Without this, a portion of our mind is always doubting our magickal actions. Many old superstitions have a basis in metaphysics, but if you do not understand that basis, they continue to be superstitions. Despite popular opinion, witchcraft is not superstitious. The practitioners of this craft have very specific reasons for doing things. An educated witch understands how real magick works in the modern world and can discuss it intelligently even with someone who may not necessarily believe in it.
Since the dawn of civilization, there have been philosophers asking the tough questions, seeking to understand. As cultures developed, these philosophers took up specific disciplines and now ask questions in relationship to science, philosophy, psychology, art, and religion. Until fairly recently, the boundaries between idea, science, and mysticism were not as clear-cut.
The Greek scholar Pythagoras was well versed in many areas, including the occult, geometry, medicine, and poetry. We tend to know Pythagoras for his contributions to geometry and math, but his knowledge and teaching encompassed far more than just math. Even some notable scientists, like Newton, famous for codifying the laws of gravity, were esoterics, studying the mystical as they studied the physical. Many sciences grew out of what are now considered occult traditions. For instance, alchemy birthed the science of chemistry, and astrology is the father of astronomy. But since we live in a culture that tends to elevate the rational, logical, and scientific over the mystical, we have discarded segments of many scholars’ work, keeping only the portions relevant to us at this time. Well, if these individuals were so intelligent and gave so many contributions to our modern culture, why do we assume that the material we do not understand or agree with is foolish? Couldn’t there possibly be merit in their esoteric studies as well?
These scholars sought to understand the nature of the universe and how humanity interacts with it. In ancient cultures, the use of magick, charms, and psychic abilities was not only well documented, but accepted as fact. Scholars, who often were practitioners of such arts, desired to understand intellectually the evidence right before their eyes, to know intimately how will and intent interacted with certain forces, through symbol, charm, chant, or ingredient, to effect a change. As a result of this quest, occurring in many places in the world, over many eras, various theories and laws were established. These are not laws in the sense of morals of a society, but are similar to the laws of the physical sciences. As an example, gravity worked before anyone used the term “Law of Gravity.” Magickal laws are the same. They are statements based on observations that work whether we pay attention to them or not. These laws are some of the best explanations we have for the phenomena of magick, spells, and psychic powers. Since the modern magickal community is not as united as the modern scientific community, there is no general agreement on what exactly these “laws” are, although those who choose to study magick theory come across various texts with the same basic ideas described in a multitude of ways. Because the Christian Church saw many of these texts as heretical, they were often written clouded in symbolism, and were difficult to decipher unless you understood the symbol system. Depending on what tradition and culture of magick you study, you may prefer one form over another. Modern magickal scholars have coined many of their own terms, building on the foundations of the past, to better explain the process of magick. Magick is not a musty old discipline, but a strong growing tree, weaving together branches from the ancient and modern worlds.
The Hermetic Principles
I’ve read many different variations on Hermetic philosophy, but the version that I most consistently refer to is the one first introduced to me, a book called The Kybalion. The Kybalion was written anonymously by “three initiates” and published in 1912, but the work within is ascribed to Hermes Trismegistus, or Hermes “thrice great.” Who Hermes is, or was, is not generally agreed on. Most recognize him as a great master and teacher of spiritual wisdom, dating back to ancient Greece or Egypt. Some believe he was a god who came down to humanity to teach the arcane arts of alchemy, magick, and philosophy.
His name, Hermes Trismegistus, refers to the Greek god Hermes, known as Mercury to the Romans. Hermes was the messenger of the gods, traveling freely between worlds, in many ways like the shaman traveling to the upper and lower realms. He is well-known for his quick and inventive mind, and credited with giving humankind writing, musical instruments, and commerce.
The Egyptian god Thoth is associated with Hermes. Thoth is known as the scribe of the gods and is one of the oldest and most powerful Egyptian deities. While Hermes kept a youthful image, Thoth was more the archetypical magician, and sometimes appeared as a man with the head of the ibis bird or an ape. In some ways, he acted to the Egyptian pharaoh gods, like Ra, Osiris, and Horus, as Merlin did to King Arthur, as the monarch’s advisor and mentor. Perhaps the Greeks were referring to two different gods, using Hermes to refer to the Greek messenger god and using Hermes Trismegistus to refer to the imported Egyptian sage god, hoping to avoid confusion.
No one knows if Hermes Trismegistus was literally a human, or simply a myth that developed around these teachings. Legend tells us that his wisdom was originally written on emerald tablets. In any case, the exact origin does not matter as much as the teachings themselves. The Hermetic texts have gone through many translations, and like the Bible, some argue about how much of the “true” writings remain and what was seeded with the thoughts, ideas, culture, and interpretations of the translators. Much of Western ritual magick, particularly those ritual-magick traditions tracing back to the Golden Dawn, are considered Hermetic traditions, based in part on the writings of Hermes Trismegistus. The word hermetic literally means “sealed,” as in the medical world. In this case, it can mean “sealed,” or “secret knowledge.” Since such ritual magicians influenced the development of modern Wicca, the study of these writings and concepts is an important part of the education of a witch.
The seven principles I learned from my teachers and The Kybalion were keys to my understanding of magick. Much Hermetic text is shrouded in symbolism and is hard to understand, therefore The Kybalion is not easy for the modern reader, but is easier than some other works attributed to Hermes. Once I understood the ideas behind each Hermetic principle, I found that they each had a practical application to my craft. In this chapter, I have included an exercise or meditation to help you better understand each Hermetic principle.
Hermetic magick can more accurately be called Hermetic alchemy, and Hermes Trismegistus was considered a master alchemist. This sort of alchemy does not deal with the transformation of base metals into gold, but the transformation of the practitioner from baser materialistic consciousness to golden enlightenment. These principles give us a structure to understand how we create our own changes, or the transformation of the self. This is the highest art of magick, in any tradition. By coming into our own power, and responsibility to that power, we understand that we are spiritual beings living in a material world, all interdependent on each other.
As you grow to understand each principle separately, you will begin to form a larger picture of the universe, which is not significantly different from the larger picture of quantum physics and holographic theory discussed in the last lesson. Amazingly enough, modern science and ancient philosophy are basically saying the same thing.
The Principle of Mentalism
The Principle of Mentalism states that everything in the universe is a “creation of THE ALL.” THE ALL is a nongender, nonpantheistic way of referring to the divine, whether you call it God, Goddess, the Source, Tao, Prime Vibration, First Cause, Mother/Father/God, or the Great Spirit. This force is also known as the divine mind.
The Principle of Mentalism tells us that we are all thoughts of the divine mind, existing within the divine mind. The borders of creation are encompassed by the divine mind, and all of creation is permeated with the divine mind. Everything is composed of the same thing—the divine mind. We appear to be separate, but in truth, we are one. In the Hindu tradition, this separation is called the maya, or illusion of the world. Spiritual practices are used to see past the illusion to the truth. In The Living Gita, Sri Swami Satchidananda uses this beautiful example: “Water appears to be a wave. But the wave after all is nothing but water. If we see the wave only as a wave, and not as water also, then it’s an illusion. We should discriminate: ‘Yes, I see it as a wave. Because it rises up, I give the name, wave; but it’s the same water rising up.’ That’s discrimination—seeing the same essence behind all the names and forms.”2
Imagine your own mind, for a moment, as not only a consciousness within your head, as Westerners tend to visualize it, but as a place. If this place is your mind, you have a lot of control over what is there. You can choose to create a beautiful scene, populate it with characters, change it, or even destroy it. All these things can have detail, depth, and character to them. They are individual, yet part of your greater whole, your mind. Although ultimately you are in charge, these images have a measure of free will. As you dream and daydream, your creations often do the unexpected. The thoughts, feelings, and intentions you have control this mindscape, though the “characters” can take interesting turns.
Now take that model and expand it to the entire universe, all of creation. Remember that both the brain (or mind) and the universe are described as a hologram. They have much in common. Our universe, on every level, is the mind of the divine creative being. Everything in it is a thought that the divine has created, just as you do with your daydreams and visualizations. Just as you create, the divine mind creates, showing us that the nature of the universe is very mental. Therefore, the universe, and everything in it, responds to thoughts because it is composed of the thoughts of the divine. If the divine created us and everything else as a thought, and we are capable of creating our own thoughts, then they, too, are divine and filled with power. The universe and everything in it will respond to our thoughts. Thoughts invested with energy become reality. This is magick.
Creation is an ability and power we share because we are part of the divine. We are all creators on different scales. When we choose to create together, in partnership, there is true magick and power. One of the necessary ingredients of magick is a clear intention, and what is a clear intention if not a clear thought? Learning to project your thoughts out into the world is a primary step to making magick.
Here are some exercises to show you how powerful your thoughts can be and how other objects and people, which are only thoughts in the divine mind, like you, easily respond to your thought energy.
Mental Projection
Choose an inanimate object to “receive” your mind as you project it. Common items include jewelry, coins, or crystals. I’ve found natural objects to be easier to work with than plastics and synthetics. Objects made of one material are usually best to start with, rather than combinations of substances. The object does not have to have any special significance to it.
1. Hold the object in your hand and start exercise 9: Counting Down to a Meditative State to get into your magickal mindset.
2. Hold the object in both hands and feel it. Does it feel heavy? Light? Be aware of the object in your hands.
3. Even with your eyes closed, be aware of your thoughts and perceptions. We tend to confuse our mind with our brain, and “think” we are up in our head, even though our mind is throughout our body. But take your perception of being up in your head, behind your eyes, and feel your sense of awareness slowly move down to the back of your head and your neck. Focus your attention on these places and let the sensation descend to your shoulders. All your awareness is on your shoulders and moving down your arms, as if your mind is traveling down your arms.
4. Continue the movement down your arms and then to your hands and fingers. Your mind keeps moving, from your body and now into the object you are holding in your hands. Feel your mind enter the object and merge with it. Your mind is now part of the object. Your thoughts are now part of the object.
5. Notice your new perceptions. What are you experiencing? What do you see? What do you feel? What do you hear? What do you smell? What do you taste? Can you feel the energy of this object? Can you pick up any information from it? Intend to merge with it.
6. When the experience is complete, feel your mind traveling in the opposite direction, back out of the object and into your hands. Feel yourself travel up your arms and shoulders, back into your head and behind your eyes.
7. Return yourself to normal consciousness, counting up, and giving yourself clearance and balance. Do any necessary grounding.
After doing this exercise, many of my students who have no scientific background accurately describe molecular shapes. Others have a very surreal experience, and when they enter the object, they receive storybook images with symbolic, dreamlike information—the internal structure of the object is a castle, forest, or mountain. Many do not have a visual experience, but feel vibrations, hear noises, and experience gut-level, intuitive flashes.
Once you feel comfortable with this exercise, expand on it. Try many different substances and materials. If you continue on this path and gather ritual tools, you will consecrate them with your intention. Learning to connect with an object mentally is a great asset when consecrating your items. If you have any items on your meditation altar, connect with them.
Next, on the screen of your mind, call up objects that you do not physically have in your possession, but desire to connect with mentally. In exercise 10, you called up onto the screen of your mind an orange. You thought it was a simple visualization exercise, but in truth, it is much easier to connect to the energy of an orange somewhere out in the universe than to create your own. You were actually connecting to the energy of the orange, somewhere across space and time. If you’ve tried that exercise more than once, you’ll notice how it changes. Hold the fruit on the screen of your mind, but instead of observing it visually, project your mind into it as you did in the previous exercise. Try this variation several times, each time calling up a different object. Try fruits, vegetables, crystals, and metals. Touch a wall in your home, and project yourself into the wall, into the building material and the insulated space in between.
The last variation of this exercise is to try using living, cellular material. You’ve already moved on to fruits and vegetables, which you can do physically or nonphysically. Now try a plant, a living, growing plant. Notice how different living tissue can feel compared to the other material you’ve used. Lastly, try it on a pet. If you do not have a pet physically with you, or one that will stay near you long enough to try this exercise, call an animal up onto your screen through your intention. Notice how animal tissue feels different from plant tissue. Ultimately though, they are all forms of thought, responding to your thoughts. We are all thoughts in the divine mind.
I have one last exercise to demonstrate the power of thoughts: cloud busting. Cloud busting has gotten a bad rap as New Age nonsense or the power of self-delusion, but for many people, this simple, powerful exercise opens the door to a whole world of psychic and spiritual development. When my student Tom first introduced it to me, I looked at him a little strangely since I had never heard of it before, but he told me how it lead to his spiritual path. Once I tried it, I could understand why. If you don’t think your thoughts affect the world, think again.
Cloud busting is exactly what it sounds like, busting or breaking apart clouds with the power of your mind. In modern times the phenomenon is associated with Dr. William Reich and his study of orgone energy. Orgone is the good doctor’s take on what mystics have called prana or chi, the subtle energy that flows in and around all things, moving from personal energy to sky or Earth energy and back again. Cloud busting is actually a technique taught in many Eastern and native traditions.
Get a clear view of the sky on a moderately cloudy day. Do your instant magick trigger. State the intention that this be “correct and for the good of all, harming none.” Pick a moderate-size, individual cloud. Focus your attention on the center of the cloud. Concentrate all your attention on the intention of making the cloud break apart. Imagine projecting your thoughts out to the cloud to break it apart. Visualize it breaking apart. In your mind, ask it to break apart. Be patient. Within a few minutes, the cloud should break apart. You may not make it disappear completely, but “break off” a piece. This talent improves the more you practice, but it does not always work. Sometimes it is best for a cloud to stay together for the higher good of the local weather patterns.
Cloud busting actually clears the mind. The element of air is the energy of the mind and mental body. By clearing clouds with your thoughts, you are clearing out the feelings, thoughts, and programs that “cloud” your own mind.
The Principle of Correspondence
The Principle of Correspondence states, “As above, so below; as below, so above.” This seemingly simple statement contains some of the most important tenets of witchcraft and magick. The whole contains the part, and the part contains the whole. By studying the patterns of the known world, one can apply this knowledge and wisdom to the unknown worlds. The principles of geometry used on small objects in a classroom can be used to measure the vast, almost unknowable distances between planets and across the cosmos. The simple truths and patterns found in the physical world can also be found in the spiritual realms.
Cycles and patterns repeat infinitely, from the largest scale to the smallest scale. Think about the structure of the solar system. You have one large body, the Sun, at the center. Orbiting around this center are several smaller particles, the planets, arranged at regular intervals. Now think on a smaller scale, to the atom. The atom has a nucleus at the center of it. Circling around the nucleus are smaller particles, electrons, spaced at regular intervals. The atom and the solar system are almost maps of each other (figure 10).
Everything contains a map of the cosmos, reflecting the patterns of creation in the smallest scale, what is called the microcosm, and in the largest scale, the macrocosm. Our holographic model of the universe is basically saying the same thing. One part of the hologram contains all of the information and can be used to re-create the whole. A human cell, a small part of a human being, contains all the DNA needed to re-create the entire body. Every speck of dust contains a world. Every galaxy is like an atom, a building block to a bigger structure that we cannot see at the moment.
The analogy between the brain and the universe, both working holographically, is the most remarkable example of patterns repeating from the small to the large. The study of fractals, the repetition of patterns created from mathematical equations, is another example of correspondence. Fractal shapes are not only seen in computer-generated graphics, but throughout nature in the shape of snowflakes and shorelines.
The Principle of Correspondence is also important to witches because it allows us to compile lists of correspondences to use in magick. Although the hologram tells us that everything contains everything else, the entire model in a single part, magick tells us that certain specific relationships have different kinds of power. Witches use their understanding of these correspondences to create rituals, spells, and potions. The hologram is made of light, and that light can be broken down, divided into the spectrum of colors through the use of a prism. The energies of the holographic universe can be divided as well. The energy within individual substances, colors, planets, elements, days of the week, and ritual tools corresponds with specific energies of the universe. When you want to emphasize a particular energy for your magick, you utilize items that correspond with that energy.
Many different systems exist to divide and subdivide the energies of the universe. As usual, no one system is correct; they are all different views of the same thing, and most work together on some level. Have you ever noticed how some colors evoke certain feelings? Red may make you angry. Green is more alive and vital, yet happy. Blue calms you down. There is a psychology of color because each color corresponds to certain feelings, intentions, and energies.
The same holds true with musical notes, but we do not pay as much attention to individual tones in this society as we do to individual colors. In fact, music may be one of the best examples of the Principle of Correspondence in action. Music is divided into repeating sets of notes. Each set of notes is a scale. The most familiar scale is made of seven notes and sung in children’s songs as Do, Re, Me, Fa, So, La, Ti, and then Do repeats. The notes themselves are called C, D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. This series of seven notes repeats over and over again. One person may sing the low C and another the higher C. It is the same note, repeated in a different range. This is called an octave. The Principle of Correspondence is like these octaves, repeating patterns in different ranges. Because energy that can be heard has a lower vibration than the energy of visible light, the scale of seven notes is like a lower octave to the spectrum of seven colors. Perhaps other unseen energies, such as those of the electromagnetic spectrum, are “octaves” to the ones we can see and hear.
Color and sound are one way of building a correspondence system. Some people build correspondence systems based on the four elements: earth, air, fire, and water. The properties of fire are energy, passion, lust, and protection. If you wanted to do a protection ritual involving fire, you might use the colors red and orange, a sword, red roses, or a ruby. They all correspond to fire. Others build a system from astrology. The same spell would probably be based on the planet Mars, a fire planet, named after the god of war. Mars energy is good for protection and aggression. Its color is also red. Many of the correspondences of fire fit Mars. Each system works.
A system of correspondence used in herbalism is called the Doctrine of Signatures. Though credited to Paracelsus, and alluded to in the second century c.e. in the writings of Galen, the basic idea is found all over the world. Since witchcraft is based in a tradition of healers and herbalists, the doctrine is quite appropriate here. The herbalist looks for correspondences of shape, color, texture, and growing season to both the human body and to the elements. The energies of the plant world, formerly unknown, can be applied to the human world for healing. Lungwort has lung-shaped leaves and is used for respiratory ailments. The roots of Solomon’s seal look like tendons and are used to either tighten or loosen tendons and ligaments. Hawthorn berries are red, which is the color associated with the heart and blood, and hawthorn is used for the heart. Yellow color (jaundice) is a sign of liver dysfunction. Dandelion has yellow flowers, and it is used to heal the liver. By listening to the language of correspondence, you can uncover many secrets in the unknown worlds.
Correspondences
1. Start exercise 9: Counting Down to a Meditative State to get into your magickal mindset.
2. Imagine in your mind’s eye an egg. It can be any kind of animal egg. As in the orange exercise, examine the egg. Pull it down and visualize yourself holding the egg, feeling its texture, temperature, and any other details that come to mind. Do not break it open.
3. As in exercise 13: Mental Projection, project your mind into the egg. Feel yourself enter the egg. First you go through the hard outer shell and penetrate the egg. Notice the egg white, the layer between the center and the shell. Feel it. Move through it. Move toward the center. Enter the third section, the egg yolk. Feel the egg yolk, the center, the core of the egg.
4. If this egg is carrying life, there would be at least one living cell in the center. Project yourself to this cell. See the cell before you as you travel toward it. Penetrate the cell membrane, the cell wall, and enter the cell. Feel the liquid of the cell as you move toward the nucleus. Enter the nucleus and take note of the double helix, the spiraling DNA of the cell.
5. Know that the molecules of DNA are made up of smaller blocks called atoms. Project your consciousness down to this level and feel the atom there before you. On the edge of this single atom is the electron cloud, the energetic, mistlike zone of electrons circling the center. Move through the different orbits, layers of electrons, to enter the nucleus. Observe the atom from the inside out. Look at all the different parts and levels to it.
6. Know that this atom is like all the atoms in everyone. It is similar to every atom on the planet, even the atoms in the core of the Earth. Imagine that you are looking at an atom in the core of the Earth, and expand your consciousness outward. Project yourself outward. Notice the molten core of the planet, and as you exit the core, you enter what is called the mantle, a thick layer of molten rock flowing around the core. Expand your consciousness through the mantle. Enter the curst of the Earth, a thinner layer of rock and soil. On top of the crust, there are rivers, oceans, winds, people, and even waves of energy, all moving about on the planet.
7. Expand your view beyond the Earth. Take note of the Moon orbiting the Earth. See the Earth orbiting the Sun. Notice the Sun’s movement in the spiraling arm of the galaxy. Recognize the similarities, all the correspondences, on all levels of creation, and understand that there is a pattern to this creation. Know that you are connected to something greater, a larger whole, the pattern of life.
8. When the experience is complete, feel your consciousness slowly move back to your physical body, back on the Earth.
9. Return yourself to normal consciousness, counting up, and giving yourself clearance and balance. Do any necessary grounding.
The Principle of Vibration
The Principle of Vibration states, “Nothing rests; everything moves; everything vibrates.” Everything is always moving, vibrating, all the time. Even when something looks like it is staying still, it is not. The Hermetic philosophers knew this thousands of years ago, but science has only recently caught up. Prior to the discovery of atoms, physical matter appeared to be stationary, unmoving. Except for living beings with cellular movement, inanimate matter looked to be still. Once the atom was discovered, we understood solid matter to be tiny packets of empty space, where small particles constantly rotate around a center particle. These tiny particles, electrons, are always moving, always rotating, always vibrating. Even when something was “perfectly still,” these little particles were moving. How did the philosophers know this without knowing about that atom?
The power of the Principle of Vibration comes from not only understanding that physical matter is always vibrating, but that everything is vibrating, even the nonphysical. In fact, the differences between matter, energy, and spirit are different vibrations. Matter is a denser, more solid vibration than energy. Energy that can be physically recorded by machines is considered to be a denser vibration than spirit. The physical sciences tend to acknowledge only the physical vibrations, but as we are learning with quantum physics, we are more than our physical vibration. We also contain energy and spiritual vibrations. Understanding how they work and how to control them is an important part of witchcraft.
Have you ever met someone you just did not like, or gone to a place that made you uncomfortable? We tend to say it was “bad vibes,” thinking that these words are a figure of speech, but they are true. You are literally picking up on the energy, the vibration, broadcast by a person or place. By knowing this, you can consciously put out “good vibes” to change the energy of a situation. Your thoughts, emotions, and intentions all carry a vibration, and by consciously changing that vibration, you can have a profound effect on your reality. Similar vibrations tend to resonate and gather together. That is why you may be drawn to particular people or places in your life. Likewise, you draw the things that resonate with the vibrations you send out. If you put out vibrations connected with happiness, health, and prosperity, you draw more of the same. If you vibrate anger, illness, or unhappiness, you attract events and people with those vibrations.
Mystics from many traditions talk about vibration, and increasing your vibration to a more spiritual level as a part of the mystic’s path. Cleansing incenses are burned to raise the vibration of a ritual or temple. The realm of vibrational healing—using intent, energy, and the vibrations of natural substance such as flower essences and crystals—is fast becoming a part of alternative medicine.
This next exercise helps you consciously control your vibration. You do not need to be scientific about it. You do not need to know anything technical like the frequency or wavelength of your vibration. There are no visuals to this meditation. You only need to know your intent. With what do you intend to vibrate? Think of a quality you wish to possess or think of your affirmations. Affirmations are ways of changing your vibration. You have already done this work without focusing on the vibrational aspect. Think of an energy you wish to contact. Some examples include total health, prosperity, unconditional love, inspiration, or Mother Earth, the Goddess, the God, a place, planet, color, or any of the four elements. Choose one that speaks to you. That will be your mantra for your vibrational statement.
Vibrational Statements
1. Start exercise 9: Counting Down to a Meditative State to get into your magickal mindset.
2. Tell yourself, “I wish to vibrate in harmony with . . .” and fill in your energy or quality. Repeat this mantra nine times, and then relax and feel. Notice the change occurring in your energy, your vibration.
3. If you do not feel anything, repeat the statement again nine times, and feel. Continue with this process and notice the shifts that occur. If you don’t feel much after several attempts, you may already have the vibrational quality in you. Try another statement connected to an issue or area you are struggling with.
4. Return yourself to normal consciousness, counting up, and giving yourself clearance and balance. Do any necessary grounding.
You may notice during this exercise, or any time you are exercising your magickal abilities through meditation or ritual, that there is a slight noise or hum. It is not a constant sound, and I don’t hear it every time I do magick, but I do hear it often, especially when I am in a group setting. I have heard it all my life at different points. I used to think that I was going deaf, because I listened to loud music and played in a rock band, but not many of my musician friends heard it. Once I started going to pagan gatherings, I realized that others heard it. My friends and I surmised that it was some sort of Earth energy we were hearing. It wasn’t until I taught classes that I noticed that it was the most noticeable in groups, and we only heard it when we were doing magickal exercises. I truly believe now that we are “hearing” those spiritual vibrations, like glimpsing something out of the corner of your eye. In the Hindu traditions, this is the sound of Om, the sound of creation. Hearing it can be a sound of spiritual awakening. The pitch deepens over time and with spiritual development. To me it is the Principle of Vibration in action. Don’t try to hear it if you don’t already. That is not the point of the exercises. But if you do hear something, don’t be alarmed. You are listening to vibration.
The Principle of Polarity
From The Kybalion, the Hermetic student is told, “Everything is dual; everything has poles; everything has its pair of opposites.” The understanding of polarity, or pairs of opposites, is very important in magick, and in witchcraft, in particular, because witches desire to find harmony between the extremes.
Everything can be divided into two poles, but the trick to the Principle of Polarity is to understand that poles are not everything, but a range of responses falls between the poles. Any description of two opposites is never absolute. It is a relative description that must be compared to something else. What is hard? It is difficult to describe unless you use an example, or compare it to something soft. Using the pair of opposites, hard and soft, how would you describe a feather? Most would say soft. Then describe a piece of chalk. Compared to the feather, it is hard. Compared to steel, chalk is soft. Hard and soft are not absolutes, but relative degrees on a larger scale. We can change all our perceptions of polarities by using the same mental gymnastics. As the intent in our mind changes, the actual energy changes in our life. Each polarity contains the essence of the opposite, like the Yin-Yang figure (Figure 11).
One unfortunate view in the Law of Polarity is to lump together all the ends of several different spectrums. For example, we tend to equate the words light, day, positive, good, and male. On the other hand, we equate the words dark, night, negative, evil, and feminine (Figure 12). Although some of these words have obvious associations, such as dark and night, they are not synonymous. I’m convinced that such a shift in consciousness occurred in our culture in an effort to simplify the complex nuances of the natural world, particularly as the organized religions dominated Europe. I am all for simplicity, but not when it equates dark with evil. I love the dark. Many dark goddesses are loving and sacred to me, and by no means evil. It is easier to give a group of people you seek to control only two choices, all black or all white, with us or against us, rather than give them a range of possibilities to find what is correct and good for the individual. We must realize that there are many spokes to the wheel of polarity, and lumping them together does not serve our greatest good as witches. The eyes of the witch do not recognize only black and white, nor only the shades of gray in between, but the whole spectrum of color found amid the dark and light.
Precision in word and thought is essential in magick. Notice how negative is used to mean a “bad” attribute, while positive is used to mean something “good” or “desired.” We all generally accept these definitions, but they are not accurate in a scientific sense. If you are studying the spirituality, art, and science of witchcraft, you must pay attention to all definitions. Positive refers to a positive electrical charge, while negative refers to a negative electrical charge. Someone in the scientific world decided that a certain type of charge was negative and named it so. Using positive and negative to mean “good” and “bad,” respectively, causes problems later on down the road, even though it is so common.
Ions are electrically charged particles found in the environment. When you go to a place with churning water—an ocean, a waterfall, or even a bath or indoor fountain—you are taking in ions that make you feel good. Electrically, they are negatively charged ions, yet they promote health and relaxation. You may feel sluggish or sick when you spend a lot of time around electrical equipment, particularly computer monitors, televisions, and microwave ovens. That is because you are absorbing another type of ion that promotes these feelings, positive ions. When you intend to banish all “negative energy,” are you banishing negative ions? When you call all “positive energy” into your life, are you calling positive ions, too? Even though you don’t mean it that way, your words betray you. If you are banishing all harm, say you are banishing all harm, not just the negative. Your thoughts and words are powerful, and must be precise.
From our discussion of polarity and positive/negative attributes, we come to the concept of balance. This balance is a key point in the Cabot tradition of witchcraft that I learned. Something is only “good” for you, what others call “positive,” because it helps you maintain a healthy balance. If the same substance takes you out of balance, it is no longer “positive.” If you take a medicine once a day to treat a particular condition, you may call that a “positive” effect. If you decide such “positive” things are only good for you, and decide to take a whole bottle of medicine at once, you have changed a “positive” substance into a “negative” one, making yourself sick. Again, there are no absolutes. Almost any given substance or energy can be helpful or hurtful depending on the situation and your specific needs.
In the book Initiation, by Elizabeth B. Jenkins, the Andean priest-teacher Juan Nunez del Prado reveals that “within the world of living energies no positive or negative energies exist. There are only graduations of more subtle and refined living energies and energies that are more dense or heavy . . .”3 “Remember that ‘heavy’ is not ‘bad.’ Besides, what is heavy energy to you could be refined energy to someone else.”4 Energy exists in graduated scales, not absolutes.
One of the most important polarities in witchcraft is the polarity of the Earth and sky. Earth is grounding, material, physical, and emotional, and is associated with the Goddess energy. Sky energy is considered more intellectual, logical yet creative, mental, expressive, and electric, and is associated with the energy of the God. Finding a balance between the two energies is important. This next exercise helps balance all the polarities in you, helping you realize that pairs of opposites within you are different degrees on a scale. By acknowledging this scale, you have the ability to gently move traits and energies you don’t like to another part of the scale, transmuting yourself. This is the true art of Hermetic magick, of Western alchemy: to transform the mind, emotions, and spirit.
Polarity of the Earth and Sky
1. Start exercise 9: Counting Down to a Meditative State to get into your magickal mindset. If you have a particular personal attribute you wish to transmute, think of it now and hold that intention for a few moments.
2. Visualize a beam of light extending down from your spine, grounding you down to the Earth like the roots of a tree, or a balloon tied down. The beam of light is hollow like a straw, and you can draw energy up and down it. The beam connects you to the center of the Earth. As you inhale, hold the intention of drawing up the Earth energy, like sucking up a straw. In your mind, ask Mother Earth to send her energy up to you. With each inhalation, the energy moves further and further up the beam of light.
3. Feel the energy rise up through the beam of light. Some visualize it as green, brown, black, or blue. It may move quickly or slowly. Feel it reach the base of your spine and flow upward, through your body. Feel the Earth energy move through your belly and up into your chest. Feel it energize your body. Feel it flow through your neck and into your head, and out the crown. Feel the beam of light extend upward, connecting you to the sky.
4. While the Earth energy still flows upward, feel the energy of the sky flow down as you inhale, like water. At first it may be a trickle, or flow like a flood. Let it descend down the beam of light and into your crown. The sky energy flows much faster than the Earth energy, down through your head and neck, through your chest and heart space into your belly, to the base of your spine and down into the Earth.
5. Feel yourself in balance with these two energies. They are not static poles, but free-flowing, living energies. Release your own rigid polarities, the things you wish to transmute, and allow them to flow with you.
6. Slow down the flow with your intent, and allow the remaining Earth energy to flow upward and out, and the remaining sky energy to flow down and out into the Earth, helping ground you.
7. Return yourself to normal consciousness, counting up, and giving yourself clearance and balance. Do any necessary grounding.
Another polarity-balancing exercise I find useful is the scales meditation. You can experiment with it and try it on your own. First think about the different polarities in your life, aspects needing balance. Then count yourself down to a magickal mindset and visualize a hanging scale, like the scales of justice. They are unbalanced because you are in need of balancing. Visualize yourself moving the weights of the scale from side to side until you balance the scales (Figure 13). Some of the weights will be objects from your life, symbols of things you need to balance, get more of, or discard. Usually the left side is emotional and personal aspects, while the right is more logical and public issues. Be creative in your scale balancing.
The Principle of Rhythm
With our discussion of polarity, we know that energy has a range and it can move from one extreme to the other, flowing freely. The Principle of Rhythm tells us how it flows: “Everything flows, out and in; everything has its tides . . .” All patterns move in a cycle. As energy moves from one pole to the next, it is actually tracing a circular movement, with its own schedule and pattern, or tide.
Learning to recognize the tides of natural energy is an important part of witchcraft. The seasons are natural cycles honored by most tribal, Earth-loving people. Certain times of the year express a different kind of power than other seasons. Feelings, moods, and even health are altered by the seasons, because of the energy embodied by each turn of the year.
Everything and everyone has their own turn of seasons, or cycles. The ocean tides have a cycle that coincides with the movements of the Moon. The Earth’s cycle around the Sun creates a natural rhythm of the seasons. Such movements cause cyclical weather patterns. We forget that the Sun is also moving and creates its own rhythm. The Hindu people call the Sun’s, or solar system’s, great epochs yugas, and each yuga has a different flavor and different correspondences for those living on Earth. The Sun also goes through a sunspot cycle that affects the Earth. Scientists only recently understood it, but the Mayan calendar predicts such activity with accuracy. The ancient Mayans knew the rhythms of the world around them.
The most important rhythms to be aware of are the cycles within yourself. People have their own seasons, too. Women go through a profound cyclical shift every twenty-eight days, and go through the larger cycles of entering womanhood at the onset of menstruation and then entering a season of elderhood at menopause. Although the hormonal cycle of men is not as physically dramatic, they, too, experience internal, chemical rhythms as well.
Have you ever noticed how certain seasons empower you while others debilitate you? Each season is different for different people. Spring is a time of revitalization for most, a time of rebirth, but if you suffer from allergies, an oversensitivity to these energies, you might not feel too empowered by the spring. Likewise, most people dislike the cold of winter, but others thrive when participating in winter sports and outdoor activities. Many people suffer from actual diagnosed seasonal dysfunction, particularly due to the lack of light during the winter months. But everyone has a point in the year when they feel empowered, stronger, more balanced, and in tune. For many it is the month of their birth. They feel excitement for their birthday, which puts them in a good mood. Metaphysically, the effect comes from the Sun being in your personal Sun sign, the sign it was in when you were born.
Not only is this awareness of your own personal cycles an important aspect of “Know thyself,” and introspection, but it is far easier to work your magick within your own cycles than to change a cycle that is outside of you. As a sovereign being, you have greater control over your own rhythms. Why swim upstream when the water is flowing at its peak? You know you can wait a bit and find only a trickle.
Being in tune with the rhythms of a particular season, month, Moon, and your own self can make your magick easier or harder. Psychic abilities are easier to access at the Full Moon. The Full Moon amplifies our psychic and astral selves, but it also heightens emotions. The word lunacy comes from lunar, meaning people get a little crazy around the Full Moon. Anyone who works with the public, with children, or in the medical profession can attest to the power of the Moon. I used to work in customer service, and would mark my calendar and try to plan my days off at the Full Moon.
The following exercise is to help you understand that you have a measure of control over your own rhythms and cycles. You have already controlled the rhythms of your brain waves, breath, and pulse. Through intention, you are going to control your heart rate. The goal here is not the dramatic results many Eastern mystics achieve, lowering the heart rate to a deathlike state. You are just going to gently slow down and speed up your heart rate, and then return it to normal. The range will be well within the normal, healthy heartbeat range, slowing down to only the level of sleep. If this prospect makes you nervous, then please follow your intuition and do not do anything that makes you uncomfortable. Use your own discretion, particularly if you have any heart-related medical conditions.
Heartbeat Control
1. Start exercise 9: Counting Down to a Meditative State to get into your magickal mindset. Ask that this be for your highest good, harming none.
2. Feel your heartbeat, nice and relaxed, slow and steady. Feel the pulse of it move through your body. Feel and know your natural rhythm. You can physically put your hand on your chest or neck to feel your pulse better.
3. With just your simple intention, imagine your heartbeat getting faster, more excited, but keeping within a normal, safe range. Imagine yourself receiving good, exciting news. Feel your heart rate rise slowly. Feel the shift.
4. Then though intention, imagine your heartbeat getting slower, more relaxed. It stays within normal range, but at the level it goes to during peaceful, restful sleep. Feel the slow, steady, yet relaxed heartbeat. Feel the shift from excited to peaceful.
5. Intend that your heart rate return to the level that is correct and good for you at this time. Take notice of the shift. Does it get faster or slower? Relax and allow.
6. Return yourself to normal consciousness, counting up, and giving yourself clearance and balance. Do any necessary grounding.
The Principle of Gender
The Principle of Polarity gave us many different pairs of opposites, but the Principle of Gender focuses on one important pair, masculine and feminine. In The Kybalion, this principle is introduced with the words “Gender is in everything; everything has its Masculine and Feminine Principles.” Masculine and feminine energies, traits, and characteristics are found in everything. Witches recognize the divine as a feminine goddess energy interplaying with a masculine god energy, to create all life, like the overlapping patterns of the hologram.
Part of a healthy, well-balanced life is recognizing the masculine and feminine within yourself, and honoring both. No man is 100 percent masculine energy, or he would be beyond the worst male stereotypes. Likewise, no woman is wholly feminine energy. We each have a unique balance between the two, making us who we are. In general, masculine energy is attributed to the more logical, rational, aggressive, and physical traits. Feminine energy is ascribed to the intuitive, creative, healing, and emotional traits, although there is much debate in our society as to what is really a feminine or masculine trait. Depending on the historical time period, those labels could be different, even reversed. The label does not matter, but the concept does. Everyone has these two forces, creative, expressive energies, and for your own well-being, you must be able to use both. In ancient times, those who had an unusual mix of such energies, particularly lesbians and gays, were honored as healers and shamans in various tribal cultures.
The Principle of Gender tells us that gender is in everything. Gender is easy to see physically in living beings, but could it be in everything? I questioned the existence of gender in my chair, my computer, or the architecture of a building. “Where is the gender in inanimate objects?” I asked. Then someone pointed out that shape and contour, texture and color, give us a sense of gender. Objects and buildings made with many straight, unbending lines and sharp edges give us a masculine sense, because the energy is very linear. Those with curved lines and rounded shapes evoke a more feminine sense, much like the curves of a woman. Soft textures again evoke feminine, motherly images, while harder textures are seen as more masculine. Gender really is in everything. If witches believe that the patterns of the hologram are the energy of the Goddess and God, then why shouldn’t everything express their love and union?
In witchcraft, many mystical symbols are ascribed to the masculine or feminine. Traditionally, the Moon is associated with the Goddess. The Moon moves through phases as the Triple Goddess, moving from Maiden to Mother to Crone as the Moon moves from New to Full to Dark. The Sun is considered part of the God; as a light and life giver, his rays help Mother Earth bloom with life. The following meditation helps you connect to the masculine and feminine energies of the Sun and Moon.
Sun and Moon
1. Start exercise 9: Counting Down to a Meditative State to get into your magickal mindset.
2. In your mind’s eye, on your magickal screen, invite the image of a beautiful green field at dawn to appear. The grass is lush and moist with dew. The birds are waking up with song.
3. Step through the screen as if you were stepping through a door or window, and stand in the field. You are facing east, and the Sun’s beams are rising over the horizon. You can feel and see the light as the Sun rises.
4. As if on fast-forward, the Sun quickly rises in the sky and continues on its arc. You feel the warmth, heat, and light. You feel energies, absorbing the power through your skin. You feel the power of the God, rising in the light, protective yet inviting.
5. When the Sun reaches its apex above you, the noon point, a beam of solar light like liquid sunshine descends down, entering your crown and descending through your body into the Earth. The energy fills your body, each and every cell. You feel completely energized. Your mind is sharp and clear, creative and in balance. Your physical body feels strong and healthy.
6. The Sun continues on its arc and begins to set. In the east, you see the Full Moon rise in the dimming light. The darkness falls as the Sun sets, and the night sky is illuminated with stars. They shine like jewels. The glowing orb of the Moon lights up the field with silver white light, illuminating your skin. Feel the power of the Goddess, powerful yet soft, gentle, and loving.
7. When the Moon reaches its apex above you, at the midnight position, the orb slowly descends down around you, enveloping you in a sphere of silver light. Feel the power of the Goddess enter every fiber of your being. Feel it heal you and soothe your emotions. Feel your own natural psychic abilities awaken even further. Soak up these powerful energies.
8. When the experience is complete, the Moon rises back up and continues its ride across the sky, heading west, toward the horizon. Feel the energies of the Sun and Moon, God and Goddess, balance you and your inner masculine and feminine energies. Feel yourself in harmony with all. When the Moon sets and it is the twilight between night and day, imagine yourself stepping back through the screen of your mind and returning to your physical body.
9. Return yourself to normal consciousness, counting up, and giving yourself clearance and balance. Do any necessary grounding.
The Principle of Cause and Effect
The last of the seven Hermetic principles seems the most scientific. The Principle of Cause and Effect states, “Every cause has its effect; every effect has its cause . . .” When I first heard this, it sounded to me like something from physics class: “Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.” As I studied both science and metaphysics, I eventually found the Hermetic definition more useful in my life.
This axiom reminds us that nothing happens by sheer chance. Many things that seem like coincidences have a cause somewhere. The cause may not be physical in nature, but mental or magickal, but it is nonetheless a cause. Often the effect of one action becomes the cause of another, creating a chain of events. Everything that happens not only in your life, but in everyone’s life, happens for a reason, has a root somewhere. Every action you take, every thought and feeling you have, causes an effect, to you or to someone/something else. If your every action has a result, you must be careful, and accept responsibility for everything you do.
I originally thought our traditional physics “equal and opposite” law to be more accurate, because it was more specific. I later found out that many metaphysical schools of thought believe that the energy of our thoughts, intentions, and actions are amplified in the universe, and when they return, they return with more strength. All energy eventually returns to its source, but the journey adds inertia to it, making its effects much more widespread. That is why a simple spell with little effort can have great results. Modern witches call this the Law of Three, meaning whatever energy you send out into the universe, it will return to you threefold, or three times as strong. I’ve found the three to be a bit arbitrary. When you have joy return to you, how do you measure threefold? When you have pain return to you, it may feel like it is tenfold. The important thing to know is that the energy is always amplified.
There is no judgment to this process of cause and effect. There is no punishment or reward any more than there is a moral code to science. Whatever you put out comes back amplified. Many witches will attest to this, particularly when something unwanted comes back threefold. Once you make that mistake, you learn not to do it again. Some think of this as karma. We will explore thoughts on karma when we delve into the lesson on past lives in chapter 16.
In the culmination of the Hermetic principles we have the basic philosophies of Wicca. There is no moral judgment of right and wrong, or good and evil. Witchcraft is based on the concepts of balance, harmony, and cyclical change. There is no moral code of “thou shall” and “thou shall not.” There is only one simple code of behavior called the Wiccan Rede. The Rede comes in many forms and names throughout magickal traditions, but the way I was taught is simply, “Do what thou will, and let it harm none.” Some take it to mean that you can do anything you like, with no consequences, because it’s now “part of your religion.” That is not what the Wiccan Rede says. You can do whatever you want, but you must accept the consequences of your actions. The best guide you can use is to harm none. If you harm none, no harm will be returned to you. My Christian friends and students are always so surprised to find how close the Wiccan Rede is to the Golden Rule: “Do onto others as you would have them do unto you.” In essence, both are saying the same thing. An extended version of the Wiccan Rede is taught by some covens:
Bide the Wiccan Law ye must
In perfect love and perfect trust.
Eight words the Wiccan Rede fulfill:
An’ ye harm none, do what ye will.
What ye send forth comes back to thee
So ever mind the Law of Three.
Follow this with mind and heart,
Merry ye meet and merry ye part.
Any action you take is an exercise in the Principle of Cause and Effect, but for this specific meditation, we are going to work with the cycles of a tree: the effect the seasons have on the tree, and the tree’s effect on the environment around it.
Tree Meditation
1. Start exercise 9: Counting Down to a Meditative State to get into your magickal mindset.
2. In your mind’s eye, invite the image of a deciduous tree to appear, such as an oak or maple. You are seeking a tree that sheds its leaves in the winter. Just like the orange, feel it take form on your screen.
3. Project your consciousness into the tree, as you did with various objects, physical and nonphysical, in exercise 13. Become one with the tree.
4. The season is spring. Feel the warm Sun shine down upon you. The energy of the Sun awakens you to the world. Feel your sap move through the main trunk. Feel the rain of the early spring showers. Feel the water collect around your roots as you drink it in. Absorb the nutrients and minerals in the soil beneath you. The soil is fresh from all the decaying leaves of winter. Feel the spark of life rejuvenate within you. Feel the buds form at the end of your branches and grow into small leaves.
5. Spring moves into summer as the Sun’s light grows brighter and warmer. The light of the Sun activates your cells, transforming light and carbon dioxide into your food. Feel your leaves grow bigger and greener. Feel yourself release oxygen, providing for all the living animals around you. Feel the birds within your branches and the insects crawling around your bark. None cause you any harm. This is exactly as it should be.
6. Summer changes to fall as the Sun’s light cools down. The days are still warm, but your energy has peaked. Your sap is running a bit slower. Your leaves are starting to wilt and change color. Feel the rainbow of colors in your leaves. Notice that there are not as many birds around, but the squirrels are diligently busy collecting acorns. You may be making your seeds, acorns perhaps, and preparing to release them. Your leaves and seeds fall to the ground, and your branches are becoming bare once more.
7. Fall shifts into winter as the Sun seems to hide behind the clouds. Everything slows down. You move slower. The world seems to move slower. The air grows colder and you find yourself slipping into a deeper and deeper sleep, a hibernation. You await the spring.
8. Project your consciousness out of the tree, back through the magickal screen and into your body. As the Sun, water, and Earth all have an effect on the tree, aiding in its changes and growth, realize that your own changes and growth are the effects from many different sources in your life.
9. Return yourself to normal consciousness, counting up, and giving yourself clearance and balance. Do any necessary grounding.
Neutralization
Telling ourselves that we must take responsibility for our actions is one thing, but doing it on a daily basis is quite another, particularly if we were not raised in an environment that encouraged such behavior. We all carry around little programs that influence us, the instructions based on our learned behaviors. One way of combating these programs is through our use of affirmation. Another way is to actively deprogram and reprogram ourselves through neutralization.
We can never take back anything we say. If you are ever in a heated argument, you know this. Once it is out of your mouth, it is into the universe for all to hear and react to, as in the Principle of Cause and Effect. The only way we can stop the damage of our words, in a metaphysical sense at least, is to neutralize all harmful words, intentions, and energy. Neutralization is a mental process whereby we consciously send a thought out to ground and cleanse our previous actions. It is as easy as saying “I neutralize that,” or imagining an X over any image you hold in your mind. I used to think that neutralization was exclusive to witchcraft, but I have found that reiki masters, shamans, and tarot readers often use this technique as well.
Before I got involved in witchcraft, in college, I used to say “Drop dead” to the people who were annoying me. I meant no harm by it, but through my studies I soon realized that I was responsible for those thoughts, and if something harmful did happen, I would have a part in it. But using the phrase was a habit. I said it without thinking. The lack of thought did not relieve me of my responsibility; in fact, it made it even more important to cleanse myself of these habitual thought patterns.
We all say things unintentionally that do harm, ranging from insults to gossip to malice. It is hard not to get angry when someone wrongs you, but the trick is to express that anger in a healthy way. Tell the person you are angry and get it out, but do not wish harm on anyone. That only brings more harm to you, physically or spiritually.
The next time you say something you regret, follow it, either out loud or silently, with “I neutralize that.” I know a wonderful woman named Linda who told me that she says “Cancel, clear.” Her intent is to cancel the last thought, and reset herself. If you imagine something unwanted, visualize a white X across the image, or a stamp that says “Cancel.” If you do this every time, you will reprogram yourself to release and heal those patterns. I never say “Drop dead” anymore. I can’t even imagine it, but I get a laugh out of telling that story. I never thought witchcraft would bring such a fundamental change in my speech, but it did.
A student of mine, Ann, told me a wonderful quotation from an Islamic proverb found in The Mantram Handbook by Eknath Easwaran. At first I thought, Islam and Wicca have nothing in common, but with this proverb, I see a common thread. According to an Islamic proverb, each word we utter should have to pass through three gates before we say it. At the first gate, the gatekeeper asks, “Is it true?” At the second gate, he asks, “Is it necessary?” and at the third gate, “Is it kind?” Mythology and shamanic initiations are filled with images of gateways to the Underworld. If we watch the three gates, we never have to worry about neutralizing harmful thoughts.
It should be clear by now that you should never use magick to harm another person intentionally, although there are times when it is tempting to do so. As you learn instant magick, spells, charms, and rituals, you will often want to use these tools when feeling powerless against someone. You are not restricted to neutralizing your own harmful thoughts, but can neutralize the thoughts of others directed toward you. If you feel that someone, magickal or otherwise, intends you harm or speaks badly of you, neutralize it. Never try to send back “bad” energy directed toward you. Neutralize it. That is the responsible way to handle it.
For those who get flashes of harm in their mind right before it happens, it is difficult to distinguish a precognitive flash from subconsciously causing harm. I suggest neutralization in either case. If the events and accidents still occur, I would ask, while in meditation, to know the reason that I am seeing such images, and for more “advanced warning” if I am to use this information to prevent the harm.
Other Magickal Laws
The Hermetic principles are by no means the only system of magickal theory available to a prospective magickal student. They were the first I learned, and I find them to be a most helpful and complete system, but I’ve taken a shine to a few additional laws that have also helped me. In essence, I think that they are all different ways of saying the same things, but one version might work better for you than another. Magickal laws and paradigms are designed to explain the unexplainable to our rational, linear mind. The more we think we have a conscious understanding of everything, the less likely our conscious mind will hinder our magickal progress. A balance between intuitive knowing and logical thinking must be reached. Metaphysics with no basis or understanding becomes stereotypical New Age babble, but relying too heavily on theory makes magick the province of the laboratory. As with most things, I prefer the middle road.
Here are some additional magickal axioms that I have found useful.
The Law of Synchronicity
Synchronicity describes two meaningful coincidences that are not apparently linked through the Principle of Cause and Effect. The link between the two is through the meaning of such events. Pulling tarot cards that accurately describe the events in your current life would be a synchronous event. In no way does the act of pulling the cards seem to influence your life, or vice versa, but how they coincide can lead to greater meaning and insight when joined together.
Synchronicity is a word coined by Carl Jung to describe such coincidences. His law is called the Principle of Acausal Synchronicity. Later, Isaac Bonewits called it the Law of Synchronicity for modern magickal practitioners. Although grounded in modern psychology, the idea is found in many magickal cultures. The main lesson I learned from this law is to allow my intuition to bring me synchronous events. Such events lead me to a greater spiritual awareness, lesson, or mission in my life. By following the trail of synchronicity, we often find our path.
The Law of Association
This law basically says that if two things have something in common, each can influence the other. The more similarities they share, the more influence they can provide. Such an idea is taken out of the Principle of Correspondence, particularly magickal correspondences. You might use a dollar bill in a ritual to bring more money to you. The dollar is associated with the concept of money. It also has the vibration of money, and can be used to draw that vibration to you. Similar vibrations gather together. Some call this particular application of association the Principle of Abundance.
The two subdivisions of this law are what I find to be useful. The first, the Law of Similarity, says that if two events are similar, the smaller event can be the cause of the larger event. A “small” ritual action can create a larger corresponding change. If you desire to make the Sun shine, you might light a candle as part of your ritual. If you desire rain, you might drip water. This is also known as sympathetic magick. Witches of old would dance around the fire, riding their broomsticks and jumping in the air, mimicking the direction the plants should grow and rise. Later it was misinterpreted as witches “flying” on their brooms. The other sublaw, the Law of Contagion, states that if two objects have touched, they continue to interact and influence each other. That is why magicians often ask for a lock of hair, a fingernail, or a piece of clothing for the intended target of a spell. Magick is sent via these connections to the intended recipient. The stereotypical voodoo doll, usually called a poppet in witchcraft, combines both sympathetic magick and the Law of Contagion.
The Principle of Triplicity
You may be familiar with the old wives’ tale “Things always happen in threes.” My grandmother was famous for saying it, be it “good luck” or “bad luck.” As with many of these superstitions, there is a truth to it. The universe seems to resonate with the number three. We discussed the Law of Three, where things get amplified three times, or could occur in three parts according to some. Three is important to many witches because of the Triple Goddess. Another example of the use of three occurs in the Principle of Triplicity. Whatever you do magickally, do it three times, once each for the middle, psychic, and divine selves.
The Law of Symbolism
As discussed in chapter 6, symbols are the language of the psychic mind. Our conscious mind does not necessarily understand raw, pure energy. We need an interface, a translator between us and the magickal word. Symbols and words of power are often that interface.
Magickal words and symbols change our inner and outer realities, and we do not necessarily have to consciously understand them to use them. Some people believe that they accumulate power from being used over centuries. The energy of all the previous uses grows into a collective “psychic memory,” or energy bank, in the divine mind, allowing anyone who knows the symbol to draw from this collective pool. Others feel symbols and sounds are so primal in resonance with universal forces that they contain power within them. Both views are valid and probably have a measure of truth to them.
Witches use many symbols. The pentacle, or five-pointed star in a circle, is the most common (figure 14). Most movies and books associate it with Satanism, but it existed long before the Christian concepts of evil. The pentacle can be traced back to Pythagoras of Greece, in his work with geometry. The proportions of the pentacle and pentagon can be found at many sacred sites, including the pyramids of Egypt. The star in the circle can also be found in Chinese mysticism, relating to the elemental cycles of feng shui.
In modern witchcraft, the pentacle represents many things. It is a symbol of witchcraft and the mysteries of life. The five points are for the five physical senses, and the circle is the sixth, psychic sense. The circle is the cycle of the seasons, as well as the cycles of life: birth, initiation, love, repose, and death. The points of the star represent the four traditional elements of earth, air, fire, and water, and the fifth element of spirit, or ether. The Triple Goddess and Dual God are found in the five points. The star represents humanity, the image of a person, with two arms and legs outstretched and the head at the top point. The pentacle in this form is a symbol of incarnation, a gateway bringing life force into the world, or sending it out. The star is a symbol used in invocation, to open gateways to the spirits and elements or close and banish them. Because of this, the pentacle is a symbol of protection, much like the cross or Star of David.
I’ve heard detractors say that the upside-down pentacle is the image of the devil, goat faced, with two ears and two horns. I learned, however, that the reverse pentacle is simply directing energy downward, or into the Earth. If anything, the animal symbolism fits with the original image of the horned god, Pan, Cernunnos, or others, and has nothing to do with Satanism. Satanists use the upside-down cross, too, but most people do not associate all crosses with Satanism. It is an unfortunate misunderstanding, leaving many in fear. Witches never associate the pentacle with evil, regardless of the direction in which it points.
The interlocking A shapes symbolizes Alpha, both in the meditative state of alpha brain waves and Alpha as in Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. Pythagoras called the five-pointed star the pentalpha. The rich and complex symbolism of the pentacle is what makes it such a perfect symbol of witchcraft.
There is a lot of confusion over the name. Some call it a pentacle, others a pentagram. Technically, a pentagram refers to the five-pointed star. A pentacle has the circle around it, and is often in some three-dimensional form, like a piece of jewelry or ritual tool. In tarot, the pentacle is the symbol of the coin or shield, and is used to represent Earth.
Another powerful symbol used in witchcraft is the triskelion (Figure 15). It is now considered a Celtic triple symbol by most pagans, honoring the Triple Goddess or as a symbol of Earth, Moon, and Sun. The origin of the triskelion can also be traced to the Norse, Italians, and Greeks, meaning “three-legged” in Greek. Those on the Isle of Man, between England and Ireland, consider it a special symbol and have a version of it on their flag. The spiral version is the one that is most often used by pagans, though the triple-knot images are sometimes referred to as triskelions. The triskelion can be used as a gateway to opening and increasing psychic powers as well as for protection and honor. Many use it in place of the pentacle. Hang it up in your meditative space or keep it on your altar if you are drawn to it.
To increase your proficiency with visualization, count yourself down to a meditative state and visualize the pentacle or triskelion by drawing it on the screen of your mind. Choose the version you like best. Use it as a meditative focus, and notice the effect that each symbol has on you.
As you can see, these paradigms—quantum physics, Hermetic laws, and other magickal laws—are all saying the same things, in different ways. Understanding them is a great asset, but do not let the process hinder you. The ideas and concepts will become more familiar as you gain more practical experience. These exercises are simple, practical applications of some basic ideas. You will build on them further as you build your magickal foundation.
New Assignments
• Exercises 13 through 19—Complete and record your experiences in your Book of Shadows. Try to incorporate the Hermetic wisdom and worldview into your daily life.
• Do the symbol meditation with the pentacle and/or triskelion.
• Neutralization—Be aware of your thoughts and feelings. Be vigilant and neutralize thoughts that cause any harm.
Continuing Assignments
• Daily journal—Write three pages a day.
• Focus on a regular meditation practice, at least three times a week if not daily.
• Honor and recognize your intuition. Continue to ask it questions.
• Use instant magick in your daily life.
Tips
• At times, magick and meditation may feel inauthentic, like you are “making it up” or “using your imagination.” Magick is imagination. The power to visualize is imagination. Magick is imagination mingled with your intention. Think of how magickal children are. They haven’t lost the ability to imagine and enter the magickal state of awareness. You are working with the magickal forces of the universe, but you must partner with them. Your interface with unseen forces is imagination. As you continue, you might have vague impressions or imaginary experiences that turn out to be very meaningful. Record them and remember them. Honor your intuition and experience.
Recommended Reading
Power of the Witch by Laurie Cabot, with Tom Cowan (Dell Publishing).
The Kybalion by Three Initiates (Yogi Publication Society).
Real Magic by Isaac Bonewits (Samuel Weiser, Inc.).
The Hermetica by Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy (Tarcher/Putnam).