Re: PME- magical aids

[Ambrose Hawk <ahawk@...>]

extracted from a draft of my current book project, please respect the
copyright

Ambrose Hawk
Introduction to Magical Tools

9 February 2003 (c)

This essay is a "brief" consideration of two related questions.
Does the mage need
particular magical tools, and can tools be substituted for each within a
ritual: especially wands
and athames.

What is magic?

Obviously, this question needs to be answered first in such a way
that it may inform the
discussion to follow. There are many definitions such as Crowley's
dictum that magic is
change accomplished by the force of will which are simply inadequate to
provide a clear picture
of what magical activity is, what the mage actually does, and how these
are different from the
activities and actions of other people.
Donald Tyson, in what has been called his "New Magus" system.
Defines Magic as
follows:

"Every creative act is magical; and every magical act is
creative.
What can be predicted is not magic; what is magic cannot be
predicted.
Magic in action looks like luck.
Magic, like water, always seeks the easiest course.
Magic is unbounded by time and space."

I have a lot of respect for Mr. Tyson's work. In fact, the
writer expounds on these and
other 'Corollary's" of Magic in his work entitled, _Ritual Magic: What
It Is and How to Do It_
(ISBN: 0-87542-835-5). However, I am not that sure that this
description adequately or even
accurately describes magic even though it definitely evokes much of the
aura of many magical
workings. The famous science fiction writer, Arthur C. Clark, made the
comment that, "any
sufficiently advanced technology will appear to be magick to those with
lesser technologies."
The famous Martinist, "Papus" wrote: "The application of the
strengthened human will
to accelerate the evolution of the living forces of Nature." (Papus,
Traite' Methodique de Magic
Pratique) "Magic is the Science of Love." (Ibid.)
,,, and ...
"As a ... rule, the principal director... is the human will; the
means of action, the implement
used, is the astral or natural fluid, and the end to achieve is the
realization (generally on the
physical plane) of the ... operation. (Papus, La Science des Mages).

Perhaps the following definition may be more functional for our
purposes.
MAGIC: the deliberate imposition of distinct pattern in
the reality / probability field
by application of imagination and will in such a manner as to utilize
energies and/or entities
which seem to function in a paranormal manner and / or according to
divergent cosmological
rules.
Another plausible treatment of the same idea could be that magic
consists in the
performance of certain physical actions which enable the mage to carry
out corresponding
actions on other planes so that certain events on those planes will
result in the manifestation of
particular, tangible consequences.
Some folks may argue about the last bit about "tangible
consequences," but I hold that
without such consequences we have no means of verifying the efficacy of
a magical act.

Nor is magic the same as religion. The essence of religion is
relationship with some force
and/or mythos greater than the individual ego. The essence of magic
is deliberate, intelligent,
and creative manipulation of numinous forces. These forces and actions
may or may not be part
of the dynamic complexes which express that relationship with "the
Divine." Indeed, often they
are quite mechanistic -- employing the subtle qualities of herbs,
crystals, and astrological
energies via the paranormal attributes of the magus, for instance.
Thus a mage may be involved deeply in religious activities, very
devout and pious. Yet
in the ultimate moment of magic, if the mage cannot authoritatively
express his or her own,
autonomous will and imagination, then the mage does not work magic but
merely prays. Some
mages will include a clause in their spells, such as the Wiccan "an it
harm none," or the
Christian "if it be Thy Will." These clauses have a value as fail safe
fall backs to protect the
mage and their environment from some of the consequences of inevitable
error. Yet the adept
should have such an harmony with the will of his or her tutelary that
they will know already that
their own will aligns with the will of their greater power. Hence, the
adept is, in the final
analysis, imposing the patterns of his or her own imagination willfully
upon the cosmos, not
pleading with another autonomous being to fulfill wishes.

Do you need tools?

Many writers proclaim that tools are not really necessary for the
proficient mage. They
hold that all magic is really accomplished by the mage's own aura or
imagination anyway and all
that tools really do is to reinforce the mage's visualization and
unconscious commitment and
expectations. I hold that this is patently false.
Frankly, a tool which functions primarily as a psychological
prompt is not well designed.
We are a tool using species, and our fundamental nature has evolved with
the assumption that
we will design and manipulate tools which will amplify our impact and
effect our desire far
more effectively than our naked bodies ever could.
When one considers the rule, "as above, so below," then any
spiritual action should be
mirrored also by a physical impact as well. Indeed, this is one of the
fundamental principles in
magical practice, we do a physical act which has its spiritual impact
which in turn engenders
effects which eventually manifest on the mundane.
Furthermore, appropriately designed tools can affect a plethora of
poorly understood
energy fields, such as those several kinds found in the aura. Indeed,
almost any kind of
tool will impact your aura and modify it to some extent ... from a
living branch to a socket
wrench. Deliberately studying and incorporating these features should
clearly enhance the utility
of our ritual tools as well.
Obviously, while it is true that your aura and imagination are
absolutely key to the
operation of magic; they work by manipulating very real energies or
communicating with very
real entities. You can observe this mundanely by simply noticing the
effect you have on radio
and T.V. reception when you walk into or through the area in which it is
playing. Some folks
find that they destroy electric watches, others can't keep spring driven
watches running. More
advanced equipment will reveal the Kirilian field which surrounds you an
all living or even once
living things. Other gear can examine the infrared field generated by
your body. Extremely
expensive high tech equipment conducts C.A.T. and M..R.I. scans of your
body, relying upon
the magnetic and other energy fields which your body generates and
affects.
Therefore, it is obvious that just as your muscles can accomplish
many tasks but simple
tools make those muscles much more effective, likewise when your
imagination and auric
patterns begin to become effective; you can enhance their effect by
using appropriate tools.
Furthermore, while it is true that you could pass the electric
energy through your body to
light a light bulb; such behavior is risky, Moreover, your body cannot
sustain the kinds of intense
energy levels needed for modern society. Equally, as you advance in
your magical work, you
will find yourself accessing much more massive flows of energy and
vastly more intense entities.
Obviously, the simpler actions and charms would be just as easy for such
a practitioner with or
without tools. Equally obviously, there are situations in which proper
tools and procedures are
necessary as simple safety precautions.
Nor should one overlook the simple advantage of having tools which
are specifically
designed to accomplish the particular task. In every craft, esoteric or
exoteric, having the right
tools and being practiced with them causes the work to be better done.
Such tools also enable
you to exercise your creativity more freely, and ultimately, your
creativity is the root basis of any
magical accomplishments you hope to attain.

What do tools do?

Tools are impacted by and depend upon the old rule, "As above, so
below, and vice
versa." Every act on any plane will echo and resonate on the other
planes. Thus your magic
involves physical actions and materials which are linked to
corresponding esoteric forces and
events. By increasing the material component in your rituals, you
create a larger effect in your
environment. The physical tool accesses more of the mundane and / or
psychological patterns
and energies in such a way as to also enhance the forces being involved
and manipulated on
other planes.
Secondarily, tools do aid psychological reinforcement. Your
emotional control and
intensity as well as your psychological states and subconscious
expectations have repeatedly
been proven to directly affect the efficacy of your magical or
paranormal work. The use of
special tools, garb, and symbols are all intended to evoke and to
reinforce those conditions.
However, this is hardly the limit of a truly magical tool's
contribution.
Even within this largely psychological realm the very presence of
the tool acts as a focus
for the unconscious participation. Hence using appropriate tools, which
you have drilled your
unconscious to recognize, triggers particular associations. In
consequence, it then will more
readily assist your whole personality to cooperate in the magic. Such
a focus also enables you
to be able to access those magical states even when you are physically
or emotionally impeded
by illness, stress, grief, or other condition.
Beyond the direct effect of the tool upon your own psyche, properly
consecrated and
designed tools will provide the symbolic talismen which will attract
notice and response from
entities whose existence is more noticeable on other planes. In fact,
because of this attraction of
the entities or energies connected with the tool, the tool also creates
a milieu which inhibits the
activity or presence of energies or entities which are not in harmony
with those you've selected
for consecrating and charging your tool.
Such entities are often quite volatile and require quite specific
handling. Just as
sometimes you find it difficult to tune your radio to the right station,
many times you will find it
difficult to bring your mind and spirit into the proper frequency for
communion with the forces
which you wish to evoke. Your creation of, consecration of, charging
of, and practice with your
magical tools will drill your mind into assuming those special states.
Such an aide is obviously
invaluable to direct the Beginner into proper relationship and
attitude. As you acquire more
practice, you may feel less need for such aides; yet if you continue to
recharge your tool, you
will find it will still enhance your practice noticeable in this way.
Not only will the presence of the tool enhance your ability to
enter quickly into the
magical connection, your frequent practice with it will cause it to
become an accustomed means
of access for those forces, entities, and/or energies which you
consistently evoke. As such, your
favorite tool can become a true nexus for the passage of magical reality
and beings. Just as it
aids you, it also comes to aid those with whom you work. Further, as
the tool provides an
exterior focus for the unconscious, it provides a kind of psychological
breaker between the
mental and spiritual stresses of your work and your own psyche. As a
result, tools facilitate your
releasing the spell so that the work will be free to manifest.
Ultimately, those forces which you have evoked and manipulated
through your tool
change the nature of the tool itself. Just as your body can cause such
changes in the reception of
the radio and generate such large fields of energy and special
environments, the tool will acquire
its own aura, fields, and patterns of energy. Some would even say it
acquires an intelligible
spirit with which you may communicate.
This acquisition of special energy fields is vital to the
importance of the right tool.
While you could use a bullet to replace a fuse in your car, as some
folks in Arkansas once did;
the probability is that when you do, your balls will get shot too. When
you use a tool to fashion
the pattern you have imagined and to direct the energies, you can create
vastly greater effects. I
do not think that muscle and bone alone could ever have created the
Mount Rushmore
Monument. You could try to pull together downed high power lines and
tie them together to
restore power, but I suspect that attempting to do so without proper
tools, garb, and technique
would be a trifle risky!
All too often, occult writers hasten to assure the reader that
everything is perfectly safe.
Balderdash! You can seriously injure yourself while sound asleep in
your own bed! You are
acquiring the skills to wield those powers which flow through and even
define your own soma /
body and psyche. Moreover, you encountering beings of a truly alien
nature. Such a being may
be perfectly friendly and love you intensely, but it may have a
metabolism based on nuclear
fusion or some such. Moreover, I don't care what your favorite
mythology is, predators,
parasites, and bullies are blatantly part of the cosmos. Imagine such
beings magnified into the
greater magical entities! Compare the spark you can create with your
body to the spark which
can jump from the generator or accelerator. If you can wield magical /
paranormal forces with
just your own body, what will those more enormous bodies and forces do?
Yes, you need tools for advanced work.

--
IN HOC MODO MILLIS FRANGITVR .