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Direct magick is magick without rituals.
Except that’s a negative definition. Saying what direct magick is not, rather than what it is.
When I explain direct magick to someone, I want to lead them to imagine the same concepts I do. Negative definitions don’t do that. You need to describe what direct magick is.
That’s what I’ll explore for the next several posts.
Direct Magick is Conscious
For most magick, the conscious mind is like a man in a taxi: it gives an overall goal then steps aside. The unconscious mind drives. Many mages actively distract the conscious mind with rituals or runes to let the unconscious drive unhindered.
In direct magick, the conscious mind takes the wheel. It doesn’t control everything, just like your conscious mind doesn’t control individual muscles while you walk. But it’s involved the whole time.
Phases of Mastery
Skills go through four phases:
- Unconscious novice
- Conscious novice
- Conscious adept
- Unconscious adept
First you become conscious of what you’re doing. Then you consciously fix the technique. Then you practice until it becomes natural.
Skipping conscious involvement results in slow learning. It results in a field of knowledge that doesn’t advance. And it results in entrenched, unnecessary steps like rituals.
The most popular styles of serious magick came from 100 years ago, with Alaister Crowley. Everyone is focused on rituals and symbols, not the underlying mechanics of magick. And it’s slowing down the advance of magickal knowledge.
Learning Conscious Magick
Consciously learning any skill is merely becoming aware of what your unconscious is doing.
In magick, your unconscious controls connections and energy (and some other things). See this series for exercises on controlling them.
After that, watch as you do magick. Do a healing session, then connect to the person and watch the energy flow through them. Connect to the room you banished and watch the connections that run through it. Then try to change the outcome by using magick a little differently.
The point isn’t to change things the right way on your first try. The point is to follow your curiosity. That’s how you learn conscious magick.
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