You found my old blog. Thanks for visiting! For my new writing, visit mikesententia.com.
This is part of An Initiation into Direct Magick – Book 1.
Direct magick also borrows a few terms from other traditions:
Energy
Energy is widely used to refer to “that thing that makes you feel tingly.” I use it the same way. Later, we’ll make a proper definition, but hopefully you know what I mean at this point.
(Prana and chi / ki / qi are other terms for the same external phenomenon.)
Note that the word “energy” has different meanings in other fields. Physicists mean “the ability to do work,” biologists mean “fuel that makes cells move,” and advertisers mean “excitement.” Each profession is using the word to describe a different, largely-unrelated phenomenon. When reasoning about magickal energy, be careful not to assume our energy behaves like other types of energy; more often than not, it operates differently than other phenomena that happen to share its name.
Energy Signature
We use different energy for working with an inflamed knee than to calm a person or create pleasant sensations during sex. I call the energy’s type its signature. (Other writers call it frequency or color, which, once again, all describe the same phenomenon.)
We’ll explore just how different energies are different later. For now, just know that signature = type, that there are distinct signatures of energy used for different results, and that experienced mages can recognize and remember different signatures.
Connection
A connection is a small magickal structure that connects two points, allowing energy to flow between them. For example, when doing healing work, you’ll make a connection between your hand and the energy of the injured tissue.
In Part 2, we’ll learn to make connections, and later, we’ll learn to create shielding by closing and blocking connections.
Path
A path is a series of connections, for example, going from your hand to the air to a person’s skin and ultimately to their injured tissue. We’ll talk more about paths and connections in Book 3. For now, just treat them as synonyms.
Structure
Structure is a catch-all term for any stable, lasting magickal thing, kind of like how “matter” is a catch-all for any ordinary physical thing. Everything we’ve talked about, other than energy, is a structure.
Spirit
A spirit is basically a human mage without a body. They are sentient and intelligent, (though some are more animalistic than human, really). Some spirits are roughly as skilled as an intermediate human mage, while others are vastly more capable than any human I’ve met. Like humans, some are friendly, many are interested in their own benefits, and a few are malicious.
Note: Don’t confuse spirits with ghosts. Spirits do not appear to come from humans, but seem to have been “born” as spirits. (Ghosts are not something I work with or include in Direct Magick.)
If you liked this post, consider visiting my current blog at mikesententia.com.
Tags: Book Chapters, Definitions, Energy