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This is part of An Initiation into Direct Magick – Book 1.
A man goes to a Reiki healer. She listens, calms him, and channels energy. His pain decreases for a few days.
A woman does a ritual to find a better job, then sends out her resume. A few days later, her interviewer happens to be in a good mood, and she gets hired.
A man is about to cross the street, but feels a tingling in his head, like a hundred people staring at him. He pauses as a car runs the red light, almost hitting him.
Energy healing, manifesting, and psychic intuitions. These are the main domains of magick.
Real Magick = Real Change
It’s tempting to water magick down until it’s socially acceptable. “I don’t know if that healing result was placebo or real energy, but isn’t it wonderful that the man feels better?” Or, “Maybe the woman’s ritual simply gave her the confidence to keep interviewing, but her intention was fulfilled, so that’s a success.” That vagueness feels safe.
But if we do that, we’re talking about placebo and psychology, not magick.
So let me be clear: Magick is not placebo, and it is not suggestion. It is not about positive thinking or changing your perceptions. Real magick changes the external world.
(Many things we call magick, though, are placebo and suggestion, not real magick. We’ll talk about how to tell the difference later in this book.)
Why Magick?
I study magick because of what it can become:
- Energy seems to influence cells, especially nerves. If we could affect nerves more strongly and precisely, how might we help depression, epilepsy, or paralysis?
- When you do a ritual, some force influences events on your behalf. How does it alter the physical world? What problems could we solve if we understood that mechanism?
- Instead of auto accidents, what if psychics could predict natural disasters, famines, and wars? How many people could we help with that information?
No one can do those things yet. But if building magick into a science lets us do even one of them, it’s worth doing.
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Tags: Book Chapters, Definitions