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This is part of An Initiation into Direct Magick – Book 1.
This chapter covers Direct Magick’s terminology, along with the major moving parts of magick.
Most systems have terms for these same moving parts, because we’re all working with the same forces. I’ll note corresponding terms as we go. Think of them as near-synonyms, like how “novelist,” “author,” and “journalist” all describe a person who writes, but with subtle differences in meaning.
Ethereal Muscles
The parts of your mind that drive magick. Engaging them makes the difference between imagining vs doing magick, like how engaging your leg muscles makes the difference between imagining vs actually walking.
Other systems call these the unconscious.
Ethereal Software
The external forces that mages channel. You pick one, tell it your intent, and it handles the details. Kind of like using Google — you tell it what you want, it handles the details.
Chaos Magick calls these forces egregores. Reiki healers and psychics call the force they use The Universe.
Spirits
Spirits are intelligent entities, like people without bodies. We sometimes ask them for help or training.
Many systems of magick use spirit in this way.
Note: Spirits are not ghosts. While Direct Magick is compatible with ghosts, ghosts are not part of Direct Magick.
Energy
Energy is one of the basic building blocks of magick. It makes magickal structures do work. Most people first encounter energy during an energy meditation — it’s what makes your skin tingle.
Many systems use energy in this way. Similar terms include prana and chi / ki / qi.
Note: Magickal energy makes magickal structures do work. It doesn’t make objects move or make cells grow. Don’t confuse it with the “energy” of physics or biology.
Energy Signature
The type of energy. It determines what the energy does. For example, we’d use one signature in energy healing for an inflamed knee, and a different signature to create pleasure in the body.
Synonyms: Energy frequency and color.
Connection
Another of magick’s basic building blocks. Connections carry energy. They’re used for energy healing, shielding, and many other techniques.
Structure
A catch-all term for “stable magickal matter.” Basically, everything here besides energy.
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Tags: Book Chapters, Definitions
It may be a slightly pedantic point – but for the purposes of a book it might be something you want to check – the term Egregore isn’t one Chaos Magick developed. It an old term from the western mystery tradition that refers to the group mind formed when individuals gather. Some chaos magick people took a shine to the word and hijacked it for slightly altered purposes.
As I understand it you’re saying that when people tap into a group mind/or are influenced by it – they are often actually ‘plugging into’ the ethereal software one way or another. If they are not doing that and we are just talking about the general psychological effect of people gathered together under a common purpose – then that’s the difference between ethereal software/egregore and ‘group mind’. Correct?
Yes. And this is a perfect example of why I use new terms in Direct Magick: I don’t think of these forces as arising from a “group mind.” I think of them as being created by spirits (the programmers). It seems like we all saw the same forces, told different stories about them, and ended up with different terms and metaphors.
And yes, if we’re talking about the general psychological effect, then there’s probably no ethereal software involved.
Good questions!
I’d like to know what attitude/policy the programmers have about humans accessing their software.
Do spirits block users with evil intentions or are they beyond moral judgments?
Spirits don’t all do any one thing. In normal computer software, some is open source, some is sold, some is proprietary, and there are lots of other options. Same with spirits.
As far as evil, most malicious people are selfish or angry, not evil. And preventing selfish people from using your software is pretty darn difficult. So it’s not that they’re beyond moral judgements, it’s just that you’re asking for something that can’t really be done.
What is the difference between this energy( Drive Magick) and energy ( used in sciences)???
Many fields use the word “energy” to refer to “the thing that makes these phenomena go.” In biology, that’s glucose, ATP, and maybe some other chemicals. In physics, it’s the movement, or the potential for movement, or a few other things. Magickal energy is the thing that makes magick move, which is different than energy in other fields.
More here: https://magickofthought.com/2012/02/understanding-energy-healing-are-you-making-this-error/
Okay I think I understand what you mean. As a aspiring Scientist myself, I think of energy like waves or something that is a layer(level) below matter that includes quarks so I guess what I am trying to find out is if Magick operates at that level and the effect affect the higher level like how sub-atomic particle affect the macro-world.
I understand the impulse try to to connect magick to contemporary physics. There’s a certain elegance to making a unified model of the world.
But physics is a very mature field, and new fields don’t begin by connecting to physics. Medicine didn’t start by explaining the physics of protein folding, it started by finding organs and figuring out what they do. Chemistry didn’t start with the physics of electron bonds, it started with the elements.
For magick to advance, we should let it be its own field first. Understand the phenomena at whatever level is most natural to understand them. Develop the field to the point where professional physicists become interested, then collaborate with them to connect the two fields. I hope to get there someday.
I understand that I should let it be at its own field but I do want to record down the similarity and difference that I find so that when I get a better understanding, I can look that them and see the how the two works and interact together. Quantum physics might get us there as it advance further and develop into a mature field.
It is good to know there is someone like minded out there. I hope to get there too.
Could you explain the difference between Etherial Software and Energy Signature?
I always believed that generic energy (chi/ki/prana) was the fuel and my thoughts were the directions or software used to tell the energy what to do.
Ethereal software is the forces we channel. They can provide information, energy, or something else.
Energy is the thing we move around, the thing that is channeled. The signature is the type of energy, like the frequency or color.
Your thoughts guide your ethereal muscles, which move energy, engage ethereal software, and other things.
Many people do not distinguish between energy, ethereal software, ethereal muscles, and so on. They just learn visualizations and trust their mind to do the rest. It sounds like maybe that’s where you’re coming from, and there’s nothing wrong with practicing that way. But if we want to explore the inner-workings of the ethereal world, it’s important to have terms so we can distinguish between the different moving parts.