You found my old blog. Thanks for visiting! For my new writing, visit mikesententia.com.
Once again, it’s time for you to do my job for me with your great, post-quality comments. This week, we have tips on selecting metaphors to convey majesty and wonder; research on heating the body with magick; the difference between magick and placebo; an example of how mystical experiences are isolating; tips on the Goetia; and quantum physics as a model of manifesting. As always, if you like a comment, click on the person’s name to visit their blog (if they have one).
Simon has a great comment on explaining magick using nature and biological metaphors, and how they can convey majesty and wonder better than computer metaphors. That’s something I’d never considered. (And reading new ideas in my comments is one of my favorite things about blogging.) We also discuss why we need metaphors in the first place.
On the post about heating my body with magick, WSA shared how this relates to Buddhism, actual published research, and chinese medicine, and also shared some potential applications for healing techniques for parasites and other problems, which I would love to explore some day.
Simon and I had a great discussion to wrap up the two posts on placebo, where he asks some tough questions and I clarify the difference between placebo and magick. Be sure to read all 4 comments (two from him, two from me).
When talking about how mystical experiences are isolating, Jennifer found an excellent example from the Washington Post. If you ever need an example of mainstream society dismissing mystical experiences, now you have it.
Lots of readers had good feedback and warnings about the Goetia, but Dark Arckana had some excellent, detailed tips. And if you’re considering exploring the Goetia, read the whole thread.
Ananael and had some great comments on quantum physics as a model for manifesting, and how it’s a mistake to suppose a physics-type energy as the mediating force behind magick. I disagree with his model, but he presents the ideas well, and they’re worth exploring because, even if you wind up disagreeing with them, you’ll wind up asking really good questions as you figure out why you disagree with them. (I’ll probably write more on this soon.)
If you liked this post, consider visiting my current blog at mikesententia.com.
Weekly Comments Round-Up (July 13)
Friday, July 13th, 2012You found my old blog. Thanks for visiting! For my new writing, visit mikesententia.com.
Once again, it’s time for me to take a day off and let you do my writing for me. This week, we have discussions from beta testing my ethereal software, tips on talking to non-mages about magick, and a great example of demonstrating energy in a martial arts class.
First, the beta test. It was a success! My goal was to verify that I could indeed tie the ethereal software to a sigil (because I hadn’t done it before, and some models say it can’t be done), and it worked: Every tester who normally feels energy clearly felt the connections from the ethereal software. That also means I can start teaching you to recognize and follow connections, match the software’s signature, and a bunch of other techniques that require you to first notice a connection. I wrote a summary of the first few responses, which held true as more people joined in.
Also on that same post, I talked about the difference between beta tests and scientific tests, and the dangers of over-complicating your tests. Particularly useful if you’re trying to debug your own techniques.
I’d asked for advice on politely declining to explain the inner-workings of my models to curious friends, and Ona delivered: A stern but effective response, and if you scroll down, there’s a link to her post on the subject. I also got an excellent email on this (you know who you are), and plan to write more about it in the near future.
And WSA shares a great example of how a martial arts expert demonstrated energy. I’m glad to showcase an effective way to demonstrate energy, to contrast with the cheats and tricks I was discussing in the post.
Now, back to writing the book…
If you liked this post, consider visiting my current blog at mikesententia.com.Tags: Comments Round-Ups
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