Magical Powers

One of the great things about dreams, especially lucid dreams where you are aware of dreaming and can practically control the outcome, is that you can acquire unusual powers. These may include almost any conceivable ability needed to solve the problem at hand. The problem is that you may lose them without explanation at a critical moment. The acquisition of magical powers may come from a number of sources. You may simply conjure them from within yourself. You may be given an article of clothing that contains special powers, or you may find a rock or other object that projects power into you. The implication is that you can solve problems with available resources. However, this may simply be a wish-fulfilment dream to dispose of problems without working them through.

The loss of powers is often a reality-check dream. While you may think you have power in your dream to do great and glorious things, the truth in waking is that problems do not always solve themselves. There may be a level at which your mind is concerned about your waking bravado in certain situations.

The magic you experience could be a sign that you are struggling against the most reasonable outcome of a particular situation. Often, we are unable to appreciate the logic or simplicity of a given situation because of our desire to over analyse it.

Are the magical powers you have in your dream physical or mental?

What do you use these powers to accomplish?

Source: iVillage, http://www.ivillage.co.uk

(See also: Dream Archives, Meaning of Dreams, Dream Interpretation, Dream Dictionary, Dream Dictionary - Magical Powers , Meaning of Dreams about Magical Powers , Dream Interpretation Magical Powers )

Magical Powers

One of the great things about dreams, especially lucid dreams where you are aware of dreaming and can practically control the outcome, is that you can acquire unusual powers. These may include almost any conceivable ability needed to solve the problem at hand. The problem is that you may lose them without explanation at a critical moment. The acquisition of magical powers may come from a number of sources. You may simply conjure them from within yourself. You may be given an article of clothing that contains special powers, or you may find a rock or other object that projects power into you. The implication is that you can solve problems with available resources. However, this may simply be a wish-fulfilment dream to dispose of problems without working them through.

The loss of powers is often a reality-check dream. While you may think you have power in your dream to do great and glorious things, the truth in waking is that problems do not always solve themselves. There may be a level at which your mind is concerned about your waking bravado in certain situations.

The magic you experience could be a sign that you are struggling against the most reasonable outcome of a particular situation. Often, we are unable to appreciate the logic or simplicity of a given situation because of our desire to over analyse it.

Are the magical powers you have in your dream physical or mental?

What do you use these powers to accomplish?

Source: iVillage, http://www.ivillage.co.uk

(See also: Dream Archives, Meaning of Dreams, Dream Interpretation, Dream Dictionary, Dream Dictionary - Magical Powers , Meaning of Dreams about Magical Powers , Dream Interpretation Magical Powers )

Fly : Dream Interpretation Dictionary - Children and Dreams - Ability to Fly or Do Magic

Ability to Fly or Do Magic

These dreams allow the child to perform heroic feats by virtue of her magical powers. She can often fly, perform rescues, travel into other realms and generally know what to do to make matters right.

What you need to know:

These lovely fantasy dreams allow your child to experience success by applying personal powers like imagination, compassion, courage and shrewdness to problem solving. They are wonderful dreams to explore in some detail because in some cases they symbolically allow your child to flex her creative muscles and write her own script. Drawing and coloring scenes from these dreams is one way to learn more about where your child feels confident and strong as well as where she may benefit from encouragement. Plus, having conversations about good dreams opens the door to safely exploring all dreams, both good and bad, without making your child feel interrogated or on the spot.

Source: The Complete Dream Book and Dreaming Insights

More children dreams here: Children and Dreams

(See also: Dream Interpretation, Dream Dictionary, Meaning of Dreams, Dream Interpretation Fly , Dream Dictionary Fly )

Angels

Jacob wrestled the angel, and the angel was overcome.

- Bono, U2, Rattle and Hum

The word 'angel' literally means 'messenger.' Often, delivery of a particular message in the dream is the role filled by these beings. As the needs arise, they may provide additional help to the dreamer beyond simply delivering information. Since so many religions and contemporary worldviews have made room for angels in their understanding of the universe, this topic needs to be broken down a little more.

The philosopher Carl Jung had room in his worldview for 'spirit guides'. These were apparitions that shared both knowledge and insight. This insight came as dialogue. Consequently, the Jungian angel was something of a spiritual mentor.

Religious angels have usually served more as ambassadors. They come with specific information, but not much dialogue. They are dispatched for specific purposes. Revelation, not dialogue, is the mission of the angel in this context.

Beginning with popular literature of the 1970s, angels have become more involved with tangible needs of this world. Tyres are repaired, oncoming traffic is diverted, and rickety homes are preserved from the weather by angels. This seems to be a reflection on the growing interest in finding a reliable help in a malevolent world.

Angels have also become, in a sense, the sort of instant wish-granter. Some people dream of angels helping them in this way. In this sort of case, you may be turning toward an actual friend in real life to give you something.

Many angels in dreams represent help from an unknown and unseeable origin to survive a difficult situation. You are turning out into the unknown, expecting help from beyond your actual means. This could be called 'wish-projection.'

Finally, the angel may be what the name implies: a message.

To discern which type of angel you have in your dreams requires some energy. Does your worldview include the possibility of such beings? If not, your angel may be wish-projection.

Did your angel speak or act mysteriously? If the angel spoke, what was the content? If the angel merely acted, what was the nature of the action?

What area of your life seems to need a special solution that exceeds your resources? Do you feel emotionally unsupported in one of your personal quests or spiritual struggles?

See also Death and Magical powers

Source: iVillage, http://www.ivillage.co.uk

(See also: Dream Archives, Meaning of Dreams, Dream Interpretation, Dream Dictionary, Dream Dictionary - Angels , Meaning of Dreams about Angels , Dream Interpretation Angels )

From Oxygen Dream Dictionary:

(Source: Myths - Dreams - Symbols)

Related pages: 9, with 20:2).

Satan's earthly proxy - the beast from the sea - also has seven heads and ten horns, and he is scarlet in color as well (13:1; 17:3). Satan's character is mirrored in his earthly representatives. The dragon personifies evil. Since ancient mythology had many references to dragons, John's audience would have understood that the dragon of Revelation 13 represented a cosmic enemy.

Exactly what the dragon's seven heads represent is not immediately clear. However, given John's use of seven as a numerical symbol of completeness, perhaps this suggests the universal nature of Satan's power and that he completely embodies within himself all evil. The dragon also has seven diadems or royal crowns on his heads. They could represent Satan's spurious claim against Christ. As the Lord of Lords, it is to Jesus that all crowns of authority belong. He is the one who will be crowned with many diadems (19:12, 16).

We are told the dragon had 'swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to earth" (12:4). This fraction is used several times in Revelation. Perhaps we should interpret it as meaning a significant minority.

Links: Dragons and the Earth Spirit The Serpent's Prayer: The Psychology of an Image ">Dream Symbols, Dream Interpretation, Dream Symbol Dragons, Dream Dictionary Dragons, Meaning of dreams about Dragons, Dream Interpretation Dragons, Dream Analysis Dragons, Dreaming of Dragons

Dragons, Serpents, Snake, Snakes, Serpent, Dragon guarding a treasure, Dragon, Treasure, Abraxas, Jung, Freud, True self, Cave, Individuation process, Conscious ego, Dragon-slayer, St George, Mother, Generative power, Nature, Womb, Pregnant, Saint Michael, Animal instincts, Guardian, Creature, Creatures, Wisdom, Strength, Supernatural powers, Magical powers, Wisdom, Long life, Dragon charms, Charms, Satan, Devil, Beast, Beasts, Evil, Ancient mythology, Ancient, Mythology, Seven heads, Completeness, Seven diadems, Royal crown, Lord of Lords, Christ, Christian, Jesus, Revelation

This is a sitemap for Dream Dictionary - M . Click on a link and you will find multiple dream interpretations and the meaning behind this particular dream.

Dream Dictionary - M

macadamize, macaroni, machinery, machines, machines, mad dog, madness, madstone, maggot, magic, magical powers, magician, magistrate, magnet, magnifying glass, magnifying-glass, magpie, malice, mallet, malt, manners, man-of-war, mansion, manslaughter, mantilla, manufactory, manure, manuscript, map, marble, march, mare, marigold, marijuana, mariner, marmalade, marmot, marriage, mars, mars, marsh, martyr, mask, masks, mason, masquerade, mat, match, matting, mattress, mausoleum, may, may bugs, maze, meadow, meals, measles, meat, meat, mechanic, medal, medicine, melancholy, melody, melon, memorandum, memorial, menagerie, mendicant, mending, menstruation, mercury, mercury, merry, meshes, message, metamorphose, mice, microscope, midwife, mile-post, milk, milking, mill-dam, millet, mineral, mineral water, mining, minister, minuet, minx, mire, mirror, miser, missed flight, missing a boat, missing appointments, missing transportation, mist, mist, mistletoe, mocking-bird, models, molasses, moles, money, monk, monkey, monster, monsters, moon, morgue, morning, morocco, morose, mortgage, mortification, mosaic, moses, mosquito, moss, mother, mother-in-law, mountain, mountain, mountains, mourning, mouse, mouse-trap, moving, mud, muff, mug, mugs, mulatto, mulberries, mule, murder, murder, muscle, museum, mushroom, music, music, musical instruments, musk, mussels, mustache, mustard, mute, myrrh, myrtle, mystery,

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Also see these pages:

Hinduism Dictionary , Buddhism Dictionary, Spiritual Dictionary, Sanskrit Dictionary , Parapsychology Dictionary, Paganism Dictionary,  Mysticism Dictionary , Theosophy Dictionary , Alternative Health Dictionary

Read more here: » Dreams Sitemap I - M

A dictionary of parapsychology. Please note that words in grey are hyperlinked to a corresponding archive with articles related to that particular topic.

Dreams play a very important part of our subconscious guidance and will often bring messages even important warnings to us.
- You should give a particular attention to dreams offering incredible images, Dr Turi explains in this article.

Read more here: » Meaning of Dreams: Astrological perspective on Dreams

How can dreams be used for healing? Many of the people I interviewed were women who had suffered breast cancer. Their stories were as varied and individual as the dreamers themselves and ranged from little bears helping with house cleaning to dramatic stories of physical and spiritual loss and rebirth played out in dreaming and in waking.
When we finally feel confident in exploring the elements of dream diagnosis, the next step is to explore the elements of healing in our dreams. Diagnosis is presented not to frighten us, but to allow us to begin a journey of healing.

This article is adapted from SHE WHO DREAMS By Wanda Easter Burch.

Read more here: » Healing dreams: What is Healing dreams?

A dictionary of Parapsycology. Please note that words in grey are hyperlinked to a corresponding archive with articles related to that particular topic.

PYRAMID POWER

(Also cone headgear). In mimetic magic the pyramid serves as a parallel funnel or horn to draw down the powers of the heavens onto all that which lies inside or under it. Its base is a perfect square, representing the earth and its four corners - or a circle, deriving from infinity, the point.

The cone is nearly as effective as the pyramid, so a hat in the shape of a cone also has beneficial effects on the wearer, curing headaches, stress and even slow-healing head-wounds. The effects of a cone device, as far as I know, have not been compared to those produced by Reich's Orgone box.

In contemporary "pyramid power" theory, the convection of the cosmic energy derives from its inversion and the subsequent compression (like laser) of the lines of force - as images are similarly inverted by a lens. Think of an hourglass or how the sun's rays stream out like a cone through a small opening in the clouds. It has been observed that concentration is increased and a sense of well-being occurs amongst subjects placed under a tent pyramid or cone device for the head. Even 10 or 15 minutes under the pyramid can increase energy, intelligence, concentration, self-confidence, optimism, sense of well-being, etc.

The tent pyramid is an attempt to realign imbalanced centers, just as in olden days the dunce or "thinking cap" was administered by impatient teachers in an effort to quieten children and heighten their attentionality. It was intended to help the child regain control of his center. For the same reason the conical hat or hood was forced upon criminals and heretics in a final stab at restoring them before their punishment or sacrifice. We think of wizards, warlocks and alchemists wearing these conical devices chiefly as physical enhancers (to make them appear taller than normal people), but obviously, their actual purpose was to increase not their stature but their powers of concentration. Witches' hats are defective, because they have brims that deflect the celestial currents. In very ancient times priests and kings wore head dresses bearing legends and symbols of their rank. These legends could serve as mantras as well, to further enhance the restorative powers of such devices.

The materials (metal, stone, glass, wood) seem much less important than the shape itself, although reason would suggest that the desired effects would also be assisted by the proper material: metal for sealing, stone for durability, glass for transparency, wood for organic purposes. But it seems that the power lines move in the desired directions regardless of the material. The results of experiments involving keeping meat fresh or razor blades sharp under pyramids seem rather suspect, but it must be borne in mind that experimental data need not invariably lead us to random or impractical conclusions in order to honor their authenticity. Indeed, anyone can say anything about reality, including that it is random or meaningless.

(See also: PYRAMID POWER , Magick, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul,)

A dictionary with common spiritual words from Hinduism and Sanskrit. Also see these links: Hinduism, Spirituality, Enlightenment, Spiritual Dictionary and Hinduism Dictionary.

Magic. The great "Science". According to Deveria and other Orientalists, "magic was considered as a sacred science inseparable from religion" by the oldest and most civilized and learned nations.

The Egyptians, for instance, were one of the most sincerely religious nations, as were and still are the Hindus. "Magic consists of, and is acquired by the worship of the gods", said Plato. Could then a nation, which, owing to the irrefragable evidence of inscriptions and papyri, is proved to have firmly believed in magic for thousands of years, have been deceived for so long a time. And is it likely that generations upon generations of a learned and pious hierarchy, many among whom led lives of self-martyrdom, holiness and asceticism, would have gone on deceiving themselves and the people (or even only the latter) for the pleasure of perpetuating belief in " miracles" ?

Fanatics, we are told, will do anything to enforce belief in their god or idols. To this we reply: in such case, Brahmans and Egyptian Rekhget-amens (q.v.) or Hierophants would not have popularized belief in the power of man by magic practices to command the services of the gods: which gods, are in truth, but the occult powers or potencies of Nature, personified by the learned priests themselves, in which they reverenced only the attributes of the one unknown and nameless Principle. As Proclus the Platonist ably puts it: "Ancient priests, when they considered that there is a certain alliance and sympathy in natural things to each other, and of things manifest to occult powers, and discovered that all things subsist in all, fabricated a sacred science from this mutual sympathy and similarity......and applied for occult purposes, both celestial and terrene natures, by means of which, through a certain similitude, they deduced divine virtues into this inferior abode".

Magic is the science of communicating with and directing supernal, supramundane Potencies, as well as of commanding those of the lower spheres; a practical knowledge of the hidden mysteries of nature known to only the few, because they are so difficult to acquire, without falling into sins against nature. Ancient and medieval mystics divided magic into three classes - Theurgia, Goëtia and natural Magic. "Theurgia has long since been appropriated as the peculiar sphere of the theosophists and metaphysicians", says Kenneth Mackenzie.

Goëtia is black magic, and "natural (or white) magic has risen with healing in its wings to the proud position of an exact and progressive study". The comments added by our late learned Brother are remarkable. "The realistic desires of modern times have contributed to bring magic into disrepute and ridicule. . . . Faith (in one’s own self) is an essential element in magic, and existed long before other ideas which presume its pre-existence. It is said that it takes a wise man to make a fool; and a man’s ideas must be exalted almost to madness, i.e., his brain susceptibilities must be increased far beyond the low, miserable status of modern civilization, before he can become a true magician; (for) a pursuit of this science implies a certain amount of isolation and an abnegation of Self ".

A very great isolation, certainly, the achievement of which constitutes a wonderful phenomenon, a miracle in itself. Withal magic is not something supernatural. As explained by Jamblichus, "they through the sacerdotal theurgy announce that they are able to ascend to more elevated and universal Essences, and to those that are established above fate, viz., to god and the demiurgus: neither employing matter, nor assuming any other things besides, except the observation of a sensible time".

Already some are beginning to recognise the existence of subtle powers and influences in nature of which they have hitherto known nought. But as Dr. Carter Blake truly remarks, "the nineteenth century is not that which has observed the genesis of new, nor the completion of old, methods of thought"; to which Mr. Bonwick adds that "if the ancients knew but little of our mode of investigations into the secrets of nature, we know still less of their mode of research".

(See also: Magic , Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary,)

Phenomena [from Greek phainomena appearances from phainomai to appear]

The impermanent, ever-changing outward appearances of things, as opposed to onta, the permanent enduring realities behind. Also, objects of perception as opposed to objects of cognition; that which is perceived by the senses, contrasted with that which is conceived by the mind.

The word correlates with both meanings of noumena. Under the first meaning it may be said that, in one sense, everything is phenomenal except the one Reality; but the word may also be used relatively.

Under the second meaning, we may speak of phenomena as a word stressing the mechanical aspect of things, as contrasted with the unseen intelligences behind, as in the contrast between the forces of science and the intelligent noumena of which they are merely the manifestations.

In modern popular use it also denotes a supernormal event, such as an exercise of occult or magical powers, or again a portent, what the Latins would have called a prodigy.

(See also: Phenomena , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

MAGIC

From Latin magi, pl. (Greek magoi, pl. of magos, a Magian, one of the Median tribe; also an enchanter, properly a wise-man who interpreted dreams; Old Persian mugh, one of the Magi, a fire-worshipper; Sanskrit maga "a priest of the sun"; maybe related to maha, "great" and maya, illusion; perhaps, ultimately, even the Maya of Central America. Compare Hebrew makeshef, "magician"). Magic is actually short for "Magic Art". The connection between magus and magnus "great" also appears in Hebrew. As in Latin the word for "great", produces "master or teacher" (magister) , so Hebrew rab produces "rabbi". However the confusion in Hebrew does not arise because the word for "magic" (qeshem) is not related to rab".

The word in this form is found with precisely the same meaning (or mystery) in most European tongues and even in Japanese majutsu, (which they no doubt borrowed from the Portuguese). Elsewhere, however, we find different senses altogether, such as the old Teutonic Helliruna (lit. "Hell's secret") which is surely a folk etymology of the Arabic word for "mandrake", albiruhan or alyabruhin, the same word we find in Spanish as the word for "magician", el brujo, because alongside that there is indeed the Old High German word for "mandrake", Alruna. The only question we need ask is which form came first, but we find the Arabic influence extending east as far as Mongolia, where, in passing, we may note ilbi for "magic."

The otherness of ego enwraps each of us like a prison, but the magus takes all of earth as his body. Magic itself is but a symbol of the greater Magic, which is Unity. The Oneness frees us from the dungeon of darkness and the self and resembles the teaching of Buddhism.

From yet another perspective, magic, mind and life are the same thing: living cells are sometimes kept alive in labs. A specialized cell, so protected, fed and allowed to reproduce, eventually turns into a basic and undifferentiated cell. This indicates that life is not only exceedingly plastic but that it is also purposive. If such adaptation were attributable to mindless mechanics, a bone cell would go on reproducing a bone cell and a blood cell a blood cell forever.

Since all things are connected, then experiential reality, which is Mind, can be altered by the implementation of the Will and Visualization. There is no "orthodox" doorway of the "Self" through the various universes, so the magician must build his own bridge, without assistance, across the Abyss, from the otherness of the separate ego to Cosmic Unity. Since the goal and purpose of existence is knowledge, then the magus is obliged to seek experience on numerous planes of being reached via perichoresis and also to effect material changes in the earth's reality. Thinking isn't just the beginning of creation, it is creation itself.

Marc Edmund Jones classifies magic into categories. Divination is the effort to gain knowledge, particularly of the future (in order the better to assist the "Divine" plan). The evocation or invocation of elementals or angelic powers, functioning through the ethers, is another class of magic. Then there is hypnotism, which works through "imitative" magic. Finally, there is tantrism, or the development of supernatural siddhis.

Colin Wilson suggests that magic is simply the development of the Will and the Imagination, Versluis that it is "not a means to an end, but a means to heighten means." Clearly, the object of magic is the raising of consciousness. The magus is empowered to effect events only to the extent that he is able to recognize that inside and outside are one. To transform the world is to transform oneself and vice-versa. Traditional rituals, the using of symbols and the altering of consciousness through herbs, smells, sounds, repetitions and meditation are all inward-directed processes designed to educate, focus and strengthen the faculties of Imaging and Willing. Alchemy is the same endeavor directed outwardly. We fail to control the transformation of our selves to the degree that we isolate ourselves from the world, just as we lose our ability to change the world at the exact moment that we begin to lose touch with ourselves.

However, although those who don't know what they are doing are obliged to perform magic strictly through the observation of rituals, those who understand its real nature and purpose can move directly to its center and act from there, without incantations and conjurations.

Here are some definitions of M/magic(k) by various authorities on the subject:

ANONYMOUS: "Magus Nascitur Non Fit."

ALICE BAILEY: "No man is a magician, or worker in white magic, until his third eye is opened, or is in the process of opening." (That means 'transmission of consciousness to the universal mind').

WADE BASKIN: "The art and science of magic is based on three basic principles. 1) one may communicate with other realms, or planes of existence, through the medium of the Astral Light; 2) the power of the magician is unlimited; 3) external characteristics (signatures) are signs through which everything internal and invisible can be revealed."

MORRIS BERMAN: "Magic is not necessarily gnostic in nature, since it is not particularly dualistic, and it never includes the notion of an outside savior or redeemer, which Gnosticism (particularly in its early forms) sometimes does."

HELENA P. BLAVATSKY: "The art of divine Magic consists in the ability to perceive the essence of things in the light of nature (astral light), and - by using the soul-powers of the Spirit - to produce material things from the unseen universe, and in such operations the Above and the Below must be brought together and made to act harmoniously". (The Secret Doctrine).

"Magic is spiritual wisdom. Arcane knowledge misapplied is sorcery.

"Magic was considered a divine science which led to a participation in the attributes of Divinity itself."

"Magic was the highest knowledge of natural philosophy... and the magician differed from the witch in this, that, while the latter was an ignorant instrument in the hands of demons, the former had become their master by the powerful intermediation of science, which was only within reach of the few, and which these beings were powerless to disobey."

BERNARD BROMAGE: "The word has, more often than not, been used, not for illumination, not as a guide to ascertainable verity, but as a camouflage to conceal a man's ignorance; and, worse, his calculated ineptitude and folly. The word can be said to have ceased to be a word and to have become a byword: a symbol surrounded by an evilly phosphorescent light, of man's infernal capacity for avoiding the issues. . . Magic, tout court, is immensely concerned with the 'Extension of Consciousness'; the widening of frontiers; the increase and development of every variety of sense perception. To be a magician one must learn to investigate all phenomena with the eye of the scientist who scorns no possible hypothesis nor neglects to take into the fullest consideration the complete structure of our actual and potential being. . . it is not a solace for the frustrated, but a reward for the pure of heart. Its final appeal is not to curiosity or greed, but to reverence and acceptance."

PETER CARROLL: "The world is magical but designed to make us believe we are not magi."

"All events are basically magical, arising spontaneously without prior cause. Physical laws are only statistical approximations. Consciousness, magic and chaos are the same thing. Consciousness also makes things happen without prior cause."

ALEISTER CROWLEY: "All Art is Magick"

"The Goal of Magick is the knowledge and conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel."

NEVILL DRURY: "Magic is the technique of harnessing the secret powers of Nature and and seeking to influence events for one's own purpose. If the purpose is beneficial it is known as white magic, but if it is intended to bring harm to others, or to destroy property, it is regarded as black magic."

"High Magic is intended to bring about the spiritual transformation of the person who practices it. This form of magic is designed to channel the magician's consciousness towards the sacred light within, which is often personified by the high gods of different cosmologies. The aim of high magic has been described as communication with one's Holy Guardian Angel, or higher self. It is also known as Theurgy."

"Whereas science deals with empirically observable causes and effects, occultism deals pragmatically with methods of altering consciousness to produce certain effects. One of these is the assimilation within the self of the characteristics of a deity, another is the separation of consciousness from the physical body."

DION FORTUNE: "Magic is the art of changing consciousness at will."

KENNETH GRANT: "Magick is the apotheosis of the Irrational, the acme of the absurd, and the reification of the impossible."

GURDJIEFF: ". . .I decided to call those undertakings which required intentional action of higher centers - those centers which are properly the feeling and thinking centers, capable of emotional sensing and of mentation respectively, but which are ordinarily unformed through absorption of their rightful impressions by the false emotional and intellectual centers of the psyche - objective magic, having as its result the obtaining of real knowledge."

"I thus separated this objective magic from its ordinary counterpart, 'magic of the psyche', in which purely fantastic results are obtained, and self-calming and amusement are the only attainments. Under this category I placed my former endeavors as a medium and psychic, as well as those results obtained by theosophy, occultism and so forth, all of which up to then had quite fascinated and attracted my attention."

WILLIAM JAMES: "We all have a lifelong habit of inferiority to our full self. . ."

MARC EDMUND JONES: "Occult, as distinct from secular, science; Occult as the effort to compel the cooperation of others, as well as deity, nature, in enterprises of self, illustrated by miracle or thaumaturgy, known as white when ethical and black when amoral."

ELIPHAS LÉVI: "The Arcanum of the Magnum Opus is the mastery or government of Ignis."; "Would you learn to reign over yourself and others? Learn how to will. How can one learn to will? This is the first arcanum of magical initiation. . ."

MACGREGOR MATTHEWS: "To practice magic, both the imagination and the Will must be called into action, they are co-equal in the work. . . The Will unaided can send forth a current. . . yet its effect is vague and indefinite. . . the Imagination unaided can create an image. . . yet it can do nothing of importance, unless vitalized and directed by the Will."

JOHN MIDDLETON: "We may say that the realm of magic is that in which human beings believe that they may directly affect nature and each other for good or ill, by their own efforts (even when the precise mechanism may not be understood by them) as distinct from appealing to divine powers by sacrifice or prayer (i.e. religion)."

JOHN O'KEEFE: "Magic is the defense of the self against the malevolence of society."

PARACELSUS: "The exercise of true magic does not require any ceremonies or conjurations, or the making of circles and signs; it requires neither benedictions nor maledictions in words, neither verbal blessings or curses."

JOHN COWPER POWYS: "Magic is simply the choice between emphasis and rejection."

DIANE DE PRIMA: "Look at the forces behind the things rather than just at the object or event. If I have a working definition of magic it's that behind every single thing in the world an infinite tunnel opens of reference, cross-references, and forces, and how these things interlock in nets. What I basically say is, yeah, learning to see force. . . learning to see the etheric and the astral, etc. to the thinner and thinner layers of stuff. And learning to work off those layers rather than . . . if you want to push that rock you don't necessarily have to go out there and put your shoulder to it."

RIMBAUD: "The Poet transforms himself into a seer through a long, immense and determined, rational disordering of all his sense. Every form of love, suffering and madness he seeks within himself and exhausts in himself all poisons, preserving but their quintessences. Ineffable torture where he will need all of his faith and superhuman strength, making him among men, the great Sick Man, the Thrice-Damned, the Arch-Criminal - and the supreme Savant! - for he arrives at the Unknown! Since he has cultivated his soul, already richer than any other man's, he thereby reaches the Unknown, and, even if, insane in the end, he should lose every shred of understanding gained so laboriously, he will have had his Visions! He may perish in his leap into those innumerable, unnameable things, there will follow other terrible workers. They will begin at the horizons where he fell."

MARTIN DEL RIO: "An art or skill which, by means of a non-supernatural force, produces certain strange and unusual phenomena whose rationale eludes common sense."

ROMULUS: "Magic is living poetry."

"Magic is the invocation and exploitation of synchronicity. All practices build up a momentum of their own. What we desire eventually comes true, with interest."

"Every magician's tricks are his own, to help him with own special problems, to get himself over his own inner obstacles. Our Individual tasks are to learn and overcome our own obstacles. That's why the study of great men and women is so very instructional and worthwhile. Not because they teach us to be like them, but because they show us how they became themselves! "

"Self-confident, integrated personalities already are fairly much in control of their powers and are magical to some extent. When circumstances intrude, such as sickness, enmity, financial loss, etc. and self-confidence wanes, the 'magical' side begins to seem spurious. The more 'magical' we try to be, the more charlatanry rises to the surface in us."

FRANCIS KING & STEPHEN SKINNER: "Four basic assumptions of magic: 1. That the [physical] universe is only a part of total reality. 2. The human will-power is a real force, capable of being trained and concentrated, and that the disciplined will is capable of changing its environment and producing paranormal events. 3. That this will-power must be directed by the imagination. 4. That the universe is not a mixture of chance factors and influences, but an ordered system of correspondences, and the understanding of the pattern of correspondences enables the occultist to use them for his own purposes, good or evil.

HUTTON WEBSTER (1948): "As regards purpose, Magic is divinatory, productive and aversive. The magician discovers or foretells what is otherwise hidden in time or space from human eyes; he influences and manipulates the objects and phenomena of nature and all animate creatures so that they may satisfy actual or human needs; and finally he combats, neutralizes and remedies the onslaught of the evils, real or imaginary, afflicting mankind. The range of magic is thus almost as wide as the life of man. All things under heaven, and even the inhabitants of heaven become subject to its sway.

COLIN WILSON: "Human perception is 'intentional.'" (Consciousness is a muscle).

"The great personality-inhibitor is caution. . . even in a few people who seem fairly well integrated. I can suddenly catch a glimpse of a more sophisticated, confident personality that has never succeeded in emerging . . . Even criminality is a form of caution, the desire for immediate and tangible returns, based upon the feeling that the universe has no intention of giving you anything you are not prepared to take by force. In fact, the study of murder leaves one with an impression of weak and crippled personalities who left half their potentialities to stagnate."

"Outside our everyday personality there is a wider self that possesses greater powers than the everyday self. . . When the will is hindered by too much self-consciousness it often produces the opposite effect from the one intended. (Poe called it "the imp of the perverse"). The wider self would be happy to oblige, but the contracted ego is somehow opposing itself, like someone trying to open a door by pushing it instead of pulling it. So it does the next best thing." (Psychokinesis).

"Modern civilization induces an attitude of passivity. When a Stone Age hunter set out to trap wild animals, he was aware of his will as a living force. When the prehistoric farmer scored the surface of the earth with a crude plough, he knew that his family's survival through the winter depended on his effort, and his will responded to the challenge. When a modern city dweller walks down a crowded thoroughfare, he feels no sense of challenge or involvement. This city was built by other people, all these shops and offices are owned by other people. He can get through an ordinary day's work in a state approximating sleep. Most of his routine tasks are carried out by the 'robot'. There is neither the need or the opportunity to use the will."

ZORN ZUCKERMAN: "The 20th Century has been so much a time of everything 'losing its magic, that the only thing left is magic itself."

CONCLUSION:

Is magic simply the search for "ultimate knowledge" without the burden of "worship"? Not exactly. The Golden Dawn used to say, "The aim of religion, the method of science," which was as ambitious as it was inaccurate. The "Transcendental" without religion, as opposed to mere "Revelation" without religion, would be closer to the mark than soulless "Ultimate Knowledge." The latter is a logical, scientific goal, not a magical one. The Scientist is obliged to go wherever his will-o'-the-wisp may lead him, as Mary Shelley pointed out, stopping not even at Frankenstein's monster nor the Hydrogen Bomb nor tailor-made diseases. Thus, the scientist inevitably winds up in Hell, the epitome of "Reason". The Magician knows where he is going, dares to go there and will what he will discover and create. His work (ideally) is the transmogrification of Hell. Moreover, about what he does he can make no statement, because it is always unique, never a repeatable "trick". That is, he is in the business, not as the scientist is of "finding" meaning, but of "creating" it. But we have to remember that the phenomenological world is an illusion, which requires the magician always to remain watchful of the illusory nature of what he is doing.

Life without magic is not possible. Moreover, the important "passages" of life cannot be handled except in a frank context of High Magic: birth, adolescence, marriage, death, etc.

(See also: MAGIC , Magick, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul,)

Charging: To infuse an object with magical power.

(See also: Charging , Magic, Shamanism, Paganism, Wicca)

Mantra: A sacred chant used in Hindu tradition to embody the divinity invoked; it is said to possess deep magical power.

(See also: Mantra , Magic, Shamanism, Paganism, Wicca)