Monster - Monsters in philosophy

Monster - Monsters in philosophy: Encyclopedia - Monster

Monster is a term for any number of legendary creatures that frequently appear in mythology, legend, and horror fiction. The word originates from the medieval vulgar Latin verb monstrare (plural monstrum), which translates as either "to exhibit" or "to point out". Monster - Monsters in history. Monster - Social concept. At one time, the monster was an important social concept. Monsters were often associated with unknown lands and unknown things. For instance, histo ...

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Monster - Monsters in philosophy: Encyclopedia II - Monster - Monsters in history Monster - Social concept. At one time, the monster was an important social concept. Monsters were often associated with unknown lands and unknown things. For instance, historically, unexplored areas on maps would be marked indicating that monsters such as dragons lived there. This connection between monsters and the unknown meant that the monster was an important concept in the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, as Western society began to use science and other academic disciplines to try to understand the unknow ...

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Monster - Monsters in philosophy: Encyclopedia - Undead

Undead is a collective name for all types of supernatural entities who were once alive in the normal sense, died, and then continued to exist in the world of the living, in forms spiritual (as ghosts) or corporeal (as animated corpses). Undead of different varieties are featured in the legends of most cultures on earth and in many works of fiction, especially fantasy and horror fiction. The term "undead" was first used in this sense by Bram Stoker, as the original title for his novel Dracula. Undead - Examp ...

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Monster - Monsters in philosophy: Encyclopedia II - Undead - Examples of undead

Undead - Corporeal. Corporeal undead have an animated physical body that is otherwise biologically deceased. Zombies from the Voodoo tradition Draugrs from Norse mythology Orcs from Anglo-Saxon / European folklore Vampires of various cultures Hopping corpses of Chinese folklore Ghouls from Arab folklore Medieval revenants, stories of undead from medieval chroniclers. Wights < ...

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Monster - Monsters in philosophy: Dreams Interpretation Dictionary - Modern Dream Philosophies

Modern Dream Philosophies

Probably the most well-known of the modern dream philosophers was Sigmund Freud. Freud first developed the theory about the role of the unconscious on the individual. Freud believed the dream worked on two levels. A straightforward level showed events in dreams as remembered. However in the latent level objects and actions in the dreams symbolize sexual and aggressive feelings and ideas that are repressed. So in dreams it protects the sleeper from the effects of a realization of these wishes. The dream taps into the desire for wish fulfilment when the controlling ego is relaxed during sleep. Freud wrote "All dreams are in a sense dreams of convenience, they help to prolong sleep instead of waking up. Dreams are the guardians of sleep and not its disturbers. "

Carl Jung believed a dreams content uses symbolic language. He proposed that a dream expresses collective racial unconscious memories and instincts shared by all people. These are basic ideas that are themselves symbols. These include the hero, monster, mother, father, mandala, sacrifice and the mask. Dreams also indicate the way to self actualization Jungian therapy in fact deals extensively with dreams and fantasies.

Today, most psychologists agree with Jung's theory, and it is this theory that makes dream interpretation something that we can use in our everyday lives. If Freud were alive today he would disagree with every theory that says you are able to interpret your own dreams. Jung believed that, although it was difficult, dreams were meant to be understood.

(Source: Myths - Dreams - Symbols)

Modern Dream Philosophies, Sigmund Freud, Freud, Freudian, Carl Jung, Jung, Jungian, Self actualization, Jungian therapy, Dreams, Fantasies, Jung's theory, Aggressive feelings, Sexual feelings, Sexuality, Sexual dreams, Desire, Fulfilment, Controlling ego, Ego

Monster - Monsters in philosophy: Mysticism Magick Dictionary on NUMEROLOGY

NUMEROLOGY

The first thing to remember about numbers is that each number, far from being just an accretion of previous numbers, really is unique. Numbers are the quintessence of symbology, and numerology appeals mostly to the abstract metaphysician, just as, in science, mathematics appeals to the abstract-minded scientist. Numerology, like astrology and palmistry, has a bad reputation because it's so easily misunderstood and misused. Since we can all recognize synchronicity, it's only natural to rush from there to the assumption that coincidence is the same thing as divination. But, synchronicity is nothing more than evidence that there are patterns of many kinds. It would be better if we could de-emphasize the practical side of everything and concentrate on the esthetics. The Egyptians used to teach that the most valuable things are the most useless: the arts, for example, or philosophy, or gold.

Finally, we should remember that it was through the indolent adoption of the easy decimal system (rather than the more perfect and exacting duodecimal system) that Atlantis finally brought itself down. This mathematically lazy way out is exactly the same path for which we have settled.

So numerology is simply the metaphysical side to numbers. One and one, for instance, are two, not because arithmetic says so, but because being equally "unique" they can't be reconciled as one, or "united," and are therefore at odds and in conflict with each other, as opposites in a mutual duality or "duel." Three, on the other hand, is a collection based on some kind of agreement, four a quaternity based on crossed oppositions in perfect balance, and so one.

There are also different ways of dealing with numerology -- theoria and praxis. In gematria, however, the idea is to add up the value of a word and then find other words that add up to the same number. They would thus be equivalents. This works rather well in Hebrew (to a lesser extent in Greek) but rather poorly in English -- simply because of the intrinsic differences between languages. Example: Jehovah has the same value as Chozeh ("seer" or "prophet"). Therefore, to the ancient Jews, God and Prophesy would be practically synonymous.

Numerological reduction is a convenience. It's easier to deal with numbers from 1 to 10 than with great blobs like 847 or 9,556,431. But numerologists also add before reducing. If a room contains 8 people, the numerology lecturer might perhaps decide to deliver his "octave" message. If 3 more people arrived, he'd change that to 11 which has an entirely different meaning from its reduction to 1 + 1 = 2. The higher the number, the more unstable its meaning becomes. For example, 11 stands symbolically for all the higher numbers (above 10), which is why 11 is the number of Sorcery.

The values of the Hebrew letters are: 1-ALEPH, 2-BETH, 3-GIMEL, 4-DALED, 5-HE, 6-VAU, 7-ZAYIN, 8-CHETH, 9-TETH, 10-YOD, 20-KAPH, 30-LAMED, 40-MEM, 50-NUN, 60-SAMECH, 70-AYIN, 80-PE, 90-TZADDE, 100-QOPH, 200-RESH, 300-SHIN, 400-TAV, 500-FINAL K, 600-FINAL M; 700-FINAL N, 800-FINAL P, 900-TZ, 1000-ALEPH (writ large).

In both Arab esoteric studies and in Judaic Cabal, such numbers form anagrams and extend the power of words: e.g., 93=Greek Agape, 398=Neshek, the serpent, and also Messiah.

The meanings of some of the numbers (my own attributions, plus some of Crowley's gematria from Liber 777):

000 Void of Voids, without possibility of Being.

00 the Double Void

0 Zero, the Void, The Goddess, Infinite Nuit, the Unmanifest. The "number" out of which everything comes. In the Tarot it's called "The Fool" because it obey its own mysterious, unknowable rules and is not subject to analysis. (Although we can and do theorize about it). It's the Great Mother, the Void, that which lies beyond Alpha and Omega; Original Mind.

1 Every Creation; Ultimate Power, God, Hadit the point, Uniqueness; the Manifest (Set, Sirius B), Pluto; the gods; Kether; Cosmic Consciousness; Yod-Atziluth; Archetypal world; Aleph; Reason. Egyptian ankh. Fire. The most powerful of all magical numbers. Number of the individual and the unique. All miracles are possible once. One is the impossible beginning of everything coming out of the void. As in music, it bears the stress: ONE-two-three...

2 Matter; The Fall; Opposition; Good & Evil; Neptune; Chokmah (subject), Moons of Mars, Neptune; Heh-Briah; Dissention. Egyptian uas; the number of division and opposition, analysis and separation; Darkness and light; Good and Evil. Mystery.

3 Evolution; Space; Unanimity, Unity, the ALL, multiplication, Saturn; Binah (object); vav-Yetzirah. Egyptian djed. (Grant assigns 3 to Set and Satan.) Synthesis, construction. Abundance, fruitfulness. The apparent "difference" of things in the Gurdjieffian sense -- the template in the mind. 3 also is the emblem of infinity.

4 Manifestation: the Elements, etc; Jupiter; Chesed; heh-Assiah. Egyptian nebet. Earth. Number of physical reality, completing the foundations of things. Practicality. The Authority to be. Command. Mercy.

5 Consciousness; the hand, pentagram, man; Mars; Geburah. Moons of Uranus. Chinese elements (Earth, Fire, Water, Wood, Metal) -- Earth is the fifth element, yellow and central. The number of mediation, hence: Humanity . Sin, error, but also progress and knowledge. Without 5 there is no human evolution or purpose. Courage. Achievement.

6 The Work of Creation; The Sun; Solar-Phallic energy; Spatial Directions, Harmony; Tiphareth. In the I Ching, 6 is the number of Yin, i.e., Completion. Time, space and astronomy. Number of beauty and the power of love.

7 The Totality of Creation; Earth's escape velocity (M. P. S.); Will; Classical Planets; tones; the inferior power zones; The Dragon's head; Scorpion; Swastika; Hyena; Serpent, Lion, Ape, Typhon; Colors in the spectrum; Opportunity (because man develops by 7 year periods). Number of overcoming, victory, accomplishment. Perfect harmony. The Virgin, symbol of eternal rather than created things.

8 Infinity (the Lemniscate); Octagon, heaven on earth or lower sephiroth plus Daath (or 7 planets plus Sothis); Mercury; Hod, Ogoad, the Buddhist & other 8 path. Perfection. Strength, fortitude, everlastingness. It is the first cubic number, hence it stands for the cube itself, or earth. Splendor of endurance. The octagon is the symbol of the meeting of heaven & earth because it is a compromise halfway between the square (earth) and the circle (heaven).

9 Number of the Moon; Container of all numbers; Number of known astronomical planets. Eternity; Yesod; Endings, echatology; Moons of Saturn; Number of Muses; In the I Ching, 9 is the number of Yang. Arabic Ta (Secret Knowledge ). Number of absolute completion, perfection and wisdom. Since the ennead is the final limitation, it is the acceptance of solitude and the beginning of the inward journey to the Infinite.

10 Earth, Samsara; Reincarnation; (1 + 2 + 3 + 4) The Tetractys; Yod; number of Sephiroth; Commandments; planes; Malkuth. This is the number of new beginnings based on harmonious conclusions to previous activities. It is the lower exponent of the Monad, the created world. It is the individual, unique power as it appears in harmonious context with the many other uniquenesses of the world. It is great fortune.

11 Number of the years of the sunspot cycle. The general number of magic or sorcery and magicians -- or energy tending to change. Uranus. Daath (or Egyptian Duat, Tuat). This is the individual in confrontation with the world. Hence it is the number of Justice and Balance. It is also the number of war and the battle with the demonic element.

12 Baptism; Sacrifice; Solar zodiac. The number of the hanged man, i.e., sacrifice. This is the individual as he is plunged into the world and at the same time apart from it.

13 Arachne, the spider. The scale of the highest feminine unity; easily transformed to secondary masculine ideas by any male component; or, the unity resulting from love. Death; Lunar Zodiac; beginning of adolescence; Moons of Jupiter. Orbits in solar system (including Vulcan, Isis and Osiris). Thirteen is also the basic Mayan unit of change (13 days to a week) and the number of months in the Newtime calendar. Number of Death and Metamorphosis -- as the old life completes, a new life must begin. This is the practical side or physics of metaphysics. From 13 to 20 may be likened to the stages of an LSD experience in which the Ego dies and must be totally disintegrated. Then at 20 is reborn and at 21, the Ego is deliberately re-shaped into a new individual that fits ideally into the world.

14 Number of pieces into which Osiris's body was cut by Set; Gematria of Zahav. Temperance or Art, it is, the physical means by which one is able to manipulate and balance the world.

15 Kamea sum of Saturn; Illusion; The Devil. The number of illusion -- it's the shadow cast by beauty and love. Since it has to do with darkness as an illusion, the Devil is called Lucifer, the light-bearer. (The holder of the torch is himself in the darkness.)

16 Number of Eve; Number of human kalas (bodily secretions). In Egyptian hieroglyphs, 16 symbolized delight because this is the age when a young man has his first sexual experience. Coitus, thus, is 16 next to 16 = 1616. The Tower of Babel. This is the struggle for Heaven as it erupts in words -- that is, the understanding of oneself is not always able to communicate to others.

17 Tantric number of kalas! The masculine unity. (Trinity of Aleph, Vau, Yod). Star of the magi. The Star is all those striving things -- hope, ambition, faith, longing, etc. It feeds on itself and re-invigorates all that it touches. It accomplishes what The Tower cannot.

18 Percentage of the Moon's surface varying from visible to invisible. The Moon (twice 9). This is the solitary path itself, leading back into the inner being and one's own enlightenment.

19 Number of the year of the lunar cycle; Xtian "Golden Number"; The feminine glyph. The Sun. This is the ultimate, true enlightenment itself; the quest of all our strivings.

20 Number of days in the Maya month. Kaph. Resurrection. Rebirth.

21 Mystic number of Tiphareth; Age of majority; 3 x 7. The World (as it is built back up in a better way).

22 Letters in Hebrew alphabet; Major Arcana; Tunnel Sentinels.

23 The "glyph of (nascent) life"; Coincidence and Synchronicity.

24 Path of Scorpio (Scarlet Woman) or of the Water Demon. Letters in Greek alphabet.

26 Tetragrammaton; Numbers of the Sephiroth of the Middle Pillar (without Maat); Letters in English alphabet.

28 Lunar cycle of days. Solar cycle of years (1st day of week restored to same day of week). Letters of Arabic alphabet. The numbers from 1 - 7 add up to 28 (1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7).

29 The magic force itself, the masculine current. Days in moon cycle, feminine current. 29 = 2 + 9 = 1 = 2.

30 Number of degrees in a sign. Ass; Lamedh.

31 Gematria of AL (God) also means "Not," key number of the New Aeon; The highest feminine trinity -- zero through the glyph of the circle. (Great Modulus of Zero.)

32 Number of gravity increase acceleration (32 feet per second per second); Paths of the Qabalah.

33 Age of Christ; magical age in general.

34 Jupiter Kamea sum.

36 Star sapphire; the Sun; curses. Platonic duodecimal.

37 111/3; A prime number; sum of Daath (11) and the 4 Sephiroth of the Middle Pillar (10 + 9 + 6 + 11 + 1). The unity itself in its balanced trinitarian manifestation.

40 Mem; Babylonian rain period -- 40 days before festival of New Year, when Pleiades visible. (Thus Jewish 40 days.) 40 days is the philosophical month and 40 the number of preparation, waiting, the wisdom of darkness and the natural processes of solution and disintegration.

41 Percent of the Moon's surface hidden from earth; the yoni as a vampire force, sterile. Hispanic number of homosexuality.

42 The completion of the elements experienced via darkness.

43 A number of orgasm -- especially the male.

44 Cabal; sand; blood/water; flame; Aquarius.

45 Adam.

47 The yoni as dynamic, prehensile, spasmodic, etc. Esprit de travail.

49 7 x 7. In Tibetan Bsm. 49 is the number of days spent in the Afterworld between incarnations.

50 Number of minutes later the moon rises every night.

53 The yoni as instrument of pleasure (Hedonogenous.)

55 Phallos.

56 Word of Nu or Nuit (Abrahadabra as the union of 5 & 6.)

59 The yoni calling for the lingam as ovum, menstruum and desire.

60 Second and minute units; Machine cycles; Samekh; Greek X.

61 Nia; Ain; the negative positively knowing self.

64 I Ching patterns.

65 Mars Kamea sum.

66 Mystic number of the Opus Magnum and the Qlipoth.

67 The Womb containing the twins.

70 Biblical "Age" of Death; Ayin; Omicron.

71 A number of Binah, silence and nothingess.

72 The mystical Platonic duodecimal number whose powers and multiples produce the distances between planets, diameters of orbits, etc. 72 is the Average human life-span today.

73 The feminine aspect of Chokmah in his phallic function.

76 Halley's comet orbit in years.

78 Mezla, influence from above; total number of Tarots, Ego, Ape of Thoth, Aiwass, the Oza (giants or monsters of creation).

80 Peh; pi.

81 Number of Tetragrams in the T'ai Hsan Ching; Talam; Moon; Witchcraft; Hecate.

82 Compound number; Angel of Venus, beloved object.

83 Consecration; highest form of love. Energy, freedom, amrita, aspiration.

87 Number of Lebenah (Frankincense), Aossic; chalice.

88 Khabs, "The Star."

89 A number of sin and taboo. Silence, of Black Magic.

90 Tzaddi.

91 Number of hairs (paths) in the Supernal Beard.

93 Thelema, Agape, Aiwass.

97 A number of Chesed as water and as father.

99 Ending of endings. Tithiane; Geburah's infernal abode.

100 Kephalos; Qoph; Rho.

108 A Platonic duodecimal number.

111 "Ain Sof Aur"; Kamea sum of the Sun; Number of Abra-Melin Servitors.

123 War, plague, pleasure, violation.

131 Samael, Satan, Pan, Baphomet.

156 Zion; Babalon; number of letters for Enochian tablet.

160 Ipo (name of the sun in a lower hemisphere); the number of Tonal in Castaneda's world of phenomena (Nagual is to Tonal as Sirius to Ipo).

164 A compound number; Cleaving; profane, as opposed to sacred.

177 The Garden of Eden.

200 Resh, Sigma.

210 The Return; Joining to the Void's original 3 stages; 000.

216 Platonic duodecimal number.

217 Sigma-eta-theta, Seth; Star of Babalon (Scarlet Woman); Sirius; Deborah, "the Bee" (Sekhet, goddess of intoxication and sexual passion).

222 Beyond Good and Evil; Whiteness.

256 Number of poisonous methods of astral projection.

260 The Mayan Tzolkin cycle of change. 260 = 13 x 20 (the mystic numbers); Kamea sum of Mercury; Tiriel, the Intelligence of Mercury.

261 Meher Baba; Hriliu; Word of the Dove; "The Abomination of Desolation" (Stele of Reveling).

280 RP, "Terror"; number of squares on the side of the vault containing the body of Christian Rosenkreutz.

289 PTR, hole, void.

292 The "drug of death"; the raven (black bird of Set); Chozzar.

300 Shin, Greek tau.

305 Number of Yetzirah.

325 Bartzabel (spirit of Mars).

330 SOR (revolution); hurricane; tempest; circles of time.

333 "Connection to the Infinite"; Chaos: Shugal-Set, the front half of the beast, which together with Choronzon or Chozzar, the back, makes 666.

342 Bsm.; Perfume; ambrosia.

353 Hermes.

360 Degrees in a circle (or zodiac).

365 Days in a year; number of Abraxas (Greek letters); number also of Mithras.

369 Kamea of Luna.

370 Left hand; Sabbatic Goat; Creation (as matter and spirit); Foundation.

389 Aossic (ancient extraterrestrial entity).

393 Blends the twin forces of Set and Horus (lightside and nightside of the Tree of Life).

400 Tav.

406 Tav spelled out; also "Thou."

412 Romulus.

418 Abrahadabra.

442 Ends of the Earth.

444 "The Limits of Manifestation"; Al-Azif, Alhazred.

474 Gematria of Daath.

500 Phoenix; Kaph final; psi.

504 Figures in the formation of circles.

505 Kamea sum of 10 x 10.

511 Head.

535 Kteis.

555 Enlightenment.

600 Mem final; Chi.

612 Zeus.

640 Shamash; realm of the Sun; Mpitzth (horrible idol); Gematria of Cup of Consolation; menstrual blood.

666 Number of Hatkariel; sum of the square of The Sun (i.e. the Antichrist). Splendors of Being; Number of the Beast; Beast with two backs; Satanic Trinity (Typhon, Apophis, Besz), opponent of Michael, Sorath..

671 Thora/Athor/Tharo.

700 Nun final; Upsilon.

733 "The White Head."

777 Magic, Creation. Dagon; Stauros.

789 Link between Aeon of Horus and Maat.

800 Peh final, Omega.

801 The sum of "Alpha and Omega"; also peristera, "a dove."

823 Sahasra; graven idol.

864 Platonic duodecimal number.

888 Metamorphosis, Iesous.

900 Tzaddi final.

999 Eternal Evolution (past, present, future); End of the World; Number of the true Trinity; "Nymphe" or creatures such as the Dols or Dholes; Romulus Hespaeria; Triple 9 Society; 999 C.E. is the year that Kukulkan (Quetzalcoatl) died. The final resolution of 333 and 666.

1000 The Millenium; Rab-Aleph.

1060 The Tabernacle (Meshken).

1061 Sunset.

1296 Platonic duodecimal number.

1461 Sirius Cycle.

1728 Platonic duodecimal number.

1999 Date of Nostradamus' prediction of the Eschaton.

2000 Precessional Change; Year of the Dragon.

2012 Mayan date of "end of the world."

2167 Corrected precessional number.

3168 Important ancient mystical number used in construction.

5040 Another important ancient number.

12358 Fibonacci series.

26000 Great Year of the Egyptians.

36000 Ancient Chaldean Saros Cycle.

114048 Platonic number thought to have the best factors for making it the number of the world-soul.

187740489 Nine to the ninth power.

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

Monster - Monsters in philosophy: Mysticism Magick Dictionary on MAGIC

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, )