- Joined
- Feb 3, 2013
I can't sleep so I'm going to make a thread about something I brought up on the old forum - magic(k) and the occult. I use the name I do because I have such a fascination with this subject, so I am going to try to make this topic as informative as I can. I want people to come into this with no clue about magic and leave with a basic knowledge and a good idea where to start learning more. If you want to ask questions you can ask here or PM me. I don't care which really, just that you don't mind my sometimes wrong headed thinking. I'm not here to recruit for the OTO or any other magical organization and I might even occasionally tie this into Chris-chan where appropriate, even though this topic is not about him in any way. I know the subject of CWC is to be beaten to death in the other sections of this forum 
and not here.
Magick is the art of making one's will manifest in ways beyond natural means. That's kind of a ham fisted definition, but for our purposes it fits and I'll elaborate on it as we go. There are different levels of complexity that we find in magical systems and paradigms that give a structure to these systems. A lot of people know about Wicca and think it is your basic witchcraft, which is not exactly the case. European witches had a variety of practices and not very many are exactly in line with what is known as "Wicca". The history of Wicca is pretty much well known and most everyone knows it's about 50 years old. Not exactly an "Old Religione" as some would like to think. I guess "Plagerized Thelema with some vague European Pre-Christian practices" was too long and boring. Most people see how silly it is and how patchwork its' mythos are enough to pass it along in favor of other systems. I should also mention that the thing vaguely referred to as the "New Age" suffers from a lot of the same problems, with it being a dizzying mixture of vague Hinduism and crystal waving crap. Moving on...
The Western Occult tradition is based on ideas from Jewish sources, which most people will tend to call the Kabbalah. The interest in the Kabbalah is in part due to how vast and vague a tradition it is. In it one can find a dizzying array of beliefs and ideas from reincarnation to the notion that YHVH is a ball of light or some strange form of nothingness. Rabbis realisticly understood that this was heavy material and forbade the study of it to anyone under the age of 40. This prohibition lifted, it allowed for people who might not have read books on the subject to do so. The principal work, the Zohar, is one of the books that rose in popularity due to this. This book offers insights to the often confusing parts of the Tanakh or Hebrew Bible. In it we find a mixture of legends and commentary, which add a dimension to Judaism and in some cases, Christianity that few realize exist. It is this aspect that make the Kabbalah a form of forbidden, yet not secret knowledge. It does quite a bit to make certain dogmas change in the eye of the beholder. Some people walk away changed - in both good ways and sometimes not so good ways. Yet, it is the very heart and soul of the West's and Europe's occult traditions and the fruit of the Enlightenment.
and not here. Magick is the art of making one's will manifest in ways beyond natural means. That's kind of a ham fisted definition, but for our purposes it fits and I'll elaborate on it as we go. There are different levels of complexity that we find in magical systems and paradigms that give a structure to these systems. A lot of people know about Wicca and think it is your basic witchcraft, which is not exactly the case. European witches had a variety of practices and not very many are exactly in line with what is known as "Wicca". The history of Wicca is pretty much well known and most everyone knows it's about 50 years old. Not exactly an "Old Religione" as some would like to think. I guess "Plagerized Thelema with some vague European Pre-Christian practices" was too long and boring. Most people see how silly it is and how patchwork its' mythos are enough to pass it along in favor of other systems. I should also mention that the thing vaguely referred to as the "New Age" suffers from a lot of the same problems, with it being a dizzying mixture of vague Hinduism and crystal waving crap. Moving on...
The Western Occult tradition is based on ideas from Jewish sources, which most people will tend to call the Kabbalah. The interest in the Kabbalah is in part due to how vast and vague a tradition it is. In it one can find a dizzying array of beliefs and ideas from reincarnation to the notion that YHVH is a ball of light or some strange form of nothingness. Rabbis realisticly understood that this was heavy material and forbade the study of it to anyone under the age of 40. This prohibition lifted, it allowed for people who might not have read books on the subject to do so. The principal work, the Zohar, is one of the books that rose in popularity due to this. This book offers insights to the often confusing parts of the Tanakh or Hebrew Bible. In it we find a mixture of legends and commentary, which add a dimension to Judaism and in some cases, Christianity that few realize exist. It is this aspect that make the Kabbalah a form of forbidden, yet not secret knowledge. It does quite a bit to make certain dogmas change in the eye of the beholder. Some people walk away changed - in both good ways and sometimes not so good ways. Yet, it is the very heart and soul of the West's and Europe's occult traditions and the fruit of the Enlightenment.
so we'll see where I go with this. I could talk about the difference between theosophic magic and "goetia" magic. There's a huge difference between the two, even though a lot of people don't know about it. It's found in almost every culture and forms the basis for much organized religion. In short, it's a huge subject in it's own right.
