Path: shell.portal.com!shell.portal.com!not-for-mail From: tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com (xiwangmu) Newsgroups: alt.magick,alt.magick.tyagi,sci.philosophy.meta,alt.philosophy.taoism,talk.religion.misc,alt.arts,rec.arts,alt.pagan Subject: Magick, Taoism and Change (Was Re: Critical Perspectives on Occult Group ...) Date: 8 Dec 1995 09:06:02 -0800 Organization: Portal Communications (shell) Lines: 106 Sender: tyagi@shell.portal.com Distribution: inet Message-ID: <4a9r9q$kna@jobe.shell.portal.com> References: <482s9g$h1u@nkosi.well.com> <78077@toad.com> <48dcfi$mpq@due.unit.no> <78250@toad.com> <48ish1$inh@nntp4.u.washington.edu> <78764@toad.com> Reply-To: tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com (xiwangmu) NNTP-Posting-Host: jobe.shell.portal.com Xref: shell.portal.com alt.magick:60741 alt.magick.tyagi:5252 sci.philosophy.meta:21858 alt.philosophy.taoism:2208 talk.religion.misc:191347 alt.arts:49 rec.arts:17 alt.pagan:136125 kaliyuga 49951205 [/07 delayed due to technical difficulty; sorry for any duplication] Z.M.A.: |>...if the "working definition" of magick is the causing of Change in |>Accordance to Will, ... Oh? Sloppy, but we can go with something like that. Crowley's was: "Magick is the Science and Art of causing Change to occur in conformity with Will." (_Magick_, ed. Symonds/Grant; p. 131) Let's look at that more closely. Changing the spiritual state yields mysticism material state physics/modern science psychological state shamanism/psychiatry/psychology aesthetic state art social state politics and I'm sure there are others. (?) All of these must be intentional changes; that is, deriving from the conscious mind of a particular individual and carried through with or without ordinary means. 'Magick', in this sense, approaches a type of Taoist acquiescent laziness. 'Wu-wei', the spontaneous or natural action indicating the genius of the individual, given some direction, is magick. The 'success' of a result is not itself sufficient. Intention is required. An example: I set out to transit the Qabalistic Abyss via the the Tunnels of Set, a kind of net strung over and across sphere of Da'ath, terminating in the Superio Triad. I use a method of sigilization whereby I enter into a struggle through, with, or across this barrier, and over years of reflection it is seen that I have accomplished my goal. Having a written record of this quest (thus the recommended 'Book of Shadows' or 'Magical Journal', among a number of other benefits), and verifying the nature of the quest and its accomplishment as exemplary of the Mastery of the Art, I have attained. Serendipitously lucking into an Order whereby I am given the title of 'Isthmussipiss' does not, in itself, constitute a magical act, by these parameters. Some contend that the requirement of some kind of goal toward which one must aspire makes impossible a natural mysticiism such as taoism, and that this means taoism and magick are irreconcilable. Fung Yu-lan's texts suggest to my mind that this is due to the combination of religious and magical practices and that the religious and philosophical or mystical taoists are in some way irreconcilable (he does not speak to it directly in the text which I have yet reviewed). I think this is short-sighted. Taoism is more than we might want to make it out. It is a living tradition and has seeded itself in countless homes memetically and in some cases practically. I don't think that taoism is devoid of goals, and these goals ought concern us perhaps more, in the analysis of taoist magick, than any other subject: immortality/longevity, mystical experience and cautious wisdom, ruling the cosmos, and merging with tao. |> ...any energy that is just aimed inward is in my view a waste. I don't think that this constitutes a 'waste of my time', though it may be, for you. ;> Change spiritual state mysticism This constitutes the intersection of the popular subject, 'mysticism', and the more general category of 'magick' (mysticism as an individual and intentional variety qualifies as 'magick' -- mysticism politicized qualifies as 'religion'). Mae Tang writes: |..."what I think the Mass is meant to accomplish" |...might boil down to the "There is no part of me that is not of the Gods" |declaration. I think the Gnostic Mass (EGC) is meant to effect the full emancipation of the individual through the means most suited to hir nature, though I have not made of it a sufficiently close study to be sure. xiwangmu tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com --------------------------- I find the association of 'black' with 'harmful' or 'evil' to be the deepest of disrespects for not only those who may associate with that label by culture but also the very important mythological associations that tend to include the wrathful and feminine. Please consider this. -- CC public responses to email (I may respond publically to any email I receive). READ alt.magick.tyagi TRY : http://www.hollyfeld.org/~tyagi/nagasiva.html ______________