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ourselves with that order is the key to success then to continue in formal
training, in our system at least, is futile.
The Alchemist s Guild © Page 39
Probationers Lesson 7
Magick
"In reality, Magick is a sacred science, it is in a very true sense the sum total of
all knowledge because it teaches how to know and utilise the sovereign rules."
(Franz Bardon - Initiation into Hermetics)
Magick In this discourse we focus solely on the subject of Magick itself. There
are a number of definitions about just what Magick is. For a start we should
make a clear distinction between stage magic or illusionism, the type of thing
we see on television, and high Magick, the arte of causing change to happen
in conformity with ones will-power. You will notice that we adhere to a modern
convention of spelling Magick, the occult arte, with a 'k' on the end in order to
define it from mere dramatic stage performance or pseudo-magic of pop
occultism. When discussing Magick (and Alchemy) we also use the terms arte
(with a 'e') and science. We mean by arte a discipline that requires a certain
knack or skill and design in order to produce workable results. In this way we
should understand that Magick, like music or painting, requires a certain
inherent flair on the part of the practitioner. We use the term science in exactly
the same manner as it is used to describe biology or physics today. Magick
(and Alchemy) are not religious superstitions. They are founded on hard
esoteric science, are developed and maintained through the understanding of
complex laws and are both intellectually and emotionally very demanding
studies. That is, the study of Magick, when attended to properly, is no less
demanding than the study of any other modern science at university level.
At past times in history it is very likely that the avid student of Magick
practised a combination of illusionism and high Magick. Today, though, the
two fields of practice are quite separate.
The exact origins of Magick are veiled by the mist of time. There is one school
of thought that suggests that Magick began as a type of shamanism during
the early history of humanity. These Shaman, we are told, were either natural
occultists, i.e. they were born with psychic faculties, or they stumbled upon
mystic experiences through, say, the use of natural narcotics. Thus, over time,
complex systems of Magick evolved which at certain times in history became
very organised and powerful.
This version of the history of Magick, it seems, is a favourite of systems like
wicca (modern witchcraft) who thrive on the belief that they have preserved
such early traditions.
A second school of thought states that before the dawn of recorded history
there have been other, possibly many, high civilisations which, before our
time, have been lost to the ravages of the ages. That always where high
The Alchemist s Guild © Page 40
culture has existed primitive cultures have also co-existed. The same being
true today in our world, societies existing in Stone Age type lifestyles live
within reach of huge metropolitan centres.
This same tradition asserts that mankind did not gradually learn Magick in a
hit and miss or Darwinian type evolution, but instead, that it inherited the
science complete from a more advanced non-human culture that, in
prehistoric times, had an interaction with humanity.
Ancient cultures, like the Egyptians, Babylonians and Semites, themselves
assert that the latter process is the one which accurately described the origins
not only of Magick but of agriculture, war and civilisation itself.
For example, modern science tells us that the Egyptian culture began about
3500 BC when a Warrior-king, named Menes, united the primitive tribes of the
upper and lower Nile into one culture. What modern science cannot explain is
how this, so-called, Stone Age culture managed to have a fully developed
complex writing and religious system hundreds or even thousands of years in
advance of its time.
The ancient Egyptians themselves had a quite different story about their
origins. They tell us that Egypt had been ruled over by 49 Pharaohs before the
time of Menes. That some of these Pharaohs were God-like and Demi-God
like beings who had lived for thousands and hundreds of years in some cases.
The earliest of these Kings, we are told, were responsible for the cultivation of
humanity from the beginning. Eventually these Pharaohs lived for shorter and
shorter lengths of time until their bloodline was so diluted by inter-breeding
with humanity that well before the time of Menes all trace of their powers had
been lost and the government of Egypt had passed into the hands of humans
whereby it fell into relative corruption.
The language and magio-religious tradition that is known to have existed,
intact, at the time of Menes, was, then, according to tradition, a remnant of a
vastly more ancient, and some suggest - more advanced, culture than today's.
But there has passed over 5000 years of human history since that time. The
conflicts that have arisen as a consequence of human society have caused
some cultures, some isolated or repressed groups, to lose connection with the
original mystery tradition brought over from beyond the beginning of modern
history. As a result some such societies have had their occult knowledge
reduced to a bare minimum, corrupted, or alternatively, lost it altogether and
had to eventually re-access the knowledge themselves. Shamanism, we
suggest, was the result of such conditions, not once in early history but
repeatedly down through the ages.
Magick, originally, was a craft like any other, such as war, agriculture,
architecture, or politics. Magickians were employed by Kings in stable
societies or supported by the community in small social groups. They were
healers, and were expected to ensure communal livelihood and success in
war. Because of this the aims and focus of ancient Magi were quite different [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]