Questioning Existence

We pretty much know the phrase, "I think, there for I am", am I right?  A little overview on this: if I recall correctly, it was Rene Descartes who made this quote, and it was a summation of a rather long trail of thought, based on the question "Does anything truly exist?"  After all, how can we be sure that the air we breathe really is air and is actually real?  We could say scientists told us, but who are those scientists?  Maybe our teachers told us, but who told your teachers, and who told the instructors of your teachers?  How can we tell if something we touch, feel, see, smell, hear or taste be real?

We currently are tied to a world of statistics and stocked knowledge from various experiments and observations from the past and present, but statistics and even numbers as a whole are abstract concepts, and how can you say those past observations are true, when you cannot even verify your own observations outside of the basic senses and analysis using abstract concepts and past assumptions?

How do we know we even exist?

This is where the quote comes in.  The fact that there is at least one being in the entire universe that is capable of doubting anyone's existence makes that being real.  If that being is capable of questioning his own existence at all, he would also be considered real because a being cannot doubt his or her existence if he or she isn't real.  Now with that in mind, because I have the mental capacity and the ability to doubt my own existence, I am able to verify that I am actually a being that exists.

I think, therefore I am.

What does this have to do with magick?  Well, the existence of everything outside ourselves is verified by our own ability to verify our own existence.  If we are not sure who we are, how can we say everything we know and see is real... and so how can we say everything around us is real?  Magick maybe flowing throughout the universe (assuming there's only universe and not multiverse), or maybe it isn't and it's all a bunch of hogwash, but the fact that we have the capacity to even think of it and question its existence makes magick very real at least in our minds/hearts/whatever.  And that question of existence, the fact that it's in our thinking/feeling process at all, makes it even more "real".

Think of it this way: Santa Clause for some people is real, but no documentation of a real Saint Nicholas or Santa Clause as a person has been circulated anywhere, is there?  We may have a holiday dedicated to him (just like we have a holiday for another mythical "saint": Saint Valentine), but that still doesn't make him real per se.  What truly makes Santa Clause real is the fact that people cherish him and made him as real as he can get... so even if he *was* just a figment of our imaginations, the fact that people are able to make their "imaginations" something perceptible (by means of celebrations, effigies, costumes, etc.) pretty much makes him real.

A more controversial case in point: The life and death of Jesus Christ may have been well-documented in the bible, but outside of it his divinity - nay his very existence - has been but a question mark, especially considering the Roman Catholic Church pretty much burned all known existing copies of gospels and scriptures that, although made by others who (supposedly) lived in the time of Jesus, didn't coincide with the decisions of the counsels at the time.  So how do we know He's real?  Well, in the words of Jesus Himself : "Blessed are those who do not see, yet believe" (if I remembered that correctly).  Basically even if He never really existed as a physical being, the fact that His teachings, followers, etc. not only existed but had a huge impact on the world, shaping it to what it is now makes Him just as real as any person would... since any person can affect other persons, and eventually chain react into changing the world.

And we know this is true because that "any person" is able to question his or her own existence.

So is magick real?  It's been affecting our universe since the time of its conception, it's affected our past, it simmers in the minds and hearts of our youth, and it's the topic at hand, am I right?

So yes it's real, real enough to be discussed in the first place :)

Essential Ws + H: Who, What, When, Where, Why, How? part 1

Who: Who is the first to discover magick?

Science assumes that early man invented magic to explain his surroundings, as well as gods, demons, angels, and other spiritual beings.  For me, however, I would like to think that man was the first to record his knowledge about magick in ways his early mind could comprehend.  After all, we often define magic in ways we understand, and the more we understand the less we have to categorize something as "magic" BUT that still doesn't eliminate the existence of magick per se.

What: What is magick?

As I said, magick - as opposed to illusionist and scapegoat magic - is the unifying force that binds our universe together: life.  It may not be in the form we associate life with, but it's still life nevertheles; after all, even though in the strictest sense we don't see Earth as breathing, reproducing, eating, sleeping, or having emotions, but many of us do consider Earth as alive... so what's stopping other planets and heavenly bodies from not being alive in *any* sense?

When: When did magick begin?

Magick in this universe began with its birth.  The steps to evolution to life as we know and believe to understand it may have been billions of years after the Big Bang - if the theory is to be established as a fact rather than as a theory - but the universe itself I consider as alive in that it's teeming with the energies both materialized and in forms that previously (and perhaps, for some, to this date) haven't been detected and fully understood, and it's still growing and maturing, so to speak.

Where: Where can magick be found?

Magick is pretty much everywhere, even in the various planes of existence that science would likely brush off as non-existent because they aren't able to go beyond this physical realm.

Why: Why has magick been considered as fake or unreal?

Aside from the fact that the power of magick has already been blown out of proportion (to a certain degree) by the power of imagination, science is primarily a study of the empirical, something that can be studied, observed, rationalized, formulated, and if possible experimented upon.  These things you could do with magick, but considering that science is designed in either the physical or social aspects of the universe, anything that isn't either is considered fake or can be explained in the down-to-earth scientific method.

How: How do you determine if magick really is magick?

It lies mainly upon intent, really.  If it's to impress or deceive the mind then it's likely more illusion magic than actual magick.  If it's to have something actually happen however, there's a small chance magick is involved, in varying degrees; faith healers would use the power of their god to remove illnesses, exorcists would use the power of their god to remove demons, witches would use the power of nature to cure ailments or cause the land to be a reflection of her fury, etc.

[ Personally I consider every single person a potential bearer of magick, with the power to change one's self and others in spite of how the natural world has programmed him/her ]

- - - - -

Who: Who can teach us magick?

Assuming now that you believe in the existence of magick, various beliefs and people do often resort to mysticism and teach magick (within their accepted doctrine, mind you).  With each school/religion/faith/belief system comes the rituals, potions, magicks that you can use with varying degrees of success.  Some may have psychological benefits, while others are spiritual in boon, while still others may actually have a physical effect on you or your surroundings - the last one may be rather difficult to pull off since trying to affect others, particularly other living beings, isn't just a matter of "I want it to happen and so it will happen" (that is the talk of arrogance more than anything); you have to consider the strengths and weaknesses and willingness [or lack thereof] of whoever or whatever you're intending to affect.

Aside from those mentioned, spiritual beings may also help with the study of magick.  The easiest to approach would be demons of course, but they are all too willing to trade their knowledge and power for your soul, and thus it is highly discouraged to do ANY deal with them. Natural beings - tree spirits, mountain guardians, creatures visible only to those perceptive enough who are of natural or elemental origin especially - may give you the insight and knowledge needed for magick, but they are fickle and untrusting at first, so care and friendship is pretty much a must for most people (there are exceptions to this rule of course).  The best way to go about magick is of course with the help of the Divine One(s), although frankly it's easier and better that you become a saint, rather than trying to have them teach you about magick.

The hardest way is to do self-study, because you can't exactly study what you can't see, and studying magical tomes/books without any initial know-how can be dangerous, as it opens risks to possession, miscasts, and worst, death of varying levels (absolute worst is complete destruction of your soul and spiritual form).

What: What are the principles of magick?

Magick itself has no "beliefs" in the sense that it is amoral and it follows its own path independent of time and space; in fact, were it not for its influence on the various planes of existence it could work completely separate and independent of everything.  Regarding the principles of the study of magick, however, there are only two things that all practitioners regardless of origin might agree on:

• Always strive to improve on your discipline
  
• Always be prepared for any and all possibilities
  

Be it for the betterment of others or self, or to harm others, or to purely study how magick works, those two will always apply.

When: When is the best time to learn magick?

Magick can be learned any time, any place, by anyone.  The fact that such potent knowledge can be accessed by anyone made early magicians fear that they would be rendered useless; a fear that, although has some merit, still is rather superfluous because it always helped if more people found more uses for it and more ways to manipulate such force.  So the early magicians kept the knowledge to themselves, insisting that only the elite in society have the priveledge to study magick for their own benefit (but that's another tale for another time).

Essentially, the earlier the better, but there is no strict across-the-boarder ruling anywhere about any aspect of magick, so as long as your heart, mind and soul is open to magick, you can start learning about it, and maybe making it work to help improve your own life.

Where: Where is magick strongest?

There are three places where magick is at its strongest:

• Where the forces of life are most concentrated and in harmony.  Jungles, forests and even in and under certain bodies of water fit here.
  
• Where the negative forces of life are at its most concentrated.  Places where a lot of hatred, death, hunger, lament, and despair has been funneled into fit here (thus the "heavy feeling" when in said places).
  
• Within the person himself.  We have the power to affect others - some people moreso than others - and whether or not you believe in the term "aura", you've got to admit that some people always seem to have a certain... power... with them.
  

Why: Why use magick?

If it feels right for you, then why not?  But for the most part, with the way this world works, there is little that magick can do that science can't do as well or even better.  For things that go beyond the explanations and reach of science, however, unless it's banned by your religious order I see no reason why not to use magick.

How: How does casting magick work?

As mentioned in various references, magick - at its most basic - is a matter of Will (Intent) and Creativity (Imagination).  No matter what ritual or mystic language you use, or even if you just spontaneously cast magick, it's always a matter of what you want and how you want it.  And of course it's more than just words, it's a matter of emotions and body "vibrations" as well, so when you want something done - let's say, you want your homework to "magically" disappear - there's the intent, but there is no imagination on how that would happen, so it's unlikely it'll happen.  If you have the intent and the imagination - like your homework disappearing from a bear jumping out from the sky and trashing your roof with the sole purpose of destroying your homework - while there is a tiny, tiny chance it'd happen, it's still not going to happen since you first have to make your intent and imagination as realistic as it can be, so while it may be possible to alter weather - with enough training of course - causing a meteor to crash into your annoying neighbor's car is probably stretching a bit (although you *could* still trash it in other ways...).

But if it's all in intent + imagination, why should rituals be of any use?  Well, rituals for one help focus your intent and imprint on your mind the method you have imagined the magick to occur.  The more focus, the better the chances of it working.  Of course the flip side of this is that the more intensive the ritual, the more likely you'll end up goofing it up in one part or another, causing the spell to go haywire (if anything happens at all).

The Existence of Magick : What *is* magick?

To be a magician, one must acknowledge that magick actually exists.  But what *is* magick?  Is it the power to literally move mountains, throw fireballs, turn your enemies into frogs or other creatures and other fantastic abilities?  Is it communing with the devil, or raising dead, or summoning of spirits past?  Is it actually something that can influence us or work for us?  Or is it just a mix of hogwash used to explain non-scientifically anything that our tiny human brains cannot fully understand?

For me, as a magician, the first thing that comes to mind when the term "magick" is mentioned is "life".  Ask five hundred people what is life, and they'd probably give you five hundred definitions of "life"... and most of those definitions would likely be descriptions of what they consider to be alive, and not what life itself is.   After all, how may of us have even considered asking what life is?

[ My guess is at least one person would say life is something that is alive, or something that breathes, eats, and reproduces is alive.  If something is alive, what makes it alive... life?  If something that eats, breathes, and reproduces is alive, then is a car that eats gasoline, breathes air (and releases it into the atmosphere as fumes) and is reproduced in a factory alive?  I believe there are theories regarding the definition of life itself, but scientists have yet to create life in any sense of the word as understood by the layman ]

Why life?  Aside from it being one of the least understood things in the universe (yes we know how children are born, but when does a cell become a separate individual, and how do we know that that individual is actually a living being?  Is it only because it resembles ourselves as living beings?  So we define using comparisons, but we still don't know within ourselves what makes us "tick" so to speak), life is a valuable and powerful force in any respect.  Without life, not only would the universe be boring, in some ways it may not even fully exist (in the physical sense perhaps it'll be there, but beyond the physical sense of the universe there wouldn't be more to it than particles, because seriously, why would bodies that are comprised of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and other elements have the will to survive and the need to evolve?).  Science may be able to explain the existence of emotions and social interactions, but there still is that line between facts, interpretations, and theories.

Now back to our topic.  Life for me is what magick is all about, because whether you're a Wiccan that gives praise to our Earth Mother and Three-Horned God, a warlock or mystic who rains hexes on unfortunate folk, an exorcist who drives out evil spirits, or even a young mother who holds her young child in her arms, it's all the same: we are surrounded by life, need life, and are driven by life to do the seemingly impossible.  And the power of life combined with our desire -- our need -- to pursue it, to be one with it, to grasp it in our hands and take it to where we believe it must go, that for me is magick.

• a Wiccan who casts spells and brews potions to heal and to encourage love and peace, would be using the power of life from plants and from the environment he/she is in to promote well-being
  
• a mystic who harms others with his/her spells would be using his own life-force as well as the powers that can harm or kill that is found in the universe, combine it with his desires and intent, and throw that destructive spell/curse/energy towards the unfortunate target
  
• an exorcist, using the powers of the Higher Being(s) whose presence we don't often see with our natural senses (sometimes channeled through rituals and prayers), combined with the will to restore the possessed to his proper spiritual + psychological form, be able to drive out the possessors from his body
  
• a mother, who not only gave her child the power and chance to live, but cares for her so much that she would do everything in her physical power to give that child what she considers a proper upbringing, would somehow gain a perseverance, stamina and sometimes even strength, to go beyond what others may consider as natural (if they hadn't seen their own mothers with the same strengths, or take those strengths for granted)
  

These are but a few examples of what magick, at least for me, is.  It's not something that's readily brought into a laboratory and scrutinized, although the effects of magick may be seen everywhere and at the same time nowhere.  A paradox?  Perhaps.  But life has always been an oddity in our universe...

... unless you consider the universe itself as alive, and thus filled with magick.

- - - - -

If anyone is wondering why I'm insisting upon expressing the limits of science it's because

1. Sometimes I think science is overrated.  It's a good interpretation of facts and fairly reliable, but still it can't explain everything.
2. The old adage, for one to learn one must first unlearn still holds true to this day... and even moreso if you are to look at such an outrageous topic as magick.

Introduction

Hi, my name is Lawrence Augustine R. Mingoa, a 25-year old chap -- as of post time -- that's been maybe a bit wonkier than most, but that's assuming that there actually is something to these "normal" and "sane" things people keep on referring to (but that's for another discussion).  Aside from my oddities in philosophy and my computer gaming habits, I'm pretty much a sane guy with nothing exceptional, save for a penchant for books and a knack for Photoshopping (you can see my works at http://nharishkhalfangaea.deviantart.com/ :) ).

That is the believable part, since it's what people can see.  What is harder to believe -- aside from my being open-minded to the idea that you can have sex with someone's wife/husband so long as you keep it to strictly sex and no emotional attachment -- is that in a previous life, I was a half-elf half-dwarf named N'haris'h'khal'fang'aea (Chaotic Fang of the Cursed Order) who dabbled in the mystic arts.  I may have had other lives I haven't been able to recall fully, but this is what I know is truest to me.

Just to keep it short, you can refer to me as Lawrence, Nharish, or even just Ling (for "Sapling").

The first question that may pop in your mind would be, of course, if I am actually sane, since there is no scientific proof for the existence of invisible folk like elves, dwarves, centaurs, and what not.  Perhaps they are intangible and cannot be brought into the laboratory for testing like your typical creatures, but if you are open to the concept that no matter how good our sensors and equipment are, we are still limited to our five basic senses, all of which only perceive

* energy

* matter

and all factors related to them, maybe you would then be more open to the concept that there may be things that go beyond these two that science would, at best, only be explained through theories, which are the scientific equivalent of educated guesses based on what can be perceived.  Although trying to explain an apple to someone who only knows bananas without being able to show the apple is just as difficult to go about as trying to explain the existence of beings that cannot undergo physical scrutiny.

Are they real? Definitely. One may argue that the mere fact that they've been prevalent in every society and every level of every society throughout the centuries -- even if it's all myth and creations of imagination -- gives some credit to their existence, even if their existence is "just in the mind" (scientific and medical studies has yet to fully unlock the purpose of 90% of human brain matter, because if we use only 10% to live, why do we still have the "unused" 90% retained, and even increasing in proportion to the increase in our brain masses? Typically parts of the body and the mind that aren't used simply break down and weaken by nature's "use it or lose it" method of maintaining efficiency of one's body).  And for those who have sensory perceptions beyond the typical -- the ones who claim to have paranormal perception, more popularly termed as "third eye" -- it would be easier for them to see these seemingly extraordinary creatures as well as other beings that science would brand as improbable to outright impossible: spirits, ghosts, angels, demons, and what not.

Further discussions we can go about eventually, but this post is an introduction to the blog and the blogger, not a question of the said blogger's sanity nor the existence of paranormal stuff.

What is this blog all about?  It is essentially my little spot where I can stash all my notes on a topic that's also in the realm of the paranormal: Magick.  I'm taking the liberty of using the spelling of magick with "k" to differentiate myself from the typical street magician or illusionist magics used today (as used by other references regarding the subject), and yes I am a self-proclaimed magician, as in practitioner of the "dark arts" -- although no I do not consider my art to be really dark, since I'm not particularly fond of necromancy.  I've had my training in healing magick [similar to pranic healing], and I've recently gained interest in Kabbalah, albeit only to a certain degree.  Yes I'm also into hexes, curses, infliction of pain and elemental fury and all that jazz, and frankly the coincidences between my emotional bouts and the change in weather is way too often... but even though I lack the same drive to believe the concept of karma, I'm still simply too nice a guy to bother sending deathspells here and there.

Oh and in spite of my healing magick and my spellcasting abilities, I still believe in the power of modern-day medicine, technology, and factual knowledge.

Why blog about it?  For one I tend to run out of paper, at least blogs supply me with millions of pages I could type on.  And for another, I'm also on a quest for knowledge myself; if there is anyone out there who is willing to share their views and their own knowledge on the matter, it is all the better for all of us, yes?  And finally, it's to be able to leave something behind since the Internet would likely be here even past this earthly body's lifetime; at least someone would have a good read, and if that someone had a tendency to dabble in the arts it might even be a good resource for them be it as a beginner, intermediate, or advanced learner.

What would be my references or credentials?  I'm guessing some may say it's off the top of my head -- perhaps a collection and compilation of my memories of past or my readings on magic from non-believable sources like games such as Dungeons & Dragons, since there is no physical verifiable source about the subject -- even if I said I have a vast library in the Astral Planes.  Credentials?  Well, if this was a sort of Inquisition or what not then I have none to provide since magick is an art that's been buried and thought as lost, hidden within the traditions of families and cultures, mixed into religions including Catholicism and Wicca.

This blog, if taken seriously, is only for those who really wish to read about how *I* do magick.  If you have your own style or perception towards magick -- and by that I mean real magick, not David Copperfield magic -- we'll have discussions but the discrimination that some may have towards practitioners of the arts is not to be tolerated.  After all, even if it seems fictional or false to you and to the rest of the scientific community, it doesn't mean it's the only way one should look at the world.  Science explains emotions as hormonal responses to external stimuli, but how about emotions that come from within, from memories long gone and loves long lost?  Science theorizes about the origins of the universe, but all we have are residue of things that may have happened, but not about the origins of those origins and the things that sparked the beginnings of those events.

All in all, welcome to my blogsite, wipe the dust off your feet if you wish to stay and listen, and if you think it's all gibberish, fantasy and stupidity that must be quelled, thank you for passing by, the door is THAT way.