Many systems have been developed over the ages to help us control our thoughts. A great amound of dogma too has been kicked around in an attempt to make us into better people. Magick (the occult kind, spelled with a 'k') is one of the oldest and most general of these systems. Magick is the study and application of psychic forces. It uses mental training, concentration, and a system of symbols to program the mind. The purpose of magick is to alter the self and the environment according to the will.
Most of the magick we see today comes to us from ancient Egypt and Chaldea. The Chinese, Hindus, and Tibetans developed their own unique types of magick. Western magick was locked up by the Egyptian priests for thousands of years and then supressed by the rise of Christianity. It was not until medieval Europe that magical knowledge was rediscovered by the alchemists and Cabalists. Only during the past hundred years or so has western culture been open minded enough to permit widespread investigation of the subject. Only since the start of the twentieth century has science shown much interest in it al all.
Thus, the human mind and body appears to broadcast psychic energy or force, much like a radio station. Kirlian photography and cloud chamber tests tend to support this theory. Although the exact nature of this psychic force is subtle and unknown, it is undoubtedly the energy behind all psychic phenomena and magick. However, it is *not* a radio wave, since it behaves somewhat differently. The psychic force is too weak to be measured directly (at least so far as we know). Everyone has some psychic ability. There are numerous types of psychic phenomena. Parapsychology separates them into two groups: ESP and PK...
1) Clairvoyance, or Remote Viewing -- the ability to
sense or 'see' (non-physically) distant objects, places, and
people. Individuals who see ghosts and spirits are probably
clairvoyant.
2) Astral Projection (OOBE) or Traveling Clairvoyance
-- Full experience at a remote location while the physical
body sleeps.
3) Psychometry -- the reading of information by the
touch of physical objects.
4) Telepathic receiver -- the ability to directly
receive thought (communication) at a distance, with no
physical connection to the sender. There are many everyday
examples of this, in which we think something just as another
person is about to say it. This is an easy one to test for
through experiment. Very dramatic cases of telepathy have
been recorded; there is often an emotional element in such
cases.
5) A medium, as in a seance.
6) Experience with a Ouija board, pendulum, or
automatic writing.
7) Precognition -- to forsee the future. Again,
highly emotional events are the ones most likely to be 'tuned
in'.
1) Telepathic sender -- the transmitter in the
telepathy just discussed.
2) Psychokinesis (or telekinesis) proper -- the
ability to move objects by means of psychic force.
3) Somewhat along the same lines are poltergeist
(noisy ghost) phenomena in which objects move of their own
accord or noises are heard. There is always a human agent
involved -- frequently a teenage girl -- who appears to be
the source of psychic energy.
4) Psychic healing -- the ability to heal various
illnesses and infirmities. There are many documented cases of
this. Usually it involves a healer and a subject, although
there are recent cases invloving cancer patients learning to
heal themselves.
5) Teleportation, apportation, and levitation.
Some occultists feel a magician producing PK effects
is simply a channel for universal energy. Others think the
force originates some way directly within the magician.
Magick is fun and interesting. Use magick to help
raise consciousness without drugs. Gain new experiences.
Fantacy can come alive through magick. Psychic phenomena can
be controlled and be fun and helpful.
Magick is beneficial. It can help you to have
excellent health, and bring you good luck. With magick life
runs smoothly; life is good. Also use magick for personality
improvement, to control bad habits and to develop new
motivations.
Magick is powerful. Never underestimate the
tremendous power of magick. Use magick to alter events and to
achieve your goals. Exert an influence over people and
phenomena. But power for its own sake is self defeating. The
power which magick can give you should not be your primary
reason for studying it.
Alchemy also has much in common with magick. It's heritage comes from the middle ages. Alchemy fathered chemistry and the physical sciences. But the avowed purpose of alchemy, turning lead into gold, is too limiting to be called magick. Sometimes the goal of alchemy is interpreted in another way, as the transformation of man into a spiritual being.
Then there are the numerous modern day seers or 'pychics', as they like to be called, who operate within their own somewhat unique systems. Although many of these people are deluded frauds, some are very powerful occultists indeed.
Of course, everything I have said here is a generalization. Magick, witchcraft, alchemy, or any occult field are complex subjects. Suffice it to say that magick includes them all (it is eclectic). For magick is undoubtedly a philosophy which has, as the late Aleister Crowley wrote, "The method of science -- the aim of religion."
