Hackers Underworld 2: Forbidden Knowledge/Hackers Underworld 2: Forbidden Knowledge.iso/OCCULT/MODEL.TXT

Text File | 1991-04-15 | 20KB | 377 lines

                      MODELS OF MAGIC
                           by

              Frater U.'.D.'. (Germany)

 In the  course  of  exploring  the  possibilities  of  new,  more
efficient  techniques  of  magic  I was struck by the fact that a
structuralist view of the history of magic to  date  might  prove
helpful.  After all, magicians have always aspired to restate the
theory and practice of magic in the language of their times  i.e.
in different models pertaining to current world views.

     There is,  however,  some risk involved in such an approach:
models  do  not  really   explain   anything,   they   are   only
illustrations  of  processes,  albeit rather useful ones.  What's
more,  over-systematization  tends  to  obfuscate  more  than  it
clarifies  and  one  should not mistake the map for the landscape
anyway, a fallacy a great many kabbalists seem to be prone to.

     Thus,  the following five (or rather: four plus one)  models
of magic should be seen as a means of understanding the practical
possibilities   of   various   magical  systems  rather  than  as
definitive theories and/or explanations of the way magic works.

 It has proved effective in  practice  to  view  magic  under  the
following categories:

 THE SPIRIT MODEL
 THE ENERGY MODEL
 THE PSYCHOLOGICAL MODEL
 THE INFORMATION MODEL
 THE META-MODEL

                              ***

 THE SPIRIT MODEL

 This  is purportedly the oldest model of magic though it may very
well have come into existence after or  simultaneously  with  the
energy  model.  We  can find it worldwide in shamanic cultures as
well as in many religions.  Its basic premise is the existence of
an  otherworld inhabited by more or less autonomous entities such
as spirits, angels, demons,  gods etc.  The shaman or magician is
someone who can enter this otherworld at will,  who has travelled
widely in it,  knows  its  language  and  customs  and  has  made
friends,  smitten  enemies  and/or  acquired allies and servitors
there.  This is important as all  magic  is  of  these  entities'
making. The modern German word for witch, "Hexe" (f.) illustrates
this rather neatly if we take a closer look at its etymology.  It
derives from Old High  German  "hagazussa"  which  translates  as
"fence  rider".  The  hagazussa  is riding the "fence between the
worlds" i.e. she is at home in the world of everyday life as well
as in the magical otherworld of spirits.

     In the spirit model magic is seen as being effected by these
entities who are usually  invisible,  at  least  to  the  average
punter,  and  it  is the shaman's or magician's task to make them
put his will into effect. This may be done by prayer,  by barter,
by  cajoling  or  even  -  vide  medieval  demon  magic  - by the
application of magical force, threats and pressure.

     The otherworld may have its own geography but it is  usually
considered to coexist with the world of everyday life. The key to
entering  it  is  an  altered state of consciousness,  controlled
trance or ecstasy of which the shaman is an expert.

     The spirit model has prevailed in traditionalist or Dogmatic
magic until today,  some of its most noted exponents being  Franz
Bardon and, at least to a great extent, Aleister Crowley.

 THE ENERGY MODEL

 The  rise  of the energy model in the West is marked primarily by
the appearance of Mesmerism towards the end of the 18th  century.
Anton  Mesmer,  who was not an occultist but who was on the other
hand regarded by his contemporaries to be a "miracle  worker"  of
sorts,  rediscovered  amongst  other  things  the ancient healing
disciplines of hypnosis and magnetism.  He popularized his theory
of  "animal magnetism" which he saw as a subtle force inherent in
organisms,  but he also made  heavy  use  of  metal  magnets  for
healing purposes.

     While  the French Revolution put a temporary end to Mesmer's
movement, his ideas were not lost. They were taken up by a number
of  others,   primarily  occultists,   who  drew  on  them  while
developing their own theories of magic. One of the first to do so
was  Bulwer Lytton of the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia (SRIA),
who postulated the existence of a subtle energy which  he  termed
Vril,  possibly  deriving from Latin virilitas or "force,  power,
strength". (This was actually the model for the naming of Bovril,
from Latin "bovis" or "ox",  and Vril or "life  force".)  We  can
observe  interesting  parallels  to  this concept in the vitalist
theories of biology which emerged around  the  same  time.  Other
exponents  of the energy model of magic (not then so termed) were
Reichenbach with his concept of Od,  Eliphas Levi and his  Astral
Light and Mme.  Blavatsky, who adopted the theories of Prana from
Yoga physiology.  This was also the time  when  anthropology  and
ethnology  discovered  the Polynesian concept of Mana and Asiatic
scholars began to concern themselves with the  Chinese  principle
of Ki or Ch'i (Chi).  The latter two go to show,  of course, that
the idea of subtle energies utilized by magic is far  older  than
the  18th  century.  In fact,  we can observe it already in early
shamanic cultures.  Shamanic magic is very frequently  a  mixture
between  spirit and energy model,  e.g.  the shaman may call upon
his spirits or gods to give him "power" or he  may,  vice  versa,
use his power to extort favours from them.

     In its pure form,  however, the shaman or magician is not in
need of spirits and other entities.  The world is viewed as being
"vitalized"  by  subtle  forces  or energies and his primary task
consists in mastering the  art  of  perceiving  and  manipulating
them.  As  all  phenomena are basically energetic in nature,  the
existence of an otherworld is not strictly  required.  Thus,  the
magician  is  more  of an "energy dancer" than a "fence rider" or
go-between. But even here the key to the perception, charging and
general utilization of these forces is again the  magical  trance
or, as Chaos Magic terms it, gnosis.

     Theories and practices pertaining to the energy model can be
found  with many magical authors but it has seen its real,  large
scale popularity only since the seventies of our century when the
general influx of Eastern thinking  (pace  the  Hippie  movement)
made  concepts  such  as  chakra and kundalini work a mainstay of
most occult disciplines. Strong energy model elements can also be
found in  Franz  Bardon's  system  of  "electromagnetic  fluids",
"condensators" etc.

 THE PSYCHOLOGICAL MODEL

 Sigmund Freud's theory of the subconscious revolutionized Western
thinking  in  general  and psychology (which he did not,  as some
people are wont to believe, invent all by himself) in particular.
Suddenly,  man was seen as  a  being  which  was  only  partially
conscious  and  in  control of itself.  While psychology is still
fighting for its academical recognition  as  a  science,  it  has
stamped its mark on therapeutic disciplines - and on magic.

     The psychological model of magic does not purport to explain
how  magic works,  its only premise is that the subconscious (or,
as Carl Jung later retagged it,  the unconscious) will do the job
if  it  is  properly addressed and/or conditioned.  This again is
achieved by magical trance,  suggestion and the  use  of  symbols
(i.e.  selective  sensory input) as tools of association and as a
means of communication between the magician's conscious will  and
his subconscious faculty responsible for putting it into effect.

     Aleister  Crowley  dabbled a great deal in the psychological
model which comes as no surprise as he not only tried to keep  up
with  all  major  academic  disciplines  of  his time but thought
himself to be the world's greatest psychologist into the bargain.
But all considered he remained a traditionalist exponent  of  the
spirit   model:   after  all  Aiwass  was,   in  his  belief,   a
praeternatural entity.  Nevertheless  he  did  have  a  knack  of
explaining magic in psychological terms to make it sound sensi