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Definitions of Magic

Posted: Tue Mar 26, 2013 1:04 pm
by Nefastos
Then, a fundamental question for my fellow occultists (and other participants):

How'd you define magic? What is & isn't magic?

Do you believe in supernatural at large, and if yes, is there supernatural agency that is not "magic"?

Re: Definitions of Magic

Posted: Wed Mar 27, 2013 4:42 am
by Azoth
I define magic as the realisation of Spirit. It sounds simple, vague and unexplanatory put like that, so I’ll try to elaborate a bit.

When aware of itself, undistracted and focussed by Will, the human psyche can effect changes in the causal realm that have no causal basis. Such acts are essentially magical, and can consist of something as regular as composing (real, meaningful) music, art or poetry, or as irregular as an act of ritual magic designed to have an observable effect in the objective, ‘outer’ world.

Filled with life and will, autonomous beings are an anomaly in the material Universe as unlike everything else that consists of matter, we have a free-will of movement and desire. This ‘life’ and free-will separates us from our inert, lifeless surroundings and is the product of Spirit – the essence of the Divine – which is what makes sentient beings sentient and life Sacred.

In human beings, this sentience is refined to a higher level, which means we have a greater portion of Spirit – or Divine potential – to work with. If we choose to, through realisation of what the Spirit actually is, and how we may utilise it to effect both ourselves and our environments, we can utilise these spiritual powers upon our Self or upon the material world around us in acts of sorcery.
Simply put, then, magic is ultimately the utilisation of our unique and distinct Will. To call it supernatural is both right and wrong depending on your opinion. In most people’s understanding magic certainly is ‘supernatural’, but to someone with a more refined understanding of Spirit it is an innate, and therefore natural, ability.

I wouldn’t say that I believe in the supernatural at large, at least by the common, societal understanding of that word, but, yes, I firmly believe in the existence of magic, sorcery and the (conditional) survival of the human essence beyond death. Such things do become bastardized by profane understandings however, and stand a poor chance of ever being proven scientifically.

By my definition any action that has its origin in the Spirit is magical, though practices that effect changes beyond the Self in a way that could be considered ‘supernatural’ are better defined as ‘sorcery’.

Re: Definitions of Magic

Posted: Wed Mar 27, 2013 10:51 am
by Nefastos
I agree.
Azoth wrote:Filled with life and will, autonomous beings are an anomaly in the material Universe as unlike everything else that consists of matter, we have a free-will of movement and desire. This ‘life’ and free-will separates us from our inert, lifeless surroundings and is the product of Spirit – the essence of the Divine – which is what makes sentient beings sentient and life Sacred.


This concept of free will was exremely hard for me to grasp for a long time, but at last I managed to understand where such a thing can spring & affect life. It is precisely the laya-point, the zero-point of (all) being that can - and does - make choices above causality, because it itself is above dimension known as time.

Of course, it is not the everyday personal man who thus creates, for me as a person am only a splinter or a fragment of the true essence of I. Such an Eye is how that Spirit (as you said) keeps watch over us "from the above" and is us.

Although I think that our seemingly inert & lifeless surrounding are actually quite alive & "magical", although their consciousness may be hidden & their magic follows a little bit different paths than ours.

Azoth wrote:I define magic as the realisation of Spirit.


And if we'd take a viewpoint of the said Spirit, we might say that magic is the realisation of Matter.

In Hindu practice the word for yogi's magical power is maya, the same word that is used for the world illusion: the worldly phenomena that is not spirit but a seeming truth. This embrace of Spirit (consciousness, meaning) and Matter (power, manifestation) and their being in each other is really the great wonder of the world. And as you said, it is not less present in art than it's in supranormal effects of ceremonial magic, for example.

Re: Definitions of Magic

Posted: Wed Mar 27, 2013 2:47 pm
by Azoth
Nefastos wrote:Although I think that our seemingly inert & lifeless surrounding are actually quite alive & "magical", although their consciousness may be hidden & their magic follows a little bit different paths than ours.
Yes, I agree. Though matter itself is 'inert' it is imbued with Spirit to varying degrees (as per the ideas of Emanationism and Panentheism) but not to the same degree that it fills a sentient being. The appeal of animistic religions like Shinto, for instance, is in the way that this Spirit is defined in very particular and pluralistic ways as residing within Matter.

In its natural, original form, as seen in the purity of nature, the Spirit that lies in Matter is far more perceivable than it is through the artifice of an industrial landscape. It's as if the alteration of matter from its origin to a use of pure functionality strips it of its purity, sanctity and beauty as the Spirit in it becomes lesser.

I think you see a lot of this reduction of the Spirit in Matter in twentieth century architecture, particularly that of the Eastern Bloc, in which the importance of Form and beauty were abandoned in favour of Function because of the perception that materialism represented the only reality.

This, I think, is the danger of Matter - when stripped of Spirit, which it appears it can be through our interference, it becomes Emanated even further away from its Divine origin. A world based on this sort of desanctification is one that and can drag the human psyche into inertia and despondency. I guess this fits in with what you've said elsewhere about the destructive actions of man being the only real 'evil' in the world.

Re: Definitions of Magic

Posted: Wed Mar 27, 2013 7:35 pm
by Nefastos
Azoth wrote:This, I think, is the danger of Matter - when stripped of Spirit, which it appears it can be through our interference, it becomes Emanated even further away from its Divine origin. A world based on this sort of desanctification is one that and can drag the human psyche into inertia and despondency. I guess this fits in with what you've said elsewhere about the destructive actions of man being the only real 'evil' in the world.


Indeed. And yet we are in a paradox of sorts, as absolute matter per se does not exist; matter sublimated enough reveals itself as a concentration of spirit and not something completely different from it. Let's inspect the infinitesimal particles: examined closely enough, matter turns from concreteness to force.

So, what we call matter as something capable of doing something, we actually talk about the different reflections (or obscurations) of spirit through matter. If matter is inert in itself, then it is spirit of which defects escalate in evil.

Thus out of man only real evil comes, because only in man there is possibility to stand against harmony and emphasise one's own subjective truth above harmony of the whole. Needless to say, the very same thing is the one that makes ingeniosity, conscious magic, &c., and so we are at the beginning of this conversation again.

It is also how I see Satan. He gives man power, Fire, and finally we evolve - with it - "to be as gods, knowing good and evil". But when we try to manipulate the world without the sense of harmony, it leads to the lessening of (our ability to perceive purer) spirit and beauty in our culture, as you pointed concerning the modern architecture.

Re: Definitions of Magic

Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2013 12:04 am
by Azoth
Nefastos wrote:Indeed. And yet we are in a paradox of sorts, as absolute matter per se does not exist; matter sublimated enough reveals itself as a concentration of spirit and not something completely different from it. Let's inspect the infinitesimal particles: examined closely enough, matter turns from concreteness to force.
Yes. As distinct as they seem, one of them is Emanated from the other, and could be likened to the child of its parent, Matter being the fruit of Spirit rather than the enemy of it. It is distinct from it in Form, but is ultimately of the same essence.
Nefastos wrote:But when we try to manipulate the world without the sense of harmony, it leads to the lessening of (our ability to perceive purer) spirit and beauty in our culture, as you pointed concerning the modern architecture.
This lessening in the perception of Spirit is one of the major things keeps many people today completely aspiritual, which comes from being materially motivated and spiritually unaware. This state, when at a large scale level, as it is now from the top of our society down, leads the world around us to become even less spiritual in nature.

It's not so much that the world of matter is bad but that man, when distanced from spirit through his material desire, becomes bad.

Re: Definitions of Magic

Posted: Tue Apr 02, 2013 8:09 am
by Tlazoltecuhtli
About Magic:

I believe that we live in a causal and determinist universe that follows strict rules when unimpeded. Schopenhauer tried to show on his book "On the freedom of the Will" that the obviousness of causality is inversely proportional to the complexity of the system we are analyzing. This means that the rules of causality are pretty much evident when we throw a stone off a balcony, but look less evident when we see a plant blooming or an animal protecting its young. All of them can be explained by a scientific and positivist approach, but the reasons become more difficult to grasp. So, what if the human being is subject to causal laws that he is unable to understand? Why should the acts of a human being be different than those of an animal?

When I read this book I was unable to find a counterargument, but something inside my soul stirred in denial; I just couldn't buy it, there should be a way around it. It was then that I came to understand something: If i ever got to Understand the laws that govern my psyche then I would be able to break free of them.

Knowledge leads to Understanding
Understanding leads to Passive Awareness of the phenomena and Active Tinkering
Awareness leads to Choice.
Tinkering leads to Technique.


That is the meaning of Magic for me: it is not only a practice that takes place on the ritual chamber but a process of constant probing at the apparent truths on both the objective/material and subjective/spiritual Universe in order to Understand them and Wield them. The final goal is twofold: Freedom from the Rules of the Demiurge while still being able to commune peacefully and harmoniously with its creation. Only then may I find bliss untainted by herd mentality.

Re: Definitions of Magic

Posted: Thu Apr 04, 2013 7:07 pm
by Nefastos
That is an interesting viewpoint, because it brings together two seemingly paradoxal thoughts:

a) Free Will that is not pure causation. So, from the viewpoint of deterministic world you mentioned, it is Chaos.

b) Ability to control something by comprehending it, ascending above it. So ultimately, the essence of Law or rationality.

When these two, Law and Chaos, or comprehension and transmutation (as breaking order to create another), occure at the same point, that certainly is where magic is wrought.

Re: Definitions of Magic

Posted: Tue May 28, 2013 12:06 am
by Necrosophiacos
I have refrained from commenting on this Topic, waiting to study the content upon Magick within the Catechism of Lucifer and Fosforos.

To be honest, being myself a person who has dedicated most his life to the study and practice of the Magick, Sorcery, Witchcraft and the hidden powers within the psique. I take my hat off, and bow down myself before Johannes Nefastos and the Star of Azazel.

The concepts, practice and purification of the sacred art, has brighten eyes and surpassed most of what i have behold, in over 27 years of dedication.

The magnificent quintessence written at Pentagrammaton:

"The Body of Man is an excellent qualitatively unsurpassed instrument for the working of the spirit..."
-Pentagrammaton.

Indeed the body of man is the perfect instrument or microcosmic laboratory for working real Magick, The advanced Magus or Karcist, does not need any external instrument besides his or her own body to create magical phenomena, or the manipulation of the internal and external forces/energies to create an effect according his or her Will. External tools are just "crunches" or "walking helpers" in the path of Darkness and the Dark Arts. The body of Man when purified and the Black Flame ignited within its Heart. See: The artwork of the regular edition of Fosforos: the Mouth of Hell opens from Bellow and the Fires of Master Satan penetrate the Skeleton crucified upon the Tree of life "matter" igniting its heart ablaze". it is well known among students of the occult that the heart, which is the center of Magnetic energy, and Not the human brain as some "new age" gurus put it, is the real source of the magical power within. The Heart can be compared to the astrological sun, the magnetic burning rock which exert the most potent force in the solar system. Within the Christian Religion this has been presented into many allegories like the Heart of Christ burning, or the Christ pointing at his heart as the source of sacred power. Within the Kabbalah the Heart represents Tiphareth the illuminating force upon the tree, and the sixth level of the Magus within various magickal orders.
According the Philosophy of the Star of Azazel, the purification of the external layers which correspond to the sevenfold nature in Man. Actually, the purification of the external Six, because the innermost One corresponds to The Black Flame or Manas, which was created by Master Lucifer before its trapping by the Demiurge, within the clay. When These "aspects" or layers are purified, the magnetic power within the Heart may function without distortion, like the sun rays through a cleansed magnifying glass. This will produce a harmonious phenomena with the spiritual beings within Nature, Spirits, Elementals(Demons), natural forces...what Ceremonial Magicians in the past called "Divine Love". By this sacred art, the Magus, similar to the eastern Fakhir or Aghori will be able to produce "miraculous" awe-inspiring phenomena. Real Magick, which is not the sensory manipulation on others. But, Power over nature, defying the so-called physic or scientific laws.

The Celestial Powers and its Rays, Archetype (presiding entity), polarity (Harmonious or Disharmonious correspondences) as presented on the Table found on The Chapter: Legifer & Clavis Magica, page: 185 of Fosforos. The apprehension, study and practice of this represents an almost lost wisdom, secret magickal knowledge kept hidden since the dawn of time, which was born on lost civilizations such Atlantis and Lemuria, among others. Further will be discussed, if I am allowed to, on future topics. Indeed, a very fascinating subject. But, this will come by actual practice and not armchair theorizing.

The Triple Key of power: UNDERSTANDING, LOVE AND WILL to act in the right way, which is one of the sevenfold Basis of the Star of Azazel. This principle which is one of the Basic Tenets of the Brotherhood, may be applied to every situation or aspect, not only on Magick but on our daily lives, and interaction with the world and society, which will produce a very beneficial effect on any level, be it wealth, prosperity, temporal goals as the psychological and spiritual as well.

Further will be shared, concerning these topics and aspects among others, both for the benefice and improving of the Members of the Brotherhood, The participants of the Forum, and the visitors.
"May the Light of the Lucifer-Christos burn within us, to accomplish our Great Work, for the glory of Master Satan."

Re: Definitions of Magic

Posted: Mon Jun 03, 2013 12:35 pm
by Nefastos
I am glad you have found our philosophy satisfactory, Necrosophiacos. May the light of the Master shine upon your Work & Path both now and in the times coming!