Practising Magick

Knowing how important and vital Magick is within the Asetian tradition, and to the evolution of the Self in general, I'd like to find out how many here actively practise it, or have at least thought about practising it.
There are some that practise daily, and some that for whatever reason, do not practise at all.
Some simply do not have the knowledge to know where to start, and for those, this may be a good opportunity to perhaps gain some encouragement.

Which techniques have been tried/tested/relied upon, and why?
Have any of you had any experiences whilst practising you would be willing to share, both good and bad?
How important is discovering the true meaning of Magick, and it's long lost benefits to you. And what do you think those might be?

I'm looking forward to all your thoughts.

Another intelligent post, Talibah.

I admit, I do not actively practice magick. My time is primarily caught up in the whirlwind commercial world with little free time.

I certainly would like to practice, but am one of those who would not know the best place to start. From anyone who is willing, I would like to know techniques that you feel merit study and learning.

I must say I am quite chaotic with it. I do practice, though not regularly, and most of the times it is my own intuition that guides me. I like to compare rituals and adapt them to myself, making my own.

I use ritual for a number of things, and here they are in order from less to greater intensity or difficulty: a) before starting on new, important stages in my life (for "purification", it makes me feel more ready); b) to get "answers" or "suggestions" (much like one would invoke an oracle) to difficult dilemmas and c) to make things happen.

In this latter case, I have found that they do happen only when it is something which does not create unbalance; i.e. not utterly selfish or unneccessarily harmful to the wrong person.

The only times I have attempted to try at doing something that could on the outside seem "unfair" I did it to test myself.

Personally I find that many of these rituals work as placebos: they set my mind in such a way that I am more prepared for whatever I want to achieve. So in that sense I am totally aware that they are not strictly "magickal" in the sense that they are more like psychological aides.

I am presently beginning to study more formal, structured and traditional ways of doing this, though I am not at present in a major hurry because of pressing matters in my present life.

Syrianeh wrote:Personally I find that many of these rituals work as placebos: they set my mind in such a way that I am more prepared for whatever I want to achieve. So in that sense I am totally aware that they are not strictly "magickal" in the sense that they are more like psychological aides.

You are quite right in your assessment since we are the ones who hold the power of manifestation. Ritualistic tools and other magic aids are there to aid our concentration and to help us in focusing our energy. That is why it is so important to understand the meaning of the symbolism of anything one is using for the ritual. It the tools are meaningless for the practicioner, the magic won't work.

I personally do pracice magic, but not as much as I wish. Definately every Full Moon and Dark Moon for banishing. Usually I focus on whatever theme that particular Moon supports. I have a small coven and so we get together between 4 and 6 women. We have been gathering since January of this year. I also perform solitary rituals as well.

At home I have a very large Altar with many manifestations of the Great Goddess. Aset is presiding over them all. I try to be deligent about having burning candles and/or incense on it at all time.

I also read tarot as part of our ritual to help others find answers to their quests for that specific time and a purpose for that particular Full Moon.

In addition I am beginning to experiment with Rune Binding.

That's it in the nutshell.

Syrianeh wrote:I am presently beginning to study more formal, structured and traditional ways of doing this, though I am not at present in a major hurry because of pressing matters in my present life.

Er... I apologize for the abusive use of the word "present" and all its variations

LOL...Syrianeh. I'm sure no one noticed until you drew attention to it.

lol I agree with Talibah, I haven't noticed. Still a nice post Syrianeh.

Personally I also practice magick. Much of what I do developed from personal experience and has its roots in my Pagan background and my past. I do ritual, meditation, energy manipulation and other practices around those lines, but I still have much to learn and develop.

empress2k I agree with your comments on ritual and the central importance of symbolism, not only for ritual, but for any practice on the occult. I just wanted to disagree in a detail, when you say that all ritual tools and practices are just to aid our concentration and focus, that is not entirely true, although I understand it may be in your background. That does happen in many cases, to setting up the atmosphere and maintaining focus, but ritual tools and most importantly, ritual techniques, are not always placebos... many times they obey metaphysical rules and guidelines and are far more than just static things to aid our focus, although that is probably the part of ritual that most people know less about, being used and practiced by more secretive covens and groups, and never by Wiccans or mainstream Pagans.

I venture to say that using a Black Mirror to call up spirits, demons, angels, Gods, etc. would operate and be a bit more essential than say a dagger or candles, etc. Also, similar are the cyrstal ball and bowl of water used in the same fashion as the Black mirror.

Maxx

Jonathan wrote:I just wanted to disagree in a detail, when you say that all ritual tools and practices are just to aid our concentration and focus, that is not entirely true, although I understand it may be in your background.

I am going to elaborate on my post since I realized that it did not quite come out complete. I did not say that they are just to aid our concentraiont and focus. What I said is that "Ritualistic tools and other magic aids are there to aid our concentration and to help us in focusing our energy." Which means they have certain properties that enable us in our magic work and we in return charge them with our manifesting power to hold our intent and propel it further. Hence when we release our intent to banish something on a purchment paper and then burn it... it does send those items up with its smoke..lol I will try to be a bit more detailed next time.. Thank you for bringing my attention to it.

By the way, I have absolutely no background. I am as eclectic as it comes when it comes to magic or any other of my practices. I learn about everything, yet tend to practice my own Truth...

Maxx wrote:I venture to say that using a Black Mirror to call up spirits, demons, angels, Gods, etc. would operate and be a bit more essential than say a dagger or candles, etc. Also, similar are the cyrstal ball and bowl of water used in the same fashion as the Black mirror.

Maxx

I agree with this. The doors opened by proper usage of black mirrors (obsidian ones are simply amazing) go very deep. I also use a crystal ball for scrying and other techniques for accessing the ethereal realms, intuitive work and entity interaction.

Actually, I love working with the Black Mirror above all else on this plane.

Maxx

Hello Maxx, could you tell us about your experiences with the black mirror? I have never used such a device. How do you use it? Do you use it in evocations to the astral? If you do so, could you tell me about how the communication with the spirit was?

Magic is central to me and my life. But it is important the way you define the word "magic". If it is getting material things through paranormal means, that is, sorcery, well I don´t do it too much nowadays, althought that is something that will change in the following days. Sometimes I have an awesome success, and sometimes it just doesn´t work.

But I do a lot of "magical stuff". I work through timetables, which is a wonderfull way to force yourself if you are a little lazy. Nowadays I do the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram almost everyday, as I LOVE it. It has wonderfull effects upon myself and upon the place when I do it. However I don´t think it is essential. There are other ways to banish an area / yourself and to make your aura stronger. Experiment and find what works well for you. Apart from that I use the OMNIL and IAO formula, which sometimes are used as subtitutes for the Kabalistic Cross. Also I work with my subtle body, by stimulating it ,rasing energy through the different centres and charging areas/objects.

Finally I work with the elements, just by absorbing them, have some work of dream magic and now I will start working with sigil magic a la Austin Osman Spare.

The majority of excercises that I used are found in "High Magic" by Frater UD, "Initiation into Hermetics" by Franz Bardon and "Energy Work" by Robert Bruce (I just love him).

Once again, if you feel you are a bit lazy, try using timetables. Puting order into your work usually brings discipline and motivation.

Maxx wrote:Actually, I love working with the Black Mirror above all else on this plane.

Maxx

I'd love to hear about some of the techniques you use, since I mostly use it for scrying for tha past 3 years or so. It's far better than anything I've used before.

Elyon wrote:

Maxx wrote:Actually, I love working with the Black Mirror above all else on this plane.

Maxx

I'd love to hear about some of the techniques you use, since I mostly use it for scrying for tha past 3 years or so. It's far better than anything I've used before.

I agree with you. Scrying with a black mirror can be very impressive. Have you ever tried with one made out of obsidian?

I do not know, what is this black mirror spoken of?

Jonathan wrote:

Elyon wrote:

Maxx wrote:Actually, I love working with the Black Mirror above all else on this plane.

Maxx

I'd love to hear about some of the techniques you use, since I mostly use it for scrying for tha past 3 years or so. It's far better than anything I've used before.

I agree with you. Scrying with a black mirror can be very impressive. Have you ever tried with one made out of obsidian?

no.. I tried jet.. but I rrreally want to try scrying with an obsidian plate..but they cost a pretty penny.. soooo..

Daniel09 wrote:I do not know, what is this black mirror spoken of?

Hello Daniel09. The black mirror is just that, a black mirror. It can be made of different materials. You can get a lot of information on the net, even on youtube you can find videos in which the creation of such mirrors is explained.

The black mirror is used as a gate or window to the astral realms. It has a lot of different uses, but is mostly used for scrying and in evocations to the astral plane.

RudraShiva wrote:

Daniel09 wrote:I do not know, what is this black mirror spoken of?

Hello Daniel09. The black mirror is just that, a black mirror. It can be made of different materials. You can get a lot of information on the net, even on youtube you can find videos in which the creation of such mirrors is explained.

The black mirror is used as a gate or window to the astral realms. It has a lot of different uses, but is mostly used for scrying and in evocations to the astral plane.

I think the only kind of black mirror that truly works for scrying is that made of perfectly polished obsidian...