--Magic is a funny word and should you ask six people to be silent and write their definition, you would get some surprising answers. The Compact Oxford English Dictionary says of it firstly, that it is - the power of apparently using mysterious or supernatural forces to make things happen. ~ ORIGIN from the Greek magike tekhne 'art of a magus'. And a Magus : 1. a priest of ancient Persia, 2. a sorcerer, 3.(the Magi) the three wise men from the East who brought gifts to the infant Jesus. And a Sorcerer : a person believed to practice magic; a wizard.
--A wizard : a man believed to have magical powers, especially in legends and fairy tales. ORIGIN : first meaning 'philosopher, wise man': from wise.
--Wise, 1.adjective; having or showing experience, knowledge, and good judgement, ORIGIN - old English; noun (old use) the way or extent of something.
-- So, that was a bit circular, but the point I'm trying to show is that the practitioner in magic, is that one who has experience and knowledge unknown by observers from which apparent change is wrought by the practice thereof. With this in mind one might see the prayers/rituals/spells practiced by a religion not one's own as a magic practice. In the fifth and sixth century tales of the Celtic world, for instance, the stories of Attila the Hun, and Arthur of Cymri are the older magics of an exhausted belief system giving way before a new insurgent young belief in a new magic. This doesn't kill the older magic but replaces it as the newer way of practice fills the people's minds with a stronger more alive power of change. Change, I believe, being the one constant that can be seen throughout all known history.
--Change is brought about by practices one effects upon oneself. One cannot change another except by example, when they, seeing your change, choose to effect their change. In my posts on Hints, each has been an historical set way of doing or believing, from which a practitioner might gain understanding and comprehension in communication with his fellow English-speaker. From Hints on grammar through to Hints on Conduct and Manners. In Hints on Subconscious Command, at #0193-94-97, I showed a practice one might do upon oneself to help bring one's own mind into better self-control, thus bringing about better self-control and opportunity for changing one's outer circumstances by changing one's inner mind. In Lithotherapy posts I have tried to show how one might effect change by a physical practice to help bring about a better balance within the body corporal and thus also the astral and causal. In #0412 + #0416 I gave practices of visualization for a practical effect that anyone of any religion might do. To help in this I have also added posts from the Sanskrit, #0535 - 55 - 63 - 76 - 81 - 95 - #0602 - 10.(+)
--To those to whom Aromatherapy has never been explained, the effects thereof might also appear to be magical in nature. The tarot, by some is a remarkably accurate pointer to the flow and eddies in one's life-path, but can be better understood once one has a basic grasp of the science of radiesthesia and the electromagnetism of aura and it's vital changes according to one's thoughts. We cannot contain all the knowledge of all the sciences, and therefore there will always be a magic, be it the dust in atmosphere that creates a sunrise or sunset or the electro-magnetic flushes of the Aurora Borealis.
--For those amongst us who have found within themselves that balanced centre that can touch the balance within the universal world and apparently answer prayers and exhortations, here is a contemplative thought to still one's ego and help one to remain unchanged by fame.
•
--''A mage has no time for conjuring and parlor tricks. Let me tell you what happens when you piss away your powers on them : First you lose respect for your skills and that debilitates them. And then, when a time comes when you really need them, you lose control and there's hell to pay. And let me tell you one more thing : secrecy in itself is a source of power.''
--''But what's the point of it all then?'' K had asked.
--''What you really want to know is why you can't use these powers to lift yourself to great heights in the eyes of the world, isn't it?'' ~ ''You follow the Way to ennoble yourself so that you can do some good in the world, K. The powers are secondary - more defence than anything else. For as you come into contact with Benevolent powers, so you come into contact with Malevolent ones as well. Your powers are to protect you against the latter - not to make your journey any easier. Does that make any sense to you?''
< Moonheart, pg42. by Charles de Lint. >
•
''Say No Ill Of The Year Till It Be Past.''