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MAGIC isn't just what PC Sorcar or David Copperfield
do. That's the kind of stuff that Aleister Crowley Defined as "the science
and art of causing change to occur in conformity with the will." This
suggest a very materialistic view. The real view would be that the human
will should be aligned in such a way that change occurs within the
individual as much as in the external world. This distinction demonstrates
the two forms of magic or transformation: the way of dedication and service
of the world and the way of personal power and self-ag-grandisement; the
right- hand path and the left-hand path. High magic versus low magic.
High magic is the raising of consciousness to the appreciation of the power
and forces behind the external world in a dedicated intention of developing
spiritual awareness and subsequently helping to bring to birth a restored
personal being, environment and Earth. In fact, high magicians have often
been called the equivalent of a shaman who stand as mediators of an inner
impulse to the outer world. The difference is the shaman is a public figure,
the centre of his tribe's relationship to the gods; whereas the high
magician is a private figure, working often in obscurity, but continuing to
mediate the cosmic forces to his fellow human beings. He uses ritual,
visualisation and complex symbology to align himself fully with the
universe.
Unfortunately, though, magic in any form has long associated
with evil in western societies, probably as a result of biblical references.
In the Bible magic is usually mentioned only when the prophets or apostles
were in competition with rival magician as when Aaron's rod turned into a
snake which devoured the snakes produced by pharaoh's priests. Similarly
Elijah competed with the priests of Baal by successfully calling down fire
to consume his sacrificial offering. All these other "false" prophets,
servants of "false" gods, were mediators between the people and their
"false" beliefs. In the New Testament too, Simon Magus was a magician whose
powers rivalled those of the apostles but who eventually wanted them to sell
him their secrets. That materialistic touch again.
In the East there has always existed a subtle difference. The low
magician has never been confused with a high magician who is seen more as an
adept who, though a process of self- development, has acquired a high degree
of knowledge and the ability to control spiritual as well as material
forces. |
