Just for fun, I might like to throw in 2 unsolicited cents.
I fell down that most illustrious POP MAGIC rabbit hole way back in 2002, with unbelievably awesome results, and can maybe share some insight on this specific journey.
First off, the only problem with magic is that it works!
(At least from the practitioner's point of view.)
So basically, be prepared for success and be careful what you wish for.
I noticed early on that a lot of my sigils were getting fulfilled metaphorically, or in dreams, or with coincidences, and visionary experiences. All basically having to do with a shift in my perspective.
I began to equate sigil magic with John Lilly's metaprograms or Robert Anton Wilson's reality tunnels.
To quote RAW "Whatever the thinker thinks, the prover will prove."
The magic helped me make changes within myself, (What the thinker thinks) that would then help me find or create results in the real world. (The prover proves)
Noticing this tendency, I created a kind of banishment/firewall for myself.
My magic is an internal craft, which then creates the conditions for external action.
I had a girlfriend ask me to try and cure her dad's cancer with all that magic shamanism stuff I was into. I gave it a go, of course, in a ritual that got a bit out of hand. A few weeks later her dad goes back to the doctor who suspects and then confirms a misdiagnosis.
This is where my banishing comes in handy. It would do me no good to walk around thinking I can cure cancer with my mind! And I don't, because that kind of direct change doesn't work within my model. A neat synchronicity, sure! But no destabilizing belief in siddhi.
Even with this stripped down "safety first" definition of magic, you can still go to weird wild and very real places.
"Everything really is under control" RAW told me as I was sitting stoned as fuck in his living room.
Or a desperate sigil cast with literally only 2 dollars left to my name, living in a friend's unfinished basement, only to find myself 3 years later walking around my 3 story Tudor, with a line from GM's Super Gods stuck in my head: "A spell made so manifest you could trip down its stairs" (Or something similar!)
I'm so grateful to have read both Grant's guide posts and your own follow-up here. Not an hour after I'd first read the part about creating a specific space where one can be open to possibilities, my four Guardians appeared, and silently took their places, in a way that made absolute sense to my current understanding-- as though the time had come for me to remember them at last.
That's the two requests I would have, of the Universe, knowing what little I know at this time.
One, for this world to be gentler with me, when I continually stumble into the impossible-- which, this "banishing" concept would seem to be able to correct. Since the boy and girl parts of my mind agreed to fuse, and my ability to influence the universe appears to have been restored, I've considered myself open to all things-- and that seems to have been at the expense of my physical/mental/emotional health, thus far. I need to harness my ability to help others, and begin wielding its kindness to benefit *my own* will, as well.
Two, the Guardian of my South/Fire, known in a form I can understand as "Bill Cipher" from the cartoon "Gravity Falls," has long been unbound, outside of my control, for many, many years. The self-destruction and lack of regard for my own mortal body I display are symbolized by this form, who has no bodily form to speak of-- he is a creature of impulses, and a gallows sense of humor.
I've long battled what seems to be an instinctual pull towards going overboard with imbing liquid substances. With the Guardian of my North/Water's help, I've been able to overcome a dependence on alcohol and truly ridiculous amounts of DayQuil-- and yet, my diet soda intake is so overpowering and constant that I'm literally precancerous in at least two organ systems at the moment because of the mass amounts of aspartame I go through on a daily basis for decades.
I hereby declare myself in search of a way to control my own passion for self-destruction-- for things I reach for when I know my physical form cannot handle it.
[bows to the both of you] Thank you for helping illuminate the paths ahead for me, that I now choose. If I can't think of a way to thank you personally, I will vow to pass this kindness and help along. ❤️
Right on, Gerbil! Happy to be of any small sort of service :)))
Wishing you nothing but the very best in coming to a gentler rapport with this strangest of all worlds. I suspect you'll find some lighter & brighter times ahead!
second verse same as the first- but it's very reaffirming to know that the magic that got us here was spot on with the bit about attributing meaning to an item as a form of "possession"- or as we saw it- gateway to a spirit alter.
all of these lessons and pieces of advice you have helped reaffirm that all of we've been experiencing/doing/learning on our own is actually working! (in the multitudinous forms it has taken so far) we are incredibly greatful for your suggestions and insights into these practices, and will have to do some digging of my own as i have few questions about these 11-dimensions Australian Aboriginals speak on. time as it's own dimension (as well as memory+ and a secrect third version of these called perception) were some that i've grown to know about, but could never quite name them all.
Absolutely fantastic! Always and of course :)))
Just for fun, I might like to throw in 2 unsolicited cents.
I fell down that most illustrious POP MAGIC rabbit hole way back in 2002, with unbelievably awesome results, and can maybe share some insight on this specific journey.
First off, the only problem with magic is that it works!
(At least from the practitioner's point of view.)
So basically, be prepared for success and be careful what you wish for.
I noticed early on that a lot of my sigils were getting fulfilled metaphorically, or in dreams, or with coincidences, and visionary experiences. All basically having to do with a shift in my perspective.
I began to equate sigil magic with John Lilly's metaprograms or Robert Anton Wilson's reality tunnels.
To quote RAW "Whatever the thinker thinks, the prover will prove."
The magic helped me make changes within myself, (What the thinker thinks) that would then help me find or create results in the real world. (The prover proves)
Noticing this tendency, I created a kind of banishment/firewall for myself.
My magic is an internal craft, which then creates the conditions for external action.
I had a girlfriend ask me to try and cure her dad's cancer with all that magic shamanism stuff I was into. I gave it a go, of course, in a ritual that got a bit out of hand. A few weeks later her dad goes back to the doctor who suspects and then confirms a misdiagnosis.
This is where my banishing comes in handy. It would do me no good to walk around thinking I can cure cancer with my mind! And I don't, because that kind of direct change doesn't work within my model. A neat synchronicity, sure! But no destabilizing belief in siddhi.
Even with this stripped down "safety first" definition of magic, you can still go to weird wild and very real places.
"Everything really is under control" RAW told me as I was sitting stoned as fuck in his living room.
Or a desperate sigil cast with literally only 2 dollars left to my name, living in a friend's unfinished basement, only to find myself 3 years later walking around my 3 story Tudor, with a line from GM's Super Gods stuck in my head: "A spell made so manifest you could trip down its stairs" (Or something similar!)
<3<3<3
bc
I'm so grateful to have read both Grant's guide posts and your own follow-up here. Not an hour after I'd first read the part about creating a specific space where one can be open to possibilities, my four Guardians appeared, and silently took their places, in a way that made absolute sense to my current understanding-- as though the time had come for me to remember them at last.
That's the two requests I would have, of the Universe, knowing what little I know at this time.
One, for this world to be gentler with me, when I continually stumble into the impossible-- which, this "banishing" concept would seem to be able to correct. Since the boy and girl parts of my mind agreed to fuse, and my ability to influence the universe appears to have been restored, I've considered myself open to all things-- and that seems to have been at the expense of my physical/mental/emotional health, thus far. I need to harness my ability to help others, and begin wielding its kindness to benefit *my own* will, as well.
Two, the Guardian of my South/Fire, known in a form I can understand as "Bill Cipher" from the cartoon "Gravity Falls," has long been unbound, outside of my control, for many, many years. The self-destruction and lack of regard for my own mortal body I display are symbolized by this form, who has no bodily form to speak of-- he is a creature of impulses, and a gallows sense of humor.
I've long battled what seems to be an instinctual pull towards going overboard with imbing liquid substances. With the Guardian of my North/Water's help, I've been able to overcome a dependence on alcohol and truly ridiculous amounts of DayQuil-- and yet, my diet soda intake is so overpowering and constant that I'm literally precancerous in at least two organ systems at the moment because of the mass amounts of aspartame I go through on a daily basis for decades.
I hereby declare myself in search of a way to control my own passion for self-destruction-- for things I reach for when I know my physical form cannot handle it.
[bows to the both of you] Thank you for helping illuminate the paths ahead for me, that I now choose. If I can't think of a way to thank you personally, I will vow to pass this kindness and help along. ❤️
Right on, Gerbil! Happy to be of any small sort of service :)))
Wishing you nothing but the very best in coming to a gentler rapport with this strangest of all worlds. I suspect you'll find some lighter & brighter times ahead!
second verse same as the first- but it's very reaffirming to know that the magic that got us here was spot on with the bit about attributing meaning to an item as a form of "possession"- or as we saw it- gateway to a spirit alter.
all of these lessons and pieces of advice you have helped reaffirm that all of we've been experiencing/doing/learning on our own is actually working! (in the multitudinous forms it has taken so far) we are incredibly greatful for your suggestions and insights into these practices, and will have to do some digging of my own as i have few questions about these 11-dimensions Australian Aboriginals speak on. time as it's own dimension (as well as memory+ and a secrect third version of these called perception) were some that i've grown to know about, but could never quite name them all.