Basic Magick 2007 (Free Excerpt!)
Basic Magick 2007 (Free Excerpt!)
Basic Magick 2007 (Free Excerpt!)
Basick Magick 2
BASICK MAGICK
Your Path to Self-Knowledge and Power
2nd REVISED EDITION 2007
Kindle Edition 2010
CONTENTS
1 What is Magick? 4
2 Teacher and Student 7
3 General Practice Guidelines 10
4 Keeping a Magickal Journal 12
5 A Balanced Path 13
6 Powers of the Sphinx 15
7 Emerald Tablet of Hermes 17
8 Elements, Gunas, Tattvas 18
9 Purification: Pentagram & Hexagram 20
10 Middle pillar: Bringing down the Light 22
11 Fourfold Daily Adorations of the Sun 24
12 Adoration to the Source of the Universe 26
13 Tree of Life Ritual 27
14 Magickal Tools 31
15 Basic Group Circle Ritual 33
16 Consecration Ritual 37
17 Candle Magick 45
18 Color Magick 46
19 Oil and Essence Magick 47
20 Crystal Magick 50
21 Our Plant Allies 55
22 Astrology 58
23 Numerology 65
24 Tarot 66
25 Qabalah 71
26 Runes 79
27 Shamanism: the Oldest Magick 82
28 Kundalini: Magick Serpent Power 85
29 Holidays: The Wheel of the Year 88
30 Gods of Our Folk 103
“Magick is the Highest, most Absolute, and most Divine Knowledge of Natural
Philosophy, advanced in its works and wonderful operations by a right
understanding of the inward and outward hidden virtue of things; so that true
Agents being applied to proper Subjects, strange and admirable effects will
thereby be produced.” – from The Goetia.
Magick is the art, science, and craft of changing your consciousness and
your world to better reflect what you really want.
Magick is based on the idea that everything in the world around you
reflects your inner consciousness. As you change your consciousness you change
your world.
witchcraft in the generic sense, where force is projected outward in spells and
incantations in order to accomplish some simple mundane goal (love, money,
etc.) When spirituality and magick are combined it is called high magick, which
is spiritual force projected outward into the world for purposes of inner
development.
A student is anyone who is curious about the path of magick and has
begun studying it, with or without an external teacher. An adept is someone
who’s been at it a long time (years, not months) and should be able at minimum
to answer most any question put by a student, and should know all the basic
rituals in this book by heart, and preferably many more. The success of an
adept’s practice should be evident by looking at his demeanor and overall life. An
advanced adept may not be in need of external teacher, though many of them still
maintain ties with their old teacher(s), since there’s always something to be
learned. A Master is a rarity and is often known by the fact that other adepts look
to him as an example. Adepts teach students; Masters teach adepts.
This book will aim to teach basic magick to anyone who has a curiosity
about it, or has just set out on the path of wisdom. It has been assembled from a
wide variety of sources, specially chosen to be most helpful to new students or
those needing a quick refresher course. It is meant as a ready handbook and
resource guide. The arrangement proceeds logically from basic principles, to
rituals which may be of use in any circumstances, to forms of divination and
magick which will be more helpful to a student who has mastered the basics first.
Basick Magick 6
It is believed that Aleister Crowley was the first modern master to add the
k onto the word magic, for two reasons: 1. To distinguish sorcery from stage
magic and 2. “K” is the eleventh letter of the alphabet, and 11 is a key magical
number. Notice that by adding a k to the end of the word “basic” we ensure that
both words have six letters, thus 6 + 6 = 12, the number of the Zodiac. (See also
Chapter 22, Numerology.)
By the way: The “k” added to the word “basic” in some versions of this
book's title is something of a magic(k)al joke, not a typographical error. Or does
it contain some as-yet-undiscovered numerological significance? We leave this
mystery to our readers to solve.
Basick Magick 7
The first step in learning anything is knowing that you need to learn
something.
If you know you need to learn something, you will realize that you also
need a teacher or teachers to teach you that thing.
The teacher or teachers you need must be individuals who have already
learned what it is you want to learn.
A teacher is first and foremost a lifelong student, one who was once in the
position of his student and who in fact will still be growing and may even have a
more advanced teacher beyond him.
When the student is ready, the teacher appears – this is an ancient truth
and remains true. You will come across the right teacher for you at a given time
when you are open to the possibility. You will be actively looking for such a
teacher at that time.
You may have more than one teacher, as different teachers may specialize
in different aspects of what you need to learn. No teacher is expert in all areas.
Also, you may move from one teacher to another as you grow and your needs
change. Often, one teacher may suggest that you move on and may give you the
name of another, or point you in the right direction, if he feels your growth may
better be served in another direction. Still, you must be grateful to the first
teacher for taking you as far as he did. He served a purpose, even if it was a
limited one. Time to move on without regret.
Basick Magick 8
There are more “false students” than false teachers – that is, students that
only think they are students, but who aren’t sincere, or have false motives.
Avoid mixing and matching of paths. While simply studying or reading you
can study any path or tradition, but when actually putting your knowledge into
practice, you must utilize one at a time. You cannot specialize in too many
different traditions at once, or your power and focus will be dispersed. You may
utilize several traditions that are closely related or have a connection between
them, however. Some traditions work better in combination than others.
You should open your awareness and see which path or tradition pulls you
the most. If possible, find a tradition that is suited to your own culture and
mindset. For most European students, a tradition based upon Indo-European
archetypes and heritage will prove more fruitful than those which are “alien” or
which properly belong to another heritage. This is a matter of respecting your
own as well as other peoples’ heritages.
Student and teacher are equal in terms of the role each must serve – but
the student must not supplant the teacher. If the student has advanced beyond
the teacher, it is time to separate, without rancor or regret.
If at any time you feel you know more than the teacher, it is time to
separate and move on. Even if you are wrong, the feeling you know more will
prevent you from further learning from that teacher.
Basick Magick 9
Go for quality, not quantity. It doesn’t matter if you are the only student
and your teacher is the only teacher. In the end this is always the case anyway!
You cannot always choose your magickal curriculum anymore than you
can choose your life experiences. But you can use them for your evolution.
Anyone can be a teacher up to the level of beingness that they are in. They
cannot teach beyond that, however. Thus, if you’ve been studying magick for one
month, you can teach someone who’s only been studying it for one day, but both
you and your student will quickly reach your limits.
Basick Magick 10
All magickal students will find their practice more effective if the following
basic “environmental” matters are properly arranged.
Nothing should be placed on top of the altar but one’s magickal tools,
significant focusing symbols, a lamp or candles and incense burner. The lamp or
candle represents the Higher Self reaching down, while the incense represents
the mundane self aspiring upwards. It is best if the altar can be concealed from
mundane view, but this is not mandatory.
One may feel free to make whatever other adjustments in one’s life one
feels necessary to add to one’s peace and quiet and focus, such as dietary or
sexual discipline.
Daily practice of the basic rituals is one of the most important things you
can do to build a strong magickal craft. Practice makes perfect and habit makes
for the subconscious reinforcement that is the essence of magick. Aim for
consistency.
Basick Magick 11
Study the basic rituals regularly, especially the Banishing Ritual of the
Pentagram and Drawing Down the Light (Middle Pillar), until you are very
familiar with them. Eventually all the symbols should be understood as well as
all the keywords and motions. One should then be able to put oneself through
the ceremonies purely by astral (visualized) means, seeing all the symbols in their
appropriate places. Do it over and over again until you can do it smoothly and
with confidence, and automatically recognize the meaning of the symbols
involved. Record any insights you receive, especially the spontaneous
appearance of symbols not previously seen or expected.
One specific sign of advancement is the ability to rely less and less on
physical rituals and objects and to work more with “astral” rituals or visualized
magical performances.
Basick Magick 12