Marguerite, the primary tenet of Angela's way of thinking is that it is
the only right way to think, and the only way people have a right to
think. For her to admit that any other way of thinking might possibly
be just as good or true as hers would shake her belief system to its
very foundations, so she cannot allow herself to even consider the
possibility, no matter what the logic, facts and evidence are in
support of same. It is a prison of the mind, and she is her own
jailer. Joe
>From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Fri Nov 13 18:37:41 1998
From: "Joe E. Dees" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: Fri, 13 Nov 1998 19:37:52 -0600
Subject: Re: Two Alternatives/magick?
Reply-to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
In-reply-to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date sent: Fri, 13 Nov 1998 08:38:13 EST
Send reply to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: STUDIES IN WOMEN AND ENVIRONMENT <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Two Alternatives/magick?
> In a message dated 98-11-13 06:42:37 EST, you write:
>
> << Ahh but I fully except & admit there are some questions that remain
> unanswerable, like why magick spells work. I don't particularly care why in
> fact, just that they do work.
> >>
> I thought you didn't practiice magick? Or how do you know they work?
>
> Angela
>
There are scientific bases to the efficacy of magickal workings.
Magick may be divided into two classes; spellcasting and divination.
Spellcasting is an attempt to affect the chains of cause and effect in
the material, mental and/or social worlds; divination is an attempt to
access knowledge or understanding concerning these worlds.
(1) Divination
In ancient times, before the division of shaman into priest,
physician, psychologist and social worker, the tribe would come to
the shaman with a problem and request a solution. The shaman,
using techniques such as chanting, concentration on a geometric
form,drumming, dancing, meditation, sex or use of psychoactive
substances (mantra, mandala, mudra, tantra, soma), would enter an
alpha state where he could have waking dreams, wherein s/he could
access all s/he had learned in his/er life in the tribe and the area,
even subliminally, rather than only what s/he knew that s/he knew, or
what s/he remembered. This knowledge would come in the
language of dreams; that is, images and symbols (see Freud).
When the shaman emerged from the trance, s/he would interpret
this information and give a prescription that holistically
encompassed the entire situation or system, not just the individual
difficulty.
The mechanism that paralyses our bodies and wills when we're
asleep, thus preventing us from acting out our dreams and running
into walls, is a neuronal gating mechanism in the hippocampus of
the midbrain (sometimes it doesn't work perfectly - sleepwalking). It
can be overridden by a sonically, visually or bodily driven rhythm
operating in the alpha range, and through lucid dreaming practice.
Essentially, shamanic trance and divination is a mental technology,
employing the mind as one would a computer during a data search.
That this has been going on a long time may be understood
when we look at the Lascaux cave paintings, the !Kung (Africa) and
Murinbata (Australia) rock paintings, the Tibetan mandalas and Hopi
(Native American) sand paintings. They all possess pictures of the
flora, fauna and terrain found in their areas at the time they
were/are created, but also include certain universal sigils or designs
which are abstract and geometric in nature (spirals, grids, zigzags,
etc.). These are seen when one is entering trance and looking
inward, and are common to all peoples - in fact, they are hard-wired
into our brains (or at least the surfaces of our retinas, for they are
the shadows our capillaries cast on them). They are known to
psychophysicists as entoptic forms.
(2) Spellcraft
When one casts a spell that is not on oneself, one usually does
not work alone, but in a group (commonly called a coven). The
method used is to have each member of the group visualize the
direction, intention and destination of the spell, raise emotional and
physical energy, and for everyone to discharge this energy
simultaneously, usually in response to a signal given by the leader
(priestess), who, through experience and intuition, knows the proper
moment for this to happen.
This is a strong psychological imprinting mechanism; each
member of the group will typically find themselves inadvertantly (and
even subliminally) acting in ways that further progress towards the
declared goal. Since they all move in similar social circles (excuse
the pun), there is a snowball effect. In complexity theory, there is
something called the Butterfly Effect, which arises from SDIC
(Sensitive Dependence upon Initial Conditions); small causes may
combine to have large effects, such as a butterfly's flight altering an
updraft resulting in a differently placed storm front ten days later.
Thus the concatenation of imprint-inspired small measures taken by
individuals sharing a milieu may snowball towards the effectation of
the desired goal, and magick happens.
