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Magick, Taoism and Change

To: alt.magick,alt.magick.tyagi,sci.philosophy.meta,alt.philosophy.taoism,talk.religion.misc,alt.arts,rec.arts,alt.pagan
From: tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com (xiwangmu)
Subject: Magick, Taoism and Change (Was Re: Critical Perspectives on Occult Group ...)
Date: 8 Dec 1995 09:06:02 -0800

kaliyuga
49951205 [/07 delayed due to technical difficulty; sorry for any duplication]

Z.M.A.:
|>...if the "working definition" of magick is the causing of Change in 
|>Accordance to Will, ...

	Oh?  Sloppy, but we can go with something like that.  
	Crowley's was:

		"Magick is the Science and Art of causing Change 
		 to occur in conformity with Will." 
				(_Magick_, ed. Symonds/Grant; p. 131)

	Let's look at that more closely.

	Changing the
		spiritual state  yields	mysticism
		 material state	        physics/modern science
	    psychological state		shamanism/psychiatry/psychology
                aesthetic state 	art
                   social state		politics
					and I'm sure there are others. (?)

	All of these must be intentional changes; that is, deriving 
	from the conscious mind of a particular individual and carried 
	through with or without ordinary means.  'Magick', in this sense, 
	approaches a type of Taoist acquiescent laziness.  'Wu-wei', the 
	spontaneous or natural action indicating the genius of the 
	individual, given some direction, is magick.  The 'success' of 
	a result is not itself sufficient.  Intention is required.  

	An example: I set out to transit the Qabalistic Abyss via the
	the Tunnels of Set, a kind of net strung over and across sphere
	of Da'ath, terminating in the Superio Triad.  I use a method
	of sigilization whereby I enter into a struggle through, with,
 	or across this barrier, and over years of reflection it is seen
	that I have accomplished my goal.  Having a written record of
	this quest (thus the recommended 'Book of Shadows' or 'Magical 
	Journal', among a number of other benefits), and verifying the 
	nature of the quest and its accomplishment as exemplary of the
	Mastery of the Art, I have attained.  

	Serendipitously lucking into an Order whereby I am given the 
	title of 'Isthmussipiss' does not, in itself, constitute a 
	magical act, by these parameters.

	Some contend that the requirement of some kind of goal toward 
	which one must aspire makes impossible a natural mysticiism such
	as taoism, and that this means taoism and magick are 
	irreconcilable.  Fung Yu-lan's texts suggest to my mind that 
	this is due to the combination of religious and magical practices 
	and that the religious and philosophical or mystical taoists are 
	in some way irreconcilable (he does not speak to it directly in 
	the text which I have yet reviewed).
  
	I think this is short-sighted.  Taoism is more than we might want
	to make it out.  It is a living tradition and has seeded itself
	in countless homes memetically and in some cases practically.  I
	don't think that taoism is devoid of goals, and these goals ought
	concern us perhaps more, in the analysis of taoist magick, than 
	any other subject: immortality/longevity, mystical experience 
	and cautious wisdom, ruling the cosmos, and merging with tao.
		

|> ...any energy that is just aimed inward is in my view a waste. 

	I don't think that this constitutes a 'waste of my time', 
	though it may be, for you. ;>

	Change
		spiritual state 	mysticism

	This constitutes the intersection of the popular subject,
	'mysticism', and the more general category of 'magick' (mysticism 
	as an individual and intentional variety qualifies as 'magick' -- 
	mysticism politicized qualifies as 'religion').


Mae Tang  writes:
|..."what I think the Mass is meant to accomplish" 
|...might boil down to the "There is no part of me that is not of the Gods" 
|declaration.

	I think the Gnostic Mass (EGC) is meant to effect the full 
	emancipation of the individual through the means most suited to 
	hir nature, though I have not made of it a sufficiently close 
	study to be sure.

	xiwangmu
		tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com
			---------------------------

	I find the association of 'black' with 'harmful' or 'evil'
	to be the deepest of disrespects for not only those who may
	associate with that label by culture but also the very
	important mythological associations that tend to include
	the wrathful and feminine.  Please consider this.  



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