What's something you believed as a beginner that you don't believe now?

[Angelkesfarl]

1-1005

When I was just a beginner, I used to think the universe was deeply interconnected and that astrology was the indispensable secret for all magical endeavors to succeed—even the most trivial ones. Then, I delved so deeply that I began to evaluate magical systems, finding that they did not care for the division of spiritual hours except for the daily hours; for example, Saturn is always the first at sunrise every Saturday, regardless of its astronomical position. Here, many missing things became clear to me, until I realized the truth: they are merely signals. Even the four elements in their order—I thought they were Fire, Earth, Air, Water, until I found they vary according to the season. Thus, all schools are correct in their divisions, as they depend on your location and time. Everything was demolished and rebuilt once again.

In the literal (Literalist/Alphabetic) school, which I accepted late in my thirties, I found another world, completely different from those mountains of books and manuscripts. I found that everything is valid at the same time, considering your place and time; everything consists of encoded signals behind which the truth resides. It was then that I realized I had been a victim of the most precise "Science of Blindness" (Obfuscation). I stood stunned before all these truths and the magnitude of the falsehood and encryption I thought I knew. My heart burst and split open when I saw the truth clearly; even when I spoke with the real spirits and earthly kings, I found them different from the books. It was a bitter irony I faced when I spoke to them with absolute confidence in my abilities, only to find them as nothing to them. The truth is, you must be "chosen" for the truth to be revealed to you.

But does the falsehood not work? The harsh truth is that even while walking blindfolded, you will find partial successes that push you further. It is like a snowball; the further it rolls down, the larger it grows until you are unable to carry it. Yet, a little fire of certainty will melt the snow, and the truth appears: the whole secret lies in the Number = the Soul, and the Letter = the Body. The rest are mere additions you can discard. Plato, Hermes, or even Henry or Al-Buni—all of them point you toward the sun, each giving you a suitable poetic description; sometimes red, sometimes orange, sometimes golden.

Here is a very simple secret: the magic triangle is merely a beginning for a position from which four positions emerge. Each of these positions has six faces, and each face also has six faces. This forms for you 36 ascending faces and 36 descending faces, which together constitute the 72 faces of the astrological decans. I stood stunned that day—O the horror! It is a breathtaking correspondence when you see the truth: that by arranging those 72 positions upon the four natures = 288 faces of the triangle, which is its maximum power. It is not attributed to Saturn except in its primitive state; rather, you can represent within it all the planets, signs, lunar mansions, and astrological angles (decans). From it, you can see the fully spread name, the Shem HaMephorash, containing them all. Not to mention the rest of the squares and their forms; for the relationship between the letter and its specific house is the secret that has bewildered the minds of students and which many of the wise have failed to perceive.

Can you imagine the shock, my friends, when you realize you thought yourself a skilled diver, only to discover you were diving in shallow water near the shore, and the true depth you had not yet tested? The road is long, the provisions are few, and life is short—so where is the escape?

 

[saitori]

That magik is something for the few that learn it. It's more like standing on two legs; an essential program of the human condition. A power inherent in everyone. A power that is directed by those that understand the nature and structure of dominant hiveminds which have enslaved humanity as a whole. Most adopt the 'ways' of their parents and community during developmental years; despite not being in their best interests. Some develop self awareness, restructure their frame, and pursue skill and power beyond what the norm allows

 

[Hakon]

Just a fun question I was thinking about. Also, what is something you didn't believe as a beginner, but do believe in now?

When I first started out, I was really big on substitutions and kind of had this (now embarrassing) mentality of everything being up to the practitioner and how the interpret it. Until I began actually learning about why things mean what they mean in terms of their ritual usage, I was what I called a 'rosemary practitioner' now. Out of anything? Just use rosemary! Even if you're missing the most important part of the spell! Instead of writing your own spell using things that you do have by doing research, just be completely lazy with it! Fun times. It was like this for probably the first year of my practice, too.

Let me hear something embarrassing maybe? Did you make up silly rituals? Did they work or do you feel like a fool? Did you believe something really dumb you read online or in an old book? Let me know.

One thing I didn’t really believe in as a beginner was the importance of structure.

At first I had this very modern idea that intention was basically everything, and that symbols, names, materials, directions, hours, colors, and prayers were mostly optional aesthetic choices. I thought ritual was almost completely subjective, and that if something “felt right,” that was enough.

Over time, especially after studying more traditional ceremonial and grimoire material, I started realizing that many ritual details are there for a reason. The names, correspondences, planetary hours, divine hierarchy, directions, tools, and materia are part of a larger symbolic and spiritual architecture. They are not random decorations.

So I went from “just use whatever has the same vibe” to “try to understand why this thing is used here before replacing it.”

I still believe adaptation is possible, but now I think substitution without understanding is usually just laziness dressed up as intuition. A good substitution should preserve the logic of the ritual, not erase it.

My embarrassing beginner phase was probably thinking that personal feeling alone could replace tradition, study, and technical precision. I don’t think that anymore. Intuition matters, but it works much better when it is standing on knowledge.

 

[Thee Nightfool]

I used to think a lot of ritual was just self-transformative psychodrama (to use a cute Peter Gilmore term) but my later forays into darker forms of folk magic (thanks Liber Falxifer) changed my mind about the haunting nature of realms beyond our own, where spirits exist externally and can be coaxed to conspire with us, for better or worse.

 

[Robert Ramsay]

That magik is something for the few that learn it. It's more like standing on two legs; an essential program of the human condition. A power inherent in everyone.

Absolutely. IMO, magic is an unexpected consequence of the process of normal human consciousness. Having said that, not everyone that can run becomes an athlete. I've said before, the reason there aren't huge numbers of magicians is the same reason there aren't huge numbers of brain surgeons.

 

[Mannimarco]

Just a fun question I was thinking about. Also, what is something you didn't believe as a beginner, but do believe in now?

I didn't believe the majority of the universe was malevolent/predatory.

I didn't believe there were almost no other entities in the universe interested in being friends with humans, as equals.