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Magic: Arcanum Theoria
by
Adam Ritchie
 For thousands of years, man has battled against the cold constructs of nature in order to find some semblance of peace. The conflict between man and his environment is eternal, for chaos is ultimately the ruler of universe. We as men do not have to be servants unto our environment, however, for we are of the chaos as well. Moreover, we can shape our environments, both internal and external, to meet our needs. This is the job of the magician, and the basic outline of what magic is, to gain control of the factors that affect our lives.
Magic is the will to change. To harness will, you must focus your mind and gain determination on levels higher than what an ordinary human possesses. A true magician is a person who will stop at nothing to achieve his aims. First, however he must know himself and his limitations. So thus, to find this will, you must find yourself, plunge into the very depths of your mind to find that glimmering self that defines the core you. By doing this you know what it is that you seek, in your heart of hearts, allowing you to find the direct path to achieving this aim.
As many have asked the questions of what is self, what is the quality and quantity of soul, there have been many answers and many methods of achieving these answers. The primary of these is meditation. The silencing of the mind allows you to be aware of your body and your life. It shows that, in stark contrast to the coldness outside of life, we are truly transience.
Chaos and order are one, from chaos comes order and from order returns chaos, all is the perspective of the mind. All human ideas are but abstract expressions of the universe created to put the universe into order. As the first law of thermodynamics states, all things move from order to disorder. Therefore, sentience applied to transience is the force of will that moves the universe.
Without transience, intelligence becomes unnecessary, for if there is nothing to observe or interact with, there is no point in life at all. Without intelligent perception, the universe is simply chaos. It lacks purpose and definition. Therefore, magic is life itself. It is power over the self and over the universe. Everything we do is magical, as everything we do generates change in the universe. Therefore, we are magic.
Intelligence gives form to the void; it separates sea from sky, sky from land and land from fire. We create a secret language of symbols to focus our minds to create order from chaos and gain strength from the mysteries of life. These symbols act as a filter to direct our mind in a specific direction. This is the language of archetypes.
The oldest of archetypes used in ritual and religion gave explanation to the forces of nature that so we could understand the world around us. From this, we gained the myths and legends of yore. We gained gods and goddesses, demons and angels, all forces of channeling and focus. Therefore, we are they and they are we. They guide us every day: Through our perception of them and their impact on the world, though not necessarily active, they are very real.
The gods became real the day we dreamed, or perhaps the day we dreamed them. Forever we are as linked together as chaos and order. The gods are what we wish to be and what we will become. Therefore it is a foolish thing to do give up personal power to any being aside from yourself. Power is shared, not hoarded; no being, no matter how powerful, is entirely alone in greatness. All things are one.
It may be difficult for some to see beyond our isolation and embrace the power we have. However, magic is there, in everything we do, Magic then becomes politics, a method of altering others: changing how they feel and think, employing strategy, to get the desired results.
Belief becomes truth: Get people to believe and you are. As it is, I think therefore I am. Whatever your aim is, you must believe it is absolute truth that you will achieve it. The goal becomes a self full-filling prophecy, because belief is what one could call a meta-program or a program that alters the way another program interacts. In this case, we believe there for we act to make it true. That is, so long as one's will power is strong enough to follow through.
This is how our secret language comes into use as spell-craft. The archetypes can come to fill us and the symbols define us, thus removing all things that are not of the ultimate will and focusing what is of our will. There are infinite routes to achieving this; in the end it becomes a matter of preference defined by what forces resonate with us.
Though magic is a far wider and deeper study, the psychology of magic is the greatest asset to the magician. For by understanding how the system works, he can use it to affect his everyday life. In addition, he can than see how his everyday life affects his will and magic. For the mind is not isolated from the world. The barrier between inner and outer space is brittle thin, no more than a gossamer veil hiding the mind's eye.
About
the Author:
Adam Ritchie is 19 years old, lives in the United States, and his goals include becoming a studio artist and author. He's been studying esoteria for six years and art all his life. He can be reched at reached at iao_longes@yahoo.com.
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