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"Steal This Book of Shadows"
ver 2.0
by
Azzerac
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Page 7
Willpower
(Brought To You By,...)
"It is by will, alone, I sent
my mind in motion"
~Mentat Mantra, "Dune", Frank Herbert
Here's a fun one that has been argued over the last few decades, if not Centuries! Well, at least since Freud used the word "Ego" to mean "Sense of Identity" & the Hindu faiths used it to mean "Vanity". (At least, that is how this chronicler has come to understand it). There are a lot of speeches, within eclecticism circles, as to the value of dissolution-of-self, and how it applies to one's connection to the Divine Source. There are the Crowley Acolytes, and the aspect of "Uncle Al's Obligatory 'True Will". Let's straighten it out, shall we?
"True Will". Not simply one's own will, but the will of the collective-unconscious/totality/what-have-you, as manifest through the individual. "The strength of knowing your true place in the Scheme of Things", is the best way I've heard it described. When we speak of the Will of The Divine, this is what were talking about.
Don't think so? Let's walk through it, shall we?
Who are you? Not your Name; Your Identity! I moved to Colorado, and there were already FIVE entries in the phonebook with my same First & Last Name, so Were they Me? Hells-No! I'm me, so try again!
When they speak of the Divine, the Akashic Mind, or the Collective Unconscious, who are they speaking of? PEOPLE! You, me, and Everybody!
...and now you're starting to scratch the surface! Incorporate every living thing into this definition, and you'll be getting closer.
Contemporary Quantum Physics would have it that "Nothing exists until it is experienced", and this goes back to at least one model of the divine. (I know I said I wasn't going to add religious cosmology, but it's also applicable to 'cell division'.) It says, "In the inception, there was but one creative source, and that source divided it's self in order to experience it's self"...and kept on going. These two ideas meet in the practice of Magic. We are all interconnected yet separate. We are all one, but divided. We aren't just experiencing the universe, but each other in it.
It was also discovered that (back to Quantum Mechanics) "Perception creates reality" and "Expectation Precedes Observation". Our expectations shape what we see before it ever happens. Our preconceptions are played-out before our eyes.
Crack open your copies of "Taking the Quantum Leap" (See Reading List) to the section on Schrödinger's Cat, and you'll find a wonderful dissertation on "Numerous Observers" involved in one event (page 215). If you lack a copy, try a google book search)
When multiple observers are involved in a single event, they all decide the outcome, based on a curve. What are the variables? There's only One: Certainty! I quote the author Larry Niven when I say "When there is only One right answer, there is no choice"! The certainty of One strong-minded person can "Out-Vote" numerous people's preconceptions. This is the "Collective" Jung speaks of. This is the Will of which I speak.
"How are we effecting others so easily?", you may ask. Take a walk through the pages of the same book, and you'll see another reference I endorse: "Interpersonal Observation". (You'll find this reference on page 232. Still, I suggest that read the whole book. There is a LOT that must be done to maintain a balance between your two hemispheres, to rectify "Magical Thinking". It can get tough!) Since the human brain remains a "Closed box", the wave-function never truly collapses, and therefore must remain in a constant state of probabilistic flux. We only 'glimpse' the contents of the brain through the 'peep-holes' of personal expression. Otherwise, the individuals we experience are just as susceptible to each other as the "cat in the box". In case you haven't guessed, this means you, as well!
You've spent most of your life building pre-conceptions of reality, and, whether you knew it or not, inflicting those preconceptions upon the world. Your level of certainty was ever in conflict with those of differing perspectives & expectations, and a silent war has been waged ever since. (Too Dramatic? Probably not.) There are, I'm sure, other variables at play, of a 'pecking-order' variety, that play with the "Certainty Factor". Find who plays the role of Alpha-Male in a situation, and you'll find the most likely "conductor" in any "reality orchestra". To put it in a more vulgar perspective, imagine a seething mob, and one voice screaming above the din, "Get 'em!!" All of those eyes looking to one person, agreed upon in silent acceptance, who moves the masses to action.
That's what you need to be: The Loudest Voice!
"The Loudest Vote Wins!"
You cannot afford uncertainty. You cannot afford to waffle. You are a Magic Worker, Damn-It! Your word must be Law!
Sounds tiring, doesn't it? Well, there are options: Trust Yourself.
Easier said than done? Why?
You are the product of Millions of years of successful life-forms! You are the culmination of every "selective breeding", "survival-of-the-fittest" conflict, since the Dinosaur-Killer hit the Yucatan Peninsula!! (See "River Out of Eden", by Richard Dawkins). If not You, than Who? Who better to see & define the world around us?! It is said that every person sees the world totally different from everyone else. Congratulations! That makes you, not only the sole-proprietor of your own Universe, but the single most important person in it!
It's a double-edged sword, though: We are ALL equal, yet omnipotent! If WE don't Like how YOU treat the world, we won't keep you around!
It's called Karma, Baby! ...and it works!
There are several aspects of evolution that don't "Jibe Well" with Karma. Certain elements of "selective breeding" are an affront to what any sane person would call Ethical. (I won't go into detail, here, as I all-too-clearly recall the looks of shock & revulsion on my students faces, last night). Suffice it to say, we still have to get along. You can't just do-unto-others, and run-like-hell. Karma catches up! (One day, soon, I'll blog on how I know this, but today is not that day).
Karma is best boiled-down to this: "We are all one creature, or creatures that share a common link, and anything that directly attacks one creature attacks the self. Anything that attacks one cell in an organism is attacking the Whole Organism, and the Whole Organism retaliates!" Like cancer: Each cell contains a self-regulating sequence. We call it a "suicide gene". When the organism meets it's limitations, it stops growing. When it betrays that gene (and the surrounding tissue) it is a Cancer, growing Un-Checked. If the other cells can't talk it into staying in check, and the immune system can't kill it off, the brain calls a doctor, and they cut it out, and burn off it's progeny. (Bad Analogy? Look at Nazi Germany! Look at any Ideological Fanaticism!)
That being said, find ways to strengthen your sense of self within the Karmic Constructs!
I suggest developing a sense of Ethics, first. Take on a set of virtues you can live with, and adhere to, that give a positive direction to your life. The most common is the Ten Commandments, here in The USA, but the Buddhists have Eight Good Ones! I, myself couldn't get past the Buddhist mandate on Celibacy, and My Neighbor's Wife is a Hottie! (Not that I'd violate their marriage vows, or anything). I found MY set of guidelines in the most unusual of places: If we're ever sitting over a Guinness, and you ask, I just might share their source. Trust me, though: It's a Good set of Virtues.
The goal here is to have an objective set of guidelines that show, empirically, that you are in fact a good & worthy person!
Next: Setting Yourself Up for Failure! DON'T DO IT!
Everything that chips away at your successes tells you you are a failure. You don't need any help from yourself! Magicians, are by their very nature, introverts! To be blunt, we tend to be Neurotic! We can be our worst judges! We need to stop scrutinizing ourselves and start Trusting & Being Ourselves. The time for tearing-your-motivations-apart is at the end of the day, in your meditations. Another cause of this Neurosis is our drive to observe ourselves as we try to be ourselves, and that just makes it worse! You aren't observing yourself! You're observing a Model you hold of "You", that you put in charge of "Being You", while "You" watches from the sidelines! You cannot be both the Observer AND the Observed, without Dividing yourself into less that what you are! Give It Up! There's no way that can work! It's as two mirrors, facing each other. Self-division for self observation leads to creating a "Fake Self" to observe, one that can be contained within the whole self, and therefore, nothing but I caricature in miniature of who you already think you are. Snap Out of It! (End Of Sermon!)
Start Slow, Learn, & Practice: This builds not only Self Respect, but Faith (to be covered later). It's why I have you start ESP testing with playing cards rather than The Five Card ESP Deck! You need to know that you can trust Yourself & your Abilities!
Trust Your Motivations! Intent is Everything! (I blogged on this somewhere, but I can't seem to locate it at the moment. I'll go looking for it, soon!)
Another note on Your Will, before we get to Exercises:
"We are where we are supposed to be". What a Load of Crap! You are here because this is where YOU Put You! If you don't like it, FIX IT!!! If you believe in the Multiple Universe Theory of Quantum Mechanics, right now there's a "You" sipping margaritas in Cancun, living it up & barely making a Dent in their Lottery-Winnings/Big-Stakes-Poker-Winnings/Well-Deserved-Investment-Returns/ Wonder-Product-Earnings! They're sitting in their New York Penthouse, writing their fifth book on the Best-Sellers List & arguing with their Spell-Checker (Rich & Crazy is called "Eccentric"! ~L~) You're supposed to be "There" as much as "Here". What's Stopping You? YOU ARE!
"So Fix!"
It's Time for Meditations!
Concepts I want you to reflect upon: You don't need to set aside time for it. These are things you can mull-over as you go along your day.
"Who is MORE important than Me? Why on Earth would I think That?"
"The more value I place on Myself, the The Value the things I put before me Have". (Children & family, The things I do & own, etc..) Also, consider the Converse (Opposite). Know that it is The Choice of Importance that is inherently a Gift from You! What value does it have if you are, by default, "less than"?
"I begin Today!" If not now, then when? {Consider the things you "Kick Yourself For": Address them with the realization that you did these things for a reason, they helped make you who you are & where you are, today. It's time to let them go! It's time to move on.}
"Am I Good Person?" If not, why not? Let's Fix That! It's one of those major stumbling blocks for a lot of people. Contemplate an ethical structure you can live with. One that shares the values you hold, as well as valuing the world around you. On a side-note: I'm not writing this text to build a Nemesis! You want to be "Bad", then don't expect others to not "Take you out". If you look at human life through the eyes of an economist, it's the single cheapest, most renewable resource on the planet. People Matter because we Agree we do! If you disagree with that, "We Don't Need You Around"! Play Nice! It can really lonely playing a "Villain"!
I'm sure there's more, and I'll add to this list on the next read-through. Right now, I'm a bit frazzled, and need to post it, anyways. ~S~
Suggested Reading: Fred Allen Wolf: "Taking The Quantum Leap" I reference heavily upon this book: You really should have a Copy!
*=C.E.R.N. Accelerator experiments in the early 1990s, run consecutively, tested repeatedly for "Location or Momentum", finding exactly & Only what they were looking for. The only thing that changed from test-to-test was what they decided, in advance, that they were going to find.
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