In short, the more you know about the topic to be effected, the conditions that apply to it, the environment it exists in (be it empirical or abstract), the greater control you can assert over those variables. By seeing the chinks in the armor, one can slay the foe with a simple dagger.

That’s Information.

Information can be broken down into numerous sub-headings, but the more you break things down, the more complex they become. Let’s try to keep this in “Digestible Bites”.

The target:

            By knowing as much information about the target as possible, it becomes easier to see exploitable variables. Every situation has an Achilles heel, and a point of vulnerability that is ripe for metaphysical influence. Counter Curses, job problems, romantic failings, legal entanglements, and more usually contain at least on weak point that will bring them down and wash them way like a house of cards. Seeing this fulcrum and applying the right amount of force to tip the scale is what makes the difference between a good wizard or witch and a great one.

Self:

            Do you know your strengths from your weaknesses? You can’t be a great magician without knowing your own failings. It means the difference between Will and Vanity: Knowing what you are capable of, and to what degree of reliability. For that, I direct you back to the exercises.

            Another, less obvious factor, is simply knowing how your own brain processes information, and how this may differ from other peoples modes. What scares one person may delight another. What is common sense to you may be “Secret Teachings” to another. Our insight into our own workings can inform us greatly about how others process their perspectives, let alone ourselves.

Historic/Akashic Influences:

            The concept of the Akashic Record is reinforced by the contemporary image of quantum theory. The idea that all minds function as an overlapping array of “reality-decisive devices”, asserts that all minds are connected, and through that connection, are a cumulative consciousness. The very fact that the mechanism keeps reappearing in different forms, with different names, and in different cultures, throughout history, is a testament to its existence.

            That being said, learning to work within it’s precepts and predilections has a momentum of it’s own. What history takes as rote or common sense, regardless of science, seems to hold great sway over how magic works. How else could a bumblebee fly?

            Starting with historical magical systems, discovering the aspects that work with you, and your personal strengths and weaknesses, as the natural ebb & flow of the external influences help or hinder your workings, is the hardest aspect of magic, and the most rewarding.

It leads to true self-knowledge and development.