Exercise Your Magick Muscle

"Everything you do in life, I don't care, good or bad - don't blame God, don't blame the devil, don't blame me, blame you. You control everything! The thoughts you think, the words you utter, the foods you eat, the exercise you do. Everything is controlled by you."
~ Jack Lalanne, "Godfather of Fitness" (1914-2011)

Mage Music 81

Click HERE to view video

If you've been reading this blog, you know what to do. Isn't it time you started doing it? With apologies to those who have been practicing what I preach, I want to have a firm talk with the rest of you who are thinking about Magick, toying with the idea of Magick, dabbling with the notion of Magick but who have never taken the first step by actually doing Magick.

It's hard to take first steps. It's hard for a baby to walk, too. But a baby crawls before walking. She learns to stand, she tries out a few steps  - and doesn't worry for one moment about falling down.

A baby builds up her walking muscles over time. It's no different for you and your Magick muscle.  You are the one who does the Magick, so you're the one responsible for building up that Magick muscle.  Get on your exercise outfit, and let's get going. Yes, yes, I know there's not a physical muscle involved, but truly, the same principles are involved.

One and two and bend and stretch...

The first thing to remember is that Magick is a process, and your life is a whole interrelated system, not a series of discrete incidents. No change in reality is going to work out the way you want if you think you're going to change one thing without understanding that everything else in your reality is changed, too. It's all connected.

It's all One.

Magick in your life means that everything you do is touched with Magick. If you are a musician, the world is all about sound and rhythm and silence. If you are a painter it's about color and space and form. So, too, with Magick: A new way of thinking about one aspect of your reality leads to breakthroughs in all areas of your reality. 

When you exercise the Magick muscle, it is more than just the abilities of a Mage that are strengthened. Magick isn't just about filling the holes in your life with things you want, it is about changing your whole life.

Three and four and breathe in deeply...

Once you have embraced the notion that changing one little aspect of reality changes everything, you can take advantage of the fact that exercising your Magick muscle to do a little Work has effects well beyond that Work. Your life is a complex weaving of threads - tug on one and the whole fabric of reality twitches. Or, if you like a different metaphor, your whole life resonates with the pure sound of one note.  It really helps to know which thread to twitch and which note to play, of course. Exercising the right Magick muscle means you don't waste time building up the strength of your left eyebrow if you aim to play guitar at Royal Albert Hall.

Only you can know which little Work to start with. I can't tell you which one, no one can. This blog and the best examples of the Masters should empower you to take control over your own life's choices - not choose for you. You can accept advice that helps you think about your approach, but your choices are influenced by your own values and goals and must reflect your own needs and desires. Thus everyone's first and subsequent Works necessarily will be as different as there are people performing them.

Just like with any beginnings, start with something simple and something small. Lift a one pound weight and build to the hundred pounder. Learn scales before plunging into Kashmir. And don't forget to breathe in deeply.

The science and the art 

There is science before art.  There is technique before creativity.  There there are rules to learn before going crazy with the Magick of it all. Masters break the rules all the time, but you can't consciously break rules if you haven't learned them. If you break them by accident and create a beautiful work of art - well, so can a million monkeys. Build your muscles as you learn how to fly, then break through the bonds and let your strength carry you on powerful wings to your heart's desire.

The first rule: Know yourself. Unflinchingly. Lovingly. Fully accepting it all - for to be human is to be flawed. You can't change what isn't there. You can't change that which you don't know - or refuse to know - exists.

It begins with this and this begins with you.  

Something simple and something small.  The first step, the beginning. Learn who you are. Become aware of the thoughts you think, the words you utter, the foods you eat, the exercise you do, every choice you make and why you make it. Everything is controlled by you, whether you are aware of it or not, but the first exercise of your Magick muscle is becoming awake to who you are.

Led Zeppelin Remasters

You can get your pre-order buying done right now at http://www.ledzeppelin.com/buy/  The Remasters will be released June 2, 2014.  You will at some point be able to order on Amazon as well.

Lots of choices! (Note image is not a live link. Use THIS to see ordering options).

Mage, Invent Thyself

"For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

~ Leonardo Da Vinci, Codex on the Flight of Birds

Mage Music 80

Once upon a time, years and years ago, a young musician worked at his craft and honed his skills, biding his time until at last his music had so far surpassed the bonds of his apprenticeship that his dreams could no longer be contained.  He stepped away from the safety of the conventional in order to invoke the Magick of his dreams.

He had envisioned something that had never existed before. It was a sound that had not yet been heard, a musical message that had not yet been shared. His dream was bigger than any but the boldest had ever dared. His dream was even greater than that.

We know today that this was no ordinary musician, of course. We know that this is no fable. This is the true story of a musician who became a Mage, of a man who understood that without imagination there can be no Magick, and that it was Magick that would carry his music into realms beyond the dreams of most mortals.

Unclipped wings

It's no accident that we use words associated with flying to talk about the dreams we have while we are awake.  Flights of imagination, soaring imagination, on wings of dreams - the words are about taking yourself far beyond where you ordinarily dwell.

Magick exists everywhere as potential - Magick is purposeful use of the energy of the universe, after all. But Magick stubbornly remains as only potential until the Mage activates it though desire, will and ritual. A Mage’s desire is more than just a vague wish, however – it is specific, it is powerful, and it is held in place by will so that it can be manifest through ritual.

Imagination is what turns a wish into a desire. A Mage must invent his new reality, and because the new reality has never existed before, a Mage must imagine it so strongly that on some level it already exists for him. Once the new reality already exists - even if only in a Mage's imagination - the heavy lifting is done.  All that remains is for the Mage to use the ritual of Magick to make it so.

A Mage’s will is the discipline to know with all the cells of his body that there is nothing more important than that he attains his desire.  His discipline allows him to ruthlessly remove all obstacles that may be in the way. The first and foremost of these obstacles is doubt.  Doubt is the wing-clipper, doubt is the imagination-blocker, doubt is the Magick-slayer.

Eyes turned skywards

To step outside the comfort zone and launch into the sky takes a rare kind of bravery. While the world enjoys the results of invention, it is human nature to be cautious, even fearful, of new things. A Mage stands alone, eyes turned skywards, dreaming the new reality into his soul until he spreads his wings and flies free. The rest of us may follow if we dare.

Smile When You Say That

"People like us, who believe in physics, know that the distinction between past, present and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion".

~ Albert Einstein

Mage Music 79

It’s not just people who believe in physics who get what it's all about. People who live the tenets of Magick and apply them in life also understand that the only moment when change is possible is the now.

Now is when/where life happens.
Now is where the power is.

But how do you stay in the now when there are so many pressures of the past and future distracting you?

The fallacy of the string of beads

There's too much to overcome. 
I can’t make any changes until I fix this other thing first. 
I can’t create a new reality because my past makes things have to be the way they are.

These are the kinds of things people tell themselves to explain why they are where they are and why their lives aren't changing.  We all do it.  But unfortunately, these are the thoughts that block Magick and the possibility of change. 

These thoughts are fallacies based on the idea that time is like a string of beads, that one moment in existence follows the next in an order that cannot be changed.  But time is not a string of beads. Time is not one moment after the next in an inevitable sequence. Time is a dimension, a physical property of the Universe like length, width and height are. And like these other dimensions, time just is - all at once.

The illusion of past, present and future is a product of human perception, which is finite and cannot ordinarily embrace the fullness of all that is. The default human perception is to sample reality in finite and discrete units - a sequence of events, a string of beads - but the Mage understands that this limited perception is not the way it has to be.

Because all dimensions exist all the time within time, anything can move or be moved from one condition in reality to another by choice and through the rituals (actions) of one who has the desire and will to do so. It is a matter of not letting the weight of perceived past or future influence the moment that is now.

Breaking free of the weight and influence of past and future is key. You need a reliable method to interrupt who you have been being in order to transition to the new reality you choose to manifest. How do you do that?

The confounded bridge

In music the bridge is often used to contrast with and prepare for moving from one musical passage to another. It is not intrusive – it fits with the whole – but it is different enough that it is a clear message that what was is done and something different is coming. It can be a note, a pause, a key change or a combination of several musical elements, but its function is to enable connection with a different place.

A Mage must have a reliable bridge to the now, the only moment of power - a bridge that is strong enough to clear the perception of an inevitable past-future sequence and allow for a new direction. It might surprise you to know that the simplest tool to accomplish this is the lowly smile.

Smile when you think that thing

Human (and some other animal’s) facial expressions reflect the output of the part of the brain called the limbic system (a.k.a. the paleomammalian brain or the reptile brain).  The limbic system is the oldest part of the brain (in terms of evolution) and is the most primitive. This part of the brain works on automatic responses, not intellectual decisions. It’s where emotions and immediate reaction to danger is handled and where memory is processed. It’s where “social processing”, including the evaluation of faces, occurs.  It's why you smile or frown without even being aware you're doing it.

When you’re feeling sad or mad or happy the emotions are reflected on your face automatically by the limbic system. The emotions don’t even have to be current – the memory of past sadness, anger or happiness and the anticipation of them in the future can elicit the facial expressions just as well. But what’s more important for Magick is that this is a two-way street. 

" The moment you change your perception is the moment you rewrite the chemistry of your body. "
~ Dr Bruce H. Lipton.

Beliefs are the lenses through which perceptions of the world are filtered. As with any good lens, beliefs are transparent, that is, they seem invisible and you are mostly unaware of them. Emotions are shaped by the lenses of beliefs. Unchecked, emotions rule a person and take the place of conscious choice.

No Magick for you when you live unconsciously because then you can make no choices.

Here's the usual string of beads of unconscious living:  Memory (limbic system) leads to emotion leads to physical results - one of which is the expression on your face. It's simple chemistry. Positive emotions cause the body to produce certain chemicals (e.g. dopamine and serotonin) and these in turn provide energy and growth and give people a feeling of connection with the world. Negative emotions cause the body to produce totally different chemicals (e.g. cortisol and epinephrine). These chemicals shut down your body, protectively disconnect you from the world to prepare you for fight or flight. Enough of these chemicals and you no longer have conscious control, meaning you can no longer make choices.  No Magick for you.

The simple smile - a tool you  have with you at all times if you only choose to use it - is the bridge that interrupts the flow and influence of memory and connects with the now. It is the reverse string of beads. The smile tells the body that a positive emotion is in play and the limbic system - which is so primitive it can be fooled this way - says okay, things must be good. The limbic system backs off and suddenly you are in the now.

The simple smile - it puts you in the NOW.  Try one on and see.

Milestone

My first Mage Music post was May, 2012. While I wasn't looking yesterday Mage Music quietly received its 20,000th viewer and moved on past that mark.  Wahoo!


I truly appreciate all of my readers.  I hope you've found value here.
Thank you Mage Music fans!

Thank you Jimmy Page for the inspiration of your music!

A stab at movie making

And I have to say, what a lot of work for 14 seconds worth of video!  I think I'll stick with writing.

Click HERE to see the video!

CSI: Guitar

It "stayed with me for a long time until some thieving magpie took it to his nest."
~ Jimmy Page Interview, Guitar Magazine July, 1977


Mage Music 78 

Jimmy Page used a Gibson ‘Black Beauty’ Les Paul for most of his session work and solo singles prior to Led Zeppelin and briefly on tour with Led Zeppelin. This Gibson model is referred to in the world of musical instruments as the Fretless Wonder because of Gibson's advertising that the frets are low and smooth and give the guitar fast playing action.  The Black Beauty also has three humbuckers (electric guitar pickups that cancel out the interference - or hum - that otherwise would be heard during quiet sections of music).

Jimmy Page had his own Black Beauty modified over the years, including the addition of extra switches and a Bigsby tremolo, allowing Mr. Page to produce his own distinctive sound from it. Listen to the middle section of Bring it On Home, from Royal Albert Hall, for example.

The Black Beauty was stolen at an airport April 13-14, 1970. In spite of the reward offered for its return, it still is out there somewhere.

Or is it?

The story goes that during the 1975 tour in Vancouver Mr. Page was presented with a vintage Black Beauty that was supposedly the stolen one, and although when he checked it over and found that the serial number on the guitar was missing, Mr. Page decided it was his anyway and had it shipped to England.  So the story says.

If that's true, Jimmy Page has never played that particular guitar - one he's referred to as "precious" - again in public, nor has he referred to having possession of it in various interviews over the years.

In a Winter 1980 CREEM Magazine article, Jimmy Page said, "...it was very recognizable for all the custom work that Joe Jammer had done on it."  Joe Jammer could certainly  have identified the guitar in 1975 just by looking at the custom wiring.  Identification could also have been made in spite of the missing serial number on the guitar because the Bigsby tremolo arm has a serial number on it that is not only known but supplied in the reward ad Jimmy Page had placed in Rolling Stone.

In 2010 a person put out feelers on the internet about a guitar he wanted to put on eBay that supposedly was a gift to an uncle from Jimmy Page.  That story goes that the uncle died and left it to the guy who now wanted to sell it because he was "not a big Led Zeppelin fan".  Rather a stretch of imagination to think that Jimmy Page would give his Black Beauty to anyone and claim it was stolen.  We must presume that the 2010 guitar was not the real thing. Or... maybe the eBay guitar was the real thing - that is, the stolen guitar - and the queries about it put out in forums over the internet was a toe in the water to see how the world would react if it was offered for sale. Whatever the truth about that guitar, the subject was dropped like a hot potato and there was nothing from Mr. Page about it.

So where is Jimmy Page's Black Beauty today?

Cold Case, Hot Items

It's too late for a Crime Scene Investigation, obviously - but one has to wonder about what is now a very cold case.  What exactly would someone do if he/she had possession of that Black Beauty?  It couldn't be played in public.  It couldn't be publicly sold as Jimmy Page's guitar - not without a certificate of authenticity. And anyone who owned it would be at risk of exposure by revealing having possession of it to another person - so no bragging rights.

Highly valuable items have been stolen over the years for many reasons - and a few of these have never turned up in spite of extraordinary rewards (e.g., $5 million for information leading to the return of 13 paintings stolen from Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston in 1990).  What do people do with these things?

Is some aged rock star wannabe sitting in a locked room somewhere striking power chords from the stolen guitar?  Is it hanging in a vault, unplayed, merely stashed with stolen paintings and artifacts from museums?

Or maybe it wasn't stolen, just misplaced.  Maybe the guitar is sitting in some high school musical instrument room, dented and scratched by generations of kids with dreams of fame and fortune without a clue of what they practiced on.  Maybe it ended up in a pawn shop, purchased by someone for a kid's birthday present and is now sitting in an attic somewhere, forgotten. Maybe it went to the airport's lost item room and was somehow never found by Jimmy Page's roadies - who must have looked for it, though there's no record of that.

Maybe it ended up in a landfill.  I pray that is not true!

Various works of fiction have postulated that eccentric thieves just want to have the artwork for themselves to enjoy, but they always get busted because they can't help but brag.  It's more likely the Black Beauty is being used like other objects of great value that can't be sold publicly - for black market barter.  Weapons or drugs or human slaves for that guitar?

That's just so wrong in so many ways.  Maybe it's not true.  I fear it is.

The power of numbers

Cold cases can be solved with persistence and if enough resources are thrown at them.  I think the case of the missing Black Beauty could be solved.

Here's what I'm thinking:  Jimmy Page has millions of fans.  That's millions of people who could be looking for that Black Beauty.  I don't care that it has been nearly half a century since Jimmy Page touched that guitar - I think that if millions of people became cold case investigators, we could find the Black Beauty and get it back to where it belongs.

I think that if all of us who cared would simply choose to change our own realities to one where Jimmy Page and his Black Beauty were reunited, that we could pull off a world-wide feat of Magick.

I think there is no black market or black vault or black heart that could keep the Black Beauty from being brought back to the light if we wanted her there.

What do you think?