The sun's rays do not burn until brought to a focus.
~Alexander Graham Bell.
Mage Music 64
Magick requires that the Mage maintain a deep-set knowing that a desire will manifest in reality. This knowing is beyond belief and beyond thought. It is a surrender, a giving of self to the idea that the process of Magick absolutely will result in the desire made manifest.
Not so easy when the Magick involves something the Mage has never done before, or perhaps something that has never existed before. Or even something the Mage has tried before and failed at.
It’s no sweat to manifest when the path is well-worn. In fact, it is so easy that Magick doesn't need to be involved at all. Almost anyone can make a meal out of raw ingredients using a tried and proven process – why bother with Magick to cook those ribs when the BBQ will work?
Dedication of time and energy and fully giving of self to an end that has never existed before is a whole other kettle of fish, particularly when the events out there in the world seem so out of control.
Yet the biggest Works are those that seem the most impossible, the ones that manifest in the midst of apparent chaos. These are the Works of a Mage that exude such an excess of energy that the rest of us can bask in the glow of the Magick.
Boldly going where…
Imagine being blindfolded, earplugs cutting off all sound, wearing boxing gloves so you can’t feel anything - and then stepping off a platform trusting that the guy on the trapeze will grab your hands before you plunge to the hard ground below. Imagine believing so powerfully that you are able to walk across a bed of hot coals without burning your feet. A Mage uses the energy of the Universe itself to change reality, which is a kind of miracle, actually, since manifesting the smallest atom of anything that did not exist in this time/space before makes messing with trapezes and hot coals easy in comparison - although they do have a lot in common. Trapeze artist, fire walker and Mage all must hold an unwavering belief and trust, a steady desire and will that admit to no hint of failure, no moment of doubt of the outcome.
Imagine, however, that you have tried and failed before. How much harder, then, to hold the necessary state of pure and intense trust that will result in manifestation, to know success in spite of the past?
The past can't, of course, be unknown. A Mage must rather dwell in a state where the past has never existed.
No foolin’
A Mage can’t fake the level of belief and trust needed for Magick. It isn't a matter of logic or words - it is a matter of creating a change at the seat of emotion in the brain, such that the body and guts and mind already know the new state of reality. A Mage creates within himself a new state that exists in the Universe already - so that which will be manifested in the outer world is already manifest in the Mage.
Impeccable preparation, the patience that allows time to stand still, and performance of the perfect ritual provide a means for the Mage to focus on the desired manifestation and keeps pressure, doubt and memory of failure out of the process. The Mage steps outside of the current state of reality into a transitional space where the new conditions can replace the old. Magick then burns a new path in this world.
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Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, Albert Lee
Burn Up 1967
Page/Plant
Burning Up 1998
