Finding meaning in everything1. The black avatar of arts - that creator and trickster - is an omen of omens
2. He reminds us of another rising into a red sky with the burden of humanity
3. And thereby we hear the Master.
What are the names?
Saturday, November 23, 2013
Contest Question 2
Finding meaning in everything1. The black avatar of arts - that creator and trickster - is an omen of omens
2. He reminds us of another rising into a red sky with the burden of humanity
3. And thereby we hear the Master.
What are the names?
Saturday, November 16, 2013
Contest Question 1
Who of the following did Jimmy Page meet with and discuss Magick?
Don't answer here, just do your research and hold on to your answer till the end of the contest when there will be a submission form with all the questions presented at one time.
Or however else I figure out how to do this.
_ Aleister Crowley
_ Jareth, the Goblin King
_ Louis H. Sullivan
_ Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
_ Thomas Carlyle
_ William Burroughs
Don't answer here, just do your research and hold on to your answer till the end of the contest when there will be a submission form with all the questions presented at one time.
Or however else I figure out how to do this.
Thursday, November 14, 2013
Monday, November 11, 2013
Contest info!
Mage Music Contest Description and Rules
- This is supposed to be a fun contest. Emphasis on fun, okay? Anyone who’s a quibbler, nitpicker or general grump should not bother even starting it.
- The prize for this contest is a TBL Gift Pack. If Dave Lewis is really sweet about it (and he is a sweet guy) he’ll autograph it. I might decide to add additional prizes, but maybe not.
- All decisions about who wins the prize/s are up to me. I’ll follow my own rules, but if there’s a problem in some way and I feel like it, I will change the rules. So pay attention here: This contest is just like real life - the rules you start with may not be the rules you end with. Unlike real life, though, I will let you know what the new rules are.
- The rules will be also posted on a page of its own on this blog, so you don't have to hunt for them. The posted rules will always be the official rules for the whole contest, regardless of what rules existed before them.
- I’m going to post one or more new questions or challenges at least once a week starting November 16 until at least the end of the month. This means these questions/challenges might appear any day of the week, not just the usual Saturday posts. If there are too many potential winners at the end of the month, I may call for another round, or maybe I’ll just put finalists’ names in a hat and pick one. My rules, remember?
- To have a chance to win, you must answer all questions/challenges correctly and you must follow all the rules.
- This contest will use all pages on this site, not just the blog posts themselves.
- All answers will either be found on this site or can be deduced by information provided on this site.
- I will provide an email address at some point for you to send your answers. Or maybe a website. I haven’t figured that out yet. But at that point, responses to all questions or challenges must be submitted, along with contact info. Incomplete submissions will just be tossed out – it’s an easy way for me to figure out who the winner will be.
- You must be at least 18 years of age and have been born on planet Earth to win a prize. If you are the winner, you will have to certify to the truth of those two items.
- If you are Jimmy Page, you can’t win the prize. Sorry, but that would just be unfair to everyone else.
Saturday, November 9, 2013
News, Contest & Blather
I'm taking a Mage Music hiatus while I work on another writing project, just for the month of November. That would mean four weeks, including this one, of no Mage Music, and I feel kinda bad about that.
So I decided to offer you a contest. I haven't figured out all the details, but the grand prize (and maybe only prize) will be a TBL Gift Pack - thank you Dave Lewis for working this out with me! I am considering - only thinking about it, mind you - of a second prize, but we'll see. It's going to be a Mage Music Trivia contest - all answers will be found here on this blog. That's all I'm going to tell you right now.
So check Mage Music occasionally during the month for contest rules - yes, there will be rules! Meanwhile, I'll keep posting on (Mostly) Daily Mage for those of you who've got to have their Magick talk fix.
Blather
Oh yeah, I wanted to remind those of you who are of pagan, Wiccan and the like persuasion (or those who would like to be, or the curious) that we are in that time of year when the Winter God is prime. This is a time of year for withdrawal and inwardness, of darkness and meeting with the bare bones of death and rebirth. This is a time for contemplation and renewal of power.
It's not all Santa and shopping.
Seek out the commonality of all Yule celebrations, rather than dismissing the festivities as fluff, and you will find the way.
I like this version of Immigrant Song because of the long drone introduction. It's the Universe holding its breath before the Winter God appears. It's the pulling in of power.
Magick. You gotta love it.
So I decided to offer you a contest. I haven't figured out all the details, but the grand prize (and maybe only prize) will be a TBL Gift Pack - thank you Dave Lewis for working this out with me! I am considering - only thinking about it, mind you - of a second prize, but we'll see. It's going to be a Mage Music Trivia contest - all answers will be found here on this blog. That's all I'm going to tell you right now.
Blather
Oh yeah, I wanted to remind those of you who are of pagan, Wiccan and the like persuasion (or those who would like to be, or the curious) that we are in that time of year when the Winter God is prime. This is a time of year for withdrawal and inwardness, of darkness and meeting with the bare bones of death and rebirth. This is a time for contemplation and renewal of power.
It's not all Santa and shopping.
Seek out the commonality of all Yule celebrations, rather than dismissing the festivities as fluff, and you will find the way.
♫
I like this version of Immigrant Song because of the long drone introduction. It's the Universe holding its breath before the Winter God appears. It's the pulling in of power.
Magick. You gotta love it.
Saturday, November 2, 2013
Magick 102
"...the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.”
~Roald Dahl
Mage Music 76
Scientists and other logically-based thinkers like to put down Magick as nonsense because Magick can't be readily perceived. The reasoning is that if something can't be perceived (with the physical senses on their own or enhanced with technology), it can't be measured, quantified, and duplicated in a laboratory. If it can't be identified by science then it isn't real.
Science, of course, would be that area of human knowledge that changes all the time. New technology enables things to be perceived that couldn't be perceived before, and surprise! Science changes its tune about the nature of reality and we all pretend scientists aren't contradicting what they just said.
No scientist should say that anything is impossible or can't exist. In an infinite universe, by definition all things are possible and do exist. That's why even "laws" of nature are still referred to as theories. In spite of what some would have us believe, in fact humans don't know everything that can be known about reality.
Working with the impossible
Mages and artists, however, know that just because something doesn't yet exists doesn't mean it isn't possible. In fact, that very point may be the most significant difference between Magick and the rest of everyday human reality.
That is, just because you can't perceive something doesn't mean it doesn't exist. It just might be hidden from human perception.
Creation is the act of changing reality, that is, manifesting something new in the world. It isn't duplication of something that has existed before. Creation is an act shared with the gods, and it is something that every human could do but few will. That means that for all intents and purposes, to the non-creative world the new thing that has been made manifest came from a secret place, and how it came to be manifest in the real world is a secret as well.
For truly, if the Work of a Mage or artist (a Mage musician for example!) was perceived and examined minutely, was measured, quantified, and duplicated over and over - where it came from and how it came to be manifest in this reality would still remain a complete mystery.
That's because Magick and art are hidden in the most hidden place of all - the duality of the infinite Universe manifest in the human soul ("as above, so below"), and of course that means Magick will never be found unless the seeker suspends the need for outside verification of the inner truth.
~Roald Dahl
Mage Music 76
Scientists and other logically-based thinkers like to put down Magick as nonsense because Magick can't be readily perceived. The reasoning is that if something can't be perceived (with the physical senses on their own or enhanced with technology), it can't be measured, quantified, and duplicated in a laboratory. If it can't be identified by science then it isn't real.
Science, of course, would be that area of human knowledge that changes all the time. New technology enables things to be perceived that couldn't be perceived before, and surprise! Science changes its tune about the nature of reality and we all pretend scientists aren't contradicting what they just said.
No scientist should say that anything is impossible or can't exist. In an infinite universe, by definition all things are possible and do exist. That's why even "laws" of nature are still referred to as theories. In spite of what some would have us believe, in fact humans don't know everything that can be known about reality.
Working with the impossible
Mages and artists, however, know that just because something doesn't yet exists doesn't mean it isn't possible. In fact, that very point may be the most significant difference between Magick and the rest of everyday human reality.
That is, just because you can't perceive something doesn't mean it doesn't exist. It just might be hidden from human perception.
Creation is the act of changing reality, that is, manifesting something new in the world. It isn't duplication of something that has existed before. Creation is an act shared with the gods, and it is something that every human could do but few will. That means that for all intents and purposes, to the non-creative world the new thing that has been made manifest came from a secret place, and how it came to be manifest in the real world is a secret as well.
For truly, if the Work of a Mage or artist (a Mage musician for example!) was perceived and examined minutely, was measured, quantified, and duplicated over and over - where it came from and how it came to be manifest in this reality would still remain a complete mystery.
That's because Magick and art are hidden in the most hidden place of all - the duality of the infinite Universe manifest in the human soul ("as above, so below"), and of course that means Magick will never be found unless the seeker suspends the need for outside verification of the inner truth.
"Who’s to say what’s right and what’s wrong? In another 50 years, it’ll all be topsy-turvy anyway. It’s just the way people view a collective consciousness at any given time.”
- Jimmy Page, Guitar World 2006
♫
Message to my readers: Mage Music posts for the month of November will be briefer than usual and probably have no images. That's because I'm focusing on fiction writing for the month. I won't forsake you, but I am going to neglect you.
Saturday, October 26, 2013
Magick 101
It is to be remembered that all art is magical in origin - music, sculpture, writing, painting - and by magical I mean intended to produce very definite results.
~ William Burroughs, Essay in Contemporary Artists Magazine
Mage Music 75
Here it is, everything you need to know, the whole of Magick in one list.
What it is
Bare bones: Magick is purposeful use of the raw energy of the Universe. No, not raw as in bare-skin naked. Raw as in not pre-processed, pre-digested or pre-packaged. Raw as not things, but the stuff things are made of.
Bare as in without covering, without disguise. Unvarnished, without the trappings of mumbo-jumbo that cause confusion. The stark core of power and nothing else.
Magick at its most fundamental: That's where you start.
Honestly? Anything else is unnecessary. You might think all the people and organizations that speak of What Magick Is and say they know How Magick Works are going to tell you what you need to know, but they aren't. They're only going to tell you their version of things, their niche. And in doing so, they steal potential from you - they steal your power.
This is not to say that there is nothing offered by such groups, but of course the moment you take someone else's truth for your own, you have replaced your own pure truth with something less pure. A cracked, imperfect version, one that serves others as much as yourself. Or maybe serves them more.
Magick is an art, not a religion. Magick can be art. Knowing truth and expressing it doesn't require a guide. The truth is inside of you. You have direct access to truth and power, all you have to do is take it for yourself.
It's not easy walking that path, though. Everyone is eager to tell you where you're wrong and wants you to do what you're doing a different way. Everyone else is the expert, except for you - but it's your Magick and others can't make your choices for you any more than you can do so for them.
It's lonely walking that path. It’s easier to lean on others, even if their truth isn't yours. But the creation comes from inside you, not outside. If you are paying more attention to the outside than the inside, you won't be able to find, much less fan, the flame of your own muse.
So you start with the fact that you already know everything you need to know, that you have all the tools you need to have, that you can develop what you need by yourself by doing. You simply need to locate the path inside you and use it.
Magick works the same for all living beings that have the ability to consciously make choices in this Universe. Where there is purposeful creativity, there is the potential for Magick. The law of Magick is the law of deliberate creation. This is different from the laws of other physical objects in the Universe, even of other living beings, because the law of Magick is one of conscious creation.
The law of Magick opens the physical self to the infinite energy of the Universe. Theoretically, there are no limits to what Magick can manifest, but in practice what is actually possible to manifest is limited by what a finite being can express of the infinite. Obviously the one can only contain a minuscule fraction of the other, just as cupped hands can only hold a minuscule fraction of the contents of the oceans.
The law is this: As above, so below; as below, so above. Think on that for a bit while you listen to the music of a Mage.
~ William Burroughs, Essay in Contemporary Artists Magazine
Mage Music 75
Here it is, everything you need to know, the whole of Magick in one list.
- Understand what Magick is and can do
- Identify your desires
- Engage your will
- Prepare and execute the perfect ritual
- Step into the new reality
- Cement the new reality
What it is
Bare bones: Magick is purposeful use of the raw energy of the Universe. No, not raw as in bare-skin naked. Raw as in not pre-processed, pre-digested or pre-packaged. Raw as not things, but the stuff things are made of.
Bare as in without covering, without disguise. Unvarnished, without the trappings of mumbo-jumbo that cause confusion. The stark core of power and nothing else.
Magick at its most fundamental: That's where you start.
Honestly? Anything else is unnecessary. You might think all the people and organizations that speak of What Magick Is and say they know How Magick Works are going to tell you what you need to know, but they aren't. They're only going to tell you their version of things, their niche. And in doing so, they steal potential from you - they steal your power.
This is not to say that there is nothing offered by such groups, but of course the moment you take someone else's truth for your own, you have replaced your own pure truth with something less pure. A cracked, imperfect version, one that serves others as much as yourself. Or maybe serves them more.
Magick is an art, not a religion. Magick can be art. Knowing truth and expressing it doesn't require a guide. The truth is inside of you. You have direct access to truth and power, all you have to do is take it for yourself.
It's not easy walking that path, though. Everyone is eager to tell you where you're wrong and wants you to do what you're doing a different way. Everyone else is the expert, except for you - but it's your Magick and others can't make your choices for you any more than you can do so for them.
It's lonely walking that path. It’s easier to lean on others, even if their truth isn't yours. But the creation comes from inside you, not outside. If you are paying more attention to the outside than the inside, you won't be able to find, much less fan, the flame of your own muse.
So you start with the fact that you already know everything you need to know, that you have all the tools you need to have, that you can develop what you need by yourself by doing. You simply need to locate the path inside you and use it.
The more a person develops the skill set needed for Magick, the greater the Work can be.
Magick is purposeful use of the raw energy of the Universe
Magick is purposeful use of the raw energy of the Universe
Magick works the same for all living beings that have the ability to consciously make choices in this Universe. Where there is purposeful creativity, there is the potential for Magick. The law of Magick is the law of deliberate creation. This is different from the laws of other physical objects in the Universe, even of other living beings, because the law of Magick is one of conscious creation.
The law of Magick opens the physical self to the infinite energy of the Universe. Theoretically, there are no limits to what Magick can manifest, but in practice what is actually possible to manifest is limited by what a finite being can express of the infinite. Obviously the one can only contain a minuscule fraction of the other, just as cupped hands can only hold a minuscule fraction of the contents of the oceans.
But... a Mage pushes the envelope of what is possible.
The law is this: As above, so below; as below, so above. Think on that for a bit while you listen to the music of a Mage.
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