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© R J Stewart, December 2004
There is much confusion and substantial posturing
on the subject of ritual magic. Sadly, there is also considerable
ignorance and prejudice…not only from opponents such
as fundamental religionists, by from proponents who have a
personal vested interest, an axe to grind, a dogma, a favourite
writer or teacher to praise. So into this tangled and heated
maze, I intend to briefly venture. When I do so, I will try
to avoid some of the standard explanations and dogmatic statements
about “what magic is”, as you can find them repeated,
often thoughtlessly copied from one another, in many books.
The simplest way to begin is to consider
not what ritual and ceremony are today, but what they were
in the ancestral cultures. Why so? Because much of our attitude
toward magic, friendly or hostile, is conditioned by our living
in a post-Christian modernist culture. If we can step aside,
so to speak, and look for a moment at a collective consciousness
untrammelled uninhibited and unconditioned by Christianity,
we might gain some insights. The 19th century occultists,
from whom 90% of contemporary literature on magic is derived,
had difficulty making this step. They were either reverent
towards the conditioned Judeo-Christian worldview despite
their occultism, or they were in extreme (even childish) reaction
against it. Today, in the 21st century, and as a result of
their pioneering work, their suffering and genius in some
cases, we are now less conditioned, and, hopefully, more aware
that the world is very different to that of either religious
or modernist propaganda.
Ceremony and Ritual in the past
Magical ceremonies were conducted in ancestral
cultures for two primary purposes: to commune with and draw
upon spiritual powers and presences, and to mediate and present
such spiritual powers and presences to the community. The
first purpose was, and still is, jealously absorbed by political
religions. The second purpose is the historical origin of
all theatre (including the modern film and television industry),
but at a deeper level is the ultimate aim of true magical
ritual.
Ideas such as “self-development”,
“control of supernatural forces” and so-forth
are materialistic and modern. All ancestral magic,
be it formal and complex such as the ancient Mysteries of
the classical or Egyptian civilisations, or the relatively
simple folkloric magic of the ordinary people, was deeply
involved in ideas such as participation, relationship, transformation
through interaction, and, especially, with the resonance of
spiritual forces out to the greater world. The now popular
concepts of the isolated would-be-superman, who changes things
according to his will, or the elite occult group that influences
politics and money, came into shape in the 19th century, and
have continued in various forms to this day. Most of these
are either a) fiction, or b) egocentric wishful thinking.
What is a ritual?
A ritual is a pattern, comprising words,
movement, sounds, and intentional content such as clothing,
implements, and a wide range other factors. The two key concepts
are pattern and intentional content. The
most important consideration, however, is that this ritual
pattern is shared between humans and other beings…humans
and spiritual beings. You cannot have magic without the harmonious
exchange between humanity and other orders of life. A ritual,
a ceremony, is a special pattern that enables this exchange.
There are of course, two modes of magic,
co-operative and coercive. In this article,
we are discussing co-operative magic. Similar principles apply
to both modes. However, I have never grasped the sense of
a type of magic in which humans attempt to force powerful
spiritual beings (more powerful than the human ritualists)
to do their will. Does this not seem to be absurd…not
to mention childish and illogical?
When is a ceremony not a ritual?
In some sense we could define any intentional
gathering as a ritual or ceremony. But what distinguishes
a magical ritual is that the intention always
involves spiritual beings. They may be ancestors, faery races,
gods or goddesses, trans-human beings compassionate to humanity,
the spirits of the living creatures in nature (often rather
loosely called totem animals), or conscious entities from
remote metaphysical dimensions. If they, whoever
they may be, are not part of our ritual, it is not magic.
It is merely an empty ceremony.
A ritual and a ceremony are essentially the
same thing. The ceremony is the outer form, while the ritual
is the magical pattern-making. Hence the popular modern definition
that “ceremonial magic” is the complex stuff with
fat scripts, many implements and much arm-waving, while other
forms of ritual are somehow more direct or simple. This is
not true, of course, but is widely published. A very simple
ceremony lasting a minute or two, such as placing an offering
of wine upon a dedicated stone, can be a powerful and complex
ritual involving humans, spirit beings, forces of nature,
ancestral consciousness, stellar awareness! Do not be fooled
by props…or propped by fools.
Magic for the future
Some years ago, during a famous interview,
the late Robert Graves was challenged by a religious presenter,
regarding Graves’ interpretation of myth and history.
Graves responded that there are three ages or eras: first
that of matriarchy, or of the collective past, then that of
patriarchy or of the collective present, and, next, the age
of magic. For Graves, the age of Magic was that which is about
to come into being, as humanity evolves from the polarisations
of female and male, and becomes androgyne. But he was also
referring, more immediately, to contemporary liberation from
religious stereotypes, and the increased opening of spiritual
imagination and awareness. Being both a poet and a satirist,
Graves then floored the smug presenter by saying (something
like) “But you sir do not know the difference between
magic and necromancy, so there is nothing further we can talk
about”.
I doubt if anyone can improve upon Graves’
definition that Magic is always of the future. Through ritual
and ceremony we create new interactions between the metaphysical
and physical realms: this is how the future is generated.
It is not a simplistic linear future, but a future of many
potentials. Some of those potentials do not manifest, others
do, though often in a surprising manner. Ritual magic is very
close, in practice, to the theories of quantum physics, in
which consciousness affects outcome of any event or series
of events.
And a last word of warning
Am I going to warn you about demonic influences
or drugs and magic or moral issues of sexual spells? No…that
is all puerile nonsense. But I would urge you to heed this
warning: we are privileged. We are privileged to be able to
practice magic, in any form. I am privileged to be able to
write this article, you to read it. In most parts of the world,
right now, this would be illegal. It may become illegal here.
Therefore, and thus far, we enact our magic, our ceremonies,
and our rituals not merely for ourselves, but from a place
of privilege whereupon we stand, on behalf of others. For
those others who cannot, who are not, allowed to do so. Do
not let your privilege and freedom be eroded. Work magic for
the sake of liberation through magic.
R J Stewart December 2004.
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