Magic is Personal and Dynamic in Nature
“Perhaps the most significant reason why magic can not be explained in the rational, predictable way some might wish is that the magicians are all different. Magic is the exercise of the will of an individual at the moment the magical operation is executed. The conditions for a magical operation can never be repeated. Ritual is the attempt of the magician to create, as far as possible, the most similar conditions possible for the most reliable possible results.”
- Hermetic Magic
“When magic is both personalized and precise, Hermeticism will serve as the perfect foundation. If using it this way, remember that Hermetic magic is very formulaic, but not to the point of being dry and never-changing. It is personalized by each magician who learns it, and is ultimately meant for pragmatism. Hermetic magicians tend to believe that there is little point in being a magician if you can’t make it work for you, in your circumstances or, as an acquaintance of mine once put it, “If you can’t do it naked, in a desert, it ain’t real magic!”
- Hermetic Magic
“Magic is like a combination lock. If each tumbler falls into place, the lock will open. Seldom are any two locks the same. Their physical appearance might be identical, but the combination of numbers necessary to open each is different. So it is with both individual magical working and those who attempt them. Goals may appear identical in nature, and magicians similar in training and outward characteristics, but there similarity stops. No one can teach another a combination that is his own, for it would not work. Each person possesses his own inclinations, his own Gestalt, and so he must ascertain what works best for him. There is nothing intrinsically esoteric about any combination which will lead to an ultimately successful working unless one considers the keeping of the secret combination esoteric, for it is literally that. If the truth is to be known, Greater (ceremonial) magic is simply a means of formalizing acts which in and of themselves would elicit no attention were they to be carried out without ritualistic trappings. Hence a ritual chamber is necessary to make the practitioner feel like a magician, intensifying awareness of his own potential (if any exists). Once one understands his potential, reinforcement supplied by the trappings of a ritual chamber can be superfluous. It’s only then when one can get down to brass tacks: the Combination.
The combination needed for a controlled working might place the magician not only in diverse places, but in diverse positions and acts. He might need to read a certain book at a certain time in a certain place. Each acts to drop a tumbler in the combination lock. How does one go about discovering these combinations? One doesn’t. They discover him if he is responsive to their appearance. Sensitivity is essential. The harder one looks, the less he will find. “Seek and ye shall find” is a platitude as half truthful as “the truth will make you free.” One can seek until he drops and pass up the answers many times if he hasn’t the sensitivity to recognize them when confronted by them. The “truth” can be screamed from a thousand rooftops, and unless it is convenient to hear it will fall on deaf ears. The most profound acts of magic just seem to “happen.” That is because the sets of circumstances which bring them about go unrecognized. Recognition is the key.”
-The Devil’s Notebook (Anton LaVey)
“It is best to remake the spells that you can find to suit you. Otherwise they might not work as it’s suited to the person. To make a spell, one must understand this formula. Take the effect in mind that you need. Take the power you need in mind to accomplish the spell with an idea to use as least power as possible. Take the actions you need to accomplish the goal in mind. When all this is considered, take considering to making it a short time to cast it with least power needed. The ideal that mathematics is a part of spells is correct. Everything within a spell is made to work by math in different formulas.”
- Spelly (spellhawk.blogspot.com)
“Magic, Martial Arts and Dance are very much connected. They create geometric movements in space. This is especially so with the circular movements of Tai Chi. Look for movements that align your mind with the movement. Tai Chi is where your action changes from form into another in a smooth unbroken flow. Such movements train your mind in the manipulation of energy. Magic is the manipulation of energy to affect reality. Manipulation of energy requires imagination, feeling and action. Each person’s magic is personal. You must make use of the universal movements of Tai Chi to create your own Tai Chi.”
- Enoch Mind Reality (Raising Power and Releasing it for Magical work)
