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| Austin Osman Spare |
“Magic is potentiated when the self is effaced by pleasure
and pain.” This statement is said by Leo de Lux to Mirelle Soleil in the
fantasy fiction novel La Maga A Story about Sorcerers and Magi by Soror
ZSD23. But what does this mean? It means that paradigmatic shifts occur at
the extremes of consciousness. You have
heard the adage “it is always darkest before dawn” or “I saw the light” or you
have heard stories about people who claimed to have been “reborn” or who have
claimed to become “enlightened” at a direly critical point during an emotional
crisis. This is the basic idea.
This idea that paradigmatic shifts occur at the extremes of
consciousness is utilized in postmodern magic and was advanced by the early 20th century sorcerer Austin Osman Spare (1886-1956) who potentiated his magic through inducing
liminal states of consciousness usually either through orgasm or a condition he
called the “death posture,” which was a (very not recommended) practice
involving pseudo-catalepsy and auto asphyxiation. Later, magical practitioners spoke of the
potentiation of magical intention through excitatory or inhibitory techniques,
recognized as key in shamanic and mystical initiatory experiences. An example of an excitatory technique might
be dancing to exhaustion or else engaging in some other activity past the point
of tolerance (eg, “erotocomatose lucidity,” a practice brainstormed by one of
Aleister Crowley’s lovers and possibly inspired by legendary Tantric sex practices,
theoretically involving keeping a person in a state of sexual stimulation
through “any means possible” until that person had an “enlightenment”-type
experience or died).
A resourceful and healthful rather than extreme or self-harming example of an excitatory
technique is found in Kundalini and other types of yoga in which a simple
motion or posture is held or continued through and past the point of emotional
and physical resistance. The experience
of breaking through physical resistance becomes a metaphor and method for
breaking through psychological blocks.
When a psychological block is neutralized, thoughts and behaviors are
reframed and neural pathways in the brain are rerouted.
An alternate example of how an excitatory technique might
work and how an inhibitory technique might work is related to hypnotic
technique. Hypnotic-type suggestion best
occurs in states of liminal consciousness.
These might be states between waking and sleep, during orgasm, states of
shock or surprise, or deep self-absorbed focus or fixation. In these states, there is a window of
opportunity to bypass the mind’s critical factor, or what is known in magic as
the psychic censor. When the critical
factor is bypassed, which is what occurs in hypnotic suggestion, new ways of
thinking and behaving can be programmed into the subconscious mind. A person who understands how to skillfully
induce and embed hypnotic suggestion into her own mind or the minds of others
could establish paradigmatic change with efficiency, grace, and ease and
minimal drama, couldn’t she?
For long, people have thought of magic as something
supernatural and spooky. Even in
manifestation spirituality, which is certainly a form of magic although some
practitioners wish to think otherwise, people hold the idea that some divine
spiritual force in the universe is magically making things happen for them or
else they may be of the opinion that their personal-ego desires and quantum
physics are somehow related. But what if magic was really a psychodynamic
process? What if magic and the ability
to manifest one’s desires had nothing to do with spooky supernaturalism or
belief in miracles but with the quality of belie f, perception, attitude, and
behavior and the effects these
expressions have on interpersonal and intrapersonal interactions? What if it was all about where one’s
attention was placed and where, through skill, one could place someone else’s
attention and perception and manipulate one’s own and others’ reactions and
motives?
Excerpt from Chapter 13 The Daughter from La Maga A Story about Sorcerers and Magi
“If anyone asks, you’re a member of this
house,” he said quietly and glared at her. “Understand what this means,” he
snapped. “Do not cross me. Do not interfere with my designs or my momentum. Can
you manage that, Mirelle?”
She nodded. The Consul huffed and grimaced. He
stood up and approached his altar. “Alright, then. Stand here,” he commanded.
Mirelle complied. The Consul grasped a highly polished diamond-shaped dagger from
the altar and lightly pressed it against Mirelle’s breast bone. With his free
hand, he gripped the back of the girl’s head and arched her neck into a taut
and choking posture. He glared into her eyes, white to white. Mirelle felt her
blood drain from fear of what he had in mind only to feel the rush of the
hallmark of empowerment initiations—a hot, scintillating, and heady pulsation.
“‘Magic is potentiated when the self is
effaced by pleasure or pain,’” the Consul lulled.
An electrically erotic sensation flooded
through the dagger into Mirelle’s chest and through the man’s eyes into her
brain. She relaxed into it. The searing stare and torturous grip became softer,
until they seemed like a caress.
The Consul gently released his hold. He placed
the dagger within inches of Mirelle’s brow. She focused on it past the light
that was flooding her mind. The platinum grip had a ruby and citrine inlay of
gems that spelled “de Lux.”
The man grinned as if he didn’t think Mirelle
would believe what she would next see. A miniature angel with a lion on its
breastplate and a flaming sword in hand emerged from the dagger and flew into
her head. It generated a peculiar tickle as it snaked its way to her chest
where it settled like a glowing ember.
He placed the dagger back on the altar and
announced as if commanding the spirits there, “No one dare touch this child
with malice! She belongs to me.”
