Some Principles of Magic
Thomas Moore on simple ways to bring more magic into your life.
“We are entering a new era. On the one hand, we are aware, as never before, how our world changes with developments in information, communication, science and technology. But there is a backlash.
Many are also interested in the more esoteric ideas of Jung, new spiritual communities, and magical elements of traditional religions such as Tarot Cards and the Kabbalah. We are headed for a new style of thinking and living, and some old and rejected perspectives may well return with a new dignity. It simply makes sense to offset our material gain with an expansion and deepening of our spiritual place in the world. I expect astrology and magic to be part of that cycle of return.
The magus of old teaches us, first, to time our lives and activities well. Stay in tune with the rhythms of nature and the pulse of our lives. Be open to the kairos, the right timing, and the good signs. Be ready to slow down and halt when the winds are not favorable. Abstain from eager desires when the climate isn’t right and then move ahead when indications are strong.
The alchemist, another kind of magus, stares at his oven and glass vessels and adjusts the heat. Know when to keep things hot and when to cool down. Know how to boil and simmer and remove from the heat. Understand the purposes of cool and hot, as the ancient Greek philosophers advised. Know, too, what to keep moist and what to dry out, what to add to your life and what to take out. An alchemical imagination of ordinary life is part of natural magic.
The magus also sometimes uses music as a way of healing, calming, and persuading people. The music may be actual sound, as in Marsilio Ficino’s use of what he called his “Orphic lyre.” The music could also be metaphor, as in Robert Fludd’s fascinating charts showing the many octaves of experience that resound in our actions. We all know how different kinds of music can affect our emotions, but how? Try to explain it. One way is to see the special power of music as a form of magic. Fludd’s idea of the music of everyday life is also common.
A man tells me that his grown son won’t talk to him openly about any matters of importance, even though he, the father, is very open-minded. But as the father talks, I hear in his words a strong need to control, to have the son do what the father wants and expects. The father sings a tune of openness, but another voice in him hums quietly about control. The problem causing conflict between this father and son, from a certain angle, is a matter of music.
The magus of former times wanted to break through to higher and hidden worlds. Some tried to conjure angels. They used mirrors, bowls of water, crystal balls, alphabet wheels. They read the flight of birds, spirals of smoke, animal tracks, clouds. They meditated, prayed, traveled, collected books, experimented, and studied with each other. Many had thin boundaries between their astrology and their humanities, their practice of magic and their scientific and mathematical studies. All searched for ways to be effective in the world that were mysterious and largely nonrational.”
Excerpt From A Religion of One's Own, Thomas Moore