Hello.
I've not been here long, and this is a heck of a way to delurk, but I
couldn't let this go without comment...
> But what
> counts is whether the magic works. And what I'm going
> by is whether the techniques used by Gardiner and
> Spare work. I'm assuming that a genuine tradition
> would have working methods and this would show up in
> their apprentices working. It does with Spare but not
> with Gardiner in my view. Of course I suppose you can
> exclude the possibility that the group initiating him
> was bogus too...
Surely ever since (at least) the first glimmerings of Chaos Magic it
is axiomatic that *any belief system can be used to produce magic,
regardless of alleged authenticity*?
I myself have both seen and used fictional archetypes and belief
systems in magic to great effect - certainly no less than any
'genuine' tradition.
If this is so, then the phrase,
> a genuine tradition would have working methods and this would show
> up in
> their apprentices working.
is inaccurate... since it doesn't matter if the initiating group had
a 'genuine' 'historical' praxis or not. If it's the right time, place
and people, they will get a result regardless.
Apologies to the OP if I have misinterpreted him here....
Cat Vincent
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