Mogg doth schreibble :
> I thought it was an interesting point (forgotten who made it) that
> the styling of "magic" as technology may not be a modern construction
> (as I'd thought) but have older precedents - examples given from medieval
> Arabic philosophy.
Ibn Khaldun tells us that human Souls
are one in Species, differing only in
their Qualities.
The Souls of Sorcerors are able to
attract the Spiritus of the Stars,
and use this Spiritus to exercise
an influence upon created beings.
He considers that Souls possessing
Magical ability are of three degrees:
1.) Souls exercising their influence
through mental power alone, with
no instrument or aid. This is what
the Philosophers call Sorcery.
2.) Souls exercising their influence
through the aid and Harmony of
the Spheres and the Elements, or
with the properties of Numbers.
This is called Talismans, and it is
weaker than the first kind.
3.) Souls exercising their influence
upon the powers of Imagination, by
planting different sorts of Phantasms
in the Imagination, and bringing
them down to the level of Sensory
Perception so that others may see
them, appearing to observers as
things existing in the external World,
when in fact there is nothing there.
The Philosophers call this
Prestidigitation.
Sorcerers possess this power
Potentially, and they transform it
and make it Active by exercise.
All magical exercise consists in
directing oneself to the Spheres,
Stars, or Daemons by means of
various kinds of Venerations,
Worship, Submissions, &tc.
The Philosophers distinguish
between Talismans and Sorcery.
The Sorcerer does not need any
aid, while those who work with
Talismans seek the aid of the
Spiritus of the Stars, the
secrets of Numbers, the particular
Qualities of existing Things, and
the positions of the Stars as they
act on the Elements, as the
Astrologers maintain.
The Philosophers say that Sorcery
is a Union of Spirit with Spirit,
while the Talisman is a Union of
Spirit with Body.
This means that the Celestial Natures
are Knotted Together with Terrestrial
Natures, and those who work with
Talismans seek the aid of Astrology.
The Philosophers say that Sorcerers
do not acquire their magical ability;
rather they possess a Natural
disposition for exercising such
influence.
Other such people are the yogis,
who train themselves in sorcery.
They live in the intemperate zones
of the north and the south, especially
in India, and possess a large body
of literature on how such exercises
are to be done.
See :
/The Sciences of Sorcery and Talismans/
in :
*The Muqaddimah*
by Ibn Khaldun
http://tinyurl.com/cz3zqy
*Tibetan Yoga and Secret Doctrines*
Translated by Garma Chen-Chi Chang,
edited by Walter Yeeling Evans-Wentz
http://tinyurl.com/cpu56w
( take special note of the Preface to
the Second Edition :
http://tinyurl.com/czcy4z )
*The Cult of Tara :*
*Magic and Ritual in Tibet*
by Stephan Beyer
http://tinyurl.com/dgquur
*Babylonian Magic and Sorcery*
by Leonard William King
http://tinyurl.com/d7mwbp
*Narratives of Sorcery and Magic*
by Thomas Wright
http://tinyurl.com/d8r4h9
*Tummo*
/From Wikipedia/
http://tinyurl.com/3byhl2
*Shamanism and Yoga* ( .PDF )
http://tinyurl.com/cwb7xg
See also Mircea Eliade's *The Forge*
*and the Crucible* and his *Yoga*
*Immortality and Freedom* on the
subject of the mastery of fire.
Cors in Manu Domine,
~ Khem Caigan
<[log in to unmask]>
" Heat and Moisture are Active to Generation;
Cold and Dryness are Passive, in and to each Thing;
Fire and Air, Active by Elementation;
Water and Earth, Passive to Generation. "
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