Wasn't it Dion Fortune who added 'changing consciousness'? --- On Wed, 12/2/09, Caroline Tully <[log in to unmask]> wrote: From: Caroline Tully <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] MAGIC AS ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL EXPRESSIONS OF THE ARTS To: [log in to unmask] Date: Wednesday, December 2, 2009, 12:41 AM I think Crowley’s definition is actually “Magick is the art and science of causing change in accordance with your will”.   I think the “changing consciousness” version is Starhawk’s.   ~Caroline Tully.     From: Society for The Academic Study of Magic [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of toyin adepoju Sent: Wednesday, 2 December 2009 12:28 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] MAGIC AS ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL EXPRESSIONS OF THE ARTS:MAGICAL THEORY AND PRACTICE IN AN INVOCATION INSPIRED BY THE FULL MOON   One of the most powerful expressions of the arts is magic. What kind of magic is this?It is the kind referred  to the by the great and controversial English occultist, religious figure and philosopher of religion Aleister Crowley, as the art of changing consciousness in accordance  with will [ I have expanded my understanding of magic beyond this but I might explain that later]. If I have understood Crowley's epistemology-theory of knowledge-and his ontology-conception of being-well, what he is likely to  mean is  that the magician is able, using particular  procedures, to change the state of their mind  to a state desired by the magician. This change of mental state is understood by Crowley as the beginning and the end of magic.  Magic, to many people, is associated with  entertainment, something related to pulling rabbits out of a hat or sawing a woman in two. The kind of magic Crowley is  referring to is different in its goals and possibly in its methods. It is more precisely understood as theurgy: the invocation of spirits. This practice holds that  forms of being not visible to humanity exist, some in other dimensions, some on this earth but in dimensions of the physical world conventionally inaccessible to humans and that it could be helpful to the human  being to enter into relationship with such beings.  A broad range of methods have been developed for this purpose,across the centuries, in all continents, from Africa, to Asia to Europe, to Australia. Parallels can be drawn across these points in time and space on account of significant similarities in the theories and techniques used by various "specialists of the sacred" in different cultures. One of these magical methods is ceremonial magic. This method involves a sequence of actions, within a limited frame of time, in which the magician tries to reflect in their speech and action, as vividly and as intensely as possible, the goal they want to achieve. These actions often reflect the characteristics  of the spirit being called upon. This process is supposed to call into being the magician's goal, possibly, according to Crowley, by identifying the magician with the spirit, elevating the magician's mind to that of the consciousness of the intelligence being invoked.  It is in the effort to transcend, through language and action,  the limitations represented by the state of mind embodied by daily activity that the arts come into their own in magic. Powerful imagery, sonorous verbal sequences, emotionally stirring rhythm, dramatic expressive patterns, vivid and powerfully evocative gestures, sharply emblematic costumes-all these  represent aspects of the repertoire of the magician, as they try to leave the world that can be seen for that which cannot ordinarily be seen, and perhaps return with the understanding of that world, or in some cases, with evidence of that world.  Magic is also closely related to nature. Magicians often hold that the natural world is the expression of a force that is manifest in terms of the various spirits they try to contact. This awareness leads to a sensitivity to time, to the periodic activities of nature, from the rising and setting of the sun, to the movements of the sun in relation to the stars in the space of a  year, to the patterns represented by  the movements of the celestial bodies across larger spans of time.  Tonight, in my room in Cambridge, England,I have been led by reading an  invocation-a magical ritual calling upon a spirit to manifest themselves-to Mene,to contemplate the grandeur of the moon as she rests in the seemingly endless expanse of the sky, with a lone  star giving deeper presence to the sense of silence, of stillness, of a mystery being enacted of which we are participants but in relation to which, to paraphrase the sage of Galilee, looking we do not see, listening we do not hear.  Regardless of whatever one might think of   conceptions of supra-physical sentience-a more precise manner of defining what is often meant by "spirit"-one cannot but admire the poetic force, the dramatic power of the following ritual to  Mene ,inspired by the full moon, one of the most propitious periods in magic. The ritual is from the Western magical tradition and from the group The Iacchus Temple on Facebook.    Damon Zacharias To members of Iacchus Temple For the Glory of Selene   Dear All, As it is the full moon tonight (N Hemisphere), I have uploaded an Invocatory Prayer to Mene on the discussion board for those who might be interested in exploring a rite from the Greek Magical Papyri  (The first part is my own input and there are some adaptations throughout the rite) with some adaptations of my own) and maybe even performing it to embrace Mene this evening... ΕΥΟΙ! Ιαχή λατρευτικής έκστασης της Ιερής Βακχείας...       Ritual         Opening actions:   Turn to face the Moon. Burn myrrh and anoint your forehead with myrrh oil. Chant AKTI^OPHIS. Trace the Invoking Heptagram of the Moon and then the symbol of the Moon in the centre. Charge it by thrusting the centre and vibrating M^EN^E MARZOUN^E. This is to be repeated 9 times.           Chant: I call upon thee who hast every form and many names, double-horned goddess, M^en^e, whose form no one knows except him who fashioned the entire world – IA^O! The one who shaped thee into the 28 shapes of the world so that they might perfect and provide breath to every animal and plant, that it might thrive, thou who growest from darkness into light and leavest the light for darkness. The first thing that accompanies thy name is silence, the second a popping sound, the third groaning, the fourth hissing, the fifth a cry of joy, the sixth moaning, the seventh barking, the eighth roaring, the ninth neighing, the tenth a musical sound, the eleventh the howl of the wind, the twelfth a wind-creating sound, the thirteenth a commanding sound, the fourteenth a commanding emanation from perfection (these sounds are either to be imitated or imagined in an audible fashion in the magician’s magical mind). Ox, vulture, bull, beetle, falcon, crab, dog, wolf, serpent, horse, she-goat, asp, goat, baboon, cat, lion, leopard, field mouse, deer, multiform, virgin, torch, lightning, garland, a herald’s wand, child key (these are to be visualised). I have spoken thy signs and the symbols of thy name so that thou mightest hear me, for I am praying to thee, mistress of the whole world. Hear me, thou, the constant one, the mighty one, APHEIBO^E^O MINT^ER, PIZEPHYD^OR CHANTHAR CHAD^EROZO MOCHTHION EOTNEU PH^ERZON AIND^ES LACHABO^O PITT^O RIPHTHAMER ZMOMOCH^OLEIE TI^EDRANTEIA OISOZOCHAB^ED^OPHRA. Add whichever other magical effects you desire.