It's time for the promised post on point 2 of the Strategic Sorcery Manifesto. Point 2 states:
Many systems of magic focus on spiritual growth or religious worship, insisting that practical magic is a side issue that should only be used to support a spiritual practice or to provide aid in dire emergencies. Strategic Sorcery again poses the opposite: by focusing on the magic of finances, sex, love, health, and power you can naturally get drawn into spiritual work. By having such immediate and material concerns tied to your spiritual practice, your motivation to actually do the work is often much greater than if it is aimed only at an ephemeral goal like enlightenment or worship.
Now, this statement runs completely contrary to many if not most of the great spiritual teachings in the world. Everyone from Christ, to Buddha, to most of the Mahasiddhas, will tell you that it is better to renounce material pursuits and seek the wisdom of enlightenment. I want to state right up front that THEY ARE RIGHT.
If you are seeking an end to suffering, mystical union, rigpa, fana, you name it the non-materialistic path is best. There is no doubt about it in my mind. The best part is that you can engage in it right now in any number of ways: you can join a monastery of nunnery, you can join or even start a communal cult, or you can just liquidate and donate everything and become a wandering yogi. Contrary to what some people think, this is NOT easier to do in India than in the US. You won't have anyone fawning over how holy you are in the US, but is should be a plus to the serious wandering siddha. As far as survival goes, you can probably do better here than there with free clinics and other services. Just get yourself some durable robes and start walkin bitch.
No? Me neither. So what then are we to do?
Strategic Sorcery suggests that if we are going to insist on living in the world that we get good at it. Strategic Sorcery suggests that since you are going to be clawing after fortune, sex, power, health, good looks, and the rest that you throw yourself into it fully. You may find that when you do that, this materialistic world may just provide the platform for real spiritual advancement anyway.
One of my favorite Mahasiddhas is Khadagapa, which means swordsman. Khadgapa was a low caste burgler who after robbing a house and getting chased by soldiers hid in a charnel ground where he encountered the great Guru Carpati. He told carpati that he had no time for seeking after enlightenment but since he was always in danger of being killed by the kings men, he would like to attain the siddhi of invincibility. The Guru taught him a mantra that he was to say while circumambulating a statue of Avalaokiteshvara for 21 days. On the 21st day a snake would appear from beneath the statue and he was to pick it up without fear. For 21 days he did this without stopping to sleep or eat. When the snake appeared he grabbed it by its head, and the snake turned into a sword - the sword of wisdom. Upon grasping this sword he attained invincibility, but also enlightenment. It is said that he taught for 21 days than traveled to the Dakini realms in his own body.
The point is that even without the initial motivation for spiritual development, if you are seriously working in improving your life with good intent than you will develop spiritually. I have seen this myself over and over again. In fact I have seen a lot more evidence of spiritual evolution amongst people working on developing passive income streams, radical time management, stress reduction, and becoming pick up artists than I have at any occult lodge and most dharma centers that I have ever been involved with.
In fact one of the major things that I was amazed by when i first read "The Game" by Neil Strauss was that most of the PUA's he talked about were making amazing personal strides by practicing Huna, NLP, Hypnosis, and just good old self examination. Now that I have met and corresponded with some of these guys (in the name of research of course, I am happily married) I can tell you that the results they were getting persuing "inner game" in an attempt to develop confidence and attractiveness in the name of getting laid, would be the envy of a lot of Gurus and Spiritual teachers. Gurdjieff would have been eating his heart out.
Why did they get these results? Because if you are not motivated enough by purely spiritual motives to give up worldly distraction and become a full time contemplative, than those same motives are probably not enough to make you work your ass off amidst the trials of everyday life either. This is why most occultists spend their time reading and discussing and dressing the part. When they do try something out, they abandon it when it gets hard or when something more interesting or exotic comes along. When all you are interested in is putting something like 8=3 after your name, or the next felt cut out that you can adhere to your robe (OTO in joke there) than you quickly realize that actual work has zip to do with it.
If however you are trying to get laid, and you realize that the major obstacles are your own habitual patterns, than you get to work hard and fast. Because let's face it, has there ever been a stronger motivation for ANYTHING?
Meditation for instance, if practiced diligently, can lead you all the way to full blown Buddhahood or Christ consciousness or whatever you want to call that highest ring. Some spiritual teachers get pissed that Meditation is taught in corporations as a way to relieve stress and increase productivity rather than as part of a Buddhist curriculum. Some even get snippy that the health benefits that cause it to be taught in hospitals are what is pushed instead of the idea of full blown enlightenment. Yes, meditation will do all these things we are warned, but it must be approached with an eye towards spirituality. The funny thing is that other than professional contemplatives, the results that people in the Dharma Centers and Occult Lodges get from meditation tend to pale in comparison to the ones gotten by those doing it for the side benefits. Whether you do it for stress relief, creative insight, cholesterol reduction, personality development, or because you hope to one day be able top kill people with your thoughts (my own personal motivation :-) you will get the same benefits as anyone else doing it for any other reason. Like it or not, you will see spiritual benefits.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Monday, January 25, 2010
Vajrakilaya
Some times stuff just jumps out at you and hits you in the face.
As I turned my chair to get up, the large thanka of Vajrakilaya cauht my eye. Suddenly it went all 3-d on me and I could feel the Mula and Hridaya Mantras activate within my energy body, each traveling its path along its channel. Next thing you know its 30 minutes later. I just got caught in the mandala.
As I turned my chair to get up, the large thanka of Vajrakilaya cauht my eye. Suddenly it went all 3-d on me and I could feel the Mula and Hridaya Mantras activate within my energy body, each traveling its path along its channel. Next thing you know its 30 minutes later. I just got caught in the mandala.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Example of Strategic Sorcery Point 1.
I got a great question about the first point of the Strategic Sorcery Manifesto yesterday that I want to address here in its own post.
"This is regarding your manifesto I at the blog. I got a little confused here. Do you mean that if you want to get rich in for example in the restaurant business (that is your overall plan), aside from taking classes and networking, you have to specify " in my restaurant business so and so" in your financial magicks? Or can you do the spells, jupiterean and mercurial invocations of a general nature (just like the book) and their manifestation will flow in there because the restaurant business is where you are physically and mentally focused on?"
The idea of Strategic Sorcery is not to avoid general invocations of jupiterian or mercurial nature but to build upon them with specific magics aimed at specific steps. I know nothing about the restaurant biz, but here is a basic example of how I might approach it.
1. Do a series of divinations using multiple methods to determine if my idea is sound, totally off, or it I should be thinking about it in a different way. I use Tarot or Sybilla(Sortilege), use Dowsing Rods and interpret candles (Augury), look for omens, and maybe do some Bibliomancy (Spontaneous). I would also have at least two other people do divinations for me. Often you can want something so bad that you spin your own divination to say "yes" when it is clearly saying "no". I would do specific divinations focusing on the location, type of restaurant, and how much start up money would be enough (a major failing of many new businesses).
2. Do those general Jupiterian and Mercury invocations. They will help in two ways. They will attract an aura of prosperity around you AND they will help move your mental "set point" that thinks of yourself as an employee that maybe makes $50,000 a year, to that of an entrepreneur who can maybe make five times that, but who has to work for every bit of it, not just collect a paycheck. This mental shift is REALLY important in Strategic Sorcery.
2. You mentioned taking classes and networking. I would summon Tiriel and ask for his help with both of these specifically. I would also use influencing magic in networking: at first a general venusian type talisman to make people want to help me, and later if one or two people became important (landlord, bank manager) I would do targeted influencing magic.
3. While designing the restaurant, I would include various amulets and talismans in the design or even under the design: paper seals under paintings, herbs mixed in the paint itself, money drawing floor wash regularly applied, statues of particular wealth dieties, a small shelf altar to make offerings to the spirits of the place. A Chan Chu to bring luck and warn of financial problems.
I would also study up on how colors effect peoples mood and what type of music to play. Casinos for example have spent millions of dollars to create their environment: a lot of red in the color scheme, no clocks in sight, aisles placed at odd angles to make you lose track of the exit, magchines that make noise in C# which effects the part of the brain that inhibits gambling...
4. At night I would do rituals to insure the prosperity of the place, Not only to draw customers in, but to draw you IDEAL customers in. Google the Pareto Principal if you don't know what I mean.
5. In the morning I would offer thanks for the success I had, and spend a few moments of post-meditation thought management building a positive vision of the future and making sure that I was actually expecting and open to success (another really big failure point).
These are just a few examples of how to apply Strategic Sorcery. Your comments are welcome and encouraged.
"This is regarding your manifesto I at the blog. I got a little confused here. Do you mean that if you want to get rich in for example in the restaurant business (that is your overall plan), aside from taking classes and networking, you have to specify " in my restaurant business so and so" in your financial magicks? Or can you do the spells, jupiterean and mercurial invocations of a general nature (just like the book) and their manifestation will flow in there because the restaurant business is where you are physically and mentally focused on?"
The idea of Strategic Sorcery is not to avoid general invocations of jupiterian or mercurial nature but to build upon them with specific magics aimed at specific steps. I know nothing about the restaurant biz, but here is a basic example of how I might approach it.
1. Do a series of divinations using multiple methods to determine if my idea is sound, totally off, or it I should be thinking about it in a different way. I use Tarot or Sybilla(Sortilege), use Dowsing Rods and interpret candles (Augury), look for omens, and maybe do some Bibliomancy (Spontaneous). I would also have at least two other people do divinations for me. Often you can want something so bad that you spin your own divination to say "yes" when it is clearly saying "no". I would do specific divinations focusing on the location, type of restaurant, and how much start up money would be enough (a major failing of many new businesses).
2. Do those general Jupiterian and Mercury invocations. They will help in two ways. They will attract an aura of prosperity around you AND they will help move your mental "set point" that thinks of yourself as an employee that maybe makes $50,000 a year, to that of an entrepreneur who can maybe make five times that, but who has to work for every bit of it, not just collect a paycheck. This mental shift is REALLY important in Strategic Sorcery.
2. You mentioned taking classes and networking. I would summon Tiriel and ask for his help with both of these specifically. I would also use influencing magic in networking: at first a general venusian type talisman to make people want to help me, and later if one or two people became important (landlord, bank manager) I would do targeted influencing magic.
3. While designing the restaurant, I would include various amulets and talismans in the design or even under the design: paper seals under paintings, herbs mixed in the paint itself, money drawing floor wash regularly applied, statues of particular wealth dieties, a small shelf altar to make offerings to the spirits of the place. A Chan Chu to bring luck and warn of financial problems.
I would also study up on how colors effect peoples mood and what type of music to play. Casinos for example have spent millions of dollars to create their environment: a lot of red in the color scheme, no clocks in sight, aisles placed at odd angles to make you lose track of the exit, magchines that make noise in C# which effects the part of the brain that inhibits gambling...
4. At night I would do rituals to insure the prosperity of the place, Not only to draw customers in, but to draw you IDEAL customers in. Google the Pareto Principal if you don't know what I mean.
5. In the morning I would offer thanks for the success I had, and spend a few moments of post-meditation thought management building a positive vision of the future and making sure that I was actually expecting and open to success (another really big failure point).
These are just a few examples of how to apply Strategic Sorcery. Your comments are welcome and encouraged.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Money for Doctors Without Borders
Thanks to students 82-88, you helped me raise $350 for Doctors Without Borders.
Upcoming Classes and Intensives
The "Appearances" page of www.inominandum.com has now been linked to a Strategic Sorcery google calendar and will be updated much more regularly.
Check back often as I have found some extra time to ramp up my teaching efforts.
Of special interest is my next all day intensive:
Check back often as I have found some extra time to ramp up my teaching efforts.
Of special interest is my next all day intensive:
PROTECTION & SECURITY MAGICK INTENSIVE
Sun Jan 31 – Sun Jan 31
January 31, 2010 At Seelie Court (near Georgetown, DE) 11:00 am - 6:00 pm Cost $95 Please RVSP for these classes by calling the store (302) 678-4545 or emailing info@bellbookandcandle.biz Psychic, magickal, and spiritual attacks happen more often than even most Witches and Magicians realize. The circumstances of attack vary but include: "crossed conditions" brought on by visiting disturbed or haunted places, aggression from spirits in retribution for human actions like pollution, experimental magick gone wrong, accidental attacks by psychics, and intentional curses by Witches and Magicians. All people, Witches or not, are susceptible to these attacks. The difference: Witches and Magicians can do something about it. In this full day intensive Jason expands upon the material in his first book, revealing material too intense to be published. You will learn how to: Recognize the signs and the source of an attack Set up early warning systems Appease angry spirits through offerings Make magickal "decoys" to absorb attacks against you Summon guardian spirits or gods for help Reverse curses and other attacks back upon their sender Bind, confuse, or expel a persistent enemy that will not leave you be and even how to curse in those rare circumstances where the stakes are truly dire. You must pre-register. This workshop is not at the store; driving directions will be given to those that register.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Strategic Sorcery Manifestio Point 1
In my post "What is Strategic Sorcery" I ended by putting forth a 7 point Strategic Sorcery Manifesto, because after all if you are going to do something as pompous and ridiculous as start a system of magic, you may as well go all-in with a "manifesto". I promised to comment on each of the seven point with its own post. Here is point number one, which really is the key to the whole concept.
Most books on practical magic, even the good ones, provide a spell or ritual for what you want to do and tell you to do non magical work to support your magic. Strategic Sorcery poses the exact opposite: that you develop a strategy to attain your goal and use magic to support that plan.
Any good magician worth his or her salt knows that you need to follow up your magic with other types of effort. Louis Martine had a great saying for reminding himself of this at the end of every magical effort: "First comes the working, than comes the work". This was my mantra for a long time, and was the key to a lot of successful magic.
I would often summon a spirit: Angel, Intelligence, Loa, Shade of the Dead, or Demon tell them what I want and wait for the signs of their work to appear. I would than follow up on their lead with more mundane efforts. A lot of good things came out of working this way: I found my spouse this way, I helped start an occult lodge this way, I made money found jobs this way, etc.
Other times though, it didn't quite work out so well. For example, before my spouse, my magic would bring me women that fit the qualities I was seeking, sometimes very specific, but have other glaring problems that I did not anticipate. I would do magic for money, and occasionally it would manifest in the form of an insurance payment because of some body damage to my car, which of course would never get fixed because I needed the money elsewhere. For fear of seeming craven, I was originally not going to mention this, but I spoke with Frater R.O. before making this post and he encouraged me to point out that he is experiencing one of the more extreme manifestations of this phenomena right now: receiving fire insurance and donations in nearly the exact numbers he had been requesting from Bune.
Even when things didn't go explicitly wrong, I began to feel that it is a mistake to give the spirits, even lofty angels, that much control over guiding my life. After all, its my life, and I am a native of the plane, planet, country, and town where I live, not them. It's not their job to know how our society works, or that a solution that they come up with will cause more harm than good. Its a question of management. You wouldn't hire someone from a tribe in the Brazilian Rainforest for instance and give them carte blanche on as far as how they do things. It would be disastrous for you, and also unfair to them. When you do a spell or summon a spirit, you are employing a being or power, you are responsible for managing it.
When I figured this out, I started to put the mundane work first, than use the magic to back it up. Things improved immensely. Instead of a day job that a spell brought to me, I networked with people I knew to find positions that i could choose from. I used magic to grease the wheels and sell myself and eventually land the job I chose. Rather than do a spell for something like "making more money through my teachings and magic" I read some great books on how to run businesses successfully and used magic to aid me in every step of the process. I still did overall magick to boost my aura of prosperity (Jambhala sadhanas mostly), but I took care of the specific details, employing spell work and spirits along the way.
Most people use magic for emergencies. I prefer not to have the emergency if I can avoid it, and use magic as part of my strategic life plan. I come up with goals for myself and more importantly a trajectory of how to get there. I monitor the magic I do very closely. Even with a strategy, you can shoot yourself in the foot. For instance, anyone that knows me knows I am always bitching about a lack of time. For a while the financial section of my magic, which includes a slightly more occult form of (you can make fun of me if you like) daily affirmations, was focused on making money through teaching, writing, and magic. When I was doing a weekly monitoring of everything that I do, I realized that one of the possible outcomes of this was that I could loose my day-job because of my affirmations about making money outside of it. While that might itself lead to good things in the far future, it would really screw some important things up for a good long time. For one thing, I actually like my day job, and am not looking to leave it until I am so secure with other income and assets that it will barely cause a financial hit. So, recognizing this possibility I added in parts to the affirmation/invocation along the lines of "my superiors like and appreciate the work I do, I will be able to work at XXXX for as long as I desire."
A lot of people get into practical magic because they want magic to hand them things on a silver platter. They want to win the lottery and have the person of their dreams fall slavishly in love with them. The fact that occult gatherings are not held at exclusive country clubs or tropical resorts and magicians are rarely seen in the company of super models should be the first clue that this is not a plan for success. You can get all those things with magic, but only when that magic includes a lot of skillful work. What strategic sorcery suggests is that it is better to let your intelligence and intuition guide a plan that is supported by magic, rather than let magic dictate your plan.
Most books on practical magic, even the good ones, provide a spell or ritual for what you want to do and tell you to do non magical work to support your magic. Strategic Sorcery poses the exact opposite: that you develop a strategy to attain your goal and use magic to support that plan.
Any good magician worth his or her salt knows that you need to follow up your magic with other types of effort. Louis Martine had a great saying for reminding himself of this at the end of every magical effort: "First comes the working, than comes the work". This was my mantra for a long time, and was the key to a lot of successful magic.
I would often summon a spirit: Angel, Intelligence, Loa, Shade of the Dead, or Demon tell them what I want and wait for the signs of their work to appear. I would than follow up on their lead with more mundane efforts. A lot of good things came out of working this way: I found my spouse this way, I helped start an occult lodge this way, I made money found jobs this way, etc.
Other times though, it didn't quite work out so well. For example, before my spouse, my magic would bring me women that fit the qualities I was seeking, sometimes very specific, but have other glaring problems that I did not anticipate. I would do magic for money, and occasionally it would manifest in the form of an insurance payment because of some body damage to my car, which of course would never get fixed because I needed the money elsewhere. For fear of seeming craven, I was originally not going to mention this, but I spoke with Frater R.O. before making this post and he encouraged me to point out that he is experiencing one of the more extreme manifestations of this phenomena right now: receiving fire insurance and donations in nearly the exact numbers he had been requesting from Bune.
Even when things didn't go explicitly wrong, I began to feel that it is a mistake to give the spirits, even lofty angels, that much control over guiding my life. After all, its my life, and I am a native of the plane, planet, country, and town where I live, not them. It's not their job to know how our society works, or that a solution that they come up with will cause more harm than good. Its a question of management. You wouldn't hire someone from a tribe in the Brazilian Rainforest for instance and give them carte blanche on as far as how they do things. It would be disastrous for you, and also unfair to them. When you do a spell or summon a spirit, you are employing a being or power, you are responsible for managing it.
When I figured this out, I started to put the mundane work first, than use the magic to back it up. Things improved immensely. Instead of a day job that a spell brought to me, I networked with people I knew to find positions that i could choose from. I used magic to grease the wheels and sell myself and eventually land the job I chose. Rather than do a spell for something like "making more money through my teachings and magic" I read some great books on how to run businesses successfully and used magic to aid me in every step of the process. I still did overall magick to boost my aura of prosperity (Jambhala sadhanas mostly), but I took care of the specific details, employing spell work and spirits along the way.
Most people use magic for emergencies. I prefer not to have the emergency if I can avoid it, and use magic as part of my strategic life plan. I come up with goals for myself and more importantly a trajectory of how to get there. I monitor the magic I do very closely. Even with a strategy, you can shoot yourself in the foot. For instance, anyone that knows me knows I am always bitching about a lack of time. For a while the financial section of my magic, which includes a slightly more occult form of (you can make fun of me if you like) daily affirmations, was focused on making money through teaching, writing, and magic. When I was doing a weekly monitoring of everything that I do, I realized that one of the possible outcomes of this was that I could loose my day-job because of my affirmations about making money outside of it. While that might itself lead to good things in the far future, it would really screw some important things up for a good long time. For one thing, I actually like my day job, and am not looking to leave it until I am so secure with other income and assets that it will barely cause a financial hit. So, recognizing this possibility I added in parts to the affirmation/invocation along the lines of "my superiors like and appreciate the work I do, I will be able to work at XXXX for as long as I desire."
A lot of people get into practical magic because they want magic to hand them things on a silver platter. They want to win the lottery and have the person of their dreams fall slavishly in love with them. The fact that occult gatherings are not held at exclusive country clubs or tropical resorts and magicians are rarely seen in the company of super models should be the first clue that this is not a plan for success. You can get all those things with magic, but only when that magic includes a lot of skillful work. What strategic sorcery suggests is that it is better to let your intelligence and intuition guide a plan that is supported by magic, rather than let magic dictate your plan.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Sorcerer's Secrets in a Commercial
The cover of "The Sorcerers Secrets" is featured in the new Wicked Faire commercial.
Check it out.
Check it out.
Friday, January 15, 2010
What is "Strategic Sorcery"?
I had a great conversation last week with a fellow occultist who, for reasons relating to his profession, needs to stay in the closet. He is a bit older than me and asked me a lot of great questions about Strategic Sorcery. It is the kind of conversation that gets you to think about what you are doing in more concrete terms than ever before. Below is my own re-creation of pertinent parts of the conversation presented as a Q&A. If anyone reading this still doesn’t know what Strategic Sorcery is, this should clear it up.
Q. So how did you start on this whole “Strategic Sorcery” bit?
A. Well, as you know I have been practicing magic for over 20 years, starting in my mid-teens. Like 90% of teens that start looking at magic and witchcraft I got into it because I had the silly idea that I could cast spells on people and enchant events in the real world. Unlike most people in the occult scene, I never gave up on this idea. Like others in the occult world, I am very much concerned with the spiritual evolution of both myself and others, but this progress just made me better at the spell casting part. I had enough success in my early efforts that I knew it could be done, so saw no reason not to keep doing it. I saw no conflict between material and spiritual progress and still don’t. After studying system after system and tradition after tradition I had arrived at a place where I was learning lots of different ways to do the same thing. I was learning a lot of occult information, but my progress as a magician was stagnating.
This left me with a choice to make. One: I continue to study different forms of magic and spirituality that I am not familiar with (Druidry, Native American, Peruvian Shamanism, etc, etc) until I die. Two: I could pick one of these traditions, stick with it like glue, and become one of its representatives (Jason Rinpoche?, His Eminence Bishop Miller? Houngan Jay? Inominandum the OHO?). Three: I could focus on taking what I knew in a new direction, making it better, stronger, faster (“we have the technology!”). Since I had no interest in learning yet more ways to accomplish essentially the same goals, door number one was shut. I flirted with door number 2, but in the end I realized I am just not called to be a Priest, Lama, or high order muckety muck. I chose door number 3.
I started to deconstruct all the practical magic that I had learned so I could see what was really good tech, and what was not. When I began to take a look at the methods outside of the various symbol sets they are often attached to, it became remarkably clear to me how methods could be teamed together for better effect. For example, most of the magic I write about in my book combines tapping into the divine and energetic levels of magic in a way that is familiar to most ceremonial magicians, and channeling that through very intricate workings with physical links that would be familiar to rootworkers and other folk magic practitioners.
I realized that everything I valued about magic came down to one thing: making life better by doing things differently than how most do it. I began to see practical magic as type of what has recently been called “Life Hacking”. Realizing this, I began to take a look at other methods of life hacking.
So I began to read books on time management tricks, intelligence gathering, pick-up techniques, asset building, and neuro-plasticity. I picked the brains of friends that knew hypnosis, NLP, applied disinformation, martial arts, and interpersonal mediation. I listened to CD’s on sales techniques, geo-arbitrage, social dynamics, and neural reconditioning. In short, knowing that magic works best when it is followed up by other types of work to support the goal (the blending of magical and mundane methods), I studied anything and everything I could to help make the magic I did, as effective as it could possibly be.
Applying all this to building pro-active strategies of life building, rather than reactive emergency magic that most people resort to when its already too late, gave birth to Strategic Sorcery.
Q. In your blog and class material that you have showed me you have started referring to “Strategic Sorcery” as a system in and of itself now, and not just as an approach. I thought you were against starting yet another system of magic or trying deliberately to be the founder of a tradition. How did this happen?
A: It just sorta happened without me trying. I think that way too many people are going out of their way to deliberately create systems just for the sake of being the founder of a system. This is even sillier when we talk about “traditions”. How can you call it a tradition if it has never been worked by anyone before or passed down to anyone but yourself?
Systems that do not say anything new abound and are pretty much useless exercises in ego. In my case I really just wanted to share my thoughts on how to do magic effectively, not start my own system. Eventually my ideas started to spawn rituals and inspire symbols, next thing you know, I have the makings of a system. At this point it is starting to accumulate its own “current”, complete with the egregore and strange synchronicities that accompany it. This all just sort of happened. I hope that it remains an open system. I want to make sure that it can be used by people who also work other traditions, as well as be used as a system unto itself. I also hope it keeps growing and changing after I am gone.
Q: So if systems are pretty useless unless they say something new, what would you say that Strategic Sorcery has to teach, that isn’t covered elsewhere?
A: If I had to write a Strategic Sorcery Manifesto, I would point out the following six points as the main features of the system.
1. Most books on practical magic, even the good ones, provide a spell or ritual for what you want to do and tell you to do non magical work to support your magic. Strategic Sorcery poses the exact opposite: that you develop a strategy to attain your goal and use magic to support that plan.
2. Many systems of magic focus on spiritual growth or religious worship, insisting that practical magic is a side issue that should only be used to support a spiritual practice or to provide aid in dire emergencies. Strategic Sorcery again poses the opposite: by focusing on the magic of finances, sex, love, health, and power you naturally get drawn into spiritual work. By having such immediate and material concerns tied to your spiritual practice, your motivation to actually do the work is often much greater than if it is aimed only at an ephemeral goal like enlightenment or worship.
3. Most systems of magic do not maintain a balance between the three levels of Material, Energetic/Astral, and Divine/Causal level. By making sure you hit all these points, your magic will be more effective.
4. Most systems do not maintain a balance between temple magic and magic done in the field or on the fly. By using both the magic of the constructed circle and ritual, as well as magic performed right in the workplace, nightclub, bedroom, courthouse, or street, your magic will be more effective,
5. Systems of magic can be broken down into symbol sets, and tech. Symbol sets are usually dependent on culture, time, tradition, and sometimes only available through initiation. Using a symbol set outside of its culture, or initiatory stream can sometimes be difficult, disrespectful, or even downright dangerous. Tech on the other hand works because it works, and thus can be looked and examined from outside of any specific tradition. In this way you can find the most effective techniques without falling into the trap of making an eclectic mess.
6. Strategic Sorcery is Achronistic – it does not value old magic because of its ancient roots, nor does it value new magic because it is supposed to be cutting edge. Magic works or it doesn’t – that’s all there is to it.
7. In the old days magicians and witches used to not only use “supernatural” methods as part of their craft, but all kinds of skills that were not widely known to the populace at large such as medicine, illusion, and hypnotism. The modern Sorcerer does the same by learning the hidden skills of persuasion, financial prowess, alternate medicine, computer hacking, media manipulation, and so on. By fusing these so-called life hacking techniques with traditional magic, we arrive at what it really means to be a Cunning Man or Woman.
That is what Strategic Sorcery is all about. Over the next few weeks I will be dedicating one post to each of these seven points.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Relief for Haiti
Papa Legba Ouvre baye pou Haiti,
Ouvre baye pou Haiti, Papa
Pou Haiti passe, Le'm tounnen map remesi Lwa yo!"
Papa Legba, open the gate for Haiti, Ago Eh!
Papa Legba, open the gate for Haiti
Open the gate for Haiti Papa
When Haiti returns, we will thank the Loa.
(I probably screwed up the creole here, but I wanted to change the prayer from refering to "me", to Haiti."
There is a legend that says Papa Legba never lets both feet touch the ground or it will unleash destruction because of his power. I received a strange post via "My Hoodoo", which is like MySpace but for Rootworkers, that asked if Legba put both feet down on Haiti.
My own answer is NO. Definately not. Haiti has its trials to go through, and hopefully this is the last and most dramatic climax of destruction, before a new Golden Age sets in for them. Legba, loves Haiti, and is a force that I am praying to tonight so that the gates of relief will be opened and supplies can flow freely. Right now, the largest problem that the UN and Doctors without Borders is having is that they cannot figure out how and where to get everything in.
Legba gets represented by St Anthony a lot, but also St Lazarus. It is this image that sticks in my mind as one that is most inspiring. A man that was raised from the dead through the power of divine magic. I can tell you that even if you have no experience in Vodou, Papa Legba is a powerful and friendly force that is easy to know. If you have the time, you should draw his veve on the ground outside as shown below, and perhaps print out his picture as seen above, and make a small offering of energy, light, run, tobacco, coconut, or something else that you think he might like. Don't ask for anything in return for yourself. Just make the offering and ask that he help his people, and that he make it easy for all the other Loa to help those in need as well.
On a more practical point, several aid organizations need your financial assistance. My favorites are the Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, and the UN Envoy to Haiti. I have made my own donation, but in addition to that I am making the following offer:
Sunday, January 10, 2010
MAILING LIST
Starting a mailing list as a way to reach people directly.
If you want to be added to the list, write me at inominandum@gmail.com with MAILING LIST as the subject header.
If you are a Strategic Sorcery Course Student, as per the notice I sent out on the 5th, you are automatically on the list unless you opt out.
If you want to be added to the list, write me at inominandum@gmail.com with MAILING LIST as the subject header.
If you are a Strategic Sorcery Course Student, as per the notice I sent out on the 5th, you are automatically on the list unless you opt out.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Desire - from the stars!
-U2_
I have been thinking this week about desire and how it often gets a bad rap in religion and magic. In Buddhism of course the second noble truth states that suffering stems from desire and ignorance. Thus in Sutric Buddhism you have a lot of work cutting off the root of suffering by renouncing desires of the flesh like sex and intoxication. In higher teachings like Tantra and Dzogchen, desire is revealed not to be the culprit, but attachment to your desires. If you can free the mind from grasping at this or that, it is perfectly reasonable to enjoy everything that arises as the play of awareness. You can desire your mate, or a posession, so long as you do not grasp at its permenance and allow that desire to interrupt your natural awareness.
In Thelemic circles, the idea of desire is often lumped in with "wants" and "whims" as opposed to "Will". The idea being that your true will is the only thing that you should be concerned with, and that all the wants that you may have are less important than following your true will. Some people seem to think that finding their true will is like finding a letter that tells them exactly what to do for the rest of their life in great detail. Go to school, become a doctor, marry Frank, have three kids, etc. True Will is not like that at all.
True will is any action that arises out of true awareness. It has more to do with a state of clarity and harmony than a laundry list of things that you are to do. If you can reach those states of pure awareness, than just about any action you take is an exercise of your true will, and carries with it the weight of the universe.
Of course a lot of people involved in religion and magic have some strange ideas about the material world. They haven't given up all their possessions to become monks, nuns, or wandering homeless sages, yet they still want to keep their spiritual life separate from their day to day reality. Refusing to see their struggle to buy a bigger house, take the family on a nice vacation, make a good retirement for themselves as something that is worthy of magic or a cause for inspiration. Some even go so far as to call any magic or spiritual effort in such matters as evil.
The word desire itself comes from de sidere or "from the stars". A good desire carries with it a lot of weight in the mind. When you want something, you should take a few minute to examine that want. Dont ask yourself if you need it., ask yourself if you desire it.
You are not a monk. Magic can be used for much more than just what we need. Check your mind to see if this want is arising as a reaction to a commercial you just saw or perhaps a temporary fit of anger or jealousy. If not, than decide definitely upon your desire. Magicians that only do things based upon the advice of spirits, or gods are not great magicians at all. You yourself are part of the mind of god - even when you are not in a full state of enlightenment it is your birthright to be the captain of your own ship. To simply decide on a course of action and carry it out, Your magic need have no more divine weight behind it than your own desire. When you fully comprehend the truth of it, you will realize what a mighty weight that is!
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Clarification on buying my books
One of the odd diilemas that one faces in the modern world is that not only can you get just about anything, but you can get it in multiple ways. Seeking to give me the greatest support possible with their purchase, many people have asked me how I prefer them to purchase my books. I figured that since I am now changing how people can access books through me, I would put out a list in order or preference. So here it is:
1. My favorite way to sell a book is for you to buy it at one of my events from me of the host. This way I get to meet you, and hopefully write something meaningful in the book for you. On the selfish side, I get more money this way, since you probably have paid to come hear me speak, and if you are purchasing the book from me, I am making the maximum amount per copy.
2. Realizing that most of my readers will not be able to do the above, the next best way is to purchase it from your local occult store or independent book seller. I get less money that way, but it is really important that physical locations like this stay in business. Besides, as I expand my reach and shift more and more to passive income, I may end up coming and lecturing there on a teaching tour in the future, so on the selfish side you are doing me a huge favor by supporting these places.
3. If you can't manage to find a new age, occult, or independent bookstore near enough to you, than the next best thing is to buy it from a big box bookstore. Not online, but an actual store. Again, I make less, and most likely I will never be lecturing at one of these places either. However, even these bog box stores are in danger. I currently live in a county in New Jersey that has no B&N or Borders. The only book store within 30 miles is Atlantic Books, and while they do carry my book (and have a small but surprisingly serious selection) its not really a place that you can spend and evening in. On the selfish side, if you buy my book off the shelf from one of these places, they will get more and more copies and sell them to people that do not have to be reached through this blog, or twitter, or fb, or a yahoogroup, or anything at all. never underestimate the advertizing power of having a book on the shelf.
I am a follower of this myself. I am buying the new expanded edition of the 4HWW at full price from a physical location even though Amazon has it at half the price with the discount. Thats how much I value having these places around to hang out in.
4. If you are hell bent on me getting the biggest cut of your purchase but cannot purchase from me directly, than click on one of the links that will soon be on the side bar of my blog and buy it through Amazon using me as the agent.
5. By any means necessary. There are no bad ways to buy my book. The above ways all have their advantages, but let me be clear: I am not telling you how to buy my book. I just want you to buy it, than read it, than use it to change your life for the better.
1. My favorite way to sell a book is for you to buy it at one of my events from me of the host. This way I get to meet you, and hopefully write something meaningful in the book for you. On the selfish side, I get more money this way, since you probably have paid to come hear me speak, and if you are purchasing the book from me, I am making the maximum amount per copy.
2. Realizing that most of my readers will not be able to do the above, the next best way is to purchase it from your local occult store or independent book seller. I get less money that way, but it is really important that physical locations like this stay in business. Besides, as I expand my reach and shift more and more to passive income, I may end up coming and lecturing there on a teaching tour in the future, so on the selfish side you are doing me a huge favor by supporting these places.
3. If you can't manage to find a new age, occult, or independent bookstore near enough to you, than the next best thing is to buy it from a big box bookstore. Not online, but an actual store. Again, I make less, and most likely I will never be lecturing at one of these places either. However, even these bog box stores are in danger. I currently live in a county in New Jersey that has no B&N or Borders. The only book store within 30 miles is Atlantic Books, and while they do carry my book (and have a small but surprisingly serious selection) its not really a place that you can spend and evening in. On the selfish side, if you buy my book off the shelf from one of these places, they will get more and more copies and sell them to people that do not have to be reached through this blog, or twitter, or fb, or a yahoogroup, or anything at all. never underestimate the advertizing power of having a book on the shelf.
I am a follower of this myself. I am buying the new expanded edition of the 4HWW at full price from a physical location even though Amazon has it at half the price with the discount. Thats how much I value having these places around to hang out in.
4. If you are hell bent on me getting the biggest cut of your purchase but cannot purchase from me directly, than click on one of the links that will soon be on the side bar of my blog and buy it through Amazon using me as the agent.
5. By any means necessary. There are no bad ways to buy my book. The above ways all have their advantages, but let me be clear: I am not telling you how to buy my book. I just want you to buy it, than read it, than use it to change your life for the better.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
My Books.
After I get and mail out the books that I owe people, I will no longer be selling them through my site. It's just too much of a hassle.
I did however become an Amazon Associate, so if you purchase them through my blog, I at least see a little bit more of the action than I would if you just purchased it directly.
I will still make books available at my public events, either through the host store, or directly from me.
I did however become an Amazon Associate, so if you purchase them through my blog, I at least see a little bit more of the action than I would if you just purchased it directly.
I will still make books available at my public events, either through the host store, or directly from me.
Astral Projection
Tuesday 1/12/10 7:30pm
Mystical Tymes,
127 South Main Street New Hope PA.
(215) 862-5629
http://www.mystickaltymes.com/
Tired of winter already? Take a vacation... from your body!
In this class Jason will teach the theory and methods for safe and successful Astral Projection. Covered in this class is: detailed information about your different non-physical bodies, information on how to move awareness from one to another, lucid dreaming as training for astral projection, leaving the body and roaming the astral planes, leaving the body and observing this plane.
Some techniques in this class can only be taught in person, so if you have only ever read books, this may be the key to your success. If you ever wanted to get a firm handle on how to leave the physical body, this is your opportunity!
Monday, January 4, 2010
Don't be your own worst enemy
Not to be arrogant, but I often get letters about how something I wrote or did helped someone solve a spiritual problem, get some weird vision of some diety, or protect them from the unseen forces that plague them. Those letters are great and thank you all for them, but this week I got a thank you letter that I have been hoping to get since The Sorcerer's Secrets hit the shelves...
I helped someone get laid.
The bulk of the book was on practical measurable results in the real world after all. I have gotten a lot of good feedback on the financial magic section and oodles on the first part of the book, but this is the first success story based on the love and influencing chapters. The best part is that the bulk of the work this person did was on themselves. Sometimes it takes a concrete and material objective to kick our butts in gear to do all the stuff that we say we want to do in the spiritual arena.
In this case he recognized that his major problem was fear of rejection, and using a the "Summoning of the Seducer" ritual, and the meditations on rejection he got over his fear and started approaching women. Apparently lots and lots of women. Just like the book says, he got rejected a lot, but meditated on that rejection and found it wasn't such a big deal after all. After he became more comfortable in the approach, he started getting IOI's and eventually closed the deal with someone that he would have thought out of his league only a few months ago.
One thing that I always remind myself when I am afraid of doing something is that in my life so far I regret the things that I did'nt do WAY more than the things I did. Having studied these things now, I can look back on my pre-married life and see at least a dozen women that gave me signals which I ignored out of fear.
Take a look at the cartoon above. Click on it if you cant see the whole thing. If you are single, dont be that guy (or girl). Fear truly is the mind killer. Allow it to pass over you and through you so you can go get some!
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Interview with me TODAY at 4pm
Remember, I am being interviewed on Witchtalk today at 4pm.
You can join in by clicking here
http://www.facebook.com/l/5a9eb;bit.ly/5EAAMT
or calling in to (718) 664-9228.
Friday, January 1, 2010
4 Hour Work Week Case Studies
I am always blathering to people about the Four Hour Work Week.
Tim has posted 15 videos by people that have used his tech and made it work.
This stuff is Gold.
If you use Sorcery to back up the strategies he presents, there is just nothing that you cannot accomplish this year
Watch the videos to get motivated.
How to Train the Aging Brain
Great Article in the Times on how to keep the middle aged brain in excellent shape. Rather than focus on the acquisition of new facts, the trick is to challenge assumptions and interpretations of things that we already know.
Full article is here
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