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                                    Laws of Magick 
                                          by
                                     Simon Magus

     Magick,  not unlike  physics or  chemistry, operates  according to  certain
     laws.  These laws, as well as those of the sciences, reside in reality
     within  the heads of those who use them.   However, the analysis of reality
     into  artificial categories is  useful at certain  levels of investigation.
     It is well to bear in mind, nevertheless, that such categories reflect more
     the contents of the human mind than they do of whatever "reality" might  be
     out there.

     For the  following  analysis  we  are indebted  to  REAL  MAGIC  by  P.E.I.
     Bonewits.   Mr  Bonewits, incidentally,  holds the  first Bachelor  of Arts
     degree  in magic(k) ever awarded.   He, much to the  chagrin of some of the
     faculty of the University  of California, was awarded  the degree in  June,
     1970.

                               LAW OF CAUSE AND EFFECT
     Anything done under EXACTLY the same conditions will always be associated
     with  exactly  the same  result.   This  law is  taken  for granted  in the
     sciences and in everyday  life.  The whole  concept of causation is  now on
     shaky ground,  thanks to developments in the field of quantum physics.  But
     for  practical purposes,  in magick as  well as  in our  everyday lives, we
     ignore causality  to our own  peril.  We  must assume, at least  in dealing
     with things  the size of human beings, that effects follow causes.  Even in
     the constantly flowing, changing astral realm we find the law  of cause and
     effect in full operation.
          
                                   LAW OF KNOWLEDGE
     This  law tells us that  "understanding brings control,"  that the more you
     know the more  powerful you are.  If you know all about something, you have
     total control over it.  "Knowledge is power."

                                LAW OF SELF-KNOWLEDGE
     This is a  sub-law of the previous  law and follows from  it.  If you  know
     yourself, you control yourself.  The more you know about yourself, the
     better you can control yourself.

                                     LAW OF NAMES
     This law is related to the Law of Knowledge and to  the Law of Association.
     It  states if  one knows  the whole  and complete  name of a  phenomenon or
     entity, one  has complete control over it.  This  is one of the reasons the
     Mystery  Religions (including  Christianity) conferred  a  new name  on the
     neophyte.  His new  name was then his true  name, but it was known  only to
     his fellow members  of the mystery.  The  Law of Names also relates  to the
     Law of Personification which will be explained later.  Two premises  behind
     the present law are:  (1) Names are definitions.   This is more  obvious in
     simpler languages, but it is as true of English as of any other.  Sometimes
     the  definition is hidden in  the origin of the word,  as is often the case
     with  those derived from  Latin or Greek, but  it is there.   (2) Names are
     mnemonic (memory) devices which trigger a range of associations.   (See the
     Law of Association).
                         


                                                                             833

                                LAW OF WORDS OF POWER
     This is a sublaw of the Law of Names.  It states that certain words trigger
     changes  in the inner and outer realities  of the person saying them.  Many
     of these words are corruptions of the names of ancient Gods.  Words like
     "Abraxas,"  Osorronnophris,"  "Abracadabra" are  examples.    They have  no
     meaning to us today, but THEIR POWER LIES IN THE SOUNDS OF THE WORDS
     THEMSELVES.

                                  LAW OF ASSOCIATION
     If two things have something in  common (anything!), that thing can be used
     to control both.  Bell's theorem in quantum mechanics indicates that every
     particle in the Universe affects every other.  The following two sublaws,
     which anthropologists think are the basis of "primitive" magick, are more
     useful in practice.  These are the Laws of Similarity and Contagion.

                                  LAW OF SIMILARITY
     Most  people have  heard  of sympathetic  magick, which  is  based on  this
     principle.  Effects resemble causes.   To make something fly, put  feathers
     on it and make chirping noises.  Wave it in the air.  The example is not
     entirely absurd and serves to illustrate the principle.  Much of the magick
     of "primitive" people  is of this  nature.   For example, rain  is made  by
     (among other  actions) sprinkling water on  the ground (or by  washing your
     car -- a modern example of the same principle!).

                                   LAW OF CONTAGION
     This  is the principle behind doll-sticking and such in "primitive" magick.
     This directly  relates to  Bell's theorem  and states  that things once  in
     physical contact continue  to influence  one another after  they have  been
     separated.  This relates more to our consciousness than to things as
     they are in the physical world, but defining the two is more difficult than
     they   appear  on  the  surface.     Thinking,  feeling,   and  memory  are
     associational  functions of  the human  brain.   New  data  are related  to
     existing knowledge and patterns  are established which correlate particular
     elements  of   knowledge.    The   overall  pattern,  which   includes  the
     "personality" and  the "world view" is  the METAPATTERN of all  this.  This
     metapattern we may consider to be made up of the  memories, fantasy images,
     beliefs, values, techniques, rules of  behavior, attitudes, etc. which make
     up the individuality of the person.
                          
                                LAW OF IDENTIFICATION
     This law  relates to those  of Knowledge, Association  and Personification.
     It states that by complete association between your metapattern and that of
     another entity, you can BECOME that entity.  You can then examine your own
     metapattern from the point of view of that entity.  At full identification,
     one "becomes" the entity.  All idea of distinctness vanishes and you are
     empowered  with all  the  attributes of  that entity  because you  ARE that
     entity.    The danger  here  is that  many people  become  lost in  the new
     identity  as  the  stronger  metapattern  submerges  the  weaker.    Proper
     training, practice and guidance will lessen the danger.


                                                                             834

                                   LAW OF SYNTHESIS
     Two opposing ideas or items of data will be resolved into a third idea that
     is more valid than the first two.  This principle allows you to hold two
     seemingly contradictory ideas (such as, "Electrons are particles," and
     "Electrons are waves.") at the same time.  Reality is as it is, not as we
     conceive  it  (or  even  as  we  perceive  it,  for  that   matter).    The
     wave-particle duality in physics is an example.  Physicists were nonplussed
     to  observe in  their  experiments that  light  behaved (depending  on  the
     experiment) sometimes  like a wave  and sometimes like  a particle.   Light
     striking a surface  of copper,  say, releases electrons  from the  surface.
     This  phenomenon, when examined closely, demonstrates that light is made up
     of particles (now called photons) which impart energy to the electrons,
     allowing them to escape.  However, another experiment, in which we direct
     a beam of light at some pinholes, "proves" that light is of the nature of
     waves.  If we direct a beam of light at an arrangement of pinholes:

     ---------------------------------------
     I          I                          I
     I          I                          I
     I          I               screen-->  I
     I          I                          I
     I                <--pinhole           I
     I          I                          I
     I          I                          I
                I                          I
     LIGHT      I                          I
                I                          I
     I          I                          I
     I          I                          I
     I                <--pinhole           I
     I          I                          I
     I          I                          I
     I          I                          I
     I          I                          I
     ---------------------------------------

     assuming that we have a beam  of "parallel" light (a plane wavefront),
     we see the light projected onto the screen.  If we cover one of the
     pinholes, we see a single  illuminated spot on the screen.  If  wwe uncover
     the  first  and cover  the  second  pinhole, we  again  see  a single  spot
     projected onto the  screen.  Now, if we  uncover both pinholes, what  do we
     see?  Two spots  of light?  No!  We see a  pattern of alternating light and
     dark bands on  the screen.  This phenomenon is  due to INTERFERENCE between
     the crests and  troughs of the  WAVES of light  as they strike  the screen.
     When two crests occur  together, or two troughs, the amplitude  is doubled,
     and we get a bright area. But when a crest and trough coincide, they cancel
     each  other,  and  the  result  is  a  dark  spot  of  zero  amplitude  (no
     brightness).   The point of all this  is that interference is necessarily a
     WAVE phenomenon.   The experiment  demonstrates the wave  nature of  light.
     How do  we resolve  the dilemma?   By  realizing that  we are dealing  with
     something that is neither a wave nor a particle, but SOMETHING ELSE.


                                                                             835


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