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               "HOW TO USE MAGICK with a Straight Face" 
(C) 1989 by Scot Rhoads, all rights reserved
MYSTIC MOON Metaphysical Books, NEW MOON RISING journal & BBS
8818 Troy St., Spring Vly, CA 91977 (619) 466-8064; BBS: 466-5403 

             "People that eat blowfish are stupid. 
        People that do not eat blowfish are also stupid."
                                        --Japanese proverb


   With  the advent of the New Age,  many people are airing great 
new  ways  to change your life for the better.  These  ideas  are 
based  on the premise that we have total control of our lives  on 
some level.  All we need do is reach that level with our desires. 
This is,  of course,  the big challenge. You can read millions of 
words on that subject.  Why is there so much information? Because 
achieving this kind of control is a very individual thing.  There 
are  so many different ways that each person could write his  own 
book.  To succeed,  each must find his own path. The reason there 
are  instructions  at  all,  though,  is because  each  can  find 
guidance in the successes of others.  Magick is one of these many 
guides.
    
   This  file is relatively short because it concentrates less on 
the  myriad  details of magick and more on how to find  your  own 
path.  The  task  is never as easy as it sounds,  but it  is  not 
complex,  either.  With straight forward exercises (good,  honest 
work on your Self) you will achieve whatever you desire.  We  all 
have  this  power.  The  way we use it is not by  gaining  a  new 
ability,  but by getting out of the way of the ability we already 
have. This book outlines the basic blocks and the kinds of things 
to  do about them.  But,  as with any advice,  it is up to you to 
honestly  assess your own situation and discover what works  best 
for you.  Remember,  achieving your personal Power is  everyone's 
path  in life.  You will succeed,  it is only a question of when. 
This  book  is designed to bring that success more  quickly  and, 
overall, more easily.

   Many  people  these  days still appeal  to  the  "booga-booga" 
aspect of magick:  "We will grant you incredible powers to use on 
whomever  you please if you send us money." As we enter into  the 
New Age of understanding,  people are learning that occult powers 
are actually a natural part of everyone's life. It is our goal to 
help  this process along.  We hope to teach newcomers what magick 
is about.  This book is written not only to inform,  but also  to 
circumvent  the  psychological  barriers set up by  living  in  a 
mechanistic society. The mechanistic paradigm (the idea that each 
person  and  object  is  totally separate from the  rest  of  the 
universe  except through physical interaction)  precludes  magick
(non-physically   affecting  one's  environment).   The  magickal 
paradigm  states  that your beliefs  create  your  reality.  This 
choice  is like contemplating eating blowfish-- when  you analyze 
it,  you  can  conclude that adopting either paradigm is  stupid. 
Since you can't please everyone else,  pick the one that you like 
best. If (and only if) the magickal paradigm appeals to you, then 
choose it. Then the trick is to get out of the mind-set that says 
that  magick  is  impossible.  We hope that  you  will  try  some 
exercises  to prove to yourself that magick works.  Once you have 
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done  so,  then  you  are on the way to  achieving  anything  you 
desire.
                       
                              POWER

   Power can be a very misleading term.  The way most people mean 
it is in the sense of "power-over." People recognize power as the 
ability to get others to do what you want,  especially when these 
others  have different ideas.  This is not Power (with a  capital 
'P')  at all.  When you rely on someone else to do something  for 
you,  you  give  your Power to him.  This is very different  from 
doing something *with* someone,  then both parties gain.  But, to 
believe  that you must force or trick another is to say that  you 
need this person to do something that you cannot.  You may  steal 
their power (lower case) but you give away your Power. 

   Power  is,  among  other things,  the innate ability to  bring 
whatever you truly desire into your life.  When you "make" others 
manifest them for you,  you create blocks in your own mind. These 
blocks say "I cannot do this myself," which obstructs your Power. 
This is "giving away your Power." 

   When you "take your Power," you accept responsibility for your 
life.  This  is not guilt or martyrdom,  it is honestly assessing 
your  life  and recognizing your  successes  and  failures.  Give 
yourself  credit for even the smallest success and recognize that 
you  can overcome every obstacle.  Then you allow your  Power  to 
express  itself.  What you need comes to you;  projects work  for 
you.

   We  often  think  of many  obstacles  as  insurmountable.  For 
instance,  many  believe  the lottery to be their only  desperate 
hope of escaping poverty.  Such people give away their Power. And 
why  shouldn't they?  Everything they've experienced  tells  them 
this.  Our  whole  society is rooted in the mechanistic  paradigm 
(all causes and effects have a physical link),  which precludes a 
belief in Power.  How is one to know that this concept works? How 
can  this be real when it is so different from what we  are  used 
to?

   Our  society  has  a  concept of  "Reality"  as  an  objective 
existence  of  which  we are all a part.  When  two  people  have 
different  ideas of the nature of some detail,  then at least one 
is Wrong. We all have a fear of being Wrong. When we are Wrong we 
miss out on things and people don't like us as much. Therefore we 
desperately strive to be Right.  It turns out that Right is  what 
ever  those around you happen to feel that it should be.  It's as 
if  they  all  took a vote when you were out  of  the  room.  But 
"Right" changes all the time: from preservatives are harmless, to 
preservatives  cause cancer;  from Stalin is a great  leader,  to 
Stalin  was a monster;  from Ptolemy explains the forces  of  the 
universe perfectly, to Newton explains the forces of the universe 
perfectly,  to  Einstein  explains  the forces  of  the  universe 
perfectly.  The  philosophy  of science this calls this  evolving 
better  (or at least different) explanations.  Yet,  while  these 
ideas hold sway, people call them "Reality."

   Just how reliable is Reality?  We all live our lives using our 
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individual concepts of Reality to get along. We update them as we 
see fit. But few will fundamentally change their concepts. We are 
sure  that,  although we may not have the details,  we  certainly 
have  a  feel  for  the basics.  Anyone who  disagrees  with  the 
mechanistic paradigm,  for instance,  must be missing at least  a 
few  marbles.  Such a person is irrational in a universe that  we 
know to be rational.

   But  is the universe truly rational?  Science has pursued the 
mechanistic  paradigm  down  to  the  smallest  scale,   particle 
physics;  here  it fails to explain the  universe.  The  building 
blocks  of Reality do not behave rationally.  If you drive a  car 
from one side of a mountain to the other and you have a choice of 
two  tunnels,  you  will drive through one of them.  If a  single 
electron has a choice of two holes in a plate to pass through, it 
will go through both. You can plot the speed and position of your 
car  to the limit of the accuracy of your  instruments,  but  you 
will never be able to do both to that electron. 

   When you observe this mythical car,  it is a solid object.  If 
it were not,  it would not be a car. If you drove it around, then 
tested  to  see if the car were not solid and discovered that  it 
wasn't,  what  would you think?  Around the turn of the  century, 
scientists figured out that light acts like a wave when you  test 
for a wave,  and like a particle when you test for a particle. In the 
regular world it must be one *or* the other.  The two are as 
mutually exclusive as a non-solid car that you can none the  less 
drive.  Mysteriously,  light was behaving like both.  Eventually, 
scientists concluded that light doesn't work like the universe we 
are  used to.  The act of observing light defines its  character. 
This  is  called  wave-particle duality.  Later in  the  century, 
scientists  found that atomic particles,  the building blocks  of 
all matter, behave this way, too.

   Now  imagine  that  you  can find no evidence  that  this  car 
crosses  the space between where you see it and where you saw  it 
last.  Suppose  the  car isn't actually "there" when  you're  not 
looking--  the  act of looking brings it  into  "existence." What 
would you think if noticed that your expectations seem to have an 
effect on where it turns out to be?  This is awfully strange, but 
it  is  the  kind  of universe  that  particle  physicists  find. 
"Looking  at"  a subatomic particle "brings it  into  existence." 
Also,  scientists are finding that whatever kind of particle they 
expect  to  find in an experiment,  tends to be  there.  This  is 
starting  to  look less like brilliant theory and  more  like  an 
effect  of the observers.  They are no longer separate from their 
experiments. It turns out that the universe doesn't actually work 
the way we've always assumed it does.

   This  is  the nature of matter on the smallest scale,  and  it 
doesn't make sense in every day life.  This does not mean that we 
should abandon our present ideas of how to live.  Keep what works 
("If  it  ain't broke,  don't fix it").  Particle  physics  won't 
affect how you drive through tunnels,  for instance.  But, if you 
accept  physics,  the epitome of the mechanistic  paradigm,  this 
means  that our mechanistic ideas of how the universe  works  are 
fundamentally  incomplete.   In  other  words,   the  mechanistic 
paradigm is not the whole story. 
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   Big deal.  What does this mean in a practical sense? The world 
seems  to  work  just  the same as it did  when  the  mechanistic 
paradigm was unchallenged. But what if our preconceptions dictate 
what we are aware of?  It is a common trick to set up a group  of 
people  for  startling  event and see how many  will  overlook  a 
strange inconsistency.  In one instance, a teacher took a student 
off  into an adjoining room on a pretext.  There was the sound of 
an argument and a crash and the student ran out through the room. 
One of the other students suspected a set up and she was the only 
one  who  noticed that the teacher's accomplice  was  carrying  a 
bone.  A much more dramatic example is the story of Magellan's ships. 
When the explorer landed on a particular island, the natives, who 
had never seen europeans before, recognized them as funny looking 
men  in funny looking little boats.  But Magellan soon found that 
the  natives  were unaware of the large ships that  carried  them 
there,  though they were impossible to overlook.  The natives had 
seen men and small boats before,  but they had never seen a large 
ship.  Such a thing was outside of their experience and therefore 
outside  of their comprehension.  Their eyes must have  seen  the 
ships,  but their brains did not.  The natives gathered to try to 
see them, staring intently at where they supposed to be anchored. 
Soon  the local shaman could discern the barest outline which  he 
described  to  the  others.  Eventually they could  all  perceive 
ships.
   
   Who  can  say what we make ourselves unaware of?  It  is  only 
after  we've expanded our perception that we learn how limited it 
was  before.  But we can't go around indiscriminately  "expanding 
our  consciousness."  What we choose to believe is based  on  our 
desires. If you are happy with what you believe, the is no reason 
to  change.  "If  it  ain't  broke,  don't  fix  it."  Change  is 
challenging and even if you succeed,  it may well be  unpleasant. 
But  if  you feel unable to overcome obstacles in your life  (and 
you *really*  want to),  then you have nothing to  loose.  Magick 
will only expand possibilities.  If it's all a crock, you've lost 
nothing. If it's true, you can do anything you're willing to work 
for.  It is a draw-win situation. The only way you can lose is to 
make  your choice out of fear.  Don't let the opinions of  others 
influence what you choose to believe. Don't give away your Power. 
Everyone else is in the same situation you are,  so when it comes 
to your own life, there is no greater authority than yourself. If 
you're  interested in magick,  try it and see for yourself if  it 
works for you.
................................................................................
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                         WHAT MAGICK IS

Magick is a way of using your Power.  More technically, magick is 
the  process of non-physically affecting your environment through 
messages consciously impressed on the subconscious with a  system 
of symbols.  (This will become clear later.) This is the broadest 
definition and it can include such things as prayer,  meditation, 
chanting,  positive thinking,  subliminal tapes,  programming and 
hypnotism.

Some think that magick is unnatural and evil.  It is no more evil 
than  any  tool.  A  knife,  for instance,  is "good"  or  "evil" 
depending  on its use.  It can be invaluable in  many  beneficial 
projects,  yet  it  can also harm.  Nothing is immune to  misuse. 
People even try to use prayer against others.  Such potential  is 
not a reason for fear,  but for respect.  The idea that magick is 
unnatural is a modern misconception. Magic has only recently come 
to  mean Hollywood special effects or pulling rabbits from  hats. 
It  is often spelled magick in order to distinguish it from  this 
new   meaning.   For   millennia  magick  has  been  a  path   to 
enlightenment  and  self mastery or just plain getting  what  you 
want.  It is nothing supernatural. Magick uses natural powers and 
the  natural flow of the universe to bring about the changes  you 
desire. We are so immersed in magick that, like still air, we are 
unaware  of  it.  We all use this  power  without  thought,  like 
breathing. Magick is using these powers with awareness.

Magick  involves  placing  a message of your choosing  into  your 
subconscious.  This is all that is necessary to achieve any goal. 
The power of the subconscious is awesome.  When you unite it with 
your  conscious will,  you can do anything you want.  Remove  the 
internal barriers and the external barriers melt  away.  Oriental 
philosophy would call this "following the Tao." Achieving this is 
the challenge of magick.

                        HOW MAGICK WORKS

   How  can programming the subconscious affect the world  around 
us?  What  are the mechanisms involved?  According to the  occult 
view, it works because that is the nature of the universe.

   In the West,  we use the mechanistic paradigm. A paradigm is a 
pattern  or model,  in this case describing the way the  universe 
works.  We  use  paradigms  to  function,  usually  without  even 
realizing  it.  The mechanistic paradigm is one of the most basic 
that  underlie our culture.  This model states that there  is  an 
objective  reality  in  which  objects  interact  solely  through 
physical contact. Science has updated this to include fields like 
gravity and magnetism,  but the principle is the same. The result 
is  a universe in which the individual is nearly  powerless.  You 
can only make real change through physical action.  Magick is the 
act of making such changes non-physically,  so it does not fit in 
with the mechanistic paradigm.

   Most   westerners  are  unaware  that  the  magickal  paradigm 
represents a majority view among the world's cultures. Basically, 
it  is  the antithesis of the mechanistic view.  It  states  that 
there is no objective universe,  only subjective universes. These 
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universes  are the perceptions of each individual.  You  couldn't 
possibly  do any experiment that would show your universe  to  be 
either subjective or objective. You must be an objective observer 
in  order  to  tell  the  difference.  You  are  automatically  a 
subjective observer because you are in the universe. That's life. 

   At this point,  there is no practical difference between these 
views.  The universe looks the same either way.  But the magickal 
paradigm  also states that the universe is an expression of  your 
perceptions  and your perceptions are that part of yourself  over 
which  you have control.  When you change your own attitudes  and 
preconceptions,   the   universe  will  follow.   This  gives  an 
individual  as  much  power  over the universe  as  he  has  over 
himself.

                           Metaphysics

We  obviously  don't exercise infinite power.  There is  more  to 
magick than merely having a desire or belief.  That is because we 
have  many conflicting desires and beliefs on many levels.  There 
is  a level called,  among other things,  the Little  Self.  This 
roughly  corresponds to the subconscious and the super  ego.  The 
ego,  the  part of ourselves which we think of as "I," is  called 
the Middle Self. The Little Self is the gateway to the High Self, 
our connection with godhead and the universe. Infinite power lies 
with  the High Self,  but our access is through the  Little  Self 
which has its own ideas.  The Little Self is aware of and accepts 
everything around it and everything you think,  even when you are 
not  aware.  These perceptions build up very strong ideas in  the 
Little Self.  When these ideas are different from yours (those of 
the Middle Self),  your ideas loose.  To succeed,  you must unify 
your will. 

   Of  course,  people  rightfully  complain that even if  we  do 
create our universe,  it's still tough to make changes.  That  is 
because  there is quite a bit of inertia to ideas that have  been 
strongly  supported  since childhood (or before,  if  you  accept 
past-lives).  In an extreme example, the original "Peter Pan" had 
to  be  changed to keep from harming children.  In  the  original 
version,  the  characters  flew  because  "they  believed."  Many 
children  attempted to fly and discovered the hard way that their 
Little Self did not agree. Things like a belief in gravity may be 
possible  to overcome,  but no one will argue that it's  commonly 
done. 

   This example sounds silly because our experience of gravity is 
so  compelling  that  it seems ridiculous to consider  it  to  be 
"merely  a thought construct." But another belief that is  nearly 
as  widespread is that of poverty.  This is a significantly  less 
daunting belief which many have overcome.  As long as you believe 
you  are poor,  you will be.  This is often a very strong belief. 
Many  cannot even genuinely imagine themselves as being  wealthy. 
But,  because  it is not beyond reasonable comprehension,  it  is 
possible  to reprogram your Little Self-- much  as  it's possible 
for  left-handers  to  learn to be  right-handed.  Magick  is  an 
effective way to do this.

   If you are unconvinced,  consider how many little messages you 
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heard  when  growing  up,  which you now believe on  some  level. 
Frequent messages, especially with children, usually become true. 
If  you  have heard all your life that you are poor  or  dumb  or 
unsuccessful, eventually you believe it and eventually it's true. 
You  probably  know many people with an unjustifiably  poor  self 
image.  This  is  an  image which their Little  Selves  accepted, 
probably during childhood when they couldn't protect  themselves. 
That is how messages to the Little Self work against you. And the 
Little Self is aware of everything,  even when you are asleep. It 
also believes everything it hears. So the next time that you hear 
that  you're not good or that you need to buy a product that  you 
don't really want,  consciously give your Little Self a different 
message. Talk to it and tell it what you want to believe. This is 
what  makes your universe,  so make it the way you want it.  When 
you  have a particularly powerful belief to  overcome,  then  you 
must send a powerful message. That is the role of magick.

                            Religion

   The religious rendition of magick is prayer. Although they are 
different things, the principles are similar. Techniques that are 
effective for one will work very well in the other. In fact, they 
use  many  common symbols.  One could say that magick is  secular 
prayer.

   Prayer  works when "God answers it." This is entirely in  line 
with  the metaphysical explanation.  You can say that the  Higher 
Self is God or your connection to God. This is simply a different 
way  of expressing the same ineffable principles.  You can  adapt 
anything  here  to fit into your views.  Don't let the way  these 
concepts are phrased put you off.  Feel free to interpret this as 
much  as  you like in order to make it acceptable and  usable  to 
you.

                           Psychology

   The  explanations so far require new way of thinking about the 
universe,  but those entrenched in the mechanistic paradigm  need 
not miss out. Psychology has enough respect as a science to offer 
hope. If you replace Little Self with subconscious, the principle 
is  the  same.  Although there is no longer a source of  infinite 
power or non-physical change. But influencing the subconscious is 
the next best thing in a mechanistic world. 

   Psychologists   would   say  that  magick  directs  all   your 
unconscious  efforts toward your goal.  It also eliminates  those 
unconscious  efforts  keeping you from your goal.  This  may  not 
sound like much, but it is primarily these efforts that determine 
success or failure.  It is easy to overlook because, for the most 
part,  the  conscious will is the same as the  unconscious  will. 
Thus,  we succeed at endeavors such as waking up, getting to work 
on  time and fixing dinner.  This may seem silly,  but when  your 
subconscious  doesn't  share  a  goal,   even  simple  tasks  are 
exceptionally difficult. The power of the subconscious can either 
fight  you  or  help you.  Where ever you  succeed,  it's  almost 
certainly  helping.  Where ever you fail,  it's almost  certainly 
fighting.

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   The  subconscious represents everything the mind does that  we 
do not think about.  This involves a most of what we do. When you 
are  driving  on a familiar freeway in good conditions,  you  are 
usually  thinking  about  the  music  on  the  radio  or  salient 
problems.  At such times it is your subconscious driving.  If you 
notice  something strange in the road,  it was your  subconscious 
that brought it to your attention. This is very helpful, but that 
isn't  necessarily the case.  The subconscious can throw  up  all 
kinds  of barriers,  preventing even the simplest tasks.  It  can 
make  you late for work when it doesn't feel like going-- you can 
wake  up  late,  feel  ill,  misplace car keys or  even  have  an 
accident.  This influence sometimes goes to the extremes.  People 
can even be paralyzed by hysteria, a condition that lies entirely 
within  the  mind.  Pathological fears are  another  example.  An 
agoraphobe,  for instance,  can have such an extreme reaction  to 
being outdoors that he cannot leave his house no matter how badly 
he wants to.

   The  subtle  action  of  the subconscious  can  be  almost  as 
profound.   Even  when  the  influence  of  the  subconscious  is 
indistinguishable  from  chance happenings,  on larger scale  the 
effect is dramatic.  Psychologists try to ensure that experiments 
are  "double  blind"  for  this  reason.  They  must  set  up  an 
experimental group and a control group.  In the latter,  there is 
only the single element,  the target of the experiment,  that  is 
different. 
 
   In  drug  testing,  experimenters  use placebos on  a  control 
group.  The act of administering a substance can have a  profound 
mental effect, even when that substance is inert, a placebo. When 
they expect effective drugs, people can have great results with a 
placebo.  But  the "placebo effect" is purely  psychological.  If 
either the experimenter or the subject think that they know which 
is  being administered,  that is enough to throw off the results. 
The  subconscious  of  the subject reacts  to  what  the  subject 
expects. If the experimenter knows what he is administering, then 
the subject's subconscious reacts to cues from the experimenter's 
subconscious.  This  is sometimes called the "Clever Hans effect" 
after  a horse which seemed to be able to do  math.  In  reality, 
clever  Hans but was reacting to cues from the people around him. 
When someone near him knew the answer, the horse could sense that 
person's  expectation.  It was sometime before  researchers  even 
considered   these   nearly  invisible   clues.   Although   such 
subconscious  actions  are  very subtle,  they  can  dramatically 
change the results of an experiment.

   The  subconscious  similarly affects results in your  life  as 
well.  Magick programs the subconscious to work for you.  This is 
not  as potent as the metaphysical concept,  but it will make you 
as  effective as you can possibly be in a  mechanistic  world.  A 
unified  will directs all your efforts,  conscious and otherwise, 
toward   your   goal.   Since  the   subconscious   can   present 
insurmountable  barriers,  working  out these barriers is all  it 
takes to be on the road to success.

   Some   may   be  disturbed  to  think  that  magick   may   be 
misrepresenting  how it works,  but that should not be a problem. 
In  one  experiment,  scientists  gave placebos  to  a  group  of 
3273

subjects.  After  the  placebos  "took  effect,"  the  scientists 
explained what they were.  Even when the scientists made it clear 
to the subjects that the placebos had no biochemical action, many 
subjects  still  wanted  a prescription for them.  (It  would  be 
interesting to see how much more effective prescription  placebos 
are  versus over the counter placebos.) Were these people stupid? 
Or were they wise to stick with something that worked? 

                           New Science

   Those  that  cannot extricate themselves from old  mechanistic 
views  need an excuse to allow the placebo effect to  bring  them 
success.  Ironically,  the  same discipline which made magick  so 
difficult  can now provide this excuse.  Scientists are exploring 
some  new  ideas  which  depart  from  the  founding  mechanistic 
paradigm.  Ideas consonant with the magickal paradigm show up  in 
Jung's  synchronicity,  quantum physics,  the Gaia hypothesis and 
the morphogenetic field hypothesis (see Rupert Sheldrake's "A New 
Science  of  Life").  When these views  obviously  challenge  the 
traditional mechanistic paradigm,  they are a source of hostility 
or  amusement.  When the challenge is more subtle,  people ignore 
it.  Never the less,  the West is gradually turning toward a view 
more  in tune with magick.  With greater  frequency,  people  are 
willing  to consider the idea that we affect our universe on more 
than just a physical level. 

   Scientific  evidence  now supports the idea of  non-physically 
affecting  your  environment.  Quantum physics suggests  that  an 
experimenter's  goals  seem  to  create  whatever  particle  he's 
looking  for.  The morphogenetic field hypothesis  suggests  that 
actions   affect  all  other  actions  to  the  degree  that  the 
circumstances are similar. This explains why it becomes easier to 
grow  a  certain  type of crystal over time and  how  new  animal 
behaviors "jump" from one isolated population to another. Science 
is  continually  finding support for things  that  metaphysicians 
have said for millennia. 

   If  your  respect  for science is such that  you  cannot  take 
magick seriously,  do some research into these areas.  If you can 
find an acceptable explanation, then you can respect magick. This 
respect  is essential for success.  But don't look for  "proofs." 
The  concept of magick is nebulous.  It's designed to explain the 
way  things  are.   "Contrary  evidence"  only  shows  that   you 
misunderstand.   Change   your  definition  to  include  the  new 
evidence. 

   Magick  can  never be proven wrong because it can't be  pinned 
down.  Since  it explains a subjective reality,  it can never  be 
proven  right,  either.  The magickal paradigm will  confirm  any 
preconceptions,  so  the mechanistic paradigm will look "true" if 
that  is  what  you expect.  Since it  also  postulates  so  many 
unknowns  in the mind,  this paradigm states that what you get is 
what you expected.  As with so many things,  you will believe  if 
you  want to and you won't if you don't want to.  But when you're 
on  the  fence,  the right explanation can help  you  accept  the 
possibility.  Only  then  you  can honestly try  magick.  If  you 
experiment with a negative attitude,  it is the nature of  magick 
to confirm this.  Magick works best for those practical enough to 
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be skeptical, but open minded enough to give it an honest try. If 
a  part of you is genuinely interested in magick,  work to become 
comfortable with it.  Start with simple and harmless work.  Leave 
the embarrassing stuff for later,  after you've seen it work  and 
you don't care so much if your friends find out. 

   Avoid  getting too involved in the "explanations." If you need 
one,  pick whichever you like. It doesn't have to be any of those 
here.  Each  has to build his own models.  In any  case,  reality 
transcends  the  understanding of  waking-consciousness,  so  any 
expressible  explanation  is "wrong" in  the  traditional  sense, 
anyway.  For  a  good  illustration,  try to  "understand"  wave-
particle  duality  in  any but  a  mathematical  sense.  It's  as 
impossible to picture as a four dimensional cube.

   However  the  universe "actually is," always act in  a  manner 
that  is responsible in an objective universe.  If this were  not 
essential,  people  would  have abandoned the objective  universe 
long ago. Objective or subjective, there are many empirical rules 
of behavior that we all know.  Magick doesn't change these rules. 
Don't drive crazily because you've done a protection spell. Don't 
spend unwisely because you've done a prosperity spell. Don't jump 
off a building because you've done a flight spell.  Remain within 
these  rules  and  you  loose nothing by  acting  as  though  the 
universe  is  subjective.  You should not be doing  anything  you 
don't  want  to  do in the first place,  because  such  acts  are 
pointless in either universe.  If the universe is objective, then 
you  have had some harmless fun.  If the universe is  subjective, 
then  you  have  the chance to get  anything  you  want.  If  you 
approach it properly, you can't lose.

                  THE EMPIRICAL RULES OF MAGICK

                     Karma, the golden rule

   So far you have read a few possible explanations of how magick 
works.  This is to open your mind to the fact it *can* work.  But 
any   explanation  puts  a  limit  on  the   possibilities.   The 
possibilities  which a model rules out are much harder to achieve 
while   you  use  that  model.   Please  don't   limit   yourself 
unnecessarily.  But  remember,  no matter how much you may try to 
believe  that you can fly,  it's not likely you'll  succeed.  The 
obvious  lesson  here is,  be careful:  test the waters  of  your 
subconscious, act responsibly (but not over cautious). Don't jump 
off a cliff after your first flight spell.  Don't quit work after 
your  first job spell.  Start slow and find out how  your  Little 
Self works before you do any life changing work.

   There  is  a hazard so universal that you should treat  it  as 
fact:  Karma.  This is the old saw of,  "what goes around,  comes 
around."  You  attract  things of a similar nature  to  what  you 
concentrate  on (similar to morphogenetic fields).  And remember, 
when  you concentrate on something,  your Little Self does so  at 
least  as  much.  The  mechanistic reason for this  may  be  "the 
subconscious  mind  directing  subtle  actions  to  bring   about 
circumstances  in  tune with its thoughts." Metaphysicians  often 
explain it as "like vibrations attracting like."

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   Everything has a "vibration." This is similar to the vibration 
of musical notes,  though obviously not the same. As with musical 
notes,  one  vibration  can start a  sympathetic  vibration.  One 
vibrating  piano  string  will start similar  strings  vibrating. 
Karma  is  the  word for this principle in  magick.  There  is  a 
certain  vibration associated with any act.  If you hit  someone, 
the  emotions  and actions involved are of a  certain  vibration. 
This  will  tend  to  attract  things  of  a  similar  vibration, 
primarily violent acts.  You will tend to attract someone to  hit 
you.   It  turns  out  that  everything  you  do  to  others  you 
essentially also do to yourself, and vice versa. It sounds trite, 
but  being  nice to others and yourself truly makes the  world  a 
better place for everyone.

   It  doesn't  matter how you understand karma,  or even if  you 
believe in it-- you are warned.  Many people  don't  believe. The 
action of karma,  particularly on such people,  is often too slow 
to  notice.  It  can  easily take lifetimes for a  soul  to  work 
through karma.  But the soul will, so avoid bad thoughts. This is 
impossible,   but  you  will  get  better  with  practice.   Each 
unpleasant thought has a negative effect on you and others.  This 
brings negative things into your life. This is pretty rotten, but 
remember that each positive thought brings positive things-- that 
can  be pretty good.  In any case,  you needn't respect karma  to 
find yourself a happier person for trying to live this way.
 
   If  you are just learning about karma,  you will probably find 
that it is now a little more obvious in your life.  But sometimes 
it's difficult to figure.  If you do a spell to heal someone, you 
would  expect  to  be  attracting  good  things.   But  what   if 
immediately  afterward  you receive a transfer back home to  live 
near your scummy relatives?  Hardly fair!  Yet that's the kind of 
result  you  can expect if you do anything to  a  person  without 
permission.  People  have enough difficulty with their own Little 
Selves,  it's  nearly impossible to divine the desire of  someone 
else's.  The most beneficent act could violate someone's will  on 
some  level.  If the person asks you,  then you are free to  act. 
But,  even  if you are absolutely sure that the person would want 
it, if he hasn't asked you, don't do it. 

   Another  fantastic  example is the love spell.  Do a spell  to 
attract  the  kind of person you want,  not  a  specific  person. 
Exercising  your  will on others without their consent is  always 
nasty--  doing  so  magickally has  an  even  higher  cost. Watch 
yourself.   Many  people  working  with  magick  do  so  under  a 
"threefold law." This means that any karmic response is  tripled. 
This  is  to  keep people particularly scrupulous when  they  are 
fooling around with this stuff. Take it seriously.

                          Know Thyself

   Karma is best described by the golden rule, "Do unto others as 
you  would have them do unto you." The other major rule of magick 
is  just  as  common place,  "Know thyself."  This  is  essential 
because of the Little Self.  Magick is the science of  expressing 
your  will.  Because  there  are many aspects to  your  will,  it 
follows  that  you must be aware of all these aspects  to  be  an 
effective magician.
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   "Know  thyself" means be aware of the thoughts and feelings of 
your Little Self.  Learn how it feels about the things you  want. 
Learn  it's  beliefs.  You  must  know  your  starting  point  to 
effectively change negative beliefs.  To do this, you have to pay 
attention  to  all  the subconscious cues that your  Little  Self 
gives you. Explore your feelings, keep track of your dreams, look 
at  your past.  One of the best clues is your own  life.  If  you 
create  everything on some level,  then part of you "wants"  each 
thing in your life. You must not deny this, but work with it. The 
goal is healing because destruction is at best temporary. 

   Different   desires  on  other  levels  interfere  with   your 
conscious desire.  Your Little Self picks them up everywhere. You 
must be aware of this so that you can counteract it.  Every ideal 
commonly  in  the  mass media  impresses  itself  strongly.  When 
Madison  Avenue  spreads  the word that young and  thin  are  the 
ideal,  your Little Self will accept this if you are not careful. 
If you are not young and thin, this message undermines your sense 
of  self worth.  The resultant sense of undeserving works against 
your success. There is so much exposure to these messages that it 
is a real battle to avoid them.  Particularly in childhood,  when 
we can't protect ourselves,  others deeply ingrain ideas that can 
be  with  us  for life.  You must work  hard  to  discover  these 
feelings and counter act them.  If part of you feels undeserving, 
genuine success seems impossible.

   There  are other aspects to this problem.  Not only might  you 
feel  undeserving,  but you could even desire failure.  There are 
many reasons for this,  usually based in childhood.  Whatever the 
cause,  you  must look at your failures to see if there might  be 
some  reward.  Many people are subject to  chronic  illness,  for 
instance,  because  of  the attention they get or  an  unpleasant 
situation  they avoid.  If you really want to succeed,  you  must 
consciously release your desire for the rewards of failure.

   You  must also look at the fear of success.  Many times we  do 
not  consider  the problems associated with what we are  striving 
for,  but  the  Little  Self  does.  It  may  be  afraid  of  the 
responsibility  of a better job or a new  spouse.  Think  through 
your  goals  very carefully.  What would life be like if you  had 
what  you  desire?  You will have to address any  new  tasks  and 
responsibilities.  You  will have to be aware of any  sacrifices. 
Once  you  are  sure that you want not only your  goal,  but  the 
sacrifices  and responsibilities that go with  it,  then  release 
your fears.  People fear change,  because it is unknown. You must 
be aware that you are taking a leap and welcome it. Have faith in 
your Self.  When you know your Little Self well enough,  you will 
be able to trust that it will bring you what you desire. When you 
don't know it that well,  work on that. If you fail, it's time to 
work harder.

   When  you  and your Little Self have the same goals,  and  you 
have healed all the blocks to your success,  you *know* that what 
you want is coming.  When you know, you do not feel desperate. If 
you are feeling desperation, you are blocking. In that case, back 
to work! When you have worked hard enough, then you are ready for 
the  easy part,  the spell or ritual.  When you enter ritual  you 
should  know what you want and why you want it.  You should  have 
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healed  all  feelings of failure and undeserving and  you  should 
know  that  your  spell will bring it.  Work  to  cultivate  this 
feeling of calm expectation,  it is an important key. When you do 
a ritual, you will release all the power you have built to do its 
work on the universe.  You should not even have to think about it 
again.

   Once you achieve this,  though,  there is another caveat. Many 
people  have  something  unpleasant  happen  to  them  and  later 
realized  that  they had asked for it.  "Be careful what you  ask 
for,  you  just might get it." Always think carefully about  what 
you  want and how you ask for it.  Once again,  solid  background 
work is the key.

                          USING MAGICK
    
   Magick  is a field with many different disciplines.  There  is 
sympathetic,  Earth,  Ceremonial,  Enochian, Celtic, Egyptian and 
Kabbalah  magick just to begin.  These are occasionally different 
in their basic techniques,  but mostly they differ in the symbols 
they  use to achieve their goals.  The principles are  the  same, 
however.  Whichever form you prefer,  it is how you observe these 
principles that determines your success.  Beyond that, it is only 
personal preference. 

   Preference is very important, too. It is your Little Self that 
you  are  addressing,  and it is as individual as you.  You  must 
learn what works best for you.  The first clue is what appeals to 
you most.  Once you find the best methods for you, you build your 
own  personal  magickal system.  It is up to you  to  find  these 
methods,  through research and experimentation.  There is so much 
information  that  it  is impossible to give more than  a  sample 
here.  The information in this book is enough to get started.  It 
is  your work that will complete it.  If you are happy with  what 
you get on your own,  you need never open another book.  But  you 
must  at  least pay constant,  careful attention to your work  to 
fine tune it.  As with anything,  the more work you put  in,  the 
better your success.

   The  first  principle  is  to  take  what  you're  doing  very 
seriously.  This  is  not  so easy when  you're  struggling  with 
society's  negative attitudes.  Ignore any intrusive thoughts you 
might have. Concentrate on what you are doing. You must passively 
avoid  any distractions.  Do not try to actively avoid  them  for 
that  usually becomes an even bigger distraction.  As long as you 
enter with the right attitude, the rest will come with practice.

   Magickal ritual is a very special thing. You must set it apart 
from your ordinary functions.  When you do this, your Little Self 
is aware that you have that an important message to give it.  Not 
only  is  the message less cluttered by stray  thoughts,  but  it 
proceeds  more  directly  to the Little Self.  The  more  special 
things  you have surrounding your ritual,  the more effective  it 
is. (As long as you don't have so much that these things become a 
distraction in themselves.)

   Pick  a time when you are relaxed and awake and not under  the 
influence  of any drugs (e.g.,  alcohol or medication).  Take the 
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phone off the hook and see that you are not disturbed.  Create  a 
"sacred  space"  that  is only for ritual.  If you can set  up  a 
regular  time  or  place which you use  for  nothing  other  than 
ritual, this is ideal.

   Before you begin,  take a bath or at least wash your hands and 
use  this  to  symbolically  wash away  all  other  thoughts  and 
distractions  in  your mind.  Relax your body  and  mind.  Remove 
watches  and tight clothes.  Make sure the time of the ritual  is 
clearly  separated from your usual day.  Use a symbolic act  like 
knocking three times to open and close the ritual.  Anything that 
you  can add to the ambience will help:  incense,  special or  no 
clothing,  candle light, silence or meditative music (or whatever 
music  is appropriate to the spell-- be careful of  any lyrics!). 
If  you  know a second language that you don't ordinarily  speak, 
such as hebrew or latin, you may want to use this. Alternatively, 
you can use the Thee's and Thou's of archaic english.

   During the ritual,  concentrate on your goals.  Make sure that 
your ritual is not so long that you can't keep your mind focused! 
It  is better to repeat a ritual over days or weeks than to  have 
an  enormously  long  one in which you spend most  of  your  time 
thinking  about balancing your checkbook.  Know what you will  do 
before  you  start.  You  may ad lib,  but your purpose  must  be 
completely clear before you start.  Don't be surprised,  however, 
if  a  ritual  goes  differently  from  expected.  You  may,  for 
instance,  gain  an insight as you work that seems  unrelated  to 
your goal. It is important to consider this! It may be the key to 
what you are trying to achieve.  It may also be a distraction, so 
be aware.

                          The Attitude

   Since  magick  is the science of controlling  your  Self,  the 
entire  key is in attitude.  Not only must you take it seriously, 
but you must also cultivate the right feelings. You must want and 
expect your goal.
   
   Wanting seems easy, but this is deceptive. That is because the 
many  facets  of a personality often want different  things.  You 
must unify your desire just as you must unify your will. A person 
who grew up abused may learn,  on some level,  to associate  this 
with  love.  That person's Little Self will seek out abuse as  an 
expression  of  love.  It will want abuse even if the  individual 
does not.  Changing the desire of the Little Self to that if  the 
individual is the challenge.
  
   An even bigger challenge is that of expectation.  According to 
the  magickal paradigm,  you not only get what you want,  but you 
get it in the way that you expect it. Thus, if you do a spell for 
money  and  you  think "I'll never win the  lottery,"  the  money 
cannot  come that way.  If the spell is to work,  the money  must 
come from another source, such as finding a better job. Too often 
we rule out all possibility.  When you do a spell,  you know that 
has already worked.  If you do not know this,  it has not worked. 
This is the ideal.  It may well take some time before you work up 
to this point.

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   For  these reasons it's usually best to start slow.  Remember, 
to be completely successful, you have to want and expect on every 
level. Begin with a project easier than levitation! Work your way 
up  to  something  life  changing  only  after  you  have  proven 
yourself.  And don't look for dramatic results.  Don't rule  them 
out, of course-- you can win the lottery or even have ET hand you 
a  suitcase of money.  But remember,  this is dealing in what you 
believe,  and  people  rarely believe that  dramatic  things  can 
happen to them. 

   Look at magick as an extra push-- something to make the random 
events break your way.  In addition to magickal means, strive for 
your goals on the earthly level. Preliminary results usually tend 
toward  things  like improved success in your ordinary  pursuits: 
business picking up,  a bonus,  getting that job interview. Also, 
the energy you put into these mundane efforts also supports  your 
magickal work.  Even if you concentrate on winning a lottery, you 
must  at  least  buy a ticket.  All your efforts  help  to  build 
expectation and gives a very strong message to the Little Self. 
                                                                   
                           Affirmation                               

   The message you give to your Little Self is the most important 
aspect  of Magick.  The whole process is communicating the  right 
message.  Desire  and  expectancy  are  the  two  most  important 
messages.  But often these do not get across. The Little Self has 
the  understanding  of a child.  There are certain messages  that 
work well and quite a few that work disastrously.  You must learn 
how to talk to your Little Self.

   The  Little Self understands images and feelings;  it does not 
understand negatives or time. When you say "I will not fail," the 
image  in your mind is that of failure.  The message  to  another 
person  would  be  what you mean,  because  they  understand  the 
negation,  "not."  The  message  to the subconscious is  "I  will 
fail." Never,  never,  never use a negative when talking to  your 
Little Self. 

   If  you  change your message to,  "I will succeed," you  still 
have a problem. Since the Little Self does not understand time as 
we  do,  it will perpetually see success as being in the  future. 
Success  will  never arrive.  The proper  message  would  be,  "I 
succeed." This is not the way we are used to thinking,  but it is 
necessary for magickal work. Always formulate your goals this way 
when you begin a ritual or spell. In addition, the more you think 
in  this  way  in everyday life,  the more powerful will  be  the 
positive messages to your Little Self.

                          Visualization

   The  images  which  you give your Little Self  are  even  more 
important.  It  is  the  images  which your  words  conjure  that 
actually  do the communicating.  When you choose your  goal,  you 
should  try  to choose one or more images to  represent  it.  The 
image must include you in it,  either see yourself in a scene  or 
picture  it  as  if looking out of your eyes.  The  scene  should 
represent to you exactly what you desire.

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   The  more  you imagine in your  scene,  the  better.  Details, 
smells,  sounds  and textures all help enormously.  The scene  is 
most  effective when it brings up all the emotions that you would 
feel if you were actually there.  A drawing or picture is a  good 
aid. Surround yourself with as many things you can find that make 
you  think of your goal.  Imagine you have what you want and know 
you have what you want. That is a successful ritual.

                             Symbols

   Over the millennia, people have discovered symbols which speak 
to the Little Selves of nearly everyone.  Various sets of symbols 
form the foundation of the many different schools of magick. They 
are often culturally oriented. Because our culture is far removed 
from its magickal symbols,  each must discover his own. There are 
myriads  of occult books that offer as many different symbols  as 
you could want.  If you are interested, research them. Look first 
to your religion or ethnic background for your symbols. Mythology 
and astrology are also good sources.

   One  kind of symbol is the magickal tool.  This is a  physical 
object which you have consecrated for magickal work. If you have, 
for  instance,  a  cross  or  star  which you  want  to  use  for 
protection,  you  must empower the object for that purpose  in  a 
ritual.   You  will  direct  you  will,   through  statement  and 
visualization,  into  to  object.  From then on it is a  constant 
tangible reminder to you and your Little Self.  Treat it with the 
greatest respect.

   When you want to use a symbol,  first explore your feelings as 
you  look at it.  If it conjures the feelings you want,  then use 
it.  With symbols from a source, try do this before you read what 
the "authentic" meaning is. Sometimes you can get new information 
by  not prejudicing yourself.  Be careful if the meaning is  very 
different,  though.  If  you are not entirely in tune  with  your 
Little Self (and few beginners are), you may be missing something 
that will affect your spell.

                             Chakra
   To  give you an idea of what to look for and a sample to  try, 
here  is  a simple set of symbols based on  the  Chakra.  Chakrum 
(singular)  is  Sanskrit for wheel,  although vortex would  be  a 
better  word.  Chakra refers to points in the body where  certain 
energies  localize.  These  types of energies correspond to  many 
different things: herbs, stones, times, planets, moods, political 
beliefs.  It  is possible to relate anything to a  chakrum.  This 
chart gives points on the body, one of the many color schemes and 
how one experiences these energies.  This becomes useful when you 
seek a reinforcing energy. You can use this chart to decide where 
to  apply a magickal oil or what color is best to use in a  given 
project.

RED       ROOT            Physical Health and Energy
ORANGE    SPLEEN          Sexual and Reserve Energy (Second Wind)
YELLOW    SOLAR PLEXUS    Mental and Emotional Energy
GREEN     HEART           Love, Prosperity, Fertility, Growth
BLUE      THROAT          Command, Creation, Will, Expression
INDIGO    BROW            Magick, Psychic Energy
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LAVENDER  CROWN           Spirituality
WHITE     Positivity, all colors combined, the Universal Deity (God)
BLACK     absorbs negativity
PINK      Filial Love, "Agape" (look it up)
BROWN     Earthiness, Grounding, Hearth & Home
GOLD      Wealth
          TEMPLES         Thoughts, mind

The blue is a very light blue.  Indigo is a very dark blue,  like navy 
blue.  Lavender is a mixture of the colors and the energies of  red, 
indigo and white.  It is a very light color  which  you might be able to
see at the edge of a gas flame. The root chakrum is  at the base of the
spine.  The spleen is a few inches  higher and  to  your left or along
the spine (your  choice).  The  Solar Plexus at the navel (there is a
major nerve nexus here). The Brow or Third Eye Chakrum is associated
with the pineal gland.  On the skin, the point is on the brow between
the eyes. The crown is the top of the head,  associated with the
fontanelle (soft spot).  If you use something black (like obsidian) to
absorb negativity,  be sure  to wash it occasionally to get rid of the
negativity.  When you  burn  a black candle,  this creates a vacuum. 
This  may  be filled  by for negativity unless you also burn a white
candle  to bring in positive energy. 
                            EXERCISES

   Magick  is  not just an occasional exercise to bring what  you 
want,  it  is  a  way of life.  It requires  a  certain  kind  of 
relationship  with your Self.  This does not preclude any kind of 
life style or religion,  it is entirely separate.  It isn't  what 
you  do but why and how you do it.  Magick demands that you  love 
and respect your Self and that you accept your Power. This is the 
goal. "Getting what you want" is a small bonus.

   Building  a magickal relationship with your Self is much  like 
building one with a best friend.  You learn all you can about its 
beliefs  and  feelings.  You help heal it and it helps  you.  You 
achieve  this through communication and love.  You  love  through 
learning acceptance. You communicate by learning and listening to 
the language of the Little Self.

                             Dreams

   The  Little Self expresses itself most clearly in dreams.  You 
should  keep a regular dream diary.  Have a journal handy by  the 
bed.  As soon as you wake up in the morning,  write down as  many 
details as you can.  If you scribble down notes,  transcribe them 
into  a clear,  coherent text.  If you remember no dreams,  write 
this down. You should have an entry for every day that you sleep. 
It is best to record them in present participle (e.g.,  "I  dream 
that I am writing in my journal").

   Once  you  have a dream recorded.  Consider it and write  down 
your  impressions.  How does it make you feel?  To what  does  it 
pertain?  What  symbols  are there?  What does it tell you  about 
yourself and your life?  After you have considered these  things, 
you  may  choose  to  look up the possible  meaning  in  a  dream 
dictionary.  It  is  best  to do this afterward  because  someone 
else's interpretation could prejudice your own.  The advantage is 
that  many dreams are "contrary." Such dreams actually  mean  the 
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opposite  of what they seem to on the surface.  A dictionary  can 
help jog your awareness.  Once you've tried on your own, it's not 
a  bad  idea.  Remember,  though,  your impressions are the  most 
significant.

   You  can make great progress during your dreams as  well.  The 
more control you have in your dreams,  the more Power you have in 
your life. Try to develop this control. Remind yourself each time 
before  you  go  to bed that you will remember  your  dreams  and 
exercise your will in them. The ideal is called a waking or vivid 
dream.  In  this you are consciously aware that you are  dreaming 
and  everything,  especially  color,  is  very  clear.  The  most 
important  thing  to remember in a dream is to defeat  everything 
that attacks you. Attackers represent those things afflicting you 
during the day.  Don't let them beat you in your dreams.  If  you 
need help,  call for it.  When victorious, make the attacker give 
you  a gift.  The gift is the benefit that you can gain from  any 
situation.  Defeat your dream monsters and you gain power to face 
your real monsters.

   From  your dreams you can learn what your Little Self  desires 
and  fears.  You  can also gain powerful symbols for  your  work. 
These  are all highly personal and it is up to you to divine this 
information.  But,  don't try to interpret too much. Much of what 
you  dream is reviewing the events of the day and other items  of 
no great insight. Look at all your dreams and discover which ones 
hold meaning for you. Don't worry when you don't understand. Your 
Little  Self will keep trying when it has something important  to 
tell you. As long as you keep listening, you will progress.

                              Diary

   You should also keep a daily diary.  It too, is a line to your 
Little  Self.  Use this to record the events of the day and  your 
thoughts and feelings. These will reflect what is going on inside 
you.  Use  it also for introspection.  You must do a lot of  soul 
searching to learn about your Little Self, this is most effective 
when written. 

   It  is  even  more  important to track the  progress  of  your 
magickal  work.  Each time you do a spell or ritual  record  your 
goal, your feelings before and after and your methods. Before you 
get  to  this  point,  you  should also have  explored  all  your 
feelings  associated with it.  Then pay careful attention to  all 
that  happens  to you (part of the reason for the  daily  diary). 
Often, a spell will work and we will not even notice.

   Since magick works with what we believe,  things come to us in 
the way we expect or allow.  When you do a healing,  it will tend 
to  look entirely natural,  rather than miraculous.  If you do  a 
prosperity  spell,  receiving  a tax refund check  the  following 
month  could be the universe's response.  Keep an eye out for any 
hint  of possible results.  Even the weakest indication  is  very 
positive.  It may not be enough to satisfy, but it means that you 
are  being effective.  If you keep working,  you will be able  to 
improve  until you achieve the result you desire.  When you  give 
yourself  credit  for even the smallest success,  you  build  the 
relationship between you and your Little Self.
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                            Pendulums

   Another  good  way of communicating with your Little  Self  is 
through pendulum work. You can use any object on a string, but if 
it holds significance for you,  so much the better. Hold your arm 
steady and think about the pendulum swinging forward and back. It 
should eventually begin to do so without you *consciously* moving 
your arm.  Next change the movement to left and right by thinking 
about it. Once you can do this with facility, assign "yes" to one 
direction  and "no" to the other.  If you choose forward and back 
as "yes," alternate thinking the direction and thinking the word. 
Eventually,  even  when you start cold,  the pendulum will  swing 
forward and back when you think "yes." Repeat with the word  "no" 
for  the opposite direction.  Now you have a way of talking  with 
your Little Self. You can ask it questions directly.

   Eventually,  you  can even get your Little Self to spell words 
by  holding the pendulum over a semicircle with the  alphabet  on 
it.  The  direction of swing will indicate each  letter.  Another 
method  is automatic writing.  With this you hold a pen and relax 
and let "it" do the writing. (This may sound like an Ouija board, 
but  it is not.  Do not try to use one for this purpose  or  vice 
versa.)  Whatever method you use,  be careful.  Your Little  Self 
wants  to  please you.  It will tend to give you the  answer  you 
want.  Make  sure  you want the truth and that your  Little  Self 
understands this.  Always be friendly, as you would with a child. 
Praise  success and don't berate failure.  After all,  it is only 
trying to please. As usual, this requires regular work over time, 
but  eventually you can have such a good understanding  that  you 
need no tools. You will simply "know" how your Little Self feels. 
This is the ideal.

                           Meditation

   Another  way to achieve this awareness is through  meditation. 
This  is  a  method of calming the  conscious  mind.  There  many 
physical benefits from the stress reduction alone. It also allows 
your  inner thoughts and feelings to express themselves.  All the 
skills  you learn in meditation are very useful  in  magick.  Not 
only  is it a line of communication with the little self,  but it 
teaches  you  to quiet the conscious mind which is  essential  in 
ritual.  You  would  do  well take instruction  in  a  meditation 
technique such as yoga or self-hypnosis.

   If  you  are learning this on your own,  observe these  rules: 
Relax  your  body consciously and completely.  You must be  in  a 
comfortable,  calm environment to do this properly.  Starting  at 
your  feet,  think about each part of your body and let it relax. 
It may help to tighten the muscles first.  Use a cue to tell your 
mind  to relax.  This can be something like mentally  going  down 
stairs  or  counting backwards.  [Do not use a  common  cue.  For 
instance, "three, two, one" is something that you might encounter 
on the radio while driving.  This could be dangerous. It would be 
better to use,  "three,  three,  three,  two, two, two, one, one, 
one."  This is less likely to cause a problem.  It is dangerously 
easy  to get into a meditative state during automatic tasks  like 
driving.  This  you must avoid.] Once relaxed,  you can use  this 
state to allow subconscious thoughts to float to the surface,  or 
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you  can  use  it in ritual to give a powerful  message  to  your 
Little Self. This mental state is another key to magick.

   You  will  find  that  it  is very  difficult  to  focus  your 
conscious  mind at first.  See how long you can hold one word  or 
picture in your head without any other thought. It is probably an 
astoundingly  brief  time.  Watch  commercials to  see  how  many 
seconds  they  show one unchanging  scene.  This  represents  the 
average attention span. This is one of the reasons that magick is 
so difficult,  you must remain focused for the entire ritual.  Be 
aware of you concentration span. While it is short, you should be 
working  short  rituals.  It is better to have three  five-minute 
rituals than one half-hour ritual if you spend twenty minutes  of 
the latter thinking of other things.

   In  order to improve your concentration,  spend some time each 
day trying to hold a word or picture as long as possible. Another 
good exercise is to pick a word and try *not* to think of it  for 
a week.  Count how many times you think the word in your head, if 
you  think it again when counting it,  count that instance,  too. 
This is very difficult,  but eventually you will even be able  to 
hear or see the word without thinking it.

   These  skills immediately become useful in communicating  with 
your Little Self.  You will want to hold positive thoughts,  such 
as "I am a loveable,  successful person." You will want to dispel 
negative  thoughts,  as  when the T.V.  tells you,  "I  was  very 
unpopular  until I started using Crealm Toothpaste!" When you are 
trying to reprogram your Little Self,  feel free to use aids such 
as  subliminal tapes.  Another good one is colored  cards.  Place 
your simple,  direct message,  such as "I succeed," on a  colored 
card where you will see it each day. Put small pieces of the same 
color where you will encounter them throughout the day. Each time 
a bit of card comes in your field of view,  your Little Self will 
notice and remember the message, even when you don't.

   Symbolic acts are also very powerful.  When you clean out your 
house  and get rid of everything that you don't *need,* you  make 
way  for new things to come into your life.  This is a good thing 
to  do  in concert with a major change  in  your  life,  quitting 
smoking or graduation, for instance. It helps to tell your Little 
Self  that your old life is over and your new one has begun.  The 
more you can eliminate the symbols of your old life, the more you 
can shape your new life to your liking.  Be aware of all that you 
do, for you can use ordinary acts to give messages to your Little 
Self. Your morning shower can be a ritual to "wash away" all your 
stress or yesterday's mistakes. If you do this, however, you must 
*make*  it  a ritual.  Develop a routine and concentrate  on  the 
purpose  of  the act throughout.  This is true  of  all  magickal 
works.

   Once you have begun this work to focus your conscious mind and 
reprogram  your Little Self for success,  then you can begin some 
small  works  of magick.  You want to start  small  because  most 
people have difficulty accepting a great success on a deep level. 
If  start with a spell to win one million in the lottery and  you 
are not ready for this, your failure will set you back. If you do 
prosperity  spell  and  you get a small raise or win $10  in  the 
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lottery, that is a start that you can build on.

   One   of   the  better  starting  goals  is   manifesting   an 
insignificant  object.  Manifesting  means bringing it into  your 
life.  Things  tend to manifest in unremarkable ways,  so keep  a 
look out. The blue feather is a classic. Set up a ritual in which 
you concentrate on a blue feather.  See it,  feel it,  smell  it, 
want  it,  then let it go.  Then pay attention for the  following 
week  (and  keep  track in your journal).  You may  find  a  blue 
feather  on the side walk.  You may notice one for the first time 
on a billboard that you pass every day.  You may see one on  T.V. 
All of these are successes. 
   
   It  is  best to start with insignificant,  uncommon  (but  not 
rare) objects.  An uncommon object gives you a good indication of 
success.  A  rare  object is a challenge you can work up  to.  An 
insignificant   object  is  easier  because  you  do   not   have 
interfering  desires  or  fears.  You  have  to  be  relaxed  and 
confident  and let go of your desire as you complete the  ritual. 
You  should be able to manifest such an object before you proceed 
to  a greater challenge.  It is valuable to repeat this  exercise 
every so often in any case.

   Another good spell to start with is a spell to do good spells. 
That is,  you can use magic to help remove blocks and fears.  For 
instance,  if  you have discovered that you feel  unworthy,  this 
will  seriously  impair your ability to manifest what  you  want. 
But,  you  can use your desire for self worth to empower magickal 
work  toward  feeling  worthiness.  You can also do  a  spell  to 
support your ability to concentrate on your goal. This is just an 
extension  of all the other methods of getting messages  to  your 
Little Self.

   When you discover blocks and fears,  when thoughts intrude and 
your  mind  wanders,  or when you find yourself thinking  exactly 
what you're supposed to avoid,  don't worry!  This happens as you 
learn  to  control  your will.  The idea is not  to  avoid  these 
problems,  but  to *learn* to avoid them.  You can't do  this  by 
trying to force yourself.  There are no instructions on how to do 
this,  only  exercises.  Just  do  your stuff and the  rest  will 
follow.  When problem surfaces, recognize it and go on. Don't try 
to  stop it and don't dwell on it,  just continue.  You may  know 
that  you  have  "spoiled" a ritual with  a  stray  thought,  but 
complete it anyway-- it's a good exercise. Sometimes you can deal 
with stray thoughts by *trying* to think about them.  Concentrate 
on these thoughts and let your mind tire of them, then go on with 
your work.

   Work  steadily,  but not overly hard,  on these exercises  and 
make magick a part of your life.  Unify your will. Take and prove 
your  Power.  Only  after you have done this are you ready to  do 
magick.  When  you feel you are ready,  develop the messages  and 
visualization which will be the most powerful for you. Decide how 
you  are  going  to  set up your ritual area  and  how  you  will 
orchestrate your spell.  Whatever you feel best with is what will 
be  the  most  powerful.  If you need an idea of  how  to  start, 
consider the examples that follow.

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                             SPELLS

   Once  you have discovered and addressed your blocks,  you  are 
ready  to do a spell.  This is only a little different from  what 
you have already been doing.  In a spell you do nothing new,  you 
do it differently.  A spell is a ritual, an act carefully planned 
to have the greatest effect.  You must do the planning,  for only 
you  know what will be the most effective ritual.  Plan carefully 
and completely. You may want to use a script (it would be best to 
memorize  it).  You can ad lib once you're more  experienced.  At 
this point,  you have enough information to develop more powerful 
rituals  than you are likely to encounter in any  book.  However, 
since this is so different from what most of us are used to, here 
are some samples to give you a starting point.  Feel free to  use 
and change these rituals as you please. They are here to give you 
an idea of how you may want to approach things. 

   The  ritual starts in a special place.  It could be out in the 
woods  or in a special room.  Ideally,  you would never use  this 
place for anything but ritual,  but this may be impossible. If in 
the  home,  choose a quiet time and unplug the phone.  Make  sure 
that you are not disturbed.

   Before  the ritual,  carefully clean and arrange the area  and 
take a bath or wash your hands. Think about washing away the days 
thoughts and cares. You are now ritually purified. You should not 
engage in any mundane activity until after the ritual. Enter your 
ritual  area and knock three times,  to mark the beginning.  From 
this point all your thoughts are on the ritual. Don't do anything 
automatically.  No matter how familiar,  think about every action 
and what it means. 

   Light  candles  and  incense (only if there is  no  danger  of 
fire!).  Imagine  the ritual area surrounded in a circle of white 
light.  You  may  physically trace this circle to  reinforce  it. 
(Traditionally,  all  such movements are clockwise when  invoking 
and   counterclockwise  when  dispelling.)  Repeat  an   act   of 
purification.  This is like the bath only more symbolic.  You can 
hold your hand in the incense smoke and touch water from a ritual 
cup to your forehead, for instance. Next, relax and aum-- that is 
chant  the  mantra "ohhmmm" (or whatever works for you) to  bring 
your  mind  to the proper state of alert  relaxation,  ready  for 
work.

   At this point you will state your will. Tell your Self and the 
Universe   how  you  choose  it  to  be.   This  is  not   merely 
verbalization,  during ritual your word is law. What you say, is. 
Feel your statement with your entire being, with every sense. Use 
all the techniques that you have found effective.  Then,  let the 
feeling go. It is going out into the universe to do its work. End 
your  expression with a statement like,  "According to free  will 
and  for  the  good of all." This helps to  avoid  problems  with 
karma,  as  long as you mean it.  Do not allow other thoughts  to 
intrude at this point, it is now time to close the ritual. 

   Imagine  removing  the white light circle  (counterclockwise). 
Knock three times to end the ritual.  Put out the candles,  clean 
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each  item  and put it carefully away in  a  special  place.  The 
ritual  is  only  finished once you have completed all  of  these 
steps. Only then can you resume thinking about what's on the T.V. 
and how big a jerk your boss it. As a beginner, you should always 
be prepared to go through this entire procedure before you start. 
Even in an emergency, you should at least remove the white circle 
and knock (very quickly,  perhaps, but do at least this much when 
possible).  Nothing in a ritual is mundane, so it must be clearly 
delineated from your mundane actions.  Otherwise you will  dilute 
your spell and give the wrong messages to your Little Self.  When 
ritual is obviously separate,  your Little Self will know when to 
pay close attention.

   Once finished, do not talk about your work. Silence is another 
important key to magick. If you discuss it with anyone else, they 
cannot  help  adding  their  thoughts.   This  is  almost  always 
detrimental.  It is fine to work with people,  then your energies 
multiply.  But  never  talk about specific spells that  you  have 
done.

                     Destroying Your Enemies

   This  is one aspect of magick that attracts many.  It is a big 
mistake! Karma will get you every time. Don't try to rationalize. 
Though you may be able to put it off,  you will not escape karma. 
In the mundane world,  you might justifiably do violence in order 
to  defend yourself or another from physical attack.  In  magick, 
this justifies only defense, never attack. Don't imagine yourself 
to  be  an agent of karma or a martyr saving others at  your  own 
expense.  Who  ever  has  done  you  wrong  will  get  his.  It's 
frustrating to wait and we all want to be there when it  happens, 
but it is never worth trying to make it happen. 

   When  you  have  any  kind  of  relationship,  particularly  a 
magickal  one,  you develop a karmic tie.  You will want to avoid 
such ties with people you don't like. Even if you get the best of 
such  a person,  he will still drag you down.  It's difficult  to 
resist when you feel that the person owes you.  If you have  been 
swindled  and left with no legal recourse,  it's tempting to  use 
magick to get your money back.  Trying to get even will develop a 
tie  with this person and probably set you up for some bad karma. 
Don't  worry  about the money,  either.  You can  get  that  from 
anywhere (see "Prosperity"), In seeing this swindler as your only 
source  you  give your Power to him.  If you are brave,  you  can 
demand justice in such a situation.  This incurs no karmic  debt, 
but you,  too, can expect justice. Not very many people genuinely 
want  this.  Most prefer mercy because we have all done plenty of 
things  that  we would rather not have to pay for.  If  you  want 
mercy,  you must extend it to others.  When you ask for  justice, 
all your debts present themselves.  If you survive, great, but it 
won't  be  fun.  There are much safer ways of dealing with  nasty 
people.

                           Protection

   Psychic  attack  can  be  a  real problem  because  it  is  so 
prevalent.  When you make someone angry,  the person is attacking 
you.  Simply directing angry thoughts is a psychic attack.  (This 
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incurs bad karma,  so learn to avoid this yourself!) We all  have 
natural defenses,  so these attacks seldom have an effect. But if 
someone has ability,  or if he concentrates a lot of energy,  you 
are likely to suffer. Psychic attack usually comes in through the 
neck  and  manifests  as  a headache.  As  you  become  a  better 
magician,  you will be more sensitive to the energies around you. 
You  become  more vulnerable to psychic attack.  You also  become 
better able to defend yourself as long as you remain alert.  This 
work  will also help protect you from physical threats.  Keep  in 
mind that, though magic may help, you must still act responsibly!

Affirmations:  I am now safe and secure.  All negative influences 
are  reflected off me into the Earth to be healed.  I allow  only 
the positive into my life.

Visualizations:  See  an egg of white light around  you-- because 
this  keeps  in negative energy,  also see it filled with  violet 
light,  which  will turn the negative to positive.  Another  good 
visualization is three concentric circles around you (or whatever 
you wish to protect) of white (outside),  blue (middle) and  pink 
(inside).  Also, you can imagine a mirror at the back of the neck 
or encasing the whole body, reflecting outward.

Other: Religious symbols are especially good for this work. 

                          Purification

   Remember  that the things you have in your life are those that 
you have drawn to you.  When someone upsets you, he usually has a 
lesson to teach you. If you can learn this lesson, you can escape 
the situation. If you escape without learning your lesson, you'll 
probably be in a similar situation soon.  Sometimes people  often 
make us angry by reflecting a part of our personality that we are 
unhappy with. Also, the negative vibrations we pick up during our 
everyday lives attract negative things. The purpose of the ritual 
bath  is to remove such influences.  It is also a good idea to do 
an entire spell for purification.  This is not only good to do on 
yourself,  but  also your home and wherever else you  spend  much 
personal time.

Affirmations:  The  white  light  cleanses  me  of  all  negative 
thoughts  and energies.  Only positive feelings remain in  me.  I 
release all negative vibrations into the Earth to be healed.

Visualizations:  See  yourself  being  washed clean by  white  or 
violet  light  from above you (your High  Self).  Each  time  you 
inhale,  take in pure white light.  When you exhale,  release all 
your negativity. See this negativity go down into the earth to be 
healed.

Other:  Place a piece of rock salt under your tongue. Use incense 
smoke or water to cleanse yourself.  Again, religious symbols are 
very effective.

                              Love

   You  must take love spells very seriously,  for they are quite 
dangerous.  Never, never, never do a love spell on an individual. 
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This  is  often  a great temptation,  but  don't  even  risk  the 
possibility of imposing your will on another.  The karmic results 
are  severe.  Even  if you succeeded,  you would still lack  real 
love,  for you would have to continually renew the spell to  keep 
the person. What you want, among other things, is someone to help 
express your love for yourself.  As you will often hear, you must 
love yourself first.  This isn't a problem,  for you already love 
yourself-- that is the main reason you are alive.  The problem is 
when you block that love.  Eliminating these blocks is the Soul's 
goal. But don't despair, you needn't actually remove them to draw 
love  to  you.  Just beginning the work can attract that  special 
someone who will help. 

Affirmations:  I  am  a perfect manifestation of love and I  draw 
love  to me.  I now allow love to come into my life.  I feel  and 
express perfect love and draw other loving people into my life.

Visualizations: Picture yourself as a magnet, feeling and drawing 
love.  Imagine  yourself bathed in green or pink or orange light, 
depending on your goals.  Pink is for filial love (agape) and for 
that  of  a  lover.  Orange  is for  the  sexual  aspect  (spleen 
chakrum). Green is for both (heart chakrum). But the distinctions 
are somewhat blurred, for love is a combination of all of these. 

Other:  Friday is the day of Venus and the waxing to full Moon is 
a  time  of increase,  so these are good times  for  ritual.  The 
ubiquitous heart symbol can be useful.

                           Prosperity

   Money is not all there is to prosperity.  What do you want the 
money  for?  What kind of life do you want to live?  What do  you 
want to have?  Keep these goals in mind. You may get them instead 
of the money.

   As  you  work  though  your blocks  to  prosperity,  you  will 
probably  find  that one of the biggest  is  guilt.  Our  society 
functions under the assumption that a person can only gain at the 
expense  of  others.  Don't  try to get money by taking  it  from 
others through force or fraud,  magickally or otherwise.  That is 
giving  your Power away.  In the magickal paradigm,  you  create. 
When you understand this,  there is no greed because you can have 
whatever  you desire and without taking from others.  It  is  not 
money that is a root of evil,  but the love of money.  It doesn't 
matter  how  much  you get,  but how you get it.  When you  do  a 
prosperity  spell,  it  should  be a  joyful  expression  of  the 
infinite  supply available to you.  If you are begging or hopping 
to be rescued, you have more background work to do.

   Another aspect to remember is that money, like all other kinds 
of energy, flows. In order to get it, you have to spend it. There 
must  be  an outflux for there to be an influx.  This is  not  an 
excuse  to  be irresponsible!  It is easy for the flow to be  too 
much in either direction (especially out!).  Don't be miserly  or 
wasteful,  remember the flow. Use each bill you pay to remind you 
that  you've  drawn the money to pay it and that more money  will 
come to take its place.

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Affirmations: I allow prosperity to manifest itself in my life in 
great abundance.  I draw from the infinite source all the money I 
need and more.  In my life,  I now express the infinite supply of 
wealth around me.

Visualizations:  Imagine  yourself  bathed in green light  (heart 
chakrum).   This   is  a  situation  where  visualization   works 
particularly well,  because it's a tangible object.  You can even 
use a picture or model of the new home or car you want.

Other:  Good times for a prosperity ritual are Thursday,  the day 
for  increase,  and during the waxing Moon.  The $ (or approriate 
regional symbol) has a great deal of power-- consider using it.

                    Health & Self Improvement

   Your  body is the most direct expression of your Little  Self. 
It  is  one  of the most accessible,  yet challenging  things  to 
change.  If  you can find and address the root causes  of  health 
problems,  like  heat disease,  it is often relatively easy to do 
something  about  them.  But  self image  problems  can  be  very 
difficult because of the way our society approaches the subject. 

   Over weight is a good example of a self image problem. Madison 
Avenue  bombards  us  with  an ideal  of  beauty.  It  is  almost 
impossible to escape. If you are over weight and unhappy about it 
for other than health reasons, you are probably a victim of this. 
It  is dangerously easy to make self love or approval  contingent 
upon  losing  weight.   Until  you've  lost  it,   you  may  feel 
undeserving  and  thus fail.  You may succeed,  only to have  old 
habits  or new crises can throw you back into old eating  habits. 
You  have  made no fundamental change,  so the  cycle  reinforces 
itself. So many different problems manifest this way.

   You  will  certainly  want  to deal  with  eating  habits  and 
exercise,  but this is often insufficient.  People have different 
metabolic  rates  and different body types.  Do not  make  liking 
yourself  contingent upon your having a different body  type!  If 
you  dislike your body,  you dislike your Little Self.  You  must 
love  yourself  unconditionally.  This is the  same  transcendent 
spirit expressed in wedding vows:  for better or worse, richer or 
poorer,  in sickness and in health.  Love yourself not regardless 
of how you look,  but because of how you look. Wanting to improve 
doesn't  mean that you must dislike yourself as you are.  If  you 
were given $900, you wouldn't despise it because it wasn't $1000. 
Rejoice  in your Little Self's expression of being  alive.  Until 
you do, this lesson will hang over your head. Ironically, you are 
most able to change your looks when it matters to you least. 

   Remember to be responsible.  Always get good health care. When 
trying to lose weight,  follow a sane plan under a doctor's care. 
But  in addition,  work to love yourself unconditionally.  Strive 
constantly to fight the messages from the media and those  around 
you.  You  are a loving,  loveable person and your looks  reflect 
this.  Make  yourself aware of that.  When you succeed,  you  may 
eventually look like your ideal,  but even if you don't, you will 
see  the  beauty  in yourself.  You will be more able  to  defend 
yourself from those small minds unhappy enough to attack you  for 
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not  conforming to their ideal.  You will also draw those who can 
see  your beauty.  As an extreme example,  anorexics always  feel 
that  they are too fat.  They cannot lose more weight,  for  that 
would kill them. The answer lies with truly seeing themselves. 

   Any  time your goal is self improvement,  the principle is the 
same.  In order to better yourself,  you must first realize  that 
you are loveable, now and always. Never try to better yourself to 
become loveable-- it doesn't work.  The goal of magick is to heal 
those things you do not like in yourself,  not destroy them.  You 
better  yourself by first bettering your self image.  You  change 
your  behavior by healing the hurts that cause you to do  harmful 
things.  Recognize  that  all unhappy things are in  response  to 
pain.  Your Little Self can hurt you,  much as a favorite pet may 
bite  you because it is in pain.  Do not feel anger or misery but 
love and healing.

Affirmations:  I love myself completely as I am now.  I surrender 
to  love.  I know that I am a loving and loveable person.  I heal 
all  hurts.  I  now express perfect health in my  life.  I  bring 
complete health into my life. My body is now a beautiful, healthy 
expression of my Self.

Visualizations: Imagine yourself so close to the sun that you can 
see  nothing else.  Visualize the area you want to heal bathed in 
blue-green light.  Listen to or imagine the note F#.  Concentrate 
on  the heart and throat chakra (green and  blue,  respectively). 
The  root chakrum (red) is another good focus for  physical  well 
being.  When  healing someone not present,  put a photo next to a 
candle. Put the name of the subject on the candle and use this to 
focus your concentration. 

Other:  Rituals  to increase energy and health are most effective 
during the waxing moon and at high noon.  Rituals for eliminating 
disease  or losing weight are best done during the  waning  moon. 
The  five pointed star (symbol of Man) might be a good symbol (if 
you do not have any negative associations with it).
                                    

                           Good Luck!

   At this point you are on your own. It takes forty days to make 
or break a habit, so you should concentrate on daily exercise for 
at  least this long.  Magick is not a quick,  easy way of getting 
what  you  want.  It is a long,  hard  road.  Though  it's  quite 
possible  to  have  instant success,  visible  results  can  take 
months.  Real rewards can take years. But we all must travel this 
road  some time.  Be cautious of those promising an easier  path. 
Though  it may appear slow,  magick is one of the fastest ways of 
taking your Power.  The difficulty lies not in feats of  physical 
or mental prowess,  but in steady diligence. Do not try too hard, 
or you will not last long. If you are not happy with the way your 
life is going now and you desire to take your power,  then commit 
to  the life changes which magick demands.  If your commitment is 
genuine,  then everything will fall into place over  time.  Above 
all, be patient.

               Best of luck and stay on the path.
3292
________________________________________
"HOW TO USE MAGICK with a Straight Face"
(C) 1989 by Scot Rhoads, all rights reserved
MYSTIC MOON Metaphysical Books, NEW MOON RISING journal & BBS
8818 Troy St., Spring Vly, CA 91977 (619) 466-8064; BBS: 466-5403 
................................................................................
3293


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