I am opening the thread for "The Basics of Magick" - by K Amber.  This book is available to ODSS subscribers in the "downloads" section in the "general magick" category.   The book is available to non-subscribers at: http://www.scribd.com/doc/230566/The-Basics-of-Magick-by-K-Amber

This is more of a general manual of magic, but it's easy to read and provides a lot of the magic basics most people want to know about.  Many people voted for this when I ran the poll on what to read.

For Monday, let's read the first section,"Magick 1--Why Magick" pp.1-7.

after the table of contents, it's 3 pgs of reading. i'm on it!

Good Monday Everyone!

Hopefully, you have begun reading the first section of this book.  One of the things I like about this book is its organization.  I included the table of contents as reading because if you are serious about becoming intimate with magic, this table of contents is a good way to organize your studies.  

Amber has us begin at a pretty logical place--"Why Magic?"

The first thing the author sets out to do is explain "what is magick?"  If you have read our book club's previous material, the first 3 paragraphs should sound very familiar.  At its essence, magick is controlling your thoughts and feelings in order to manifest your intentions.  Sound familiar?

On a brief side note, I do not think it is significant whether you type magic or magick.  The "k" was added on by A. Crowley to to make the work more numeriologically pleasing.  Spell it whatever way you want.

The author then moves on to a brief description of parapsychology, further distinguishing the point of view of magic as a mental process.  She describes ESP and PK.   I found this to be an interesting way to begin, as many people tend to separate these phenomena from the concept of magic.  I believe she is trying to present magic more as a scientific phenomenon than as a superstition in order to make it sound more authoritative.  Of course, there is nothing wrong with this; I think the author is building on the Laurie Cabot popularized psychology as magic, which is even more evident when the author discusses the concept of the subconscious.

The following subsection, "Why Do Magick?" gives us the more traditional introduction we would except from this kind of book.  In fact, it is odd to go from this formal description of parapsychology to the "let's all do magic!" introduction.  I think Amber was trying to make the point that magic is like any other form of self cultivation, that is practical and rewarding.

In the "Magick and Witchcraft" section, the author attempts to distinguish among different supernatural systems.  I did not agree with this particular section, as I view the theory of magic to be universal, with alchemy and witchcraft merely being a method of of utilizing magic.  I think that the author is trying to define magick as a secular method of wielding unseen forces, as opposed to the rituals and spells of witchcraft or the experiments of alchemy. As you read this text, remember that the author is going to be writing from the perspective of the "science of magic."

So, what were your impressions of the opening section?

I liked the opening section and the table of contents, very organized, it will help everyone in these discussions be "on the same page".   It's pretty much going over all the basics, but that's good to us solitaries who might have skipped around a bit in our studies.  I hope some of the newer members join in, I think it will answer alot of their questions.

Good afternoon everyone!  I hope you have all had the opportunity to read the first section.  For next week, let's discuss:

Magick 2: The Subjectivity of Experience (page 7) through  the end of the third section on page 13.


So Pages 7-13

I liked the way the author reminds us that our own view of the world is subjective.  There seem to be alot of people who feel they can force everyone else to fit into their "world-view" that make everyday life a challenge.  You know the ones who make definitive judgements about everyone and everything and expect you to agree wholeheartedly with them, or argue to the death.   Knowing that we all are in a slightly different place helps keep me open minded and being open minded helps me tune into my intuition and be able to recieve all the universe has to offer.  

The first two paragraphs on page 8 seems to tie into "the Secret".  It talks about how what we really want deep down inside is what we tend to get automatically.  And the sentence "The task of the magician is to awaken his awareness of true will, to be free of conditioning and thereby transcend the maya", is all about enlightenment, isn't it?  The trick is to be aware of the conditioning so we don't end up getting what we don't really want, right?  I guess my question is why is the "pull" of the model so strong?  It seems to work against all of us becoming the beings we want to be.  

And on page 11, I reallly liked the idea of the more you work with magick, "the flow of psychic energy increases and your awareness of it increases and then your true will is morely likely to be strongly expressed."  To me, it seems like pretty hard work to always try to be aware of the conditioning and not let it influence the true will.  I mean some days I have a hard enough time just getting through the day without constantly reminding myself of what to be aware of inside my own head!  Does the practice of magick (and in what form) help make this process more automatic?

Just wanted to say that I'm really enjoying this book.  I think it really expands beyond "The Secret".  Some of it is a hard read like the macrocosm and microcosm.  I had to re-read that section a few times.  I have found that meditating, and visualization to banish negative vibes really help alot, especially with my nasty temper.  Getting good feed-back from my family.

its been taken down I wanted to read it. (

It's in the download section under General Magick.

I just started reading this book. I enjoyed the organization and ease of reading the first few sections.

I like the way the words come off the page; I can hear the author's voice as she shares her knowledge in a conversational tone.

It has been basic thus far in content and the title does imply that is the case through out. This would be an ideal "introductory" book for people who are new to their paths.

Are we still reading and discussing?  Or has this been put on hold for awhile?  Everyone too busy?

I would like to continue the discussion.  I found it a helpful learning tool to hear (ok, it's read) other people's view points and opinions.  Sometimes I'm not sure of what questions to ask though.

What do you say, Stacey?  Still game?  If you are too busy, do the rest of us want to plod on on our own?

I sincerely apologize to everyone for being away.  I have had one of those months that has been amazingly busy, yet oddly, unproductive.  I only have internet access at work, and I just moved offices and was given a huge project at work, so I've just now had time to get back.

Welcome to everyone new to the discussion.

I've noticed that the book has been removed from the Scribd website, so I guess we will all have to rely upon the downloads section.  

When last I was here, we were reading pages 7-13, so I'm just going to pick up where I left off.

Our readings covered 2 sections:

Section: MAGICK 2 -- THE SUBJECTIVITY OF EXPERIENCE
The author begins us on a discourse of the "subjectivity of experience." The author is laying down the ground work to argue this:

1. All we perceive is an illusion.
2. This illusion is created by our mental outlook on experience.
3. If the illusion of reality is subjective, then we create our own illusion.
4. If we create our own illusion, we create our own reality.
5. If we are conscious of the subjectivity of reality, we can manipulate our mental outlook to change the illusion.
6. If we can change our illusion of reality, we can make our own reality.
7. Making our own reality is magic.

Section: MAGICK 3 -- THE FOUR WORLDS
The author presents us with the 4 "worlds" of magic:  

spiritual world
mental world
astral world
physical world

Given the author's psychological approach, is not surprising that she is applying a Freudian model.  To understand this best, I think it might be easiest to view this model as layers.  Whatever Ultimate Reality might be, the majority of us are not wise enough to understand it in it as a whole.  Therefore, we examine and study the subjective reality in pieces or layers.  The various magic systems that exist, whether they be Kabbalah, Druidry, Golden Dawn, etc..., are presenting models to allow us to understand and manipulate a small portion of the Ultimate Reality.  

These layers are often viewed as reflections of each other on larger and smaller scales.  This is where we get the "as above, so below" and "microcosm and macrocosom" ideas.  The hypothesis is that if we can understand a small process of reality, we can view the smaller process as a reflection of a greater process.

Acasia (over a month ago) asked, "The task of the magician is to awaken his awareness of true will, to be free of conditioning and thereby transcend the maya", is all about enlightenment, isn't it?  The trick is to be aware of the conditioning so we don't end up getting what we don't really want, right?  I guess my question is why is the "pull" of the model so strong?  It seems to work against all of us becoming the beings we want to be."

That is a really goos question.  I will not pretend to know the answer for certain.  In the Hindu and Buddhist model of creation, all illusion was created when the Single Entity, Divine Reality--whatever you want to call it--began to view some aspect of itself as "other."  There are many metaphysical paradoxes inherent in this: How can a unified entity have different aspects?; Why would it all of the sudden begin to feel alienated from this part of itself?  We don't know.

I suppose I would say that the conflict in this system of reality arises because we are all trying to be separate beings, independent of each other.  If separateness is an intrinsic part of our outlook, then we are less likely to be able to perform magic, as magic is dependent on our understanding of the interconnection of all reality.  The more interconnect we feel and know ourselves to be, the better we are able to manipulate our reality.  The more individualistic, the less.  Does that make any sense to you?

Welcome Back Stacey!!  I'll get back into the reading as time allows, busy month ahead.  
Thanks for your response.