It’s Words and Words Alone…

 

“…Words…altered the universe. By merely speaking you could create damage and pain, cause tears to fall, drive people away, make yourself feel better, make your life worse.”
— Lev Grossman

 

The right words spoken at the right moment can prevent war or heartbreak. They can bring joy to someone joyless or hope to someone who is in despair. They can be the cause of union and possibly bring insight and an evolution in thought and spirit. On the other hand other words can start war and cause irreparable rifts. They can lose someone their livelihood and end relationships that have lasted years. We can build walls with words that block out the world or smash the walls down. Words are the purest form of magick and possibly the most powerful. If we learn to use our words carefully, we can control what spells we cast and their results.
Blessings, G

 

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Laying ClaimLaying Claim by G A Rosenberg

 

The Stage is SetThe Stage is Set by G A Rosenberg

 

Gift From the Void

 

To me, all creativity is magic. Ideas start out in the empty void of your head – and they end up as a material thing, like a book you can hold in your hand. That is the magical process. It’s an alchemical thing. Yes, we do get the gold out of it but that’s not the most important thing. It’s the work itself.”
— Alan Moore

 

Process creation
within and without
something from nothing
but a spark and a seed
mixing and breathing
my will into being
with each colour and word
I continue
Manifestation
reaction and change
texture and pattern
and rearrange
Completion never
yet this piece is done
Another one starts
the void’s gift again.
— G A Rosenberg

 

Blessings, G

 

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Through Spirit Chambres to the MountainThrough Spirit Chambers to the Mountains by G A Rosenberg

 

Inside the Plant CarnivorousInside a Carnivorous Plant by G A Rosenberg

 

Invoking the Forces Within

 

“All the gods, all the heavens, all the hells, are within you.”
— Joseph Campbell

 

On the surface the above quote seems obvious. I mean by the fact that we can imagine deities and heavens and hells it means we contain the. Yet there are many layers to the statement. If we are indeed the universe in miniture, and the universe contains each of these forces than we contain each one also. We can personify and give name to each aspect of our being and the more we understand that aspect, the more we can understand the named force behind it and by invoking that force, we can invoke that aspect of ourselves. Thus if we want to call up our sexuality, we can invoke Pan or Dionysus or Babylon. If we wish to invoke our wisdom we can invoke Athena or any of the other names she is called in any of the pantheons. By invoking these forces, we can better understand them and better understand that aspect of our beings. In this way we can also balance out the parts of ourselves that we don’t utilize enough.
We can also use these inner representations of deity to better connect to those aspects of the universe and thus connect our internal life with external reality. By naming these aspects of ourselves and relating them to the world at large, we can gain greater understanding, appreciation and use of both.
Blessings, G

 

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Within ShadowsWithin Shadows by G A Rosenberg

 

SeereSeere (#70 in Goetia Series) by G A Rosenberg

 

Building Dreams with Art, Magick and Effort

 

“I believe that Magic is Art and Art whether it be music, writing, sculpture or any other, is literally magic. Art, like any magic, the science of manipulating symbols, words or images, to achieve changes in consciousness… Indeed to cast a spell is simply to manipulate words, to change people’s consciousness, and this is why I believe that an artist or a writer is the closest thing in the contemporary world to a Shaman.”
— Alan Moore

 

“The basic tool for the manipulation of reality is the manipulation of words. If you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use the words.”
— Philip K Dick

 

Entranced in the spell of your words and art
I came along for the vision
Together we created clouds of wonder
and invited friends to join in
but one can’t live on clouds for long
without the substance to back it up.
Maybe we need to weave the spell again.

 

Enlivened by the height of the tower
we built upon the sandy beachfront
Together we felt when tragedy struck
and washed it out to sea
For how long can a castle last
without a good foundation
Perhaps we need to build it up again.

 

Magick can create wondrous things with
word and art combining to make them real
Yet words fail without effort to back them
leaving fading images behind.
I want to build a life with you
together with effort we’ll see it through
We’ll work and create the dream anew.

— G A Rosenberg

 

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Night ForestNight Forest by G A Rosenberg

 

Awareness SigilAwareness Sigil by G A Rosenberg

 

Primal Invocations

 

“There were two forests for every one you entered. There was the one you walked in, the physical echo, and then there was the one that was connected to all the other forests, with no consideration of distance, or time.

The forest primeval, remembered through the collective memory of every tree in the same way that people remembered myth- through the collective subconscious that Jung mapped, the shared mythic resonance that lay buried in every human mind. Legend and myth, all tangled in an alphabet of trees remembered, not always with understanding, but with wonder. With awe.”
― Charles de Lint, Spiritwalk

 

The way that Charles de Lint describes forests is the way that I talk about archetypes including the god and goddess archetypes in myth and ritual. For every one there is the archetype that we relate to in our head, with our personal association and the way we see the force and then there is the primal figure and symbol, that which is both inherent in its being and the collective view of everyone who contemplates the archetype. Thus when we invoke Pan or Isis or Legba or pray to Jesus or Jehovah, we are first connecting to our personal image of that deity and through that we reach the central figure. The more awareness of who we are invoking and how they are seen that we have and the clearer our vision than the closer we get to the root of that being. This is as true of places as it is for god forces and symbols.
BLessings, G

 

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Goddess VeiledThe Goddess Veiled by G A Rosenberg

 

UvallUvall by G A Rosenberg

 

Curb the Dogs of Reason

 

“Philemon: “That is the third point that you must note as essential:
namely; that there is nothing for you to understand.”
Jung: “Well, I must confess that that is new and strange. So
nothing at all about magic can be understood?”

 

Philemon: “Exactly. Magic happens to be precisely everything that
eludes comprehension.”

 

Jung: “But then how the devil is one to teach and learn magic?”

 

Philemon: “Magic is neither to be taught nor learned. It’s foolish that you want to learn magic.”

 

Jung: “But then magic is nothing but deception.”

 

Philemon: “Watch out-you have started reasoning again.”

 

Jung: “It’s difficult to exist without reason.”

 

Philemon: ”And that is exactly how difficult magic is.”

 

Jung: “Well, in that case it’s hard work. I conclude that it is an
inescapable condition for the adept that he completely unlearns
his reason.”

 

Philemon: “I’m afraid that is what it amounts to.”

 

Jung: “Ye Gods, this is serious.””
— Carl Jung- The Red Book/Liber Novus

 

When doing anything for the first time, it is necessary to get past the idea that it cannot be done. If we start thinking about all of the reasons we have not successfully done it in the past then we are lost in a trap. We need to go forth in whatever we are attempting with full confidence that it is possible even if that confidence defies reason. This is true whether we are performing an act of ceremonial magick, going for our driver’s license or putting together Ikea furniture. If we think of magick as accomplishing something through use of will then anything that challenges our will works against us. Thoughts of failure no matter how logical will make what we wish to accomplish all but impossible. Therefore, there are times that reason like an unruly dog must be set outside in order to get anything done.
Blessings, G

 

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AttackedAttacked by G A Rosenberg

 

I HaditI Hadit by G A Rosenberg

 

ForneusForneus by G A Rosenberg

 

Point of Freedom (Redux)Point of Freedom (Redux) by G A Rosenberg

 

It’s Magick

 

“You cannot carry out fundamental change without a certain amount of madness. In this case, it comes from nonconformity, the courage to turn your back on the old formulas, the courage to invent the future.”
— Thomas Sankara

 

I can think of no better time to talk about magick than in this space of Samhain, All-Hallows and Día de Meurtos. A definition of magick that I like is causing changes to happen in conformity with will. From the viewpoint of this definition, an act as simple as walking to the store or eating can be considered an act of magick. The ritual in ritual magick is a way of preparing both one’s conscious and unconsciousness with triggers that awaken one’s focus on the objective. In other words if you want to become more organized, you would surround yourself with symbols of logic and order. If there is a deity or saint that symbolizes that desire, you may call on them. Ultimately what is involved is the manipulation of symbols. The fact that many of these same symbols are hard-wired into our psyche by means of our collective unconsciousness brings more force to the ritual. There is nothing in it that is inherently evil or satanic. Anyone who has gone to synagogue or church has participated in rituals all of their life. It’s a matter of making symbols work for you and learning which ones will work the best for any given endeavour.
Blessings, G

 

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Expansion Into New AwarenessExpansion Into New Awareness by G A Rosenberg

 

Side by Side on SamhainSide by Side on Samhain by G A Rosenberg

 

The Will to Anything…

 

“Anyone is capable of anything (will plus belief is ability) if they themselves create the opportune moment and incentive. Heaven gives no genius to disbelievers and no vengeance worse than the body denied.”
— Austin Osman Spare

 

With the will to do it and the willingness to be totally focused on the desire at hand to the exclusion of all other things, we can do miraculous things. We can get ourselves out of the worse situations. We can create totally new lives for ourselves. Yet developing the will and the incentive can be a sticking point. Too often, what others may think of us or what we may think or feel for them becomes a consideration. Distraction is always there. This is why almost any spiritual or magic discipline involves the training of the will and concentration. Imagine if we all actively focused on making a better world, no matter our conception of it without worrying what others were doing. We can manifest anything. Despite the inertia that we have built up in our lives.
Blessings, G

 

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Contemplation, Escape and DesireContemplation, Escape and Desire by G A Rosenberg

 

A BreachA Breach by G A Rosenberg