Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Modern Sorceries...

Let me begin this little dissertation on this topic; Magic (or Magick as it is more properly termed by Crowley, to distinguish it from the "pulling a rabbit out of the hat" style). What do we know of it? Is it even relevant in today's world? What is it really?

It has been defined as the Art and Science of Causing Change in Conformity with One's Will. This can mean many things, and is truly up to the individual interpreting this statement. Willpower affects everything we do. It is the basis of all actions, so in affect, all is "magic".

Now what of the modern world? What of great advances in human kind like The Internet, Psychology, Chemistry, and Quantum Physics? Are these not Magick? To put this into perspective, the Internet for example, is probably the single greatest advance in human consciousness since we evolved from cave men. It's potential is just now being realized. What we have done, in a sense, is create a very large "hive mind" that we can plug-in and utilize. It is Distributed Processing using the human mind on a vast scale. Once we truly harness this, it can totally change our world. Look at the results of the Obama/McCAin election for proof. This election was won by those who understood the basic psychology of the mind, and the use of Meme's to shape public opinion. Once they were unleashed, they spread like wildfire.

This is the real magic. The Advertising world knows it. Hollywood Knows it. The Government knows it. The Corporations know it. The people are kept in the dark.

Yes, you can sit around in your drumming circles and chant, or dance naked around a tree like you think they did 1300 years ago, but the real magic and power is understanding the subtle mysteries of the modern world and it's unique psychology. The God's are real, and they are us. Religion becomes an exercise in mental wanking at this realization.

This is the essence of Modern Magick. We must learn to harness it.

Saturday, December 6, 2008

The Coming Famine?

Lately the Blogosphere has been abuzz with talk of what the next year is to bring. The fact that our country is in a recession (really, more of a depression) is just now being accepted by most of the "hide your head in the sand" humans out there. It seems a large element of our population is deathly scared of any type of change, whether good or bad. According to some predictions, there may be far more changes in store, we just can't foretell as yet.

A man named Gerald Celente, the CEO of a respected trend research company, has recently made waves with his suggestion of food riots, famine, and revolution in the next several years. The sad thing is that his organization is known for it's accurate predictions. They forecast the fall of the USSR, the current economic unrest, and the decline of the dollar, among other things. Mr. Celente suggests that next year, our holiday season will be far different, with gifts of food becoming the most common Christmas present.

Why is this and is there a basis in reality? Mr. Celente goes by key indicators, such as fertilizer usage and the issuance of crop insurance to farmers. These show the direction we are headed in many issues. When you look at this, he may be right. The levels of fertilizer purchased by farmers this year is currently running at way less than half of what was purchased this same time last year. The same goes with crop insurance issued to farmers, to guard against loss in case of crop failure. This is foreboding in several ways. It shows that farmers cannot get financing to plant and insure their crops, and it shows that less than half the gross agricultural output has been planted by US farmers. Add to this higher prices of the new economy due to shipping costs, it leaves us with the beginnings of a possible food shortage. How bad it will be remains to be seen, but if history is any indicator and Mr. Celente is right again, we may be in trouble.

What I do not understand of the whole issue is why are the news agencies not covering this?