I don’t know why, but I like reading about ritual magic, or “high magick”. I collect books on it.
I just cracked open a book that I’ve had for a few years, Ritual Magic Workbook. It’s meant to be for self-starters on the magical path. In the Introduction, the author presents us with a visionary meditation. “You are presented to the High Priest and High Priestess.”
Um, no, I’m not. I stopped reading right there for a few minutes. I don’t want to be “under” a High Priest or Priestess. I want to deal directly with the entities and beings that I’ll be working with. I don’t want a human in between. That just screams “organized religion.”
I suppose the Golden Dawn and its derivatives are “organized” religions. Wicca is organized. What exactly do I want?
A little bit of everything, please, and to do it on my own.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is called Chaos Magick. It’s magic and spells from here and there, evocations, invocations, practices, all on a made-to-order or as-needed basis.
I’m also reading a book on Chaos Magick called Living Magic, which is a translation from the German. It’s deep reading for before-bed, but if I read it during the day, I will fall asleep. Hence. All I’ve gotten out of it is, “You guys are doing what I want to do.” Which is:
Experiment.
Like Ms. Frizzle says, “Get dirty. Make mistakes.” I’m a Sagittarius. I don’t learn by being told or not allowed to know. I want to learn by doing. Yes, I’m sure it’s a good idea to have some guidance. But I’m too old now to be treated like some neophyte without a clue. I know demons are dangerous and get angry when “bound”, so am I going to be stupid and bind a demon to my will? Uh, no.
But I respect them. All of them. Demons (Daemons), angels, entities, elementals, spirits. If coming from a place of respect and equality, then the entity is more likely to do what you prefer.
I just have to get the confidence to face them equally.