So You Want to Be a Magickian...

The imaginary Don Juan told the self-imagined Carlos Castaneda that anyone who actually wanted to be a "man of knowledge" was like a cracked gourd, which would split open if actually filled with water. Real men of knowledge didn't volunteer for the job, they were shanghaied.

Israel Regardie recommended psychoanalysis as a necessary precursor or adjunct to magickal work. He had seen too many "cracked gourds" in his day.

So if you want to be a magickian, I have two recommendations for you:

1. Consider your motives very carefully. As Carlos Castaneda would say, conduct a ruthless self-inventory, and don't sentimentalize or gloss over your real motives.

2. Take the time to lay a good foundation; read before you practice.

Here are a few preparatory steps I recommend:

• Get a copy of the Mystical Qabalah by Dion Fortune. It is the finest work on Western Qabalah ever written. If it bores you, tough, reading through this stuff is good medicine for repairing any major or hairline cracks in your "gourd." Simply reading it will help to balance your magickal psyche and prepare you for the "real work." Hint: read the chapter on any Middle Pillar sephiroth by itself; but when you read chapters on sephiroth on the outlying columns, read them in pairs so they balance you out. With respect to the paths, read back to the Middle Pillar sephiroth after reading about any path.
• Get a decent, generalist book on astrology and read it - not so much for how to cast a chart, but the description of the astrological influences and traits. Once again, this has a subtle balancing effect.
• Start taking regular walks. These can strengthen and calm you.
• Do a gym workout, or possibly take a yoga class. These strenghten and calm you.

If you take these steps, and aren't doing drugs, you should be ok.

If you still want to practice magick after 3-6 months of this preparatory work, then proceed. More discussion in the next entry.