The question that comes to mind must be… “Magic – Really??”
OK – well let me first say that as a Rational Mystic, I see the power and usefulness of ‘walking between worlds’.
There is the ‘rational’, ‘objective’ world where we can really question processes, cause and effect …
Then there is the ‘personal’, ‘subjective world’ in which we experience life and ourselves – it can have a decidedly mystical or magical flavour if so desired.
The skill is, I believe, finding ways to navigate the inner (personal) world and the outer (rational) world.
Magic is more than metaphor – perhaps it is psychology in action?
The Magician has always sought to engage in philosophy, science and ritual practice to bring about change in accordance with will. The purpose of their operations has been to ‘transcend self’, to ‘understand the divine’ and hence themselves.
It could be argued that this is the same journey we take as people – from understanding ego, personal to self.
Magical ritual is a formalised approach to creating a mental, physical and ‘spiritual’ focus of intention.
“Low Magic” has tended to be magic aimed at the material world – health, wealth, love and so on.
“High Magic” has the focus of attaining ‘oneness’ with the divine.
I think that some of the esoteric practices, when framed in a psycho-spiritual way, are worthy of exploration.
The immediate reaction to such a statement from modern folk will stem from their observations of the New Age Space Cadet who, in my opinion, is not only unbalanced but is simply playing in a shallow, superficial way, with some of the magical ideas that have been picked-up from vacuous, popularised sources.
It is my contention that by seeking to understand magical and mystical traditions we can learn more about ourselves and our inner worlds. That does not mean, however, we have to forgo the world of the rational or engage in scientific exploration with a keen sense of sceptical and critical thinking…
On the contrary for if we are not to loose ourselves upon our self-referential mystical journeys such grounding is essential – hence Rational Mysticism.
Alan
