“What we call magic is a set of skills built upon prerequisite learning, requiring maintenance and upkeep, typically graduating in complexity as the user advances.”
Quick Recap of the “Magic is” Biz
Magic is many things to many people. It is a mysterious force, a causal agent that defies convention and reason, and a spiritual art form. Furthermore, it is a means to an end or method of accomplishment; a way to get what you want.
Perhaps the most meaningful thing a person who seeks to use magic in his or her life might say about the art and method they seek to learn is that it’s a birthright, an artifact, and above all else a set of skills built upon prerequisite learning and graduating in complexity as the user advances.
Unpacking that Last to Get to the Point
Magic is a birthright because any human on the face of the earth is entitled to approach the subject and learn how it’s done.
Magic is an artifact, or tradition passed down from the earliest know people, who got it from still earlier people we don’t know about.
[DRUMROLL HERE]
Magic is a skillset, or a suite of specific aptitudes and abilities built on smaller skills and sets of skill.
What this Means, which is also Why it Matters
A person may be more or less inclined towards magic and may show natural talent in its expression. Think of this as you would music, gardening, or mechanical work where some folks have inborn talent while others struggle to play a song, get a plant to live, or work on their car.
Sadly this is where many people stop. They either have it or they don’t, they suppose.
If not natively inclined they move on and (even worse) if possessed of any inborn talent they suppose themselves to be among the chosen ones and never really put the time and study and effort into developing their raw talent.
One key thing that distinguishes a true skill from something you either have or don’t have innately is that a skill can be built, improved, refined, and finally mastered. This is how we know magic is a skill like those other examples.
A naturally gifted musician may have perfect pitch and be able to sing like a pro right away. Give them an instrument for the first time, however, and they won’t know what to do with it until you show them how to play.
Let’s bring in a new example that raises the stakes a bit and consider a martial arts form. Any form will do, whether Karate or Jututsu. A person may be a natural fighter, which could mean they are just tough and mean or it could mean they have an inherent feel for moving and executing strikes and/or throws.
Let’s go with the latter kind of natural fighter, someone who can naturally punch and kick and even has a good feel for throwing and wrestling. This could be a tough character, perhaps even able to beat up on someone who is not a natural talent but who has studied formally in a martial arts system for a year or so.
Perhaps the natural is able to overcome the relatively young student (one year is little compared to the lifetime of study most martial artists commit to) because their innate talents give them a boost in confidence or simply because they worry less about what to do and just do it.
This is areal thing I have seen with my own eyes. I can tell you, however, that a student who continues to train and practice over time is always going to reach a point where they beat the naturally talented fighter with ease if the natural never takes any training of his or her own.
Always. It is only a matter of how much time and growth are needed to reach the point of superiority.
The same is true of magic. Whatever your level of natural talent, it will pale in comparison to your abilities after time spent in study and practice.
This axiom is useful for shaking some of the woo out of your head and approaching the study of magic in a more fruitful manner. As you understand you are cultivating an overall skillset that is custom-built and defined by the component skills and skill sets you learn along the way, so too you grasp that problem areas can be adjusted and resolved with new information and more practice.
This knowledge also encourages a technical, intelligent approach to the topic, and one that produces a magician who knows where he or she stands in the realm of capability, plus where he or she would like to end up.
Skills building is a process that can be planned and then measured and either confirmed or re-assessed.
A Technical Approach to Learning and Applying Magic
Foundation
I always say magic is built on techniques, which is partially correct. It actually takes vision, inspiration, will, open-mindedness, and determination to start.
1. Either verify these or set out to get them.
Fundamentals and Techniques
Thereafter some basic techniques are formed through learning fundamental movements and intentions.
A fundamental intention is the deliberate effort to see a scenario in clear detail. Pair this with a movement” like closing your eyes and imagining what you want exclusively and as vividly as you can.
Viola! You have the technique of visualization.
Here’s another example of technique construction:
Projecting energy or force is a fundamental intention.
A fundamental movement to pair this with is the extension of your projective hand (the hand you write with) directly in front of you in a manner and from a posture that is relaxed but somewhat tout, or ready for action and with the pointer finger straight ahead. As you add your intention to this movement, tweak things a bit by finding a spot on the wall or ground and first concentrating on the spot, and eventually focusing through the spot.
From here, actualize your intention to project energy by imagining a current, for simplicity let’s say of your own life force or vital energy, beaming down your arm and out your pointing finger, ultimately travelling into and through your focal point in the wall.
Here is the basis for the technique of projecting vital energy. Refine this by imagining the energy coming from your chest or abdomen, travelling down your arm and then out your finger, into your target point etc.
Advance the technique still further as you learn about the chakras and use different centers as the origin for your projected energy. Go beyond that and begin focusing on the elemental qualities of different chakras so you can produce then project earth energy, fire energy, and so on.
Graduate from a practice spot on the wall to a crystal you wish to charge, and then to a visualized scene you seek to charge with a particular influence. Before you know it you are meddling with magical techniques that have real effects on the world within and around you!
2. Study and learn some basic concepts and techniques.
Building and Honing Your Skills
Inward and ever upward from here you go. Put techniques together to form magical acts, then combine those to create or learn magical operations like spells and rituals.
It’s all built on firm technical attention to your thoughts and movements, empowered by what you say and how you say it. As a skill, magic is best developed through regular and ongoing practice.
Try to practice for an hour each day, of course taking days off when you feel worn out or bored. Above all, apply your magic to your life!
To practice involves drilling and repetition of course, but it also means to use the skill you are developing. Cast spells often, enact rituals regularly, and doodle sigils continually.
Or, do other things that I haven’t mentioned here. Magic is still an art which means it is deeply personalized. Just find the techniques and methods you like, or create them for yourself, and enact them as often as you can.
3. Practice regularly.
As a skill magic is expandable and improvable, but also perishable meaning if you allow techniques to sit idle, they will lose their veracity and effectiveness. Remember too that skills are refined by successful execution so always do your best to keep good form, correct movement, and strong delivery.
Precise perfect practice promises progress plus provides peak power.