Copyright © 2007 by William Mistele. All rights reserved.

Problems in the Study of Magic, Part IV:

Using Magic to Make Things Happen—A

Study of the Electric Fluid

Part I

Preface

Previously in Problems in the Study of Magic, Parts I-II, I have expressed my view that to work with magic you need to consider the kind of life you live and the internal/external balance necessary for holding this power.

In Part III, I discussed the magnetic fluid and aspects of the feminine. I turned to the imagery of water in nature and to undines to better pursue the essence of the feminine. I worked with nature because I do not know of any women or, for that matter, men who embody the magnetic fluid.

I do not know anyone to study with who embodies a love that embraces creation, a love that holds the world within its heart, an all-embracing love that celebrates and feels flowing through itself the vital life within all living beings, or a love that feels one with the universe. The undines, however, who are very much like human women, were most helpful in teaching these things.

When it comes to discussing how to make things happen we are talking about the opposite of the magnetic—the electric fluid. The salamanders who embody fire are not at all like human men (the genie in the movie Aladdin was a salamander). And trying to pursue the nature of will by studying the element of fire does not come naturally. But then again our world already has vast experiences with the electric fluid. It is easy enough to find all kinds of stories that illustrate the nature and problems associated with the expression of masculine will and power.

Though I will be discussing terms such as faith and conviction, on a certain level these terms have nothing to do with religion. Like the power of will, they are part of the fabric of life and the universe.

We have seen the outer events of human history shaped by acts of will. Getting what you want often involves will. But this is only half of the equation. We can indeed separate the electric and the magnetic, the masculine and feminine, in order to clarify, work with, and master them. We can study or identify with one or the other. We can compute back and forth between the two. But the truth is they are joined in any and every act of creation.

I would also like to note at this point that I do not find this topic any easier to write about than the previous essay concerning the magnetic fluid. Power, for example, is always easy to abuse. And love often asks of us more than we can dream or imagine. Consequently, consider this essay a beginning rather than a summation.

Introduction

Using magic to get what you want or to make things happens is basic. I summarized this on my web site. This was the fourth of nine points summarizing the Bardon system. (See my essay on the earthzone as a spiritual university for these points: lava.net/~pagios/introbk3.html)

All methods and techniques for changing oneself or the world boil down to a simple formula: you concentrate on what is desired as if it is real right now in this moment. You add an appropriate kind of energy using visualization, feeling, thought and affirmation, etc. so it has some power independent of your mind and so it can move with enthusiasm toward its objective on any or all planes. And you also take into consideration and comprehend every force, situation, resistance, and obstacle that blocks your vision from becoming reality. This last element insures that your course of action is forged from wisdom and results in harmony.

Now then, we are still in the introduction. Bear with me. There is a book and movie out called The Secret. I have not read this book or seen the movie. I suspect this is presented pretty much as a non magical activity. It is not that magic or miracles do not happen as a result. It is just that you do not have to train your body, senses, emotions, mind, and spirit in a magical way for years or decades to make it work. They will not tell you that you need to do this. Let us take a look at the words from the DVD trailer from amazon.com (you can go there now and play the following by searching on amazon.com under “the secret” then click on “the secret: extended edition” and then play the trailer):

(music playing, images of monks, scholars, priests, knights, rulers, etc.) “Throughout history, all the great minds, all the great leaders, all the great achievers had something in common….

The secret was buried.

The secret was coveted.

The secret was banned.

The secret was suppressed.

And now the great glimmering of truth can be revealed again…. If you know this secret it gives you everything you want--(Image of genie appears out of bottle to man on beach) happiness, health, and wealth. You can have, do, or be anything you want.”

There it is. Magic a la Hollywood. Magic in a nutshell. New Age magic now appearing on the best seller list right next to other New Age authors telling you exactly the same thing for the last twenty years or hundred years. The book is on Oprah. Why endanger your body, mind, and soul studying Bardon when you can read a book millions of others are reading that Oprah recommends?

What is the precise description of the secret in terms of its components? Very similar to Newton’s “For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” In New Age terms, if you imagine what you want as if it is real right now and if you give hope, vision, love, trust, and peace to this vision and to the world around you then what you desire will manifest to you. Positive thinking, feeling, faith, and envisioning—who in their right mind would object to these?

What does Wikipedia.org say about the secret and the law of attraction? It summarizes the law of attraction as “1. Know what you want and ask the universe for it. 2. Feel and behave as if the object of your desire is on its way. 3. Be open to receiving it.”

This is Biblical stuff: “Ask and you shall receive.” “If you ask your father for bread will he give you as stone?” You can preach this stuff from a pulpit in a Baptist Church and no one would object. You can preach it in a Catholic Church. You can preach it in a Hindu ashram. You can preach it in a Hopi Indian kiva. You can preach this in a coven. There have even been times when I have hired Buddhist monasteries utilizing Buddhist rituals I have specified for them to use and they have done this on behalf of my world peace work for years (high Tibetan lamas suggested this approach to me).

Now then, Amazon.com has over 1200 reviews of this book/DVD—The Secret. I love reading the reviews. About four of five are positive. No one seems neutral. You either love this stuff or you hate it.

Some of the reviews: “Essentially it teaches how our thoughts create or attract whatever we focus on” or “What you think of is going to happen to you.”

Or, “When you think positively, and visualize yourself in the situation of your desire I believe that you will subconsciously take the steps to make it happen.” …. “I am just not sure that I believe that you are ‘sending out thought vibration to the universe, which bows to your commands.’”

Or, “All God wants is for you to ask Him and believe (FAITHFULLY) then you shall receive….”

And my favorite negative review was “Visualize the world without this book in it.”

Indeed, it is very easy to be negative about this positive thinking stuff. There are solid criticisms of it. On the other hand, you have to understand how powerful being positive is.

Human beings are constantly “pinging” each other as in sonar—sending out nonverbal and subliminal signals to check out the other person’s attitude, strengths and weaknesses, and ability to respond. If you watch carefully when individuals glance into each other’s eyes—there is an actual exchange of energy occurring between the two.

If you put someone’s face under a magnifying glass and also study the intonation and pitch of the voice as he or she says “hello” to two different people, you could probably identity between ten and twenty different signals being communicated during the two, brief exchanges.

There are degrees of validation, receptivity, encouragement, sensual response, desire, compatibility, attunement, rapport, attentiveness and so forth that occur. When you transmit really good energy with strong thoughts as well during an interaction you sometimes get astonishing responses—individuals sometimes naturally change their behavior, thoughts, and feelings to comply with the vision you are projecting.

On the other hand, as creativevision.com points out (which I found after searching Yahoo under “law of attraction” “spiritual”), you may be broadcasting a very positive “radio signal” on the frequency of your visualizing and thoughts but subconsciously you may be broadcasting just the opposite. Your personal life story and experience are full of pain and rejection and these emotional memories short circuit your affirmations. You end up attracting with your mind and repelling with your subconscious at the same time.

We can preach on this theme for years just using the Bible. “If a Roman soldier asks you to walk with him a mile, go with him two.” Individuals are used to seeing others being frustrated and defensive. But what if when someone gives you negative energy you return positive? All of a sudden this person’s “story” that he lives by is suddenly broken. You do not respond like everyone he has ever known. He has been bad to you yet you treat him like a friend.

How often can we expose what is dark in ourselves to others and they return acceptance and love? Your positive energy and faith offer another a chance to start his life over with a new beginning. At least now he has a choice to return to you what you are giving to him.

Some would argue that Christ knew it would not always work. But it would work enough that his religion would eventually take over the Roman Empire. The Jews wanted immediate political liberation of Israel. Christ was more patient and had a wider vision.

He knew the Roman Empire was desperate for individuals whose faith was not derived from this world but who would in all cases seek to be positive and helpful in every situation they enter. How many leaders need someone under them who is moral, absolutely trustworthy, and always bringing positive energy to every situation—not because of threats or pay but because that is who they are?

It was not just Rome and Christianity. Faith and positive thinking took Joseph out of jail as a prisoner and turned him into the chief executive officer of Egypt, second under the Pharaoh. The same took Daniel from a lion’s den into being in charge of Babylon second under the king. When you get this stuff right from the core of your being, you change the fate of nations.

Do I sound like a preacher? Faith is what preaching is all about. From a magical perspective, however, faith and conviction have qualities and quantities. When you upgrade the quality of your faith, intensifying it, and increase its magnitude, its power, this is magic. You are acting as a spirit utilizing akasha and the Divine Light to change yourself and the world. This is “sending out thought vibration to the universe, which bows to your commands.” Maybe a good Baptist or Catholic would not put it that way. But this is what spiritual beings do, both angels and spirits, God and Goddess, they make the world new.

So what is the difference between positive thinking and running a con on another person? Someone sends me a chain letter saying how wealth and fortune will come to me if I just send out seven letters with seven dollars on to others. And this is a good person with good intentions. But the letter states that bad things may happen to me if I fail to comply. This is not positive thinking. It is black mail and extortion. Let the curse return to those who set this letter in motion.

Or how about that wonderful testimonial I read on the internet regarding the law of attraction? A woman lands at an airport but does not have the money to pay for a shuttle to take her home. She gets on the shuttle anyway. She has faith and meditates on giving good energy to those around her. She visualizes and believes. And presto another couple tell her that they have enjoyed talking to her so much that they would love to pay for her fare.

Now is that great faith or what? I call that criminal behavior. You are okay as long as you do not get caught. You can get away with something like what this woman did ten, twenty, or thirty times. But if she gets caught once, she may well be fingerprinted, arraigned, and may have to consider jail time. This would be society’s use of the law of attraction which says “We do not like people who go around using their faith to take advantage of other people.” In fact the justice system visualizes these people as having their rights restricted for the good of themselves and everyone else

The best con men are those who fool themselves into believing their lie. They turn it into a life style. Was Ken Lay, the CEO at Enron, doing positive thinking when he said Enron was doing great—you know, just promoting the company--or was it fraud as he deceived investors and depleted the retirement funds in order to cash in his own stock? The question for the jury was whether his actions were acts of good faith or whether they were an abuse of an insider’s knowledge.

Or why not be like the secretary at the Lutheran Church in Grosse Pointe, Michigan who embezzles a million dollars from her church? Surely in the beginning she said to herself I am going to pay this back. And it is for a really good purpose. I am completely trustworthy. I will send out good thoughts to everybody and even add interest. I do not think the Bible meant for you to use someone else’s money—either borrowed or embezzled funds--when you cast your bread on the water.

Of course I am told by those who start new businesses that it is best to not use your own money. Use the money of investors. But investors know the risk they are taking and carefully place restrictions on the money they lend (investing is the art of risk management).

I knew a former missionary who got up in church one day during testimonials and said, “God let me down. I prayed to Him for money and nothing arrived.”

Now missionaries often use a straightforward system of divination using omens to determine their next course of action. They place their situation in God’s hands and God opens a door or he closes a door—whatever happens is obviously God’s omen. This individual quit being a missionary and ended up as chairman of a department at a large university. He was a lot happier at the university as a tenured professor than as a missionary begging others for hand outs.

Perhaps God actually answered his prayer. The failure of the money to arrive was God’s way of saying, “You don’t need money. You need a real job so you can make your own money and raise a family.” The failure in his case could well have meant he was supposed to reevaluate his request and consider a completely different set of goals. He just did not dig deep enough in interpreting the omen. You have to keep evaluating your intent, method, and goal when making magical requests or when dealing with higher powers.

I have told elsewhere the story of a guy who said all he needed to do was pray when he needed money and he would get it in the mail or though some other means when he needed it. He talked about himself on one of those internet spiritual discussion groups. He said it had been working for years. And then suddenly it stopped working. The next notice on the bulletin board was that he had suddenly died. When exercising your will it is wise to remain on your toes and to adapt to changing circumstances. The primary directive in psychology and perhaps also in spiritual psychology is that if something is not working try something else.

If you close your eyes when you meditate, go ahead and imagine that you have everything that you want. When you open your eyes and get up look at what is in front of you. To be enlightened is to see the world as it is. To be daring is to hold in your heart the way the world is and the way you want it to be and to know the difference. Do not sacrifice your mind on the altar of your faith. (Queen Mary—“Bloody Mary”--did that and became a symbol of pure devotion and faith married to horror and malice).

Another quote: “Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.” In my terms this means you can be attentive and responsible for your actions in the physical world. And you can act as a spiritual being exercising vision, faith, compassion, and sovereignty. Do not let one interfere with the other.

I sat in a group where one of the individuals said that he had prayed for money so he could come to the seminar we were both attending. He prayed for money and then his house burned down and now he has money from the insurance. Maybe it was time for him to get out of that house and start doing new things. From an investment point of view, he had assets which were not being fully utilized considering their value if they were invested elsewhere. But it gives you pause. I do not think when he prayed for money that he would have been willing to receive it through that means. Make sure what you ask for is really worthwhile and that your intentions are of the best quality.

There are different planes of existence and each has its own laws, energies, and requirements. Transmit good energy but try to avoid criminal activity. Your obstacles are meant to accelerate your learning process making you stronger and more adept. Use your obstacles wisely by giving them your full attention and learning from them.

Case study. An example of positive thinking along the lines of a New Year resolution. I need to exercise more. I Affirm it with a thought: “I am exercising in a really good way.” Just a moment. A counter thought flashes through my mind like a shooting star in the night sky—The thought is “Wait a minute. Are you sure you can pull this off? I have a few doubts I would like to register right now.”

Hum. Let’s try, “I am exercising in a really good way and when I do not meet my objectives I have a backup plan of action and I also modify my life style so I can continue to meet my objective.” Okay. This my subconscious believes I can do. Feels better already.

I also visualize it. I can do that. Here is a picture in which I am conscientiously meeting my exercise objective. I look so determined and consistent in my visualization.

I also feel it like it is real right now: I feel healthier. I am proud of myself. And I feel like this has been a valuable use of my time. And for the simple reason that I have to organize more to meet my exercise schedule, everything else I do is now more efficient.

The thought is there with its positive affirmation. The picture is there with a “it is real right now” visualization. And I have the feeling: it is a physical sensation, “Here is my body and it is vital, alive, and strong.”

Is this magic? Not in the least. It is New Age stuff. Psychology 101. Your track coach should have told you all of this and transmitted it to you through the power of his faith and conviction when he gave that speech to the team, “We are going to win this meet and you each are going to perform at your best.”

Now for another case study. Druids and Wiccans may have trouble with this story but bear with me. Here is the single best story in the Old Testament of an individual using hard core magic. No Rabbi in a synagogue or Christian in his Church will tell you this story in its essence. But I will.

Let me introduce you to Jacob. Here is Jacob’s psychological profile derived from his family history. His grandfather, Abraham (formerly known as Abram), was asked by God to leave his city, Ur in Chaldea, and journey to a new land.

But along the way God was not quite sure that Abraham was up to the task. He seemed to lack faith (King Henry the VIII in England had a similar problem with lack of faith). For this kind of mission, however, your agent on earth can not be short on faith. So God asks him to sacrifice his son and at the last moment, when it was obviously to both God and Abraham at the same moment that his faith was strong, God cancels the sacrifice.

But there was another test, perhaps the greatest test of any human being in the Old Testament. God showed Abraham a “dark vision” of his future descendents as slaves for hundreds of years in Egypt. Abraham saw the vision and what did he do? He did absolutely nothing. No back talk, no question, no complaint, no objection, no counter argument, no debate, no suggestion, no inquiry—God got nothing from Abraham when He granted Abraham inside information on future history.

I can just hear God’s very thoughts at this moment in Abraham’s story, “Does the human race have no wish to discuss with me its future fate? Do I have no friends who seek to know the desires of My heart and to understand the purposes I wish to fulfill on earth?” I tell you it is a lonely feeling whether you are mortal or divine to find your self suffering isolation of this kind. It is an intolerable feeling—almost like “If there is the slightest chance of someone seeking to know Me I will offer him or her the opportunity, at least a test to see how far they are willing to come.”

Jacob’s response to his grandfather’s life? Sure, Abraham demonstrated his faith in God. All the same, I do not want to be so full of doubt, passive, and blind as my grandfather. In fact, my grandfather made an absolute fool of himself and created suffering for others due to his lack of trust in God to fulfill His promises.

Then along came Jacob’s father, Isaac. Isaac wanted to marry this beautiful woman he met. But her father wanted Isaac as cheap labor and so swindled him into marrying his other daughters and working for years before Isaac could finally have his heart’s desire.

Then we come to Jacob’s immediate family. He has an elder brother, Esau, and a mother who knew that Jacob and not Esau should get Isaac’s blessing. Esau was a dumb materialist and void of spiritual consciousness. So the mother fooled Isaac on his death bed into blessing Jacob rather than Esau.

Jacob’s response? I do not want to be either like my father, a fool and to be fooled, or have to lie and steal like my mother in order to do what is right. Getting your father’s blessing (notice that word “blessing”) through stealth does not leave the best taste in your mouth. And for all of Isaac’s enchantment with a beautiful woman, his fault remains—he was more enchanted with a woman than with his inner vision. And I am not going to make the mistake of my brother Esau who was without awareness of his spiritual heritage and destiny.

There we have Jacob knowing he is part of an important spiritual purpose and wanting neither to suffer in terms of his personal desires nor to be horribly remiss when it comes to attaining his destiny. That is the psychological profile derived from his family history.

Now our story begins: Jacob meets some sort of spiritual being, an angel perhaps or an angel standing in for God. And Jacob wrestles him for a blessing. Why wrestle?

Given his family history, Jacob is saying, “Let us deal right now with this thing about faith and spiritual destiny. I am neither willing to let you mess with my life so I live so many unhappy years. And I am not willing to lie and to cheat. So I am putting myself on the line right now with all of my will to insure that you have no cause against me when it comes to fulfilling your divine will.”

But intent is not enough. Preliminary good faith actions are not enough. The angel goes on wrestling all night refusing to give in.

Things are beginning to look bad for Jacob. Not only that. Dawn is coming and the angel ups the stakes. He touches Jacob’s thigh and cause physical injury.

[We are well beyond the wikipdeia.org “1. Know what you want and ask the universe for it. 2. Feel and behave as if the object of your desire is on its way.” I suspect that none of the New Age spiritual psychology 101 teachers will tell you that your object of your desire, even when pursued in a positive way, may try to tear you apart. It may strive to destroy you and/or your faith.

After all, what is the nature of a great spiritual test (also known as genuine initiation)? If you pass it, you are now a different person. Let me say that a little differently: the one who began the test is now dead. The one who passes the test is reborn—is born a different person. Many traditions as well as God you will notice like to give a new name to the person who passes the test. Because this is a new person. I do not think you will hear about this problem on Oprah].

Jacob rallies and refuses to let go in spite of the injury or possibly additional injury. The angel has a self imposed limitation (you have to self impose limitations when dealing with mortals; that is one of the divine/human interaction rules)—the angel must leave before dawn. And now for the climax of the story. The angel asks, “What do you want?” Jacob replies, “I want a blessing.”

Jacob has passed the test, a test Jacob initiated though his own volition, one not overwhelming him by a burning bush or by a voice of God speaking to him through a whirlwind or in a dream. Jacob was not “caught up in the spirit” to serve as a psychic medium to take dictation writing letters to seven churches. No, Jacob engineered and designed this little encounter with the Divine. Jacob’s action was his response to this question, “What is missing from my life and the lives of those who have gone before me?”

This I tell you is hard core magic—this kind of faith you will not find in a Jewish synagogue or a Christian Church—not one on this planet.

And so the angel now turns to Jacob and says, “What is your name?” “Jacob” is the reply. “Your name is now Israel” says the angel and your children shall be as the sands of the sea.

Well, Jacob’s luck/blessing did not end there. It spilled over to his family. As you know, one of Jacob’s children, Joseph, became the supreme ruler of Egypt under the Pharaoh, probably the most wealthy country on earth at the time. He was gifted with the ability to interpret dreams. And he married a very beautiful woman—the daughter of the high priest of Egypt. (See also my Postscript poem Jacob’s Angel)

To use some examples individuals cite from internet: to get what you want its okay if a hurricane destroys your house and within a year you have not only a new and better house, but also a new car, a new job, a new love and new family. Its okay, fine and fabulous if you are healed from a disease or find what is lost or restore balance and harmony—no longer in debt, accepted into college, weaknesses and vices overcome, and reconciled to those who felt enmity. Sometimes positive thought and visualization are all that is needed:

Get inside what you want. Imagine it is present right now. Feel it. Think it. Affirm it. Work with it experiencing it now as if you are fully awake within a dream and it has become your reality. Put energy into it on a regular basis. That is, take some time to live within the dream. Apply for backup—ask God/Goddess for assistance as in “grant me this request.” State clearly the purpose having it fulfills. Argue your case logically as if you are placing a petition before the Supreme Court of Fate and Destiny also called Divine Providence. .

This is good stuff. Miracles can happen on this level. Go for it. But there are times as with Jacob when we may need to do more.

Using Magic to Make Things Happen

Now then, back to basics. Let’s take the components of the law of attraction, that is, magic, and see where we go when we intensify the quality and amplify the amount of energy or the power. And, since this essay is Problems in the Study of Magic, let us consider some of the problems that occur.

Consider again imagining what you desire as being real right now. If I imagine my house as being fixed up and presentable, not with so many repairs left undone, the thought that crosses my mind instantly is “it is never going to happen.” This desire involves another with a formidable will who opposes my desire.

Now just because there is a little opposition does not mean in any way that I can not make an exercise out of imagining what I want. And I am certain in the next ten seconds, if I were to use my full concentration, I could imagine perfectly clearly what I want no matter who opposes me.

Still, the doubtful, opposing voice of my subconscious is not without merit. There are issues to be resolve, unfinished business, and relationship skills required. But, above all else, I have priorities that force this particular desire to take a secondary position in relation to others desires. I could take some time to articulate persuasive reasons why the house needs to be fixed up and presentable. But this does not seem to be the best route to take with this particular desire.

Jose Silva in his books on Silva mind control, gives us a simple exercise for skipping past the subconscious objections. There are lots and lots of reasons for not being able to imagine what we want. Some of these reasons are good and some are ridiculous.

Here is Silva’s exercise: Picture a white screen like a movie screen in front of you. See on this screen now the problem as you understand it. Now move this screen off to the left. Picture on another white screen the problem solved. Move this screen off to the left. Now picture a screen on which the problem is so far in the past it is now longer even in your mind.

Of course this requires visualization. It took me years to learn to visualize. I took drawing classes. I took photography classes. I was willing to try anything that would enhance my sense of perspective, shape, color, tone, portrait and composition. Now visualization is fairly easy for me. Some individuals, however, tell me that for them visualization is next to impossible.

Can I do the Silva exercise without the verbal objections of my subconscious popping up? Let me try--three pictures. About two minutes later and the exercise went really well. No subconscious objections. Of course, some people will point out that if you have difficulty in working with one form of sensory perception simply move to a different sense or thought mode. Pictures do not come with verbal commentaries so there are no verbal objections.

Obviously you can repeat this exercise. Spend more time on it. Go into it and so forth. Another Silva exercise involves working with other individuals telepathically. If your request involves someone else, before you go to bed at night say to yourself that you will awake during the night when your mind and the other’s mind are in close telepathic association. Then when you wake up, imagine that the two of you are in the state of relationship that you want.

You have the image and you put energy into the image. And you are doing what the “law of attraction” loves—sending good energy to another person. When you feel connected to another, nonverbal suggestion is highly persuasive.

Another version of Silva’s mind control that is positive thinking: in situations of conflict, say to yourself something like “We communicate clearly and resolve all conflicts quickly and harmoniously.” Try this. You walk down a hall toward someone with whom you have a conflict and you are thinking and projecting this positive kind of energy. The other’s usual “negative” response will often vanish immediately. You give positive energy to another and at some point they feel compelled to give positive energy in return.

The Tibetans have a ritual called the Prajnaparamita ritual. It is a high grade, intense version of the above. In it you say after repeating the words of the Heart Sutra, “There is no one here causing harm. There is no one here who is being harmed. There is no harm occurring.”

You imagine your identity and the identity of the harm doer as dissolving into the void, into emptiness, into the open luminous space of the enlightened mind. Separation is an illusion. There is no separation. All false illusions, ego strivings, and ill intentions therefore dissolve into nothingness.

This emptiness stuff is simply a component of akasha, of a spiritual state of awareness. But we are getting ahead of ourselves.

There are lots of reasons for not being able to imagine what we want. We may feel unworthy, conflicted, doubtful, guilty, not sure we really need it, or if we get it we may end up abusing it or harming others as a result. And these conflicting emotions may be far more then subjective. We may have seen over and over in our lives patterns of intention, action, and results that in fact produce feelings of guilt, self-doubt, and harm to others. We could even argue that to get what you want always places you in a position of greater power. And power is always easy to abuse.

Let’s review. I discussed the point of view of the subconscious and its reactions in another article: At the beginning of Chapter 2 of Initiation into Hermetics, Bardon discusses autosuggestion. If you are working on a personal fault such as a lack of enthusiasm or conviction, the idea is to phrase your self-suggestion in the present tense or imperative: "I am full of enthusiasm," or, "I have strong conviction." You then practice this autosuggestion by repeating the phrase a number of times, especially as you fall asleep at night or wake up in the morning. Bardon says, "The main point is that you do imagine your wish as being realized already and having actual existence."

It would seem that from Bardon's perspective, the subconscious--

the source of faults, weaknesses, and passions--views the conscious

mind as being kind of stupid. People say what they want, are planning, or wishing for, but they do not really believe it. The conscious self acts to defeat itself by lacking conviction when it speaks. To not be completely certain about succeeding when you make a wish is to plan for your own failure. And what is far worse from the subconscious point of view is that the conscious mind fails all reasonable tests when it comes to imagining in a concrete and graphic way what it wishes to be or to accomplish.

Since part of the job of the subconscious is to contain and store energy, it is pretty much a waste of its time and resources to cooperate with the conscious mind. The conscious mind acts arbitrarily, unreasonably, impulsively, and without any regard for the real issues of life. It is as if the conscious self intentionally refuses to speak the language of the subconscious or show any respect when it makes its requests.

The remedy for this situation is to demonstrate real conviction, feeling, and imagination when seeking to bring about a change in your self. The conviction is in part demonstrated by imagining that what you want is real right now in this moment. So again, as Bardon points out, you make your wish in the present tense without any hesitation or doubt: For example, you say "I am full of enthusiasm" if your problem is apathy or being phlegmatic.

To this you add feeling. You have to search your own memory and experiences with others until you conjure up a completely convincing set of examples about what it is to be enthusiastic. Then you put yourself within those images or reflect on them until you can accurately reproduce in yourself the feeling of enthusiasm. At this point, your subconscious will be able to say, "Ah, now you are speaking my language. Now I know what you mean when you say, `I am full of enthusiasm.'"

And finally, you have to explore with your imagination what it means for your wish to be completely real right now, as something already accomplished. Bardon mentions the great advantage of using autosuggestion when you are falling asleep or waking up from sleep. Then your brain waves shift from beta through theta to alpha. When you wake up from sleep, the brain waves will remain in alpha for around five minutes. If you practice autosuggestion during this time, you have a stronger access to and communication with your subconscious.

This is where daydreaming or imaginative explorations take on the power of magic. Again, what would it be like if what you wish for has already become real? Your subconscious would sure like to know the answer to that question. This is because the subconscious has to take all the energy it has allotted to one set of behaviors, beliefs, and emotions and channel that energy into a new set of behaviors, beliefs, and emotions.

If you just sit there saying what you want to be and feeling it as real, you are still making a half-hearted effort from the subconscious point of view. You have not really done your homework when it comes to communicating what you want to your subconscious.

Your subconscious wants you to enter a dream of the future and walk around inside of it and experience it as if it is totally real right now. Get involved with details. Use all your five senses. Make the experience so real and graphic that it feels as if you are living it right now. The imagination has to convince itself that what it envisions, at least during the practice, is absolutely real in the here and now.

This is not asking too much. You see, the subconscious produces dreams every single night which seem completely real to the dreaming mind. If you want to succeed with the subconscious, you have to use its own tools and language. You have to become clever and subtle enough to convince your subconscious that you are able to take over some of its functions.

If the dream of what you wish to be is a 100% real to you within your astral body, then you already radiate the energy of what it is like to be what you want. Your actions and thoughts then change in order to fall into alignment with this new self-image, energy, feeling, and thought. This is Bardon's perspective on autosuggestion. To get the amount of energy you need into your request you will need the full cooperation of your subconscious.

Three components of genuine magic

The difference between the law of attraction and hard core magic involves 1. The amount of energy, 2. The power of your concentration, and 3. The application of this energy and concentration from a spiritual level. The spiritual level involves placing your request in akasha, i.e., assuming the stance of a spiritual being, joining your self to God, sending the energy and request to a specific being such as your Higher Self, your guardian angel, etc.

(In the last section, I add another point. Point 4. Magic uses four planes to insure success).

Of course, at all times and on all levels, whether you are using hard core magic or just thinking positive thoughts and sending out good energy, you will need to keep clarifying what you want and why you want it. This is an on-going process and a lifestyle. Or, as Bardon says, “No advance is possible without magical equilibrium.” Finding and maintaining balance are essential.

1. The Amount of Energy

You imagine or dream something is real right now. But there are levels to imagining. Daydreaming may be all you need for a specific wish. You daydream the way a movie director imagines an entire movie with all the actions, camera angles, words and feelings of the actors. This is professional daydreaming.

And magic is like acting. An actor or actress may use different colored pencils to indicate the different emotions she is conveying through the dialogue. Think Sigourney Weaver as an example reading her script for the first time in the movie Alien. And a really good actress can convey feelings that are completely different from what she normally expresses through her personality. Take Tricia Helfer in Battlestar Galactica. She is a different person when she acts as a Cylon. She projects feelings and modes of attraction that are outside of the range of her normal personality and beyond the range of most women.

Other actors are basically the same person no matter what movie you place them in. Tom Cruise and Richard Gere are always Tom Cruise and Richard Gere in movie after movie. Same set of sixteen or so facial reactions and body gestures. Same range of emotional expression. Do these actors even know when they are acting in different movies? It is frightening to witness.

However, in the movie Collateral Tom Cruise steps beyond Tom Cruise. One reviewer says, “Cruise makes a believable bad guy, surprisingly menacing and completely convincing as a hard-hearted killer” …. And “only briefly flashes his trademark smile.”

Sometimes even very predictable actors can go beyond themselves and actually surprise you if you give them the right script. Something wonderful happens. Sometimes we as well become completely different human beings when we find the right wish. The Bible puts it this way, “Without a vision the people perish.” To be spiritually alive you need a vision quest.

About the amount of energy. The thing about good actors and actresses is that they know how to act—to project energy and emotion. They have stage presence. They enter a room and they have everyone’s attention. But when they get it right, they put their own personalities behind them and they step into the role they are playing. They put off to the side their personal histories and become players on a stage enacting the great dramas of life.

To put it another way, they take all their personal experience and put it into the part they are playing. And then they make that creative leap—they step across the void separating who they are from what they become--and ask, “How would I feel and think if I was this person in these circumstances?”

They put themselves into the role. And the role is not nothing. A good script shows individuals making huge decisions under great stress. The characters make choices that take them beyond what they were before. Great actors make a point of taking parts they have never played before because they want to grow. They are committed to their art.

Some wishes will require you to become a different person. When you put yourself into your wish ask yourself “How do I feel different, how do I think different, and how do act different within this vision of what shall be?” Put yourself into the part. Use all of your past experience. And then make the creative leap. This is not just acting. It is a divine art.

I mention elsewhere about a friend I had thirty years ago. He had a natural ability to evoke spirits. So he evoked a Venus spirit in the Bardon system and the spirit asked, What do you want? He replied, What can you teach me?

Shortly thereafter he had a overwhelmingly powerful and passionate love affair. But he had to call the spirit back. He thanked the spirit and asked her to release him from her magic. The experience was well beyond anything he could handle.

Someone else does a request for a lover and all sorts of lovers begin showing up. Some would say, “I would die for you I am so much in love” and one or two meant it. Others were more of the inclination that “if you do not love me I will see you dead.” You may get a stalker mixed in with your true love. If you do not have experience and wisdom, in the beginning it may be quite difficult to tell them apart.

What if my friend who evoked the Venus spirit had replied when she asked him what he wanted and said, “I want a lover who will walk beside me on my way through life, who I can love and who loves me in return. I want it so we bring out the best in each other. I want a love so rich and nurturing it turns our weaknesses into strengths. I want a love so complete it overflows and enriches the lives of everyone around us.”

If he had asked this of the Venus spirit, for example Hagiel, she might have replied, “Oh, you don’t want to just satisfy yourself. You want to fulfill the lives of others as well. I do not get this kind of request very often. So here is what I am going to do. I am going to design a women just for you. Her love for you will be an expression of my art.”

In my stories, there is a priest called Kamhia who lived in a mythical kingdom. (see lava.net/~pagios/kamia.htm and lava.net/~pagios/kamia3.htm) He made the mistake of vowing to God, “When I love a woman, I will love her with all of my heart.” And he did this with the intent of course of finding a woman who he could love in this way. You know, “1. Ask for what you want. 2. Act like it is already coming to you.”

But it did not go well for him. He forgot or was distracted and so whenever he became involved with a woman a demon showed up staring at him from out of her eyes. A most unsatisfactory experience. Like I say, if you make a request, put some time ane effort into your imagery so you become the person in your vision. The act of imagining transforms yourself. If you only go half way, like my friend from thirty years ago, the side effects can overwhelm you.

Part of the act of requesting, of wishing, and desiring is knowing what you want. What do I want? Just thinking about love and instantly a thought flashes through my mind, “The love you want is never going to happen.” Well, I can easily visualize it. Just a moment. There she is. I can also feel it. No problem here. Why, then, does the idea bother me?

Ideas and thoughts involve the conscious self. Visualization is more a function of will. Feeling relates more to sensual imagination. It is the conscious part I am having trouble with.

What do I want? I spontaneously wrote the following poem one time years ago when I realized what I want is hard to find:

A Request

I seek another to celebrate with me

The boundless light saturating the universe with its love.

It is in the wind whose voice and wings

Embrace the cells within our bodies

And the shoulders of the mountains.

It is in the oceans, the rain, the rivers

Whose songs of grace and receptive life

Sail through our dreams

And touch the secret chambers of our hearts.

It is in the Earth—

She whose silence shelters and protects us

Until we are ready to assume our roles

As guides, guardians, and creators of life.

It is in fire whose dazzling force and power

Binds the universe with its might

And guides our wills as we chart our courses through life.

I will join my spirit with yours,

Let our hearts be one

Our minds merging and blending—

As light penetrates

And is one with the crystal it passes through.

 Come with me on this path of beauty

It originates in the stillness

At the center of the heart

Where all fear is banished—

It overcomes all time and space

Renewing itself without end

As it celebrates the joy, the rapture,

And the boundless life hidden within all things.

What do I really want from women? I happen to be a writer. I realized fairly quickly that the above poem does not belong to me. It belongs to a woman in a mythology I am writing. And in this myth there is a priestess whose role it is to embody the Goddess of the Earth. The role is very erotic, sensual, and profoundly spiritual in the same moment. And it is loaded with power and beauty. In the world of my myth, human women know how to join with the divine feminine.

But the conscious part of my self has to be able to articulate and to teach the issues on both sides of masculinity and femininity. For example, see Problems in the Study of Magic, Part III, on the magnetic fluid. It is important to be able to distinguish between the conflicts of this generation compared to other generations and to identify the creative powers that remain the same through all ages. When moving back and forth between the human and the divine there are these traps, wastelands, and abysses it is easy to fall into. In other words, if I can write about it and teach it, then I can call it into being.

I do not get many visitors here in Hawaii. And I often travel as well. But last week someone flew in that was a friend of a Druid chief I know. She teaches women’s groups and for four days we discussed the nature of the feminine and masculine and that question I have been asking for decades, “What do women want from men and what do men want from women?”

Toward the end she said, “This is what women need from men. I listened to her. And then I said, “What I need (for my work) is women who can hold the world within their hearts. Women who are affectionate, empathic, caring, loving, kind, and gentle. And who also have a depth of spirit so that they can reflect through themselves the Goddess of the Earth.

So much so that they actually care for all living beings on earth; they are willing to assume some degree of responsibility for supervising, guiding, and inspiring planetary evolution. I realize this is asking lot. But it is what I want. It serves a purpose and it is the right thing for me to ask.

I get this “holding the world within your heart from Cigila. This spirit does this from a position of great inner stillness. Like the sign of Pisces, Cigila senses that we share one life and that life is sacred. His missions often involve reducing suffering in the world.

This spirit has immense power, concentration, and divine intent expressed as compassion. This is a feminine power—nature, human, and divine united in one circle of love. I am told there are thirteen phases of female experience, passages of life, following the phases of the moon. But you do not have to wait until you are a priestess or a wise, old women. The myths tell us that it is the woman as a maiden who initiates this compassion through the daring and quality of her love. (see my essay on The Story of Eros and Psyche in lava.net/~pagios/archetypes3.htm)

For myself, a desire relating to love has to be caste in terms of service to others. I can ask but if I am not careful I end up like the character Kamhia. A demon possess the woman he loves because he has a prior commitment to the divine. Unless he pursues his appointed spiritual task with his full will a void shows up. And the woman allies with the dark side simply to remind him that he is behind schedule in his mission.

The point of all of this? You may want to write a script for what you want to become. Answer the question, Why is what you want important to you? Allow a learning curve so you can make the transition from where you are now to where you wish to be. Have a backup plan. That is, learn along the way so that you can improve upon your original request when new things pop up. Listen to, review, and address your inner doubts and conflicts so that you are not broadcasting attraction on one level and repulsion on another.

When I talk about the amount of energy I saying something obvious. Put enthusiasm into your wish. Make it alive, bright, vivacious, energetic, compelling and persuasive. And make it full of contentment, peace, something serene and attractive that brings lasting happiness.

I have discussed raw magical power in the pervious essay in this series in describing the electric and magnetic fluids:

In brief, the electric fluid is hot, burning, expansive, dynamic, intense, powerful, and explosive in sensation.  It has the capacity to produce great light.  In psychological terms, it is commanding, full of faith and conviction.  It reaches for sovereign power seeking absolute control.  It annihilates and destroys obstacles that stand in its way. 

In more spiritual terms, it seeks to manifest its vision using all the previous qualities—with certainty, with dynamic will and expansive power, with implacable dedication and electrifying conviction.  You could say that independence, strength, courage, conviction, faith, will, determination, dedication, self-reliance, self-mastery, uprightness, clarity, order, adaptability, practicality, planning, productivity, excitement, exhilaration, creativity, and vision are qualities that are present when the electrical fluid is operating successfully.

The question the electrical fluid will ask you in terms of your faith and conviction is “Are you willing to work without using magic to attain what you want if we set a clear path before you?” You want money? Are you willing to work for it? Here is a job. Do you want love? Are you willing to first give the love you want to others? You want to succeed in life? Are you willing to prepare yourself so that you will be ready to seize the opportunity when it comes to you? The electrical likes to check up on just how much you really want what you are asking for.

(Note: I had my first experience sensing the electric fluid when I was practicing the cosmic letter S on the mental plane, for those who are into the cosmic language. But now I can just imagine a thunderstorm in one hand and the earth in another hand and I can feel a spark like tiny lightning arc between my two palms. This too is electrical fluid. But if you are sensitive to male female differences it is possible just to concentrate on a man’s aura screening out all others energies and there is the electrical fluid intense, hot, dynamic, and burning. Or concentrate on a woman’s aura screening out all other influences and there is the magnetic fluid cool, soothing, preserving, and embracing. In part, the goal in magic to focus both energies into your request so the wish has some force behind it.)

The magnetic fluid, by contrast, is cool, soothing, contracting, and attractive.  It is nurturing, and supportive.  It contains within itself so as to shelter and protect.  Instead of intense and explosive, it is rhythmic, receptive, and gentle. 

In psychological terms, it is empathic, sensitive and responsive.  It draws together, bonds, joins, and unites.  It accepts and affirms. In spiritual terms, it reaches toward all embracing, all-encompassing love.  It presents us with astonishing states of awareness that transcend individual identity.  Such states involve wonder, ecstasy and beauty.  

We could say that peace, repose, calmness, happiness, contentment, serenity, tranquility, well-being, delight, kindness, gentleness, affection, empathy, tenderness, sensuality, pleasure, bliss, ecstasy, compassion, and love are qualities that are present when the magnetic fluid is operating successfully. 

The question the magnetic will ask you about your request is “Once you have what you want do you really want it enough that you will go on putting good energy and thought and vision into it? The feminine nurtures. A mother goes on loving her children all their lives. They always remain her children. If you bring a magical work into being, do you really care enough for it that you will continue nurturing and sustaining it if that is what is required?

Enchantment is a tricky thing. You can come on to others with your positive energy and your telepathic imagery, even throw in a little connection to God. And presto they think you are their best friend. They treat you like family. They think the world of you. But there may come a time when the enchantment wears off and those enchanted wake up. They get their minds back. And then where are you? Are you going to be worn out, burnt out, or in over your head because of this magic you did?

Bob Seger’s song, Hollywood Nights, talks about enchantment and being in over your head—“She stood there bright as the sun on that California coast/He was a Midwestern boy on his own/She looked at him with those soft eyes so innocent and blue/He knew right away he was too far from home/…. She had been born with a face that would let her get her way/He saw that face and he lost all control/He had lost all control …. Night after night, day after day, it went on and on/Then came that morning he woke up alone/He spent all night staring down at the lights of LA/Wondering if he could ever go home.”

The woman had been born with the ability to think positive thoughts, to project good energy, and to bring the best out in others—those soft eyes so innocent and blue,…. a face that would let her get her way. I have met women like the one Bob Seger is singing about. They embody the law of attraction. What some do not have when they use their magic is a heart that really cares.

A man in my screenplay says to a woman, “No woman could love the way you have loved me without being in love.” The woman relies, “I fooled you.” The law of attraction and the law of enchantment share a lot in common. But they do not always share the same heart.

William Shatner was fantastic as Captain James T. Kirk in Star Trek. The part was made for him. All the other actors complimented and highlighted his acting. It was too easy. And so it has taken him decades to find another role that he could play with any skill and integrity. If you are going to use magic to get what you want make sure you use a desire that arises from the core of your being and is something you can live with. If you get something of significance that is not essential to you, you may end up feeling bewildered and confused and “wondering if you could ever go home.”

For emotional force, put the electric and magnetic into your request. Like I say, make sure your heart is in it: the feelings present should include faith and conviction, courage and daring, excitement and dedication. And they should also include well-being, peace, happiness, delight, kindness, compassion, sensual life, and pleasure. In other words, make sure the feeling of life is flowing through it.

For a non magical practitioner, the above are feelings and qualities of personality. For magicians, the above are also energies. You can experience them, evoke them, condense them, draw them together, amplify them, and project them. How do you do these things?

For Bardon, you work with the four elements to begin with. Air has the feeling of being weightless. And like the sky it embodies qualities of being detached, open, clear, and full of freedom. You work at this. You imagine your mind is the sky.

Water is the feeling of being alive. It is cool and also magnetic. You imagine you are the sea, streams, rain, rivers, lakes, that you are flowing, letting go, renewing, purifying, etc.

Earth is practical, persevering, enduring, solid, and specifically it embodies a sensation of gravity, a feeling of being heavy. You imagine you are solid and dense, heavy, grounded like trees, like rocks, and mountains.

Fire is hot. It is intense, burning, expanding and exploding. It is also electrical. Consider the voice of fire:

The volcano and magma at the center of the earth

Are my will and power unfolding

I burn, I consume, I destroy

Yet I heal the broken heart

And bring joy and excitement to life

But now we are talking about magical training. I hope to present an artistic and compelling connection between direct work with the elements in magic and the beauty and harmony of the four elements as we find them in nature. In my forthcoming book on undines, I pursue some of these connections in greater detail.

I remember working in Detroit when I was young and in a mood of despair. I dwelt among extroverts who had no awareness of the spiritual world. A few years later I remember working in a Tibetan monastery and being in a state of despair. These people were introverts and had genuine magic. But they were brain dead when it came to being aware of planetary history.

In order to better proceed, my concern was with quality control. I did not want to be like these extroverts and introverts whose religions and civilizations fail to take responsibility. I have mentioned a spirit Bardon describes who relates to Pisces in the earthzone. Cigila teaches methods that develop in the individual certain divine virtues. The student becomes more and more mature in carefully fulfilling certain tasks according to the will of Divine Providence. (see lava.net/~pagios/cigila.html)

To this end I used something Bardon recommends toward the end of his first book of training. I put a small condensed ball of electric fluid (the essence of the masculine spirit) inside of another condensed ball of magnetic fluid (the essence of the feminine spirit). This is a highly intense and dense amount of energy. The energy serves as a vehicle, a medium, a means for bringing something into being. It is the substance you need to make this kind of wish so that there is action and result.

Now if had I thought about it I could have found a really patient woman with estrogen or magnetism in her aura who practiced yoga and meditation. I might have been able to pay her or persuade her into sitting in front of me for a half hour a day for two, three, maybe four weeks; or perhaps for an hour once a week for however long it takes. Together we could have concentrated on my request. The combined opposite energies within our bodies would have produced a similar result. But I did not know these things back then. And to tell you the truth I think even now I would have a very hard time finding a woman willing to play such a role.

So I placed this electro-magnetic ball of energy inside a horseshoe magnetic as Bardon recommended (Do not try this at home). That was the energy. Then I concentrated my wish into the energy. The wish was basically that I am offering myself to be of service. And I want to become the person who is capable of such service.

Cigila is one of these spirits who maintains a kind of bulletin boards of divine missions. You have to pick something that appeals to you. Then you throw in a life time and see what you can do.

Be careful. You do not want to nearly screw up like Bill Gates. You do not want to start a new religion with a twisted and distorted vision like several individuals I could mention. And above all else if you start from a position of frustration and lack of genuine faith you may end up with a connection to the dark side with its spiritual missions. They too offer positions for transforming the world—means that are much quicker, more dramatic, and grab the attention of lots of followers. I know a few individuals who took that route. It is the path of domination and destruction.

Shortly thereafter a spirit appeared to me in a dream which followed my own interests and made clear a specific line of service. Cigila gave me a referral. He put me in contact with another spirit, one who specializes in political evolution but who was outside of the Bardon system.

Looking back, I might have done better if I had worked with a spirit relating to the sign of Cancer instead of Pisces in the earthzone, one who also specialized in divine virtues. Cancer is on my part of fortune in my natal chart. Things might have flowed a little more easily. But I like Cigila. This spirit makes perfect sense to me. I love his sense of peace.

The main difficulty with my method at the time is that I had been given from my father’s line a very powerful level of electrical energy. I knew what it was to will with great determination. I did not at that time comprehend in any degree the nature of divine femininity—in a nutshell, to love with a love that embraces creation. It has taken me decades to come to terms and understand the magnetic fluid in all of its full power, mystery, beauty, wonder, and sensuality.

From my point of view, the magnetic fluid is something that has been hidden for ages form humanity. (again, see the previous article lava.net/~pagios/problems3.htm). Given my experience, if you have a wish you want fulfilled there are times when you will have to create a path of light through the darkness and the void to reach your objective.

Then again, as Joseph Campbell points out regarding a quest, you gain assistance from unusual and unexpected companions along the way. This essay for example is being written because Nith-Haiah, a sp