One of the core differences
between its predecessor, Chaos Magick, and Emergent Magick lies in how they
approach belief. Classic Chaos Magick uses belief as a tool. In that philosophy,
beliefs can be added and discarded as desired. While some chaos magicians hold
core beliefs throughout their magical practice, most change their paradigm
frequently, oftentimes on a whim. Chaos Magick advocates switching beliefs in
order to find the right tool for the job. While this can work if all a magician
is interested in is operative magick, it becomes a detriment to spiritual
growth. A belief can better be seen as a muscle. Use it frequently and it
becomes stronger and more useful. Use it seldom and it fails to perform when
needed.
Another analogy would be
that Emergent Magick sees belief as a temple. The temple can be redecorated. It
can renovated and added to, but remains the same at its core. As a magus learns
more about the nature of the universe through magick, their temple reflects
this. Look at the temples of any religion or magical organization and you will
find that they reflect the beliefs of their followers. In many cases they form
a symbolic microcosm of that organization’s paradigm. A prime example would be
the temples created by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. The black and
white checkered floors and black and white pillars represent a belief system
based on a struggle between and union of opposites. It shows a literal
interpretation of the hermetic belief, “As above, so below.” As the magicians
of that order see the universe they try to recreate in their temple. Many
gothic cathedrals were designed in the shape of a cross. The ultimate symbol of
the faith. Even modern Catholic churches have, in their stained glass windows
or by carvings or pictures, the Stations of the Cross, symbolic representations
of the story of the crucifixion.
The strength of a temple
comes from its foundation. While the core philosophy of EMK is magick informed
by magick, a magus needs to start somewhere. Magick is the art of altering
consciousness. But the “art” in that statement contains all of the traditional and
nontraditional symbols and beliefs used by the magus to alter that consciousness.
It can be as simple as believing that the world contains spirits that can be
contacted and invoked. From there the magus develops methods to contact those
spirits and learns from them the other ways of manipulating consciousness and
the nature of the universal consciousness itself.
Building a temple of
belief takes time and careful consideration. There can be many false starts. A
magus may find that their core belief takes them nowhere. In the above example,
perhaps the magus spends a few years summoning spirits but never develops
meaningful communication with them. Perhaps the spirits only teach the magus a
few useful magical tricks but they have no better knowledge of the nature of
the universe than the magus themselves. In that case, a magus may choose to
tear down the foundation of their temple of belief and start over. This should
never be undertaken lightly, less the magus becomes a simple chaos magician,
and never explores a paradigm unto fruition.
Finding the right place to
build your temple of belief takes time and serious exploration. A magus may
take years learning about magical paradigms until they find one suitable to
build upon. There’s nothing wrong with taking an existing and proven magical
paradigm and building off of that. The Order of Emergent Magi finds ancestor
veneration, the oldest magical paradigm, a good place to start. A good
foundation may ultimately contain parts of several belief systems. Received
wisdom, which comes to a magus through visions, dreams, or other random
transmissions also make good starting points. The OEM uses the Gutter Bible, a found artifact, as a
cipher for magical ritual.
A good foundation must
contain mystery. All should not be plain from the beginning. The belief system
should contain elements that are indecipherable unless approached in an altered
state of consciousness. Beware of closed systems, like Kabbalah, which purports
to contain every aspect of the universe in a convenient package of ten
sephiroth. This can limit a magus, as they will undoubtedly find aspects of the
universe that don’t fit within the system.
Remember, however, you are
only choosing a foundation. The most important part of EMK is what you learn
while doing the magick itself. Those become the treasures of your temple. A
magus considers carefully before ever discarding one.
Magick is not a game.
Beliefs are not theories that a magus bandies about and justifies through
intellectual exercise. A magus must hold their beliefs in the core of their
being. For a magus, the world is truly a magical place. When a hoodoo
practitioner throws salt into the corner of a room to banish evil spirits, they
know, not simply think, that evil spirits exist and that they flee from salt.
They never question it. They accept that wisdom passed down through generations
of root doctors. One of the hardest tasks a magus faces is truly internalizing received
wisdom in a society that does not accept magick.