Many magi have quite the ego. I am not an exception. It
requires a certain amount of hutzpah to write a book on magick and believe it
worthy to be added to the already massive corpus of knowledge on the subject.
Proclaiming one’s station and ability, however over inflated those claims, is
part of the tradition. Not all spirits are friendly. Some need to be
intimidated. The magus does this by listing their position, their lineage, and
their allies in the spirit world.
Is it all bullshit? Yes, and no. At least in my case. I
freely admit I am a lazy and undisciplined ass who preaches more than he
practices. That needs to end now.
Almost all magical systems start off by giving a perspective
initiate a system of exercises meant to build up their skills in achieving
altered states of consciousness and develop a means of magical self-defense.
These skills are vital for any magus. In fact, I wrote my own prescribed
exercises specifically for Emergent Magick (EMK).I call it Liber F, or Liber
Fodienda, Latin for “The Book of Mining.”Named after one of the core
principles of EMK— “The Citadel of Emergent Magick is built from stone mined through
the disciplines of yoga.”
Time for full disclosure. I hope this makes some people feel
better about themselves and shatters the illusion that any of us are perfect.
I’m doing this from memory so most likely there have been many more failures
not listed. Here is my history of working various systems of magical
exercise.
