As much as I would like to avoid it, I feel I must first
define Emergent Magick (EMK). Especially considering that at this point, there
are maybe about fifty practitioners of EMK on the planet. If you follow my
other blog, Scroll of Thoth, you probably have some idea what it is, but I know
that I have failed to define it with any concision. Part of that is because I
am publishing a book on the subject, which will be released in early 2019. It
really needs an entire book and more to get the concept across. Also because
like any other magical philosophy, it’s slippery, and no matter how skilled I
think I am as a writer, words always fail to encompass it in its entirety. And
you’ve probably figured out by now I’m a wordy son-of-a-bitch, which makes it
doubly hard to do this. I’ll endeavor to make it as short as possible so we can
get on with the real subject at hand.
EMK defines magick as, “The art of altering consciousness.”
In essence, the universe itself is created and directed by consciousness, and
magick is a way to influence that consciousness. Consciousness itself lacks
universally accepted definition. For our purposes it includes any sufficiently
complex system that can perceive. If you accept that sub-atomic systems are
sufficiently complex, and that quantum theory proves that particles have some
form of perception, this includes everything in the universe to a greater or
lesser degree. Art, the activity of creation, influences consciousness. Ritual
is the art of the magician, and it is specifically designed to alter
consciousness.
I am very proud to announce the creation of a new blog – Emergent Animism (EMAN). EMAN is my own personal Emergent Magick paradigm, and this blog will be going deep with my thoughts on spirits, daily practice, and magick in general.
Don’t worry. Scroll of Thoth is not going away. I will be cross-posting on this blog until Emergent Animism develops a following of its own.
Thoth, Ibis-headed god of the Moon, patron of scribes and magicians, secretary of the gods. Limestone relief. Old Kingdom, 5th-6th Dynasty, 3rd millennium BC. Now in the Vatican Museums.
Praise Thoth! He who creates the word, and speaks the word, and is the word. All tremble before Thoth, Herald of Ra.
Ancient Egyptian amulet (gold with lapis lazuli, turquoise, and steatite inlays) depicting the ba (one of the parts of the soul in Egyptian thought, typically imagined as a bird with a human head). Artist unknown; Ptolemaic period (332-30 BCE). Now in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Photo credit: LACMA.
