Are You a Magical Geek? Learn Magic by Email

There are many different ways to learn magic and we have an easy way for beginners to get started. You can actually learn magic through your email. If you're ready to get started on a magical path and looking for a way of how to study magic that will work into your busy schedule, then our Everyday Magic Email Course may be the solution for you. This course sends you an email each week for 52 weeks with magic tips and techniques to try out to learn magic. Here is a sample of one of the many magic techniques you can get from this course:

Slow Down Your Mind
If you have one of those minds that stays in high gear and is hard to turn off or stays in worry mode, you can use magic to help slow it down. A mind that is constantly going can make it hard to go to sleep at night, to meditate or just enjoy some silence and relaxation time. With this technique you slow down your body to slow down your mind.

Here's all you have to do. When you feel your mind taking off and getting out of control, get up and start moving around very, very SLOWLY. Walk from one side of the room to the other taking very slow and deliberate steps. As you move, feel each sensation in your body. Feel your feet making contact with the ground, your arms swinging by your side, your breath moving in and out of your lungs and so forth. The more you sink into the physical sensations and slow your body down, the slower your mind will start moving. Doing this regularly will help your mind be able to slow down when you need it to like when you want to go to sleep or meditate and keep it much more focused when you need to work.

This is also a good technique to use if you are feeling anxious or nervous. Give it a try and then get the Everyday Magic Email Course for a simple way to learn magic and get more magical insights like this.

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Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Magical Newbie? Get the Downlow on Magic and How to Study It

It seems like we get more and more emails all the time from people just discovering the world of real magic and wanting to know how to study magic. We think it's great that the word is continuing to spread and more people are showing an interest in magical studies. Of course when it comes to magic, there are numerous traditions that one can study. We suggest that newbies look through our website and blog articles to get an idea of the type of magical studies and traditions that we offer. But no matter what tradition you end up finding that resonates with you, learning about the 4 elements of Air, Water, Earth, and Fire is always a good place to start. Since everything in the Universe is comprised of the 4 elements, they are literally part of everything else you will study in magic.

Starting with the 4 Elements
In general the magical tradition that you choose to follow will define how to study by what types of resources are available. Since the 4 elements are at the foundation of magical studies, we start our Basic Magic class students off by teaching them indepth information about the correspondences and characteristics of each of the elements. They then use each element with its various colors and each of its characteristics in a practical way so as to develop personal experience with each. This same information is available to all in short courses of each element on multi-media cd. After the 4 elements have been mastered, students can then move on to studies that include:

• Universal Laws that govern magical practice
• Hand Magic and Self Defense
• Magical Tools: Firebowl, Wand, Athame, Chalice and Plate
• Divination
• Tarot
• Sonics
• Spellwork

More Magic for Newbies
One important point to make to newbies is that magic is an ongoing study. It is not a quick study and for the true magician it becomes a way of life. And though there are various magical traditions that have differences in their ways and practices, there are also many similarities between them. It is pretty universal that magic gives us the ability to communicate with beings on all levels, gives us a connection with nature and spirit beings, gives us direct experience with the workings of the Universe including co-creating to manifest that which we desire, and is a path of spiritual growth. Magic as practiced at the Esoteric School is also defined as:

• a precision science
• the science of deliberate creation.
• the science of effective prayer.
• the science of manifesting Higher Will on the energetic and material planes
• the science of heightened awareness, selective perception, and dynamic, harmonious relationships.
• the study of intention (as per Aleister Crowley, one of the greatest magicians).
• the system of creation, not coercion.

If all this sounds good to you, you can get your magical feet wet with our Kindle Book, Witchcraft Spell Book: The Complete Guide of Witchcraft Rituals & Spells for Beginners. To find out more about the magical studies we offer and how to study magic visit our How To Study Magic section of our website for a more extensive look at magical topics. After all it's never too late to make magic a part of your life. 

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Image courtesy of digitalart / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Magic for When Someone is Acting Like a Donkey's Butt

Can you use magic when someone is treating you badly, invading your privacy or sacred space or just rather acting like a donkey's butt? As long as you make sure you are on the right side of the Rules of the Road, the rules for magical self defense, and have done nothing to provoke the situation, then you certainly can. There are several means of self-defense magic that you can use in this matter, but using simulacra or voodoo magic is another option. You can learn more about voodoo or simulacra magic in our How to Do Voodoo ebook, but here is a technique one of our mentors used when he discovered a "watcher" had been placed in his home.

What is a Watcher?
Before getting to the voodoo technique; a little history. What exactly is a watcher? There are magical practitioners that can create energy matrices that look like insects such as flies, wasps or ants or they animate the actual bodies of small insects that have died. They use these forms because they are able to slip through your shields and omnils that you have around your home for protection. They are usually used to spy on you or influence you and are therefore called watchers. Watchers many times are thought forms that are sent by others. Since thought forms are connected to the body with a silver cord, they can be dangerous when cut. Cutting one of these cords causes it to snap back at the person and can sometimes result in death. If you suspect you may have a watcher around you, look for signs such as an insect that shows up in a place it could not have naturally gotten to, one that does not have the right numbers of legs and wings that it should naturally have, or if it travels in a straight line or follows you around the house.

Testing For a Watcher
There are a few different techniques you can use as a test to see if you do have a watcher and possibly find out who sent it. Here is the technique we promised to pass on from our mentor.

Use your Chalice, the magical tool for the Water element, to first capture the suspected watcher. The Chalice is a type of standing shield that is as effective as an omnil so anything captured in it becomes confined and isolated. When you see the suspected watcher being still, put your Chalice upside down over it. Then slide a thin cardboard piece under the Chalice and holding the cardboard over the top of the cup, turn the Chalice to an upright position. Now you have captured the watcher and can inspect it more closely through the Chalice. If you want to find out who sent it, you can do like our mentor did and tape the cardboard down over the top of the cup so that it doesn't escape, then pack it up and send it literally on a slow boat to China. Once he did this, all he had to do was look around at people he knew for signs of seasickness or nausea. Once he found the person who had these symptoms for several months, he knew that he did indeed have a watcher and exactly who had sent it. This works because the sender did not disconnect from the watcher before it was trapped and so whatever was done to the watcher had the same effect on the sender. It is like a simulacra that is keyed to a particular person or a voodoo doll. For this reason, you do need to be careful and make sure you are within your magical rights when planning what you will do to the watcher.

To learn more about simulacra or voodoo magic and watchers as well as various techniques to use with them all, check out the How to Do Voodoo ebook. There is so much you can magically accomplish with this fascinating study.

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Image courtesy of Evgeni Dinev / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Shamanism And Medical Science - Mutually Exclusive Disciplines?

contributed by reader, Jenni Greaves

Shamanism is, sadly, viewed by many as a dubious quack-practice grounded in bygone superstition. The minds of such people are closed to the potential of shamanic healing, and they have no wish to discuss the matter. However, some who may not quite believe in the more mystical aspects of shamanism are perfectly willing to accept it as a practice which can be of immense help to the psyche. Indeed, many have likened psychologists to modern shamans, their jobs essentially being to conduct people through the sometimes perilous realm of their souls (or psyches) and resolve conflicts therein. Though the ideological theories of the two doctrines may differ in some ways, the essential aim and, often modus operandi, bear marked similarities. This is increasingly becoming a matter of interest to modern science. Vanderbilt University points out that "Shamanic methods of working with dreams and being conscious and awake while dreaming open new doors in psychological research into the nature and history of consciousness" [1].  While some may be doubtful about the magical aspects of shamanism, modern medicine is growing to accept its psychological and even physical value. Even disbelievers can therefore benefit from shamanism without feeling that they are compromising their scientific principles.

The Psychoanalyst As Shaman
The idea of shamanic soul-flights as psychological healing tools have been present ever since the fathers of psychiatry began to appreciate the presence of and delve into the human subconscious. Freud and Jung, the undisputed fathers of modern psychiatry, were incredibly interested in the myths, symbols and archetypes with which shamans work. Both saw such things as representative of deep cultural mores which are both embedded within and representative of the human mind. Though couching his theories in scientific language, the exploration of the psyche which Freud published in "The Interpretation of Dreams" [2] would have been recognizable to any shaman. The way Freud saw it, mythic frameworks, symbols, and tale-formulae were a way in which humans could interpret and engage with their psychological states (and the demons inherent therein). The shamanic view is something more mysterious, spiritual, and magical, but the idea of healing through a mythic 'soul-journey' is common to both disciplines.

Mind, Body, Soul - Full Integration
Recently, medical science has begun to turn its attention to the spiritual and emotional aspects of healing. Initially this trend began (understandably enough) within the spheres of mental health and psychiatry. However, the medical establishment is now tentatively beginning to explore the connection between mind and body in an enhanced manner, focusing on the emotional aspects of pain and disease, and the physical effects of psychological trauma. This field of study began where physical illness and mental trauma self-evidently overlap – with addiction and substance disorders. The popularity and apparent success of recovery programs which focused on a degree of spirituality gave medical authorities – accustomed to dealing with disorders purely on a physical or chemical basis, pause for thought. The Betty Ford Institute and the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment investigated the phenomenon in 2007, concluding that "spirituality, however hard to define in operational terms, likely constitutes an important motivator for recovery for some (perhaps many) substance-dependent people." [3]. From a shamanic point of view, an addiction is an affliction of the soul caused by the absence or damage of some aspect of the self. Retrieval of the errant part and spiritual re-integration causes the person to become whole again, whereupon they will not need the actions of drugs or alcohol to fill the 'gap'. While unwilling or unable to accept this precise reasoning, medical practitioners are now accepting that addiction is a psychological problem which can be greatly aided by psychoanalytical and spiritual techniques which aid psychological wellness and wholeness. Rehabs.com state that many treatment centers now employ semi-spiritual methods designed to promote mental wholeness and wellness, including "massage and acupuncture services"  [4].

Shamanism and Pain
Shamanism and shamanistic techniques are also being explored in relation to pain and the person's ability to cope with it. In 1949, anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss published "Structural Anthropology" [5] – a book which delved into anthropological theory, practice and conclusions. Within this book was a paper entitled "The Effectiveness of Symbols", in which Levi-Strauss described and analyzed a shamanic ritual of the Cuna people from Panama. The purpose of the ritual was to aid a woman with a difficult childbirth. The shaman, through an elaborate blend of tale-telling and ritual, pulled the woman into a mythic yet deeply personal world which Levi-Strauss perceived to belong to the cultural subconscious. The shaman and his patient believed themselves to be drawing positive spiritual energies to their side and embarking upon a mythic journey through which the woman's soul would be rendered whole and she would gain the strength needed to get through the birth. Levi-Strauss saw it in less mystical terms, but was in no way immune to the psychological potential of the ritual. Indeed, he compared the shaman to a psychoanalyst and drew strong parallels between the ultimate aim and results of the ritual and that of a psychoanalytic session. Neither was he too closed-minded to appreciate the real, physical healing potential of the shamanic ritual. Even though he did not believe in magic or the religion of the Cuna, he did believe in the potential within the mind to heal and aid the body. According to Levi-Strauss, the shaman was "making explicit a situation originally existing on the emotional level and...rendering acceptable to the mind pains which the body refuses to tolerate".  Medical science increasingly accepts that the volume of pain is less important than the mind's ability to cope with it. Naturally every person has their breaking point, but it is truly astounding what the human can bear when they have the right mentality. The British Journal of Anesthesia points out that a person's beliefs about and understanding of the pain which they are experiencing can form "part of the psychosocial context, known to be the largest indicator in predicting the extent of pain-associated disability" [6], and go on to recommend cognitive behavioral therapy for sufferers of chronic pain, in order to diminish their suffering and enable them to cope. In just such a manner does the shaman build up the psychological strength of the patient, bolstering them, unlocking the resources hidden deep within their souls, and enabling them to draw upon those resources to aid them in their pain.

Better United
It seems, therefore, that shamanistic techniques and medical techniques - particularly those of the psychiatrist - can be successfully combined to bring about healing even for those who do not believe in mystical shamanism. The ancient shamans knew a good deal more about the depths of our minds and the relations between mind and body than western science has, until recently, cared to admit-  and their techniques can still be used to bring about unity and healing for suffering people.

[1] Vanderbilt University, "What is Shamanistic Healing?"
[2] Sigmund Freud, "The Interpretation of Dreams", Sterling Publishing
[3] Marc Galanter, Helen Dermatis, Gregory Bunt, Caroline Williams, Manuel Trujillo, Paul Steinke, "Assessment of spirituality and its relevance to addiction treatment", Betty Ford Institute and Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 2007
[4] Rehabs, "Advantages and disadvantages of various methods"
[5] Claude Levi-Strauss, "Structural Anthropology", Basic Books Publishing
[6] C.Eccleston, "Role of psychology in pain management", BJA, 2001