Spells and Magic: What Happens When the Rubber Meets the Road? Rules of the Road

When it comes to spells and magic, nothing that we teach is more important than Rules of the Road--the rules that govern esoteric practices. Rules of the Road are the universal laws that will affect any practitioner of spells and magic, regardless of whether that practitioner knows about the rules or not. That's why the first, middle, and last thing we teach in the Esoteric School are the Rules of the Road. Not sure about these rules? Check out the version created by George Dew, one of our greatest teachers, HERE.

When the Rubber Meets the Road -- Stage One
Safety is the most important factor when we teach people about spells and magic. Hence, we stress the Rules of the Road over and over, ad nauseam (just ask some of our students!). So what happens when "the rubber meets the road," so to speak, at first? As a new practitioner of spells and magic, what happens first is that you practice the Rules of the Road exactly as given. This keeps you safe and prevents any negative "side effects" or "karma" from bouncing back to you.

For some practitioners, learning Rules of the Road requires that they print out a copy and read them over and over again. For other practitioners, being safe according to Universal law means using only spells and magic that have been created according to the Rules of the Road. For more advanced practitioners, following Universal laws means checking new spells or rituals against Rules of the Road before performing these spells or rituals.

You'll have to decide for yourself the kind of role that Rules of the Road will play in your magical practice. For instance, you have to decide whether Rules of the Road are true ... and whether you would rather be safe or risk negative side effects to find out. That's stage one.

When the Rubber Meets the Road -- Stage Two
Then there is stage two, in which you codify your own Rules of the Road. In other words, the "road," as defined by the Rules of the Road, is a pretty wide road. The Rules of the Road define the very external boundaries you don't want to cross in your practice of spells and magic. But on that very wide road, there is quite a bit of latitude. In the second--or more advanced--stage of your magical practice, you may want to define a more specific or tighter set of rules for your own practice. This may include specific interpretations of the general Rules of the Road, based on your direct observation and experience. Or you may wish to include rules that are meant more for daily practice or everyday use--something not covered in the broader Rules. Still other practitioners may include rules that only apply to specific areas of spellwork and magic, such as the use, keying, and protection of objects used in simulacra (or Voodoo) magic. See the Voodoo Ebook for more details on this practice.

The key in stage two is to define rules that are appropriate and specific to your more advanced magical practice. Don't worry, these rules will continue to grow, evolve, and change as you do. You will keep adding, modifying, and perhaps changing these rules, and that is exactly what you should do. The difference between a priest and a magician is that a priest merely performs rituals while a magician performs and creates them. So as you continue to create and grow in your practice, your own personal Rules of the Road should change to accommodate. Just be aware of this as you deepen your knowledge of spells and magic so that you can be aware of when and where your own personal Rules need to change.

As always, enjoy the magic!

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How to Do Voodoo: Moving Someone Away from You

We've all had the experience of people being in our vicinity who are less than pleasant, be it a bothersome neighbor or a criminal on the loose in the neighborhood.

With lousy neighbors, if you have tried traditional approaches--such as discussing problems with them or even bringing in law enforcement--to no avail, you still have magical options. The same is true of potentially dangerous people you cannot pinpoint, like burglars committing crimes in your neighborhood. You have no idea as to the identity of the burglars, so what can you do other than beefing up security on your property?

Magically, you do have recourse. You can learn how to do voodoo.

What can voodoo do for you in this case, you ask? Voodoo, or simulacra magic (as we like to call it), can help you move the person out of your sacred space. In fact, simulacra magic can move the person across the country if you so wish. We call this procedure "map moving."

How to Do Voodoo: Map Moving
In principle, map moving is nothing more than a set of simple steps in simulacra magic done in sequence. In case you don't know how to do voodoo (or simulacra magic), all we mean when we say simulacra magic is that we take an object that is a likeness of a person or thing, and we magically connect the object to the person or thing. Once thus magically connected, whatever is done to the object is likewise done to the person or thing.

For instance, you can key a figurine (a voodoo doll, in other words) or a picture to a person. Or you can key a map to a geographic location. To do the map moving magical procedure, you would need to key both. In principle, here is how you would achieve a successful map moving magical act:

1. Key a figurine to the person you wish to move. You can do this by simply holding the figurine in your dominant hand and flowing energy into it while you think thoughts or imagine images of the person. When the figurine feels tingly or hot, it has been keyed. Set the figurine carefully aside.
2. Key two maps to their geographic location. One map would contain the person's current location (be sure the map is large enough that you can mark the person's house). The other map would represent the location to which you will be moving the person.
3. Using a keyed plate (a magical plate that is personalized to your energies), put the person on the map on his or her current location (in a safe place). Leave the tools set up for a week. This associates a person with his or her current location.
4. Next, put the plate between the person and the map. This disassociates the person from his or her current location in preparation for moving. Leave this setup in place for a week.
5. Now replace the map under the plate with the second map, which contains the location of where you want to move the person (in one instance, we placed a map containing the location of the police station in preparation for moving a burglar to the station). Leave this setup in place for a week.
6. Finally, put the map on the plate, and the person on the exact location where you want him or her to be moved. In the case of the burglar, we put the simulacra (otherwise known as the voodoo doll) on the new desired location. With the burglar, we put the simulacra right on top of the police station. The person eventually turned himself in to the police without any further direct physical action on anyone else's part.

Learning how to do voodoo can be pretty neat, huh? You can learn specifically how to do this and other voodoo procedures in our "How To Do Voodoo" ebook.

How to Do Voodoo: Caveats
With magic, as with everything else, there are of course caveats. If you want to do a procedure like map moving, you have to be sure that you are "in the right," so to speak. That means you need to know and ensure that you are operating within the magical laws of:

1. Self Defense
2. Rules of the Road

If that be so, then you are all clear to do all kinds of simulacra magic for protection, attraction, manifestation, invisibility, and much more! All of this is covered in the Voodoo ebook.


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Ritual Magic: Rules for Creating Your Own

We have given you lots of ritual magic that you can do on a daily basis in previous articles, newsletters, and our ebook Daily Rituals to Attract What You Want in Life, but you can also create your own ritual magic. If you know how to create your own ritual magic, you can make rituals that are more personalized and fit your own specific aims and goals. Here are a few key things to keep in mind as you create your own ritual magic.

- A ritual should break through the mechanical personalities that usually control our lives. It should allow us to take a break from daily life and connect with consciousness, being aware of spiritual aims and who and where we really are.

- A ritual should connect us with Spirit by quieting the mind or putting one in touch with physical sensation. Attracting what we really want in life is only possible through connection with Spirit.

- A ritual can help us access higher powers and beings which can help with attracting what we want.

- A ritual can help us go to a deeper level and remember what we truly want. As we go through our busy lives reacting in mechanical ways to everything around us we are cut off from accessing our spiritual desires. Rituals can take those spiritual aims and bring them into how we interact with and go about daily life.

- Design the ritual in accordance with Universal Laws, Rules of the Road and principles of the four elements. This not only makes the ritual safer, it can enhance it. So for example if the ritual you are creating has to do with gaining knowledge, then incorporating principles of the Air element will make the ritual more powerful.

There you have it. Taking these few simple guidelines into account when creating your rituals will help make your rituals safer, more powerful, and help you attract the things you personally want in your life. So be creative, have fun, and start designing your own ritual magic.


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Mixing Up Magic with a Pinch of This and a Dab of That? Not Hardly!

I know magical practitioners who approach the craft with the attitude of, "All it takes is a pinch of this and a dab of that." And certainly if you watch movies like "Harry Potter" or TV shows like "Charmed" you might get the idea that magic works like your grandmother's cooking: no recipe needed, just follow your instincts. Not hardly!

Magic is a Precision Science
From experience I have discovered that magic is a precision science. Using the right words, ingredients, symbols, and tools is very important. For instance, we often teach our students to use invocations to address magical powers and beings. In one, we address "Sky Father" and "Earth Mother." I am always amazed at how many students casually switch the order of these words when doing the invocation, and end up addressing "Father Sky" and "Mother Earth," thinking that they are addressing the same beings as "Sky Father" and "Earth Mother."

Not so at all. Magic is a precision science, and "Sky Father" is an entirely different being than "Father Sky." If you think that the distinction is unimportant, consider your own name. Suppose your name is Adam Johnson. Would it make a difference to you whether I called you Adam or Johnson? Sure it would. In many cultures, addressing a person by their last name can be either a sign of respect or a sign of denigration. It can make a huge difference.

Do Magic as a Precision Science
My teacher and mentor in magic, Reverend George Dew, had a favorite saying about magic: "Take your time, think it through, do it right." That's a great motto to use anytime you want to practice magic. After all, in the case of invoking powers and beings to help you, you want to get the right being. Getting the wrong being can send you down a rabbit hole or through the looking glass!

People often wonder why our magic courses, like Basic Magic, take so long to complete. It's because magic is a precision science, and a person doing magic rituals or practices without understanding the reasons behind them is risking harm. If you want to learn more about practicing the art of magic as a precision science, here are some guidelines to help you.

1. Learn Rules of the Road, the universal laws that we have found true in governing magical practice.

2. If you don't know the reason behind a magical practice or ritual, do some research until you understand, or don't do the ritual at all.

3. Take your time and learn one magical item at a time. When you get in a hurry and want to win the lottery with a spell immediately, you might as well toss your wand in the trash. Fast magic loaded with anxiety won't produce results, ever!

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Is Obesity Actually a Taboo from a Magical Point of View?

This is a very interesting question ... One of our readers asked us to comment on a blog post written by another blogger who finds obesity to be a pagan taboo. Having read through the post, the point is well taken. That is, obesity, like many other diseases that are the result of an unhealthy lifestyle, can lead to early death. This blogger's point is that it is a shame to extinguish a "bright" pagan life through an unhealthy lifestyle, thus making obesity a "pagan taboo."

So one of our readers wants to know whether obesity is really a pagan taboo.

Can We Really Comment on the Entire Pagan Community?
Nope, we can't. The Esoteric School is an online magic school teaches the basics of magic and shamanism. We can't comment on the pagan world at large, only what we "know" through our own experiences and observations. This has led to some interesting results. For instance, several Native American tribes/nations have declared "war" on us because we promote the use of the Navajo Beauty Way. So be it. We've also gotten positive comments from some Lakota tribes for spreading the use of the Beauty Way. So there you have it. How we and others practice magic and shamanism is personal, and commentary tends to come from all directions, including left field.

What We Can Say about Magical Practice
At the Esoteric School, we follow The Rules of the Road, which doesn't really say anything about obesity being taboo or not. These rules, created by our own teacher, George Dew (co-founder of the Church of Seven Arrows) have yet to fail us in our use of magic and shamanism, so we follow these rules as a workable guide until proven otherwise.

What The Rules of the Road does say is this:

'The magician judges the "goodness" or "badness" of his or her own acts, whether they are conscious or unconscious acts, on the basis of what the Universe reflects back on him or her. The same is true of judging others, entire communities, states, or nations.'

So how could we interpret that?

• It could be said that a pagan practitioner who is obese and dies an early death may be experiencing the "goodness" or "badness" of his obese lifestyle. Whether death is a "bad" result of obesity is one interpretation. Death could also be taken as a "good" result if the person sought relief from being incarnate and found bodily existence painful.
• One could also say that the person had already "learned" everything he wanted to learn from this Earth School and was ready to move onto a new body and a new set of lessons. 
• Some predict that in 2012, up to 20 million people will leave the planet so that planetary shift predicted during this year can occur. Early death is one way to leave the planet.

What's the Bottom Line?
As unsatisfying as this may be, the answer to the question of whether obesity is a pagan taboo is that it is up to the observer. The second part of the above-quoted Rule is that the Universe reflects back to us the way we judge others. So this blogger is commenting on the sadness of the loss of life from obesity, calling it a pagan taboo. That's a judgment of sorts, but the good news is that we don't have to do anything about it. From our point of view, the Universe delivers instant-karma and there isn't a right answer to anything for all people.

When we read a blog post like the one about obesity being a pagan taboo, our response is something like, "Hmm, wonder how that's working out for him." It may work out great. The blogger may be sounding a "joyous note to Creator's ear" by "saving" people from obesity, and vibrating in emotional harmony with the Universe as he see it. Good for him. It may have some less-than-positive consequences as well. Only he knows what's really going on as a result of the position he's taken on obesity in pagans.

The Universe, especially during 2012, welcomes all manifestations of beingness. The results of those manifestations will also show up faster during this pivotal year than an any preceding year. So we thank the reader who asked us to comment on this. We thank the blogger who wrote the blog for being willing to stand on that square in life. And we continue to follow the Rules of the Road and watch our own manifestations as we proceed day by day. The results are definitely interesting ... sometimes more like a 2'x4' between the eyes from the Universe, and sometimes more like miraculous magic. It's all good, really!



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