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                                     Laws of Magick 
                                           by
                                      Simon Magus
 
      Magick,  not unlike  physics or  chemistry, operates  according to  certain
      laws.  These laws, as well as those of the sciences, reside in reality
      within  the heads of those who use them.   However, the analysis of reality
      into  artificial categories is  useful at certain  levels of investigation.
      It is well to bear in mind, nevertheless, that such categories reflect more
      the contents of the human mind than they do of whatever "reality" might  be
      out there.
 
      For the  following  analysis  we  are indebted  to  REAL  MAGIC  by  P.E.I.
      Bonewits.   Mr  Bonewits, incidentally,  holds the  first Bachelor  of Arts
      degree  in magic(k) ever awarded.   He, much to the  chagrin of some of the
      faculty of the University  of California, was awarded  the degree in  June,
      1970.
 
                                LAW OF CAUSE AND EFFECT
      Anything done under EXACTLY the same conditions will always be associated
      with  exactly  the same  result.   This  law is  taken  for granted  in the
      sciences and in everyday  life.  The whole  concept of causation is  now on
      shaky ground,  thanks to developments in the field of quantum physics.  But
      for  practical purposes,  in magick as  well as  in our  everyday lives, we
      ignore causality  to our own  peril.  We  must assume, at least  in dealing
      with things  the size of human beings, that effects follow causes.  Even in
      the constantly flowing, changing astral realm we find the law  of cause and
      effect in full operation.
           
                                    LAW OF KNOWLEDGE
      This  law tells us that  "understanding brings control,"  that the more you
      know the more  powerful you are.  If you know all about something, you have
      total control over it.  "Knowledge is power."
 
                                 LAW OF SELF-KNOWLEDGE
      This is a  sub-law of the previous  law and follows from  it.  If you  know
      yourself, you control yourself.  The more you know about yourself, the
      better you can control yourself.
 
                                      LAW OF NAMES
      This law is related to the Law of Knowledge and to  the Law of Association.
      It  states if  one knows  the whole  and complete  name of a  phenomenon or
      entity, one  has complete control over it.  This  is one of the reasons the
      Mystery  Religions (including  Christianity) conferred  a  new name  on the
      neophyte.  His new  name was then his true  name, but it was known  only to
      his fellow members  of the mystery.  The  Law of Names also relates  to the
      Law of Personification which will be explained later.  Two premises  behind
      the present law are:  (1) Names are definitions.   This is more  obvious in
      simpler languages, but it is as true of English as of any other.  Sometimes
      the  definition is hidden in  the origin of the word,  as is often the case
      with  those derived from  Latin or Greek, but  it is there.   (2) Names are
      mnemonic (memory) devices which trigger a range of associations.   (See the
      Law of Association).
                          
 
 
                                                                              833
 
                                 LAW OF WORDS OF POWER
      This is a sublaw of the Law of Names.  It states that certain words trigger
      changes  in the inner and outer realities  of the person saying them.  Many
      of these words are corruptions of the names of ancient Gods.  Words like
      "Abraxas,"  Osorronnophris,"  "Abracadabra" are  examples.    They have  no
      meaning to us today, but THEIR POWER LIES IN THE SOUNDS OF THE WORDS
      THEMSELVES.
 
                                   LAW OF ASSOCIATION
      If two things have something in  common (anything!), that thing can be used
      to control both.  Bell's theorem in quantum mechanics indicates that every
      particle in the Universe affects every other.  The following two sublaws,
      which anthropologists think are the basis of "primitive" magick, are more
      useful in practice.  These are the Laws of Similarity and Contagion.
 
                                   LAW OF SIMILARITY
      Most  people have  heard  of sympathetic  magick, which  is  based on  this
      principle.  Effects resemble causes.   To make something fly, put  feathers
      on it and make chirping noises.  Wave it in the air.  The example is not
      entirely absurd and serves to illustrate the principle.  Much of the magick
      of "primitive" people  is of this  nature.   For example, rain  is made  by
      (among other  actions) sprinkling water on  the ground (or by  washing your
      car -- a modern example of the same principle!).
 
                                    LAW OF CONTAGION
      This  is the principle behind doll-sticking and such in "primitive" magick.
      This directly  relates to  Bell's theorem  and states  that things once  in
      physical contact continue  to influence  one another after  they have  been
      separated.  This relates more to our consciousness than to things as
      they are in the physical world, but defining the two is more difficult than
      they   appear  on  the  surface.     Thinking,  feeling,   and  memory  are
      associational  functions of  the human  brain.   New  data  are related  to
      existing knowledge and patterns  are established which correlate particular
      elements  of   knowledge.    The   overall  pattern,  which   includes  the
      "personality" and  the "world view" is  the METAPATTERN of all  this.  This
      metapattern we may consider to be made up of the  memories, fantasy images,
      beliefs, values, techniques, rules of  behavior, attitudes, etc. which make
      up the individuality of the person.
                           
                                 LAW OF IDENTIFICATION
      This law  relates to those  of Knowledge, Association  and Personification.
      It states that by complete association between your metapattern and that of
      another entity, you can BECOME that entity.  You can then examine your own
      metapattern from the point of view of that entity.  At full identification,
      one "becomes" the entity.  All idea of distinctness vanishes and you are
      empowered  with all  the  attributes of  that entity  because you  ARE that
      entity.    The danger  here  is that  many people  become  lost in  the new
      identity  as  the  stronger  metapattern  submerges  the  weaker.    Proper
      training, practice and guidance will lessen the danger.
 
 
                                                                              834
 
                                    LAW OF SYNTHESIS
      Two opposing ideas or items of data will be resolved into a third idea that
      is more valid than the first two.  This principle allows you to hold two
      seemingly contradictory ideas (such as, "Electrons are particles," and
      "Electrons are waves.") at the same time.  Reality is as it is, not as we
      conceive  it  (or  even  as  we  perceive  it,  for  that   matter).    The
      wave-particle duality in physics is an example.  Physicists were nonplussed
      to  observe in  their  experiments that  light  behaved (depending  on  the
      experiment) sometimes  like a wave  and sometimes like  a particle.   Light
      striking a surface  of copper,  say, releases electrons  from the  surface.
      This  phenomenon, when examined closely, demonstrates that light is made up
      of particles (now called photons) which impart energy to the electrons,
      allowing them to escape.  However, another experiment, in which we direct
      a beam of light at some pinholes, "proves" that light is of the nature of
      waves.  If we direct a beam of light at an arrangement of pinholes:
 
      ---------------------------------------
      I          I                          I
      I          I                          I
      I          I               screen-->  I
      I          I                          I
      I                <--pinhole           I
      I          I                          I
      I          I                          I
                 I                          I
      LIGHT      I                          I
                 I                          I
      I          I                          I
      I          I                          I
      I                <--pinhole           I
      I          I                          I
      I          I                          I
      I          I                          I
      I          I                          I
      ---------------------------------------
 
      assuming that we have a beam  of "parallel" light (a plane wavefront),
      we see the light projected onto the screen.  If we cover one of the
      pinholes, we see a single  illuminated spot on the screen.  If  wwe uncover
      the  first  and cover  the  second  pinhole, we  again  see  a single  spot
      projected onto the  screen.  Now, if we  uncover both pinholes, what  do we
      see?  Two spots  of light?  No!  We see a  pattern of alternating light and
      dark bands on  the screen.  This phenomenon is  due to INTERFERENCE between
      the crests and  troughs of the  WAVES of light  as they strike  the screen.
      When two crests occur  together, or two troughs, the amplitude  is doubled,
      and we get a bright area. But when a crest and trough coincide, they cancel
      each  other,  and  the  result  is  a  dark  spot  of  zero  amplitude  (no
      brightness).   The point of all this  is that interference is necessarily a
      WAVE phenomenon.   The experiment  demonstrates the wave  nature of  light.
      How do  we resolve  the dilemma?   By  realizing that  we are dealing  with
      something that is neither a wave nor a particle, but SOMETHING ELSE.
 
 
                                                                              835
 


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