Thoughts on Magic: History/Theory/Practice

If you're looking for the book discussed here, you're looking for the one by Schertel and annotated by some jerk. This video's title includes the book's title.
Conan Collection: • The Complete Chronicle...

[@Skimmerlit]

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[@VoyagerOne1-pi9ot]

Much of what you described in the video is described within Taoist cosmology. I think the author was the highest level INTP. In Taoism the idea of service to a higher being that you mentioned is described as “being in alignment with the eternal dao”. I’m not quite sure I understand your use of the word “Demond”, however, the dao de jing does mention that what is good, soon becomes evil, and what is evil soon becomes good because “man’s confusion is long standing”. This is encoded in the Yin Yang Symbol (along with nearly every other concept imaginable). The concept of ying yang is kinda like how machines can describe the entire world using binary code or 1s and 0s. Except it goes far beyond the physical word, and describes the deepest concepts of reality. The line you say about mercy not being forced by momentary exertion is the concept of Wei way, which means doing without doing. They say the sage (or the magician) does nothing yet nothing is left undone. The entire concept is basically about embracing the paradoxical nature of reality to achieve things with ultimate efficiency. Which I have found to be the case in much of life, in dealing with people and nature, because things created by force can never last. Or in spiritual terms, you have to keep your mind fixed on your desired outcome and let things unfold naturally. And oddly enough, that often leads you to where you want to go. It even says the same thing about ritual that you’ve observed. Saying “it’s the husk of true faith” Although according to Taoist cosmology what you’re saying is correct, I believe the problem with it is when you delve to much into the nitty gritty things become to strange to be practical. You mentioned that whenever you feel that you’re getting close to the end of the tunnel you find out there’s more. I believe that’s because the universe in infinite, so theirs always more. Everything described in this video is in the a short text called the Dao de jing, however the dao de jing explicitly forbids talking about this sort of thing publicly. I think it’s because it says “if you enumerate the parts of a carriage, you have not described a carriage”.

[@shane1948]

Have you ever read the Tao Te Ching? It's an interesting piece of literature to skim through

[@Skimmerlit]

The Mitchell translation. It's interesting but not my thing. It reads like someone putting on an offensive silk robe and using fragments of truth to manipulate slightly more astute people into pacifying themselves. It follows the pattern.

[@shane1948]

@@Skimmerlit I see. I read the translation through some free no frills app. No commentary whatsoever. I see it more as a pattern of how things work than a religious text. Like a meta "religion" that swallows all other religions up.

[@Skimmerlit]

I’m not knocking it. I’m glad I read it, but I’m thankful I didn’t read it when I was 19.

[@christopherchilton-smith6482]

Honestly, this is only interesting (to me) if time has retroactive causality. Then it's possible to see much of this as the consequence of the Godhead having been formed somtime in the future, self reflecting. This self reflection, to understand its own formation also has the effect of stabilizing it's existence in a universe subjected to retroactive causality. The Godhead needs you to be and to behave in certain ways, to come to specific understandings and take specific actions to stabilize it's existence in the future. 🙈🙉🙊