Author: Maggi Setti
[a WitchVox Sponsor] Posted: December 2nd. 2012
Times Viewed: 3,507
Engaging in magick pushes the magickal practitioner to have ever evolving beliefs that are outside of the box. These beliefs include how we think, what we believe in, and the very essence of the nature of language, words, and the structure of thought. Thoughts, words, and symbol sets allow us to understand and define things, but can also act as mental chains and prisons that limit our belief structures and our ability to have new ideas and even our ability to empower our magick through willful intent. Becoming aware of the different ways in which we cut ourselves off from the ability to believe in and have an understanding of the metaphysical nature of the universe is a critical step in encouraging fulfilling engagement with the Mysteries, the Gods, and successful spell-craft.
In the popular, often quoted, science fiction movie blockbuster, The Matrix, the main character Neo goes through a labyrinth of experiences that makes him question the nature of reality. Toward the end of the first movie, a child prodigy that can bend spoons with his mind looks to Neo, and says, “The trick is, there is no spoon. You bend your mind to the reality around the spoon, not the spoon itself.”
What allows Neo to make advances that no one ever has, thus making him The One, is that he is able to fully grasp that in this holographic world that people are plugged into, none of the rules are real and can be bent to one’s will. Most of the characters in the Matrix, even when they find out that what they thought of reality was a computer-generated fantasy, are unable to convince their minds that all of the rules of physics can be bent. The characters all put pre-set limitations on consciousness on themselves.
We all put pre-set limitations on our minds in terms of what is possible. These chains of the mind are the main limiting factor in what we allow to be possible in our spell-craft, psychic skills, and mystical belief. Many of these pre-sets are unconscious. These limitations are based on definitions of reality and morality that were imposed upon us during our formative years. Those limitations of upbringing may have been imposed by our parents, education (including current scientific, psychological, religious, theological, and philosophical theories) , peer pressure, and societal expectations.
Hard sciences such as physics, biology, and mathematics, as well as soft sciences such as psychology, sociology, and anthropology help us to make determinations about how the world works and how we fit into that world. In fact, the word to define can be iterated in several ways, such as: to determine or fix the boundaries or extent of, to make clear the outline or form of, and to identify the essential qualities of. Words and language, as well as science, use forms of categorization to create containers of thought to understand the essence of ideas and how things work. A container (whether through definitions or even a glass holding water) contains, creates boundaries, and also limits movement into other shapes. This means that in order to learn a system of categorization or any field of study, you must limit the rules in which you are able to think about something. This can be helpful as long as we also allow ourselves to be cognizant that we are also limiting the possibilities.
An important aspect of the work of a witch is to be consciously aware of the choices we make, including what we choose to believe in. Galileo posited that the world was round based on his studies. This idea was so outside of what society, driven by the church, had said was truth, which he was considered a heretic and was incarcerated. Yet, we are taught that the world is round currently in grade schools, where in every classroom there is a globe. If someone were to walk into a classroom, throw the globe out the window, and demand that we believe the world was flat, we would either stare incredulously, or just laugh. Yet, hundreds of years ago, “societal truth” was just the opposite. We see this battle of wills going on right now with the evolution vs. creation theory struggle. Both sides of this coin cannot even fathom that the other side is “right” or is speaking truth based on what they hold as core beliefs.
We easily get hung up on words. Those coming from very religious backgrounds can find that, even while exploring alternative religious options, they may hold onto the core beliefs of what is real and what is false based on what was taught to them as children. For example many find that they still have firmer literal belief in theological constructs such as the Christian Trinity than they do when engaging the stories commonly put into the category of mythology. A way to unlearn a biased belief is to also categorize the Judeo-Christian stories as mythology as well. Mythology then becomes a set of religious, archetypal allegories, rather than equating the word myth to mean tall tale or fiction. In this way, you start to work with both the underlying archetypal and psychological themes of all myths equally. This will help foster the development of relationships with the spiritual entities, i.e. the Gods, which are the characters described in these stories. Myths can act as keys to accessing spiritual entities, but without the possibility of considering these entities as real, you shut the door to direct mystical experience.
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