CHAPTER 1

The Magick of Will

Magick is the Science and Art of causing change tooccur in conformity with Will.

—Magick in Theory and Practice

The above definition of Magick can be as misleading in its simplicity as it isin its complexity. The key word is of course Will, [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] in Greek, and according tothis definition, any willed action is an act of Magick: brushing your teeth,walking the dog, or even paying your taxes.

Conversely any unwilled action is an unmagical act: reaching for a cigarette;ordering that fourth Martini; or any habitual or reactive behavior thatoverrides the momentum of one's life focus could fall into the category of anunmagical act.

Try as we might there is no escaping this simple fact: We are all Magicians andwe are either competent or incompetent practitioners of our craft.

The great majority of successful Magicians do not even realize (nor should theycare) that they are Magicians, or that there is a name for what they do so well.They just go through life striving to cause change to occur in conformity withtheir Wills and that's that. They have made a science out of their lifestyle andthey execute it with great art. They work hard, but for them the work is not aburden it is a labor of love and a continuing expression of the purpose of theirexistence.

Obviously most of us do not, without great effort, fall into this fortunatecategory of human being. Our Magick falls somewhere between competence andincompetence. Occasionally we become aware of what our Will is (or might be) andtry to work the Magick. But more often than not, we find ourselves simplyresponding to an endless chain reaction of external events and circumstancesover which we have little or no control.

Out of fear, frustration, or what might be called spiritual fatigue, many of usturn to religions whose champions are more than happy to tell us, in nouncertain terms, exactly where our place in the universe is.

The religions that Westerners most frequently are attracted to (Christianity,with its many sects, Judaism, and Islam) postulate a Supreme Being whopersonifies and manifests the order of the universe. The mechanism of this orderis often termed the "Will of God." By surrendering the individual will to Willof God, the religious devotee can theoretically harmonize his or her life withthat of the Deity's. Not my will, but Thine be done.

In order for us to know God's Will, these religions offer, for our great comfort(and often from ancient and "infallible" sources), rules, commandments, andassorted scriptural injunctions to guide the thoughts and behavior of thefaithful. As an added safeguard that these scriptures be "correctly"interpreted, a priestcraft of some form or another invariably evolves andassumes the role of a visible mediator between the worshiper and the Deity. Forthose who dutifully comply with the dictated formulae and surrender their willsto the prescribed Will of God, a great burden is lifted from their shoulders.They no longer feel the need for direct spiritual experience, and faith in theinfallibility of the dogmatists makes even intellectual investigationunnecessary. The reward for such spiritual collaborators is the smug comfort ofknowing that those who haven't submitted to the formula will suffer after death,and that they who have, will not.

Magick also postulates a universal order—call it God, Nature, the Supreme Being,the Grand Architect of the Universe, the Tao, or just the-way-things-are. Butthe Magician knows that the pure Will of every man and every woman is already inperfect harmony with the divine Will; in fact they are one and the same. It isthe Magician's Great Work to endeavor to remove the obstacles that hinder his orher perfect realization of that Will and then proceed to execute it.

We perceive in the world around us a vast cosmic orderliness (or at least aglorious systematized chaos). Galaxies, stars, planets, atoms, electrons, andother sub-atomic particles all seem to have found their niche in the grandscheme of things and behave themselves accordingly. By realizing our True Willswe find our place ... our orbit. By doing our True Will, we have the inertia of theentire universe to assist us.

The Magician does not necessarily want the burden of existence lifted from hisshoulders; he wants to understand why he is carrying it and where.

CHAPTER 2

The Evolution of Magical Formulae

In the Years of the Primal Course, in the dawn of terrestrial birth,Man mastered the mammoth and horse; and Man was the Lord of the Earth.He made him an hollow skin from the heart of an holy tree;He compassed the earth therein, and Man was the Lord of the Sea.He controlled the vigour of steam, he harnessed the lightning for hire;He drove the celestial team; and Man was the Lord of the Fire.Deep-mouthed from their thrones deep-seated, the choirs of the aeons declareThe last of the demons defeated, for Man is the Lord of the Air.Arise, 0 man, in thy strength! the kingdom is thine to inherit,Till the high gods witness at length that Man is the Lord of his spirit.

—The Pentagram

A magical formula is a statement of perceived cosmological fact or theory It canbe as simple as an axiom:

Love thy neighbor as thyself. An apple a day keeps the doctor away.

It can be a statement or a set of symbols revealing the mechanism of a naturallaw:

As above, so below. All is sorrow. Love is the law, love under will.

E = MC². YHVH. INRI. AUM.

It can even be a single word that initiates an entire age:

TAO; ANATTA; [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]

Magical formulae evolve from older magical formulae as humanity's ability toperceive itself and the universe increases. A change in the consciousness of therace necessitates a change in magical formula. It's not that the old formuladoesn't work anymore, it's just that the new one works so much better. Obsoleteformulae of the past aren't necessarily discarded completely but are oftenamended or fine-tuned to better harmonize with a new, expanded understanding...