Spoken Sorcery, Non-Magical Books, Magical Blockages, Financial Advice, and Dzogchen Chaonomism – Strategic Sorcery Answers
Every month I answer questions about magic in the Strategic Sorcery Group. There were over lots questions last month, but these are the top 7….
1. How relevant is the utterance of words, that is actually sounding the words out while doing magic? Considering that the connection between things and words as well as their pronunciation is an arbitrary choice within a language system that is bound by time, location, culture etc.
Is what you hope to achieve something you would like to actually manifest in the world or is just knowing it enough?
If so, then SPEAK THE WORDS.
Really, Your intent matters so much less than you have been led to believe\
2. What non-magical texts would you recommend reading? I saw a comment you made about philosophers, so I’m curious what books you think could strengthen perception and help build a “magical mind”, if there is such a thing?
There are SO MANY. The ones that come immediately to mind:
- The Stoic Trinity: Epictitus, Marcus Aurelius, Seneca.
- The Heart Sutra
- Siddhartha by Herman Hesse
- Napoleon Hill Think and Grow Rich
- The Unbearable Lightness of Being
- Zorba the Greek
- Principals for a Free Society
- Four Hour Work Week
- Heartdrops of Dharmakaya
- Machiavellis Art of War (more applicable to magic than Sun Tzu)
- Man’s Search for meaning – Viktor E. Frankl
- Anything you want – Derek Sivers
- Anything from Emerson, I guess start with nature.
- The Fountainhead (I am in general not a fan of Ayn Rand, this is the only exception)
- Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.
- The War of Art by Steven Pressfield
- 48 laws of Power (as long as you’re not a douche, if you are then skip it) – Greene
- Deep Work – Cal NewportGod, there are just so many I don’t even know where to stop.
2.5 Wow, this is great thanks! I’d like to see some more as well. A couple of these seem odd in such a list, more like business books. Can you comment on that?
Four Hour Work Week taught me immeasurable lessons on finding the best application for everything I do. What is the Minimum required dose that gives maximum benefits before diminishing returns? How many things can you actually MASTER vs be COMPENTANT at? How do you manage time in a life that is going to have everything everyone else has PLUS another major factor like magic. Though the book has flaws and faults, it is the one that made me realize that I could make Strategic Sorcery happen and provide a viable living.
Deep Work I read just recently and immediately re-read it. It has already impacted my life profoundly and I am adjusting my consultation, and social media policies around it. It relates to WAY more than just business, but how we approach everything.
Think and Grow Rich is largely about developing and cultivating a definite chief Aim. It’s lessons on this are profound, even if some of it should be discarded. It should NOT be judged by New Thought ventures like “the secret” that came after it.
Anything You Want is filled with all manner of strategic advice such as “relax for the same result” where he details a gruelling bike ride that he used to kill himself to improve his time on. One day he decided to just take it easy and enjoy the ride and notice the scenergy and give no thought to time or maximizing effort – he arrived only 1 minute later than he normally would.
Those are the only business books I think.
Some books like Principals of a Free Society and I would even include Suicide of the West as well, get one thinking about society at large, how it is arranged, and how best to function in it. any magic that is disconnected from such thoughts is going to fail at being effective for Strategic applications.
3. What is a respectful procedure for changing regular offerings? I am considering cutting alcohol out of my diet completely for at least a little while, if not for good. My usual weekly offering is some whiskey, eggs and incense, and I will usually have a portion of those set aside for myself
Last offering with old stuff along with an explanation of why the offerings are changing. oral and written petition that is burnt.
Then make the next offering with the new materials. Expect that there will be different spirits in attendance, and if you STILL have offended a spirit than banish, exorcise, bind or whatever you need to do.
No, there is no way to be absolutely SURE no one is upset or offended. You can only be as polite as possible then hold your ground.
4. Any suggestions on how to break through magickal blockage? I had a pretty good two year run when I started magic, meditation was easy and intense, visualization was also vivid and easy I felt very connected and the magick I did seemed to work. But…marital/financial strife, and other middle age life events seem to have deadened that for me (and possible mild depression). I cant’ visualize when meditating, don’t feel very connective and magick feels …well it DOESN’t feel like anything. Is there anything you can suggest to break this dead wall I’m behind?
Stop. For a few weeks. Stop dead and see what pulls you back, if anything. If something pulls you back figure out what and why and make that the focus of your work. If nothing pulls you back, quit and do something else awesome with your life.
5. What is your own personal view on Hermes-Mercury-Thoth (Trismegistos) being one and the same? Same with Jupiter (Iovis Pater) and Zeus, are they the same?
There is crossover areas where they flow into one another, but that does not make them the same. Magic celebrates what makes the gods Different. It is often in these details that the best sorcery is found.
6. Since you talk about Financial Sorcery what are your thoughts on Five Flags and people like Simon Black at sovereignman.com? What are your thoughts on the price of their “Ultimate Offshore Banking Guide & Comparison” which comes in at almost $1000 ?
1. If you have ALL your expenses easily met 3x over per year.
2. If you have a years living expenses tucked away in a US savings account
3. If you have significant retirement funds being funded every year
4. Have finagled a non-US passport
THEN I think its probably a good idea to set up something in another country. The money that programs like this cost won’t mean much to you at that point and its worth having the asset protection in case SHTF here in the US.
Ultimately though, we have the largest military on the planet (perhaps not people, but in force) so I don’t think the financial collapse will happen easily before the rest of the world. We may be a shaky economy, but we are a shaky economy with aircraft carriers. Europe will fall first.
If you don’t have 1-3 above in place (and I don’t, to my satisfaction) its not worth worrying about tucking money into Chile or Mongolia or wherever people are suggesting these days. If you don’t have #4 in place, you won’t be able to easily access those funds anyway.
7. You mentioned your position was Dzhogchen Chaonomist (which I wasn’t sure if it was meant as a joke or not), but I was wondering, if it was not, what that means. Thanks!
It wan’t a joke. Dzogchen holds that there is a primordial and unfabricated nature to mind that can be uncovered. This is always there, and can be recognized and dwelled in.
Chaonimism is a term I coined combining Chaos (as in Chaos magic) and Animism. CHAONIMISM: combines the wild freedom, focus on results, and non-hierarchical view of reality inherent in Chaos Magic with a belief in spirits as organized consciousness not dependent upon belief.
So, I believe the universe is conscious. I believe that consciousness organizes itself in many different modes that essentially give everything a spirit. I believe that the ground of the consciousness is a primordial awareness that is clear, luminous, and open and that intelligent beings: humans, gods, some spirits, can recognize and operate from this primordial clarity.