Every once in a while somebody leaves me an email asking me what “magickal path” I follow, and if they knew me at all, they would understand that I think questions like that are absolutely hilarious. I always end up replying politely that I’m not into “magic(k)” per se, unless you consider looking at stories, and at how people use them to live their lives to be magic (which I guess some actually do think is magic - but that’s not what I’d call it).

Now this is just a sweeping generalization, and I don’t mean to offend any wizards, sorcerors or “magicians” potentially reading this, but almost across the board, I find people who profess to be into magic to be really irritating. People really into Crowley, and shit like that especially [For another look at Crowley from this perspective, check out this interview with author Daniel Pinchbeck]. I think, for me, it has to do with an over-reliance on the powers of the intellect for navigating the unknown, as well as this whole practice of “mistaking the map for the territory.”

But yeah, today I was reading about comic book author Grant Morrison’s defunct magic-themed series, The Invisibles. And as I sat there reading, I wondered to myself, why does this sound so fucking cheesy? Maybe it’s just the way it was being described. I don’t know. It could be a quite good series, I’ve never read it. Has anybody else?

But anyway, it just brought back to the surface this whole incompatibility I feel among people who consider themselves magicians. The confusing part for me is that they and I are interested in the same sorts of shit, so I am always at a loss to describe what my problem with them is. Then I suddenly flashed on an article I’d read a while ago, by Antero Alli, about the differences between mystical and magical approaches to the esoteric. The article is nothing terribly amazing, but it does yield up a few great insights:

The mystical path is primarily devotional, a path of the heart. Mystical tendencies encourage one to yield, acquiesce and eventually surrender around forces one experiences as greater and more intelligent than ones person. The mystic is carried by a genuine lack of concern for the outcome of destiny, producing a wisdom for letting things happen and flowing with the forces that be. Mysticism is any sensibility encouraging direct openess to and merging with the unknown universe on its innate terms, through reverence of mystery.

Magickal work is essentially self-determined wish fulfillment anchored in the will to power. Magick is rooted in the development of those volitional skills enabling one to effect change in the outer and inner worlds according to ones will, that is to say, on purpose. The magickian works to utilize the forces of nature to fulfill his/her intentions and often does so with the use of magickal tools, ie., ritual implements, herbs, incantations, sigils, etc.

In the end, I’m basically into this stuff because I think it’s really “cool,” which I guess leans much more towards the “mystic” approach as outlined above. I more just like to be able to sit back and be like “WHOA! THIS SHIT IS TOTALLY NUTS!” That’s like the ideal for me. That’s pretty much my mystical mantra, and I guess maybe that’s the response I should give to people asking me what “path” I follow: I look for “shit thats totally nuts.”