PRUEBAS DE LIXIVIACIÓN EN COLUMNAS UNITARIAS

The use of ritual in the performance of Magical acts is universal because the performance of ritual is the most effective means to accomplish all three of the requirements of the Magical act simultaneously. These three things can be called the Keys Of Magic.

The times when magic has worked best for me, in terms of getting the results I was aiming for was: when I needed something REALLY bad, (will) I devised a very impressive way to express it (imagination), and was able to launch myself into an intense gnosis state (you get it...)

The first Key Of Magic is Will. Will itself is a magical phenomenon. Though modern science can scan the brain and locate the points at which nearly all types of thought originate, "Will" cannot be traced. A subject can be wired to sensitive detectors and told by an experimenter, "Lift your hand". When the subject complies, the detection apparatus will locate the brainwave patterns that originate the impulses that travel down the nerves to the muscles, but the original "event" of _willing_ the hand to move does not appear on any known scan. As soon as the

motor-control section of the brain goes into action, the impulses begin their journey. Logic indicates that the "willing" of the hand to move

_must_ preceed the commencement of the impulses themselves. But the brain action of this "willing" cannot be found!

We will not explore the deep ramifications of this fact here. For our

purposes, it is enough to say that Will cannot be detected or directed by conscious means. There is more to Will, even in the more limited

definitions of the concept, than mere desire. To simply WANT something is not the same as Willing it.

The power and function of Magical Will is often, as Spare put it,

"believed by taking it up as a hobby at a time of great disappointment or sorrow." Such was the case in my own experience. There is something about being driven by great need or fear of consequences that can spark the Will into manifestation. Once this is accomplished under such

duress, the experience can often be "recaptured" later and brought under control.

Directed Will is more than simple "positive thinking", which is entirely a function of the conscious mind. Not that positive thinking isn't useful, but magical Will is far more powerful, when used in conjuction with the other three Keys.

Crowley built an entire religious philosophy, called Thelema, on the concept of True Will, which is roughly defined as being a particular person's "real purpose" in life, whatever that may be. This is not to be confused with what one simply wants in life -- in fact, one's wants or desires might be in actual conflict with one's True Will. The most important thing in life, according to the doctrines of Thelema, is

discover one's True Will and follow it. If everyone did this, then no one would be in conflict with anyone else and the world would function with clockwork perfection.

It's obvious that this is a religious concept, as one must simply have faith that the above description is true, without any way to

available books on Thelema. Chaos Magic is not concerned with

religious dogma. So although the books on Thelema also capitalize the word "Will", they do so to indicate "True WIll" as defined by their

religion. In the case of this book, it is to distinguish "Magical Will" from mere desire.

But for one's desire to become magically effective, it must be accepted by the subconscious mind as well as the conscious -- or even instead of the conscious -- mind. This is how "will" becomes "Will". Therefore a way must be found to "implant" the magician's desire into the

subconscious where it can be effective. This procedure is most clearly demonstrated by the mechanics of sigil magic. However, this is the end to which all magic ritual -- regardless of it's source -- is directed.

The traditional magical systems did this by first indoctrinating the new follower into the system's philosophy and symbolism, then building more-or-less effective ritual formulae on that framework. Of course, this means the student must accept this symbolism and belief-set on faith -- making it again a religious endeavor. As with any magical form, the mind must be twisted into accepting a ludicrous belief system. What is

different about Chaos Magic is that the ludicrous belief system is

chosen temporarily and voulentarily, and then abandoned after the work is done so a different one can be adopted next time.

Sigil Magic is popular with Chaotes because it uses the symbolic system that one is already indoctrinated with -- one's native language. And

although it is very effective even in it's simplest forms, it can be used as the foundation of a more elaborate ritual working to make it even more effective.

The point of it all is that desire can be converted into Will by means of ritual magic.

Imagination

Imagination is a requirement for any artistic endeavor, and magic is no exception. Chaos Magic demands a LOT of imagination, because you're not going to be spoon-fed everything you need to know. However,

beyond imagination in the general sense, a particular type of imagination is needed; this is what Karl Jung called "active imagination".

The kind of imagination that is magically useful is that which the magician uses to induce self-directed visions, emotions and belief- states. Simply put, it's imagining something so strongly that it actually

becomes "real." The banishing rituals described in the chapter on basics use this kind of imagination.

The goal of magical imagination is to induce BELIEF. As discussed in previous chapters, this is the "mental/linguistic" level of magical function. Belief is a function of the subconscious, rather than the

conscious mind. To manipulate the Will one must be able to manipulate belief. To manipulate belief, one must manipulate the subconscious. It is to this end that the symbology of Magic Ritual work is directed.

Probably the most important concept in Chaos Magic is that of meta- belief. This is defined as a "belief structure" that encompasses all other belief structures. In practice, it is the ability to manipulate patterns of belief into pre-determined structures that are magically useful.

The art of Method Acting, as studied by millions of aspiring thespians, is concerned with exactly the same psychological mechanism. The would- be ceremonial magican would do well to study the works of Stanislavsky and Strassberg.

Method actors are famous for "researching" their roles. If one is to play a prisoner, they might arrange to be locked up in a jail for a few nights. Or if the role is a hunter, they go on a hunting trip with an experienced guide. They try to imprint the emotional reactions to these alien

environments into their minds so those reactions can be recalled later during performance.

Magicians will often incorporate such environments directly into their work if possible. Operations concerned with the elemental symbolism of Water might be performed on the shore of the sea, for example. I have performed or assisted in operations that involved full water immersion, leaping naked over bonfires, burial under stones, tattooing, piercing and branding with hot irons, drawing and drinking of blood, escape from graveyards at night, full body mumification, and enactment (with full "costume") of the magician being devoured alive by ghouls. All for the sake of invoking a particular set of emotional reactions for magical purposes.

Gnosis

The concept of gnosis has been discussed in previous chapters, but in ritual work it's put into actual use. The ritual is designed so that gnosis can be acheived either as an integral part of the procedure, or a "space" is provided to allow for the magician to attain the gnostic state. All of the ritual up to that point has been carefully constructed to both distract the conscious mind, and prepare the magical intent to be implanted into the

subconscious when the gnosis point is reached. This is the basic "formula" for effective magical ritual.

Since there are many, many ways one can achieve the gnostic state, the technique used should be compatible with both the style of the ritual work and the goal of the working itself. Mismatching the means by

which gnosis is attained with either of these considerations can not only be ineffective, but detrimental to one's magical development and even one's mental health. For example, gnosis obtained by sexual exhaustion may be appropriate to workings of desire and passion, but highly

inappropriate for empowering curses.