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I have yet to see anyone worshiping statue instead of worshiping a being that is represented by statue. Are you sure that you got those people right? Because this statement, that people worship statues, sounds like as if you had no idea what those people do and never asked them.
In forums related to magic in our country, most posts are inquiries about spirit communication and the worship of statues of deities. You are right, I haven’t seriously tried to understand the specific practices of how they worship deities and statues. From my perspective, to take a recent example I saw, people discuss whether the deity they are worshiping likes the alcohol they bought this time, or similar questions, or what is so-called, 'I suddenly feel pain in my arm today, does it mean the deity is not pleased with me?' I have even seen cases of people having romantic relationships with deities. I can’t believe such things; frankly, I feel that such things are unlikely.
You don't have to worship any deities, demons, angels or other entities for the sake of―well, whatever you have in mind; be it simple practice, self-development, spells, curses, healing e.g. Yes, you still should respect them, stay genuine and approach with clear intent, but worship is not something you must aim for.
An unpopular note I rarely see mentioned; most entities prefer not to be worshipped, at all.
Most worshipp is shallow and 'dry', they empty of any potency.
The benefit of a decent 'work connection' (or just bonding in general) with mutual respect and offering is not less than what a droid like worship with no genuine affection and dedication towards the entity itself could offer. In fact, it is often far less. The quality of your time, emotions, thoughts, energy and offerings towards them is real, and if you do 'worship' an entity for the results, you worship the results, and not the entity. Deities don't need this kind of approach, you won't fool them, and no one should fool themselves either.
The question is, do you want deities, demons, angels etc. by your side while you walk on the path of magic and if so, why? For you don't need entities to do that, at all. It can help, and it has multiple benefits, but nothing is impossible without them, either.
In fact, while I have almost two decades of practice with magic, the deitites, demons and entities around me are here for bonding (they called for me, I accepted), rather than pulling out 'anything fancy', and I spend most of my times with them; there's always someone (if not more) around me for decades, and I did not have them here for work at the first place, but because I love them. I did my magic 95% of my time without seeking for any help or suggestion from them.
Their presence, the process of bonding and the benefit coming from it helped me to improve without aiming for the result directly, and the pure genuinity is empowering this process, but, again, it is not necessary.
If you personally feel like that worshipping in a more formal manner would help your mind focus on the task, and allow you to slip into the right mindset and psychic stance, then go for it. It'll be profitable for your magic, mostly.
Just remember:
Just be honest.
Be clear.
Be willing to do the work.
and always show respect.
Thank you for your explanation, which was like guiding me through a maze; I truly felt your love for magic. What you said makes sense, and I will strive to approach your enthusiasm for learning. In any case, thank you.
You don't have to worship any deities, demons, angels or other entities for the sake of―well, whatever you have in mind; be it simple practice, self-development, spells, curses, healing e.g. Yes, you still should respect them, stay genuine and approach with clear intent, but worship is not something you must aim for.
An unpopular note I rarely see mentioned; most entities prefer not to be worshipped, at all.
Most worshipp is shallow and 'dry', they empty of any potency.
The benefit of a decent 'work connection' (or just bonding in general) with mutual respect and offering is not less than what a droid like worship with no genuine affection and dedication towards the entity itself could offer. In fact, it is often far less. The quality of your time, emotions, thoughts, energy and offerings towards them is real, and if you do 'worship' an entity for the results, you worship the results, and not the entity. Deities don't need this kind of approach, you won't fool them, and no one should fool themselves either.
The question is, do you want deities, demons, angels etc. by your side while you walk on the path of magic and if so, why? For you don't need entities to do that, at all. It can help, and it has multiple benefits, but nothing is impossible without them, either.
In fact, while I have almost two decades of practice with magic, the deitites, demons and entities around me are here for bonding (they called for me, I accepted), rather than pulling out 'anything fancy', and I spend most of my times with them; there's always someone (if not more) around me for decades, and I did not have them here for work at the first place, but because I love them. I did my magic 95% of my time without seeking for any help or suggestion from them.
Their presence, the process of bonding and the benefit coming from it helped me to improve without aiming for the result directly, and the pure genuinity is empowering this process, but, again, it is not necessary.
If you personally feel like that worshipping in a more formal manner would help your mind focus on the task, and allow you to slip into the right mindset and psychic stance, then go for it. It'll be profitable for your magic, mostly.
Just remember:
Just be honest.
Be clear.
Be willing to do the work.
and always show respect.
Thank you for your explanation, which was like guiding me through a maze; I truly felt your love for magic. What you said makes sense, and I will strive to approach your enthusiasm for learning. In any case, thank you.
I have yet to see anyone worshiping statue instead of worshiping a being that is represented by statue. Are you sure that you got those people right? Because this statement, that people worship statues, sounds like as if you had no idea what those people do and never asked them.
Depends on the kind of magic. Some spells (especially those activated by rituals), may require an actual god. And even then, not all gods require worship.
(this also opens the question: is offering a favourite food/drink worship or simply respect, the same you would offer to a friend who is helping you with a project? Is repayment worship? Is cooperation worship?)
Not at all. While devotional magic and working with deities is a valid and popular path, it is only one branch of a much larger tree. The statues are simply focal points, not the source of the power.
In our forum, the topics most discussed and studied are the worship of statues of deities and mediumship. Most of the communication revolves around one's inner sanctuary and personal talents. Participants often showcase their statues and share the detailed conversations they have with the deities to demonstrate their spiritual progress. I've seen people worshiping statues of Lucifer, Lilith, and Zeus. Is it necessary to worship statues when studying magical practices, and are there any practices that do not require worshiping statues?
In a word, No.
To paraphrase a quote from Crowley, it is immaterial whether you believe in a single god or multiple gods along with pixies, leprechauns & the whole nine yards of what Dee termed 'spiritual creatures' - by doing certain things, certain results follow.
Magick is the science and art of causing change in conformity with your Will, which leads to the obvious caveat that you are going to have to develop your Will to the point where it is strong enough to cause the changes you require. Think of a professional athlete or sportsman - they practise daily in the gym to build physical strength (we are looking to develop our Will, of course) and they don't only ply their art/trade in the big events. They work up to it - you don't start running and decide to enter the Olymipc Marathon Race, or start playing Cricket & open for England at Lords the following week. It often takes years & years of practise & sheer hard work.
It's worth the effort though, it really is
In our forum, the topics most discussed and studied are the worship of statues of deities and mediumship. Most of the communication revolves around one's inner sanctuary and personal talents. Participants often showcase their statues and share the detailed conversations they have with the deities to demonstrate their spiritual progress. I've seen people worshiping statues of Lucifer, Lilith, and Zeus. Is it necessary to worship statues when studying magical practices, and are there any practices that do not require worshiping statues?
The overwhelming majority of practices out there do not require worshiping statues. Magical practices and practitioners come from all backgrounds, all religions, atheism, non-religion etc. I'm not sure what you've read that led you to this idea, but I'd recommend reading a lot more.
On a technical level, sure, Mind Metaphysics magic required none of physical materia magica of sorcery / traditional magic - all those offerings, tools, ritual timings, icons, statues, incense - but it also comes from a worldview that turns reductive very quickly when used as the only tool to look at other forms of magic.
There is no rule in magic that says we have to stick with just one operative model. Right now there are two big models still jockeying for space inside people's skulls, and we have not reached a consensus and agreed upon language , or parlance, to usefully talk about them.
So much energy online is expended trying to justify and "prove" each one, but I see them both as additive and complementary rather than subtractive and competing. I hope others join me here over time.
Modern magic has an uneasy, unresolved tension between Idealism (the mind-first Neoplatonic view) and Relationalism (the spirit-first animist view). Calling animism 'worshiping statues' is like calling a phone call 'worshiping a plastic rectangle' and completely misses the idea that there is a person on the other end of the line. (What that seeming person "awkshully is" I leave an open question for one's own experimentation.)
In the past 20 years, there's been a huge model shift in the online magical zeitgeist. Until recently the typical operative model for magicians was a almost purely the vertical, Neoplatonic top-down model that dominated Western Esotericism - Christianity, Hermeticism, Christian Kabbalah, Golden Dawn, and Thelema, and from there Wicca, and Neopaganism - going back centuries. What has become know as "Psychological Magic."
In this view, everything is an emanation of God, or The One. (There are many names here, The Field . The Source, but these concepts still lurking and coloring ones thinking unless identified and re-blanaced.) Therefore the gods and spirits are seen as 'archetypes' or 'faculties of the human mind.' The practitioner is the center of the universe. Spirits are treated as software to be programmed, or as 'egregores.' Taken too far, it can become world-denying. If the goal is to ascend back to the Source (by whatever name , Azathoth, God, or the gods) then the physical world (and its statues, rocks, and trees) becomes a distraction or a 'lower' rung on the ladder on you way to Ascension into the Pluroima, or UFO Hive Mind, or whatever fills that conceptual pot in you vertical ladder model.
So now we have an uneasy mix with a competing (or complementary, in my opinion) worldviews with other, new (but actually older) kid on the block: the Animist Horizontal model. This is the shamanic / indigenous view that is very very old, going back, I feel, to the first magician. It treats the world as a community of persons, not as a ladder to be climbed. Only some of these persons are human. Here sovereignty is shared. A mountain, a storm, or a statue isn't just a symbol (well it is, but it depends and where you are in relation to it) but a neighbor with its own agency, history, and personality. The practitioner is a negotiator, a diplomat. Magic is about reciprocity (giving to get) rather than just willpower.
In my view, the it's only 'flaw' - because I am still a Neoplatonist at heart - is that it can become Universal Consciousness denying. If you focus entirely on the local spirit of the woods, and elevate them in you head to god-like status - you might lose the big picture (however you call it. I call it God, Love, and Infinite Compassion intermingled with Infinite Freedom) that Neoplatonism / Hemeticsm provides.
Modern pagans struggle here because they can’t quite pick a lane. They really want to 'own' the vibe of animism, calling themselves shamans -c but they still use the tools of Neoplatonism. I love me some Neoplatonic Mind Magic, like New Thought, but I see it as operating within a shared community of minds, some human, some not.
States and offering are absolutely not required in magic of Pure Mind. That is you and The Mystery , The Infinite, mediated through you personal Logos ( again Neoplatonic operative worldview in action) - but they they are incredibly useful when entreating disembodied minds who might come to see those painted eyes on a statue as their eyes, and those hands as their hands - the same way a land spirit perceives a grove to be its body, or a Naga sees a sacred pool of water as itself - and woe be to those who swim in their body without permission. Ritual here becomes as relating to the world and person around you, not just activating you jedi mind powers - but giving gifts. It jut something we humans do.
(Just a quick note. Though the Neoplatonist Iamblichus, from whom we get many of our approaches, would correct us that 'gift' and ritual gear have a place in Neoplatonism, he stands in opposition to the purely philosophical Neoplatonic schools by insisting on the necessity of ritual and theurgic 'materia.')
There are several possible answers here. You always have a choice, meaning you can choose to serve the deity. Or be its incarnation? Or you can be possessed by this deity, and it will control you. There are several options for cooperation...
There are specific rites of initiation, dedication, and collaboration with any deity. There are universal ones, and we offer advice on how to obtain help, sympathy, or... Something about turning to someone who has already played a egregor.
Then you can create something magical. Why would others worship you, believe in you, pay attention to you? Your so-called avatar will gradually be imbued with the energy that other people or beings pay attention to, and in this way, you can create your own. Some kind of deity. Through you, which will constantly nourish, recharge, and help you.
For example, someone invented and created television, and now it's gaining colossal power and influence. It's gaining the support of those who pay attention to it. Thanks to this, television workers are born, salaries are paid, and so on. So if we ignore this, then no one will support television. Will something else emerge, some alternative that will also? Will it be fed by millions of millions of people?
Most likely, cults of worship existed at some point in the past, but some modern people still sense them through ancient objects, artifacts, and so on. If you pay attention to everything modern, then naturally, be it. It will feed on you, or if you create something, it will feed on you yourself. This something, some kind of artifact. So, automatically, it's there to place it. Instead of focusing your attention on, say, a 40,000-seat stadium, you'll automatically receive some kind of power, energy, charge...
Some magicians have learned, through various exercises and clever tricks, to regain all their attention, and even feed on the attention of others - these are the secret methods of the special services, hypnosis, and so on.
Here's another clever trick. If, say, you need the attention of a city, town, or area, the fate of that area is caused by a local earthquake. And preferably, the people living there don't know about it. That is, if it's caused by natural conditions, people experience genuine panic. Horror is fear, and some people have learned to feed off of it and register it. They've even learned to charge up...
To learn magic, you must contact the creator of that magic. Preferably, directly to the creator of this magic. Or through experienced guides who know it...
You might also naturally possess some magic, possessing certain secrets. You simply need to recall what you already know and can do. So, you need someone or something to... Charging for car refreshment, or...
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Some so-called superpowers and secrets are given to us at birth, but according to our cosmic astrological or Natal celestial chart.
Basically, of course, magic is needed for the mages themselves. That is, for those who are already born mages, as it were, they themselves. They heal, strengthen, and reinforce perfection itself and move up the caste hierarchy. That is, in ancient times, magic in India was primarily practiced by the Brahmin caste. They were hindered by the warrior caste of the Kshatriyas; they were constantly in conflict.
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Why worship the sun? We must love it. And accept everything it gives us. And it is desirable to reciprocate...
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The ancient sages, including Solomon, said that all magic begins with love to God, or a deity, or the sun...
