Book Discussion The six ways by by Aiden Waxhter

[Jk666]

I’ve found this boo very interesting & engaging. I’m just starting reading it.

Have you read it?

 

[stalkinghyena]

Yeah, I like it. There's a lot of good perspective in there. I can relate to some of Wachter's viewpoints and expressions from my own work. I agree with his concept of "symbiosis" and gradual, adaptable progress towards magical goals. His personal stories are interesting. I kind of skimmed over his example exercises cause I don't need them, but I get this jist.

 

[Jk666]

Yeah. I don’t read every word of occult books. There’re things I don’t need in there.

 

[Ancient]

I finished it a while ago and it’s probably been my favorite so far. I like the way he approaches his exercises and simplifies concepts. Even some of the cleverest people have trouble making information easy to understand when teaching it.

One of the simple points that stuck with me is to surround yourself with things that remind you of magic. It makes it easy to slip into that “feeling”, and is an excellent way to teach someone how to check on the energy of things and discard or refresh them when needed without going into a bunch of jargon or advanced clairvoyance exercises.

 

[Jk666]

Yeah. I’m slowly progressing through the book & already learned a lot.

He basically helps me get there’s no clear line between the mundane & the spiritual.

 

[KjEno186]

I've been meaning to read this book since I downloaded a copy. At first it seemed like yet another magic-for-beginners book like so many written in recent decades (how recent is Ophiel's "Art and Practice of" series? )...

Ah, well, what the hell. He said I should write my reason for reading his book on a piece of paper and put it in the back of the book (for now?), but not having a physical copy yet, I wrote a letter to my future self with my statement of intent and put it in an envelope. Next up would be the evocation or invocation of "Optionality," which I haven't done just yet.

There is a good point made at the end of chapter 3: "Sorcery is not strictly about bringing into our world what we would like to have in it. It's equally about weeding out that which does not serve us as well. We live in a time of choice overload. Most of these choices barely deserve the name. We can free up a huge amount of bandwidth and reduce the noise floor (which makes for a stronger, clearer signal) in our lives by learning to make choices and stick to them without constantly revisiting and renegotiating them. ... I began to clear out all that was 'not of my life as I wished it to be.' I then began to use all of my skills to draw to me what i desired instead. ... How this seems to work is that we create a vacuum by shedding that which no longer serves us while working to fill it with something that does. Over and over, day after day and year after year, this process of clearing out what we do not want in our lives and replacing it with something which moves us closer to what we really do want is to me the very heart of practical sorcery."

And then it hit me. I've been the victim, as it were, of sorcery on a global scale since birth. My American culture is not about freedom. It is carefully managed to create vacuums of need which I am then expected to fill with products, making me yet one more good little consumer and cog in an extractive economic machine. When others decide what cannot come into one's life, one will try to fill that void with something, usually a poor material substitute for what one really needs. A lot of the richest people on the planet are also quite unhappy, that void within still craving what they truly need can never be filled by ever increasing amounts of wealth.

Keep in mind that I paint this example with the broadest brush, as the human animal is the most adaptive, and somewhere there's certain to be very happy sadists. I'm also not advocating being poor. Try to see the point that in "knowing thyself" you're not just using magic to bring in more things which do not fill your actual need but are instead only adding more unnecessary clutter to your life. Meditate on what you wish your life to be and consider if your actions day after day and year after year are really bringing you what YOU want or only what you think you want because in some way your desires were subverted to suit another purpose.

 

[KjEno186]

Chapter 5. Aidan has good advice for those 'try harder' personality types, as if by sheer force of effort one can make things happen or else!

"Long-term work in what are called liminal (which means pertaining to a threshold) spaces, meaning spaces in-between worlds, forms lasting bonds between ourselves , the Otherworld, and the Spirits.

"I refer to it as a courtship as it is a long-term process, a long game.* It requires self-enchantment to awaken sensory abilities that are dormant in most of us. Find a way to fall in love with the process. .... (The footnote says,) I have also found that simply accepting the long-term nature of the process seems to produce greater effects more rapidly than trying to rush it. Sorry about that, impatience!"

By all means, have a regular mode of practice. Follow through on what you decide to accomplish, but avoid piling on extra activities that make daily practice feel onerous. How do you think your efforts will be rewarded if you take negative (ie., 'get it over with') attitudes into your magical moments?

 

[Jk666]

You should work steadily & not hard to get results.

 

[Jk666]

Also you need to sharpen your intent. With a clear intent in magic your goal becomes attainable.

 

[stalkinghyena]

I kind of wished Wachter would have elaborated more on the "psychic censor", but I guess he said enough. I identify it as a Saturnine force in its most obstinate sense, though it can be soooo subtle. Best to ignore it and keep trucking even when it suck the heart out of you. Sometimes is can be a real sonofabitch.

AW's mention of Carlos Casteneda's "luminous fibers" was interesting in relation to "stickiness". A bit more practical maybe. I took personal issue of the believability with Don Genaro's tentacular acrobatics, but the ethos laid out in CC's books are worth a looksee. I about faced at the gate of Tensegrity.

 

[Jk666]

I agree @stalkinghyena obstacles make us stronger.

 

[Roma]

It's equally about weeding out that which does not serve us as well.

This is quite important as much of the adverse interference with humans occurs because they have subtly invited such by tolerating existing adverse circumstances and influences

 

[stalkinghyena]

I agree @stalkinghyena obstacles make us stronger.

I recall Wachter said you can't get rid of the "psychic censor" completely. You can ignore it or mute it, but it's always going to be lurking in the background. "No, you can't do this!" or "That will get you into trouble!" or some such blather.
But then he says things like "Sorcerers seek power." That's motivating. His methods, though, show you can turn inertial forces against themselves simply by expressing "I have decided."

 

[Jk666]

I think the most effective magickal system is chaos magic. What do you say?

 

[stalkinghyena]

There are certainly elements of chaos magic in Wachter. I've taken inspiration from chaotism myself but as far as my opinion on whether or not it is the most effective, I have to say that always falls on the will and determination of the operator and the proportion of the results obtained. I hate to say that's a common answer, but as to all style of magic, "If it works, it's true."
But one person's medicine can be another person's poison. It is what it is.