What is the Rule of Silence and Why Does It Matter?

[KjEno186]

It can be difficult to know what to share on a forum such as this. Any but the newest of magicians ought to know that the Rule of Silence is there for a reason, so I certainly understand why most posters on this forum don't talk about Fight Clu.... I mean rituals they're planning! How many of you talked or wrote publicly about your magical works in progress yet succeeded? I'd really like to know if there are exceptions to this Rule. Either you had a verifiable manifestation after discussing your ritual plans or you didn't, so there's little point in off topic remarks.

Here is a comment I found on Quora, copy/pasted here, but

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​

There are three major reasons:​

1. As Sheta Kaey mentioned, it can drain the energy of the spell/manifestation. Many describe this in the same way as some people think about birthday wishes, “If you talk about it, it won’t come true!”
2. Éliphas Lévi is the earliest source I know for this law, “The Four Powers Of The Sphinx”: to know, to dare, to will, to keep silent (The Great Secret). [Crowley is the other person that writes on this, but he claims to be the reincarnation of Lévi, so his work is a furtherance of this…] Lévi suggests keeping silent “with discernment”, which has a dual meaning for him: a) the ability to judge who to speak to about this stuff and who not to (e.g. it can be dangerous to speak of occult knowledge/experience, though less so today—things like spirit communication can border on “mental illness” now, so may still be apt advice) and b) Levi studied for six years to be a priest, so, there’s the connotation of Christian Spiritual Discernment as well: seeking external signs of divine will. Per the latter (b), one needs to keep silent about their goals as external forces like the beliefs and will of others can stop you from pursuing the will of the divine. Next, internal silence will help you hear intuition and the will of the divine. You can’t really pay attention to that stuff with internal chatter. Plus, there is the secrecy element again.
3. Talking about it is an ego trap, which often makes your will itself more about being seen as a sorcerer or showing your “power”. For instance, if someone curses someone, then tells them or others about it, it’s almost more about showing what you did than the will of the ritual manifesting. Will needs to be focused and consistent for magick to have any chance of working…

In short, protection, to keep the power of the willing/magick, to prevent internal chatter from hindering connection with the divine, to prevent others from standing in the way of your acting out divine will, and to avoid ego traps/spreading your will across many goals.​

​

I can think of a fourth reason. If someone is always talking about their magic and how it fails them on a public forum, it's a real downer to the rest of the posters.

 

[SkullTraill]

The only people I talk to about magick that I am actively performing are people who are really close to me, and who would 100% believe that I would succeed. If I have even the slightest doubt that THEY might have a doubt, I would never talk about it.

It's also one of the reasons I don't post too much about the financial sorcery that I do... I'd love to post a tutorial and empower others to be financially secure... but man... it's how I survive... I just don't want to risk it. That being said... I am actually writing the contents of a book that I plan to release on WF that will be about my philosophy on magick, and it will be largely about financial and prosperity magick as that is essentially all I practice.

But yeah, I personally believe in the sort of idea that the more doubt people have in their minds about you, the lower your chances of success will be. That's why fraternities and orders of small to medium size are so successful. They all believe in it.

I do understand and appreciate the 3 reasons you listed above for the silence. I am sure there is merit to them, and I am sure they do play a part in it. But for me - and this is something I plan on exploring in my book - I consider that magick, or rather reality itself, is notably and materially affected by consciousness. I don't have some bullshit quantum-consciousness, metaphysical multiverse, or mass-scale butterfly effect spiel to give you, but at the end of the day, the whole concept of reality is null and void without the conscious observer. For all we know, it all just dissolves into some mathematical probability soup if there is no one around to be conscious of it. And believing that, I also come to believe that other people's thoughts, doubts, fears, jealousy all tug and pull at the strings of the grand consciousness be it unified or not.

It's not just magick, I've noticed this for all manner of goals and achievements. When attempted with silence (so long as it is a goal achievable by oneself) I find that there is a much higher rate of success. Why allow your mouth to end up clouding/collapsing the set of your potential futures into something undesireable. Why risk it?

Respect the silence.

 

[KjEno186]

other people's thoughts, doubts, fears, jealousy all tug and pull at the strings of the grand consciousness be it unified or not.

It's not just magick, I've noticed this for all manner of goals and achievements. When attempted with silence (so long as it is a goal achievable by oneself) I find that there is a much higher rate of success. Why allow your mouth to end up clouding/collapsing the set of your potential futures into something undesireable. Why risk it?

Absolutely fantastic! I appreciate the fact that you don't discuss the particulars about what you do, but you'll be sharing some general knowledge regarding prosperity magick. There are so many authors nowadays who teach magical concepts and methods, and the sharing of general knowledge doesn't affect the specific rituals they perform (at least as far as they're willing to reveal anything). No author can guarantee results for their audience, but the attitudes they convey can do much to boost confidence, which for the beginning mage is a valuable commodity.

 

[league_ma_balls]

There was a reason for the term of "Sign of Silence"

The big thing back in the past, was can you return the sign of silence..

I agree with you.

 

[KjEno186]

Additional thoughts on the reason for the Rule of Silence from the book

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by Mouni Sadhu...

"The student must not talk about his exercises, and this applies to all the techniques given in this book. Do not discuss your project with anyone, except perhaps those who are known to you to be following the same line of work. But absolute silence is still preferable. Talking only wastes your will power and greatly impedes the success of the exercises. Moreover, the curious thoughts of those who know about your efforts will persecute you and only add to the burden of unwanted thoughts you are trying to destroy. It will be enough if you know this and observe silence, thereby avoiding disappointment."​

​

I know we're on an Occult forum, and the whole point of a forum is to have discussions. But if you have any desire at all to be a successful Occultist, you cannot go blathering every single detail of your day to the entire planet and expect things to still work out for you.
________________________________________
"But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like." James 1:22 - 24 ESV

Post automatically merged: Dec 24, 2022

Likewise, from the book Lucifer and the Hidden Demons by Theodore Rose:

"... Find the space to know your mind.​

​

"Statistically speaking, it is likely that you have been poisoned by the device-based culture that addicts you into flipping through online posts, images, and other shallow distractions. I can assure you that if you continue with the addiction, you will remain distant from magick."​

​

I'll certainly grant that I, too, am guilty of this to an extent. It's simply addictive to constantly check on forum activity (and I have several forums which draw my attention that aren't about the Occult) and make posts. I would even argue that a well thought out post is a strenuous mental exercise that sharpens one's thinking ability. But there is more to life than chatting online, and the danger to a magician is the temptation to reveal too much! Know thyself, and know when to say 'enough'!

'Why not ask your mind here and now, “Which of you is boss?”' - Mouni Sadhu

 

[DiLoco_DelEted]

Yeah, I've been saying for a year that I. going back to paper journals.

Post automatically merged: Dec 24, 2022

But ... is this the ED post as cause and effect, if so that would be not so much silence but TMI, which would address silence. So either way you are 100%!

Post automatically merged: Dec 24, 2022

It can be difficult to know what to share on a forum such as this. Any but the newest of magicians ought to know that the Rule of Silence is there for a reason, so I certainly understand why most posters on this forum don't talk about Fight Clu.... I mean rituals they're planning! How many of you talked or wrote publicly about your magical works in progress yet succeeded? I'd really like to know if there are exceptions to this Rule. Either you had a verifiable manifestation after discussing your ritual plans or you didn't, so there's little point in off topic remarks.

Here is a comment I found on Quora, copy/pasted here, but

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

​

There are three major reasons:​

1. As Sheta Kaey mentioned, it can drain the energy of the spell/manifestation. Many describe this in the same way as some people think about birthday wishes, “If you talk about it, it won’t come true!”
2. Éliphas Lévi is the earliest source I know for this law, “The Four Powers Of The Sphinx”: to know, to dare, to will, to keep silent (The Great Secret). [Crowley is the other person that writes on this, but he claims to be the reincarnation of Lévi, so his work is a furtherance of this…] Lévi suggests keeping silent “with discernment”, which has a dual meaning for him: a) the ability to judge who to speak to about this stuff and who not to (e.g. it can be dangerous to speak of occult knowledge/experience, though less so today—things like spirit communication can border on “mental illness” now, so may still be apt advice) and b) Levi studied for six years to be a priest, so, there’s the connotation of Christian Spiritual Discernment as well: seeking external signs of divine will. Per the latter (b), one needs to keep silent about their goals as external forces like the beliefs and will of others can stop you from pursuing the will of the divine. Next, internal silence will help you hear intuition and the will of the divine. You can’t really pay attention to that stuff with internal chatter. Plus, there is the secrecy element again.
3. Talking about it is an ego trap, which often makes your will itself more about being seen as a sorcerer or showing your “power”. For instance, if someone curses someone, then tells them or others about it, it’s almost more about showing what you did than the will of the ritual manifesting. Will needs to be focused and consistent for magick to have any chance of working…

In short, protection, to keep the power of the willing/magick, to prevent internal chatter from hindering connection with the divine, to prevent others from standing in the way of your acting out divine will, and to avoid ego traps/spreading your will across many goals.​

​

I can think of a fourth reason. If someone is always talking about their magic and how it fails them on a public forum, it's a real downer to the rest of the posters.

Okay, I can see how this pertains to my average journalling and bellyaching. Excuse the term, due to my ignorance, but someone would have to be a tard with too much time on their hands to continually curse me just to cause trouble for me.

However, my neighbors hear me. This concerns me, as there are africans and asians in the building, with Im sure native beliefs/practices. Some are Christian, but not all. Then there are possible pagans or zealous christians. Im a christian and a Zelator in a week, but I have realized education and subtleness are strong points for me. So there are those three categories or potential troublemakers.

Then yes, the black magic clique that detests me. Them, well, meh. On that note, I dont see the profit other than exercise of a skill.
There is also the possibility that Jehovah/Yahweh/Jesus is saying to me no way Jose. Acts of God and all that.

Post automatically merged: Dec 24, 2022

So, perhaps here is a solution, out of all the books available in the library, pick one ritual that is unlike your situation (ie if you're broke but alone do a love ritual instead of a money ritual), that will have verifiable results, ie you're not alone much longer.

Or anything.

Anything that has a verifiable result, therefore if you bellyache your woes to the world and some minute part of the world population takes offense at you, then whatever you are doing will not be disrupted, by not blabbing about that part that you intend to do precisely.

I agree with all you've stated @KjEno186 100%!

 

[ballade]

I agree. Silence is important. Who wants to know anyway. You can write an abstract book perhaps. Or keep it with people you truly trust. This is not always possible to find them and you have bad luck. Knowledge can be used against you by jealous spirits and it happens a lot. So I keep it social. Because it can not be abused. For me it is important to keep it outside my self.
The bad thing , for my self and time for myself I have and had none. But I learn any way a lot more then I ever expected I would or could. So I am not that disapointed but in my life is a lot compatitive people. To many. They are not supportive but want to be better all the time and keep comparing everything. They are extremely jealous minded also about litteraly everything.

 

[stalkinghyena]

On the history of The Rule of Silence, one may also consult Agrippa, Book 3, Chapter 2. “Of concealing those things that are secret in religion”.

Agrippa cites various classical sources, most importantly “Mercurius” (Hermes Trismegistus). Tyson’s note gives 5 reasons for silence, which are drawn from Walter Scott’s edition of the Hermetica, which I distill:

1. Sharing of holy matters with the profane is an act of pollution

2. Profane minds can’t grasp holy doctrine, which they will mock, and this will incite them to greater evil

3. Silence allows for divine enlightenment to occur

4. Futility – one cannot express the inexpressible

5. Proscription against translation of holy doctrines into other languages

To this I would add that Hermes describes a person of knowledge as “someone who says and hears little” and warns his son “He fights with shadows who wastes his time with talk and listening to talk.” I take this in the historical context that there was a tension between Hermetic seekers and the somewhat arid, formal and static “foolosophy of the Greeks”. One sees a similar tension between the medieval scholastics and the Renaissance Neoplatonists like Agrippa, some of who referred to the more Aristotelean inspired reasoners contemptuously as “schoolmen”. That is, their theological solutions were devoid of Divine inspiration (as they understood through Plato) and rested on established formality, something with against which occultism has often had an insurgent role throughout history.

Agrippa also goes on to explain that Silence was preserved by the use of secret language, such as Egyptian hieroglyphs, though Egyptology was more fable and myth in his day than a critical study, so a lot was unknown. The use of the so-called Bembine Tablet by Kircher is an example of this. But the spirit of Agrippa’s reference to secret alphabets and ciphers has been crucial the occultism as can be found in the work of Dee and many others.

The use of parables as a form of concealment is mentioned, particularly with regards to Jesus. Agrippa himself also wrote to his friends in parables to conceal his communications, especially when he worked as an agent for the Viennese court.

Agrippa also cites the threat of Divine punishment for those who share their knowledge with the profane. Blindness, bad warning dreams and lice are examples.
In her rebuttal of Tyson’s criticism of Francis Barret’s The Magus as being a bad plagarism of Agrippa, Alison Butler notes that Barret did much by his publication to expand the popularization of the occult sciences. This includes an advertisement to openly teach anyone who shows up to his house on Tuesday. He died not long after in a balloon accident.

On Levi and Silence, he offers the same prohibitions, even towards himself, but I feel that through him we can understand Silence not just as a rule, but a key to Power. The Powers of the Sphinx are interdependent. Levi often speaks of “self isolation” in the sense of resisting the forces of the external world and internal passions, which allows him to concentrate and diffuse the energies which he desires to set in motion. Here silence can be viewed as a function of self sacrifice, but also a means of dealing with the Astral Light in its cycles, tendencies and torrents.

Another viewpoint can be found in Carlos Casteneda, where “inner silence” is crucial for the sorcerer (or shaman, nagual) in conquering his ego and freeing up energy. Silence can be translated as “patience” in terms of the warrior’s arsenal that includes “ruthlessness, cunning and sweetness”. It is interesting to compare his system with Levi’s Sphinx.

But there are a lot more ins and outs to this, I think, if one looks at Silence as real spiritual task, discipline and power to be cultivated rather than just a prohibition for the sake of consequences. Having inner composure in the face of difficulty aids in one’s resolve to move forward with one’s goals. The greater one’s composure, even in a state of great pain, terror and apparent failure – or, conversely, ecstatic pleasure and joy - the more power one can potentially project with one’s being. But this requires real focus than can only be attained in Silence in conjunction with Knowledge, Will and Audacity.

 

[DiLoco_DelEted]

I need to re-read all of this.