What's the most comprehensive system

[alextrasza78]

Which particular magic system do you think is the most comprehensive in the way that not only it includes other systems practices but introduces novel ideas and insights as well?

 

[Archanist]

If we're just talking about versatility, novel ideas, and the inclusion of other systems practices. I'd probably say it's one of the European recreationist movements. Having a lot of holes in your mythology and practice seems to both allow and necessitate filling those holes with other things that already exist. I think there may also be something to said about not having the whole picture showing you where the edges are.

 

[Vonixa Tiresia]

Historically, it's probably chaos magick, at least as you've defined it. It could theoretically include the practices of any other system, because chaos magick is a "meta-paradigm" moreso than it is a "paradigm" in the traditional sense. To date, it was also the last truly watershed moment in occultism, it fundamentally shifted the development of the occult scene from the 1970s onward.

 

[HoldAll]

Man, how I hate those threads with nondescript titles that give you no clue whatsoever as to what they're about…

"Magical systems that include other systems' practices" are obviously the syncretic ones. "Novel ideas and insights" are what you have yourself when you discover systems hitherto unknown to you. What might be a revelation to you would only raise a tired jaded eyebrow in other occultists. Right now, for example, I'm slowly working my way through the Theravadan Abhidamma, and I'm having "novel ideas and insights" all the time, even if it's been around for 2,300 years or so already. Did you know that a moment of consciousness only lasts one billionth of a lightning flash? Now you know.

Some systems look simple on paper but have hidden depths that will only become apparent in practice, or leave so much room for experimentation like e.g. chaos magic that there are simply no limits to their innovation. If you really want to compare systems, you'll have to give us more criteria than just "most comprehensive" and thought-provoking, or we're in apples-and-oranges country.

So much of occultism is experiential, even if these experiences are exclusively gathered in the armchair, and you can even get your mind blown by a small remark an author made just in passing. On the other hand, some of these humdingers are right in the open, like the Buddhist doctrine of no-self/non-self - just test your current belief system against the notion that there's no soul, and whoosh (or not, depending)! That idea has been likewise around for 2,500 years, and it's not even a magical system, strictly speaking. The most sophisticated system won't have any impact on you if you're not ready, find it boring, or too abstruse.

 

[TheGoddess888]

Which particular magic system do you think is the most comprehensive in the way that not only it includes other systems practices but introduces novel ideas and insights as well?

Honestly, I think I lean more toward an eclectic approach than choosing one particular magic system as the most comprehensive. I really enjoy borrowing pieces from different traditions and seeing how they connect rather than feeling like I have to commit to one system exclusively.

I'm still exploring and consider myself a student of the mystery schools, so I'm interested in learning what each system has to offer before deciding what belongs in my own practice. I'm fascinated by ceremonial magic, folk magic, witchcraft, animism, divination, tarot, astrology, spirit work, dreamwork, and the different approaches to developing things like intuition, altered states, and communication with spirits.

I like finding the common threads between traditions while also paying attention to where they genuinely differ. One system might give me a better framework for ritual, another for spirit work, another for divination, another for dreamwork, and another might introduce an idea I've never encountered before.

For me, the interesting part is almost like putting together a larger map from different pieces. I don't necessarily want to pick one system and say, “This contains everything I need.” I'd rather understand the different systems well enough to see what each one contributes and how they might complement or sometimes challenge each other.

So I don't know that I'd call one system the most comprehensive. At this point, I'm more interested in discovering which systems are comprehensive in different ways, and what I can learn from each of them.

 

[Accipeveldare]

Which particular magic system do you think is the most comprehensive in the way that not only it includes other systems practices but introduces novel ideas and insights as well?

Herneticism has worked for me

 

[solxyz]

Definitely the Vajrayana. Almost every kind of magical practice I can think of can be found in the Vajrayana. The only exception, to my knowledge, is open-ended astral adventuring/shamanic journeying.

 

[Yazata]

Man, how I hate those threads with nondescript titles that give you no clue whatsoever as to what they're about…

Changed title. Still this or a very similar question keeps getting asked.

 

[ahathoor]

What I keep thinking about is why do you want a single system to "include other systems' practices", and why such a system would be "most comprehensive"... And whether you wrote this as a riddle where the solution is Chaos Magic (disregarding the fact that even as a Chaote, I do not consider it to be "most comprehensive"...)

Magical systems are all whole universes to themselves... I think it would be a shame to collapse all of them into the bland soup of some kind of unified theory.