crossoflight
02-10-2009, 04:58 AM
The Camel Rides Again: A Primer in Magick – Alan Chapman
Heptarchia Press, 2007
‘The Camel Rides Again’ is a brief introduction to magick, in which the author defines the fundamental principles of the subject in six short chapters and offers a series of exercises on magical practice in an appendix of similar length to the main text.
The book states that the majority of people are wrapped up in immediate and mechanical concerns, rather than being interested in meaning. This materialism is self-indulgent and it does not lead to truth. Truth is known through experience and it is not fixed or bound by concepts.
Throughout history, there have been teachings or explanations of practice that claim to promote the experience of truth. Engaging in these practices and seeing what happens is ‘magick’. “To be a magician you need simply stop thinking about doing it, stop talking about it, believe nothing except what you’ve experienced and practice every day.”
A successful act of magick brings exactly what you ask for but how you experience your wish coming true is limited by the available means of manifestation. Magical laws are arbitrary - “Magick has no laws unless you make them up.” The book provides the following (arbitrary) definition of how magick works:
Decide what you want to occur.
Ensure that what you want to occur has a means of manifestation.
Choose an experience.
Decide that the chosen experience means the same thing as what you want to occur.
Perform the act or undergo the experience.
Obtain the result.
Subjectively, results can manifest through emotions, thoughts, visions, dreams or trance states etc. Objectively, results usually appear as synchronicities but they can sometimes be indicated by physical signs – moving objects, changes in temperature, feelings of ‘pressure’ etc.
Magick is the means by which we change our perception. Truth does not lie inany perception and doing magick ‘every day’ will lead you to that which is not a perception. If you don’t practice every day, you shouldn’t expect success. (I would argue that daily practice might be helpful but it is not essential. Experience teaches that there is a fitting regularity, which is revealed through practice).
Magick takes place within a culture, which includes technical products and components – rituals, tools and props – as well as books, websites, forums, philosophies, attitudes and models. Magick has social and ethical implications and a rich tradition embracing significant symbols, key texts, core practices and specific behaviours. The cultural components of magick are arbitrary but indispensable. However, belonging to a particular tradition or seeking initiation are matters of personal relevance; it is the magical act that is of paramount importance.
The appendix provides a summary of the main points from the six chapters of the book and outlines a progressive series of simple and straightforward exercises relating to:
The magical diary
Exclusive Concentration
Inclusive Awareness
Ritual Magick
Sigil Magick
Banishing
Entity Work
Astral Travel
Rising on the Planes
Divination
Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel
As befits a primer, Alan Chapman offers a straightforward account, which demystifies the subject and offers a potentially useful guide to anyone (particularly beginners) with an interest in doing magick.
‘The Camel Rides Again’ can be purchased from http://www.thebaptistshead.co.uk (http://www.thebaptistshead.co.uk/) or downloaded as a free PDF from the site.
Heptarchia Press, 2007
‘The Camel Rides Again’ is a brief introduction to magick, in which the author defines the fundamental principles of the subject in six short chapters and offers a series of exercises on magical practice in an appendix of similar length to the main text.
The book states that the majority of people are wrapped up in immediate and mechanical concerns, rather than being interested in meaning. This materialism is self-indulgent and it does not lead to truth. Truth is known through experience and it is not fixed or bound by concepts.
Throughout history, there have been teachings or explanations of practice that claim to promote the experience of truth. Engaging in these practices and seeing what happens is ‘magick’. “To be a magician you need simply stop thinking about doing it, stop talking about it, believe nothing except what you’ve experienced and practice every day.”
A successful act of magick brings exactly what you ask for but how you experience your wish coming true is limited by the available means of manifestation. Magical laws are arbitrary - “Magick has no laws unless you make them up.” The book provides the following (arbitrary) definition of how magick works:
Decide what you want to occur.
Ensure that what you want to occur has a means of manifestation.
Choose an experience.
Decide that the chosen experience means the same thing as what you want to occur.
Perform the act or undergo the experience.
Obtain the result.
Subjectively, results can manifest through emotions, thoughts, visions, dreams or trance states etc. Objectively, results usually appear as synchronicities but they can sometimes be indicated by physical signs – moving objects, changes in temperature, feelings of ‘pressure’ etc.
Magick is the means by which we change our perception. Truth does not lie inany perception and doing magick ‘every day’ will lead you to that which is not a perception. If you don’t practice every day, you shouldn’t expect success. (I would argue that daily practice might be helpful but it is not essential. Experience teaches that there is a fitting regularity, which is revealed through practice).
Magick takes place within a culture, which includes technical products and components – rituals, tools and props – as well as books, websites, forums, philosophies, attitudes and models. Magick has social and ethical implications and a rich tradition embracing significant symbols, key texts, core practices and specific behaviours. The cultural components of magick are arbitrary but indispensable. However, belonging to a particular tradition or seeking initiation are matters of personal relevance; it is the magical act that is of paramount importance.
The appendix provides a summary of the main points from the six chapters of the book and outlines a progressive series of simple and straightforward exercises relating to:
The magical diary
Exclusive Concentration
Inclusive Awareness
Ritual Magick
Sigil Magick
Banishing
Entity Work
Astral Travel
Rising on the Planes
Divination
Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel
As befits a primer, Alan Chapman offers a straightforward account, which demystifies the subject and offers a potentially useful guide to anyone (particularly beginners) with an interest in doing magick.
‘The Camel Rides Again’ can be purchased from http://www.thebaptistshead.co.uk (http://www.thebaptistshead.co.uk/) or downloaded as a free PDF from the site.