Introducing children to Abrahadabra basics...

[MythMath]

Being relatively late to the party myself,
I've wondered how 'potential alchemists' might
benefit from an earlier introduction to all this...
_________________________

I'm curious:

Do any of you parents present
Abrahadabra-related concepts
or practices to your kids...?

To what 'degree'...?

Starting at what age...?

Did they have, and then
subsequently lose, interest...?

Have they revealed things to you,
from their perspective,
that you would've missed...?

Any info or experiences would be welcome...
__________________________

[m1thr0s]

I wish I could find the reference...there's this great Hong Kong release called the Mystic Warrior of Magic Mountain in which Abracadabra figures prominently as the "Diamond Sutra" that allows The Mystic Warrior to kick some serious ass against the evil magician warlord cat...lol...

Total hocus of course but fun in its way. The thing with kids is important but it is a little tricky. I think a lot is best achieved via indirection, by exposing them to the more light-hearted gymnastics of magical squares, sacred geometries, fractal mathematics and so on. The thing to do is to stand back and get the overview on Abrahadabra from both an Art and Science perspective and then not push Abrahadabra itself so much as all those things of which it is an integral party to. That way you let them draw their own conclusions in their own good time etc but have still facilitated having the right facts on tap...

Ibisis and I have also been talking about games and the development of games that might facilitate a clearer grasp of things but also just be fun to dink around with. I think it's an area that needs more attention personally. Many of us see all of this there already but if you don't, then having some brain-teasers to play around with can really bring it all into focus I think.

m1thr0s

[Anibis]

I think that this is an interesting thread. When I was a kid, my parents phone number ended in 0418, so I actually memorized that number when I was about 6 or 7... Strange, I suppose, but maybe just having that number around is enough to resonate with kids... I have a friend whom I haven't seen in years, who started me into serious occult research who had a child, who I recall at one point saying'Abrahadabra', which his dad taught him... (I miss those guys...). But teaching? I think a game or games is a great idea... I am currently brainstorming one... anyone have any cool ideas about this? MythMath, I would bet my entire flock of goats that your brain is sparkling with possibilities as we speak... shall we conjure up some passtimes?
-Ibisis

[Anibis]

IsIs? MM you are awesome. Believe it or not, I was considering many of the same features. Here's a question. One Baroque game, or several simpler games...

May I Add a solitaire version?


A (Tarot-based) deck of cards,
expanded to sync ala Abrahadabra...

(I'm sure one of us has something like
that laying around that could be adapted... )

Funny that you mentioned that... :D
-Ibisis

[m1thr0s]

funny how these things move in circles...many years ago I had arrived at the conclusion that most of this stuff would be too heady for most unless packaged in a form that could be immediately put into action. So I set about designing a few things but none of these ever managed to reach production (financial issues really)...a tarot deck based on the 81 Shou of the Tai Hsuan Ching...a dice game based on the I Ching...a board game built on the Tree of Life...several lesser nik-naks including such silliness as Pet Ghosts based on the use of holographic glass mason jars with huge corks in them and instruction cards for the care and maintenance of your ghost...:laugh:

Games are the shit...I would truly love to be a part of such an enterprize...

It's an important truth that if a thing cannot be any fun at all...it really isn't well suited for human consumption...although people have rarely seen this particular kind of fun...this stuff holds all the aces really for a caliber of games (and products generally) that are thoroughly amusing and informative at the same time.

m1thr0s

[m1thr0s]

Maybe the board could actually
be a mat, that would roll up to
be stored/transported in a tube...that's actually a no-brainer MM...chessboards have been available in a sturdy roll-up vinyl for years etc...

'course...now that we've blown our cover we better make some serious tracks here...damn art departments can't keep their damn mouths shut...hehe...

whatever we do, I want in on this or I will be a very perturbed magus...:mad: :laugh:

You know...I have an 8 year old daughter who is always watching me work on my site and keeps telling me the same thing over and over...you need more fun Papa she says...your site is pretty but it's no fun!

the price of genius is having kids twice as smart as you are...

PS...don't let me dampen the enthusiasm on this thread...it was just a joke. The reality is that 99.9% of the people out there wouldn't have a clue where to begin so I am not seriously concerned about it...

m1thr0s

[MythMath]

I don't know if we'll have it on the shelves by xmas...

But, let's refine all this into something workable...
___________________________

I've just offered a bit about the body styling of this vehicle...

I'm sure it'll be mostly up to you guys to design the interior
and the various engines needed to run the darn thing...:yes:
___________________

Although, I can later supply a housefull of betatestdrivers...

PS -

I just did an informal count of the number of times the word
Fun/ny was used in this thread; surely a forum record...:laugh:

[Dragon]

I'm curious:

Do any of you parents present
Abrahadabra-related concepts
or practices to your kids...?

To what 'degree'...?

Starting at what age...?

Did they have, and then
subsequently lose, interest...?

Have they revealed things to you,
from their perspective,
that you would've missed...?

Any info or experiences would be welcome...


I know there is a conversation about a "delivery system" going on right now, but since this is my first post on this thread I wanted to address the original question.

Interestingly enough the night you first posted this question MM, I was having a conversation with a friend about small children and ceremony, although initiations was the primary topic on hand, still for the past few weeks the discussion had been going on in my "realm". To answer succinctly, my 14 month old son is in the center of the circle with me when I do magickal workings, whether alchemical or ceremonial, as well as being around for my usual routines for skrying, clearing, grounding, etc. He is learning it from the inside. There is something just basically natural, and to me profound, about having one's child in arms while doing magick. Where else would he be?

I have seen children that were raised in actively practicing magickal housholds, some turned out brilliant, some a little cracked, it just depends like always, on the quality of the parent(s). Being as abrahadabra is a key element in my matrix, he is exposed to its energy and form, as he has been since inception. He is responsive to energy, and can see things in the subtle planes. He thinks it is fun.

I think it also depends on the natural talents or inclinations of the little soul. Things like flash cards, role playing, games, and puzzles can be useful for development of knowledge in any field, but if the child is not inclined, then it won't play, or will try to change the game.
And also this, consider learning styles that may be revealed in children of magickal leanings - so games that can be adaptable, and geared for the individual might be required. If one is creating a game to get the image out there into the general pool to imprint guerilla style, then a single model might be acceptable.

Just some of my wandering thoughts on this thread, thus far.

I'm sure more will follow during further discourse.

....The little bugger can already cast a basic circle, and when I do directional invocations or sigil work, he tries to mimic me.....the direct approach will probably work best for me;
ergo, my answer would be that I would (and do) start them in the womb, and teach them through direct demonstration and exposure.

Daddy's a rock star.
(But Mom's a goddess.);)


Dragon

[imagenerator]

I teach and supervise kids in an ESL school, and today I gave them all a copy of this image http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/45631775/ and asked them to draw and color on it. I introduced the activity by placing a quarter on the desk and asking them how many quarters they thought I could fit around it. Then I briefly explained the 6-fold pattern of the Flower and explained what mandalas were. They seemed to enjoy the activity, and were awestruck by the pattern. I was surprised how many of them tried to draw "real things" like fish, cats, and houses in it. Next time I might suggest for this activity (which I imagine my friends might like too) that the participants create a pattern that is symetrical about the centre, giving them some examples.

[MythMath]

Update:

After the holiday school break, we started
home schooling our 6- and 8-y-o kids...

Along with math/language/spelling/reading/
science/history/geography/art/music, etc...

I've been employing various card and boardgames,
as discussed above, to introduce and familiarize
my kids to the 'elemental nature' of things...

[And for 'phys ed', I'm teaching them how to
juggle, which I've recently learned myself...]

This whole adventure is exciting, and I plan to post
more observations, etc. soon, but for now I wanted
to post this link to the game design gallery:

http://forums.abrahadabra.com/showthread.php?p=15783#post15783

[Anibis]

I actually teach conjuring to kids, and often throw in little snippets of wisdom, as I can...one thing that sprang to mind in discussing how it might be dangerous to intor kids to Abrahadabra... my intuition tells me that it's less dangerous than teaching it to adults... I suspect that one of the reasons that some people experience distortion of perception is that they have a whole overlay of language-based structures built onto their consciousness which Abrahadabra will then operate on... With kids, I suspect this is less... Though I'd never intro it in a heavy way... I actuall use 'Abracadabra' as my logo in the work I do, using the triangle and highlighting the tetractys... For a kids performer, it's more appropriate to use this form, I think... at least with prevailing public perspective and all... I teach kids all the time, but indirectly... my main focus is imparting physical and performance skills.... Just thought I'd pipe up... Glad to see you games up in the public eye!
-Ibisis

[MythMath]

Ib,

Show us your logo... :yes:
_________

Yeah, my kids are really enjoying juggling 'class'...

Their self-confidence grows with each session as they realize they
can more easily do today what was difficult to do yesterday... ;)

And now they cooly track, and respond to, objects being hurled
at them, where before they would have instinctively flinched...
_______________

When you teach, what bon mots do you toss in...?

Also, what ages do you prefer to work with...?

[Anibis]

I kindof like working with pre-teens, cuz they have attention spans without excessive surliness. They also can track card tricks which I like to do alot... I am really pleased to hear thay your kids are getting so much from this... yet not at all suprised... You are some awesome dad, MythMath... MASSIVE respect to you! The 'Bon Mot', which I always teach anyone who I instruct in juggling is 'Lemniscate', which is the technical name for an infinity sign. Besides being exactly what the cascade pattern is, it also happens to be precisely the nerdy sort of uber-word which I like to arm the worlds young ones with!
Cheers, and check your PM's...
-Ibisis

[deviadah]

Might be not directly related to this thread, but I just had thought that I'd point out the theory that kids today might not be as close-minded as kids of yesterday to all these concepts.

Although they might not understand it, they still know it - if you get me.

There is a lot of new age horse shit floating about, but some of the stuff I do agree on and one of these is the concept of an emerging indigo consciousness. Now if this is due to the movements of the planets or some hippie science OR just a result of the constant mental evolution of mankind can be debated (and not really that important).

Regardless it is something that can't be ignored!

:cool: