Every so often I get requests where a person asks me to help them obtain special powers through magic. In this episode of the magical experiments podcast I lay down the hard truth that there are no short cuts in magic and life and share some of my experiences and stories learning this truth. You’ll also learn why experience is the best teacher and how to let go of unrealistic expectations.
Why do spirits connect with us?
Do you ever wonder why spirits connect with us? What is it they want? What do they provide in return? In this episode, I pull back the curtain and share my insights around spirit work and why spirits want to connect with us. I share what they give and what they get from our connection and discuss why this can be so helpful in working with spirits in general.
Can you influence peoples' minds with magic
What is the connection between telepathy, empathy, ESP and magic? In this episode of the magical experiments podcast I explore that question and share some of my own experiences around psychic perception and magical work. I also discuss the ethics that can be involved in this kind of work.
Can I get Life Changing Results with Magic?
I was recently asked if it was possible to get life changing results with magic. In my latest episode of the magical experiments podcast I answer that question and offer a few of my own:
What is a result?
What makes a result life changing?
What needs to change about your life to make a result stick?
Magical Experiments podcast: My Work with Celestial Magic
Have you ever wondered what the benefits of working with a given astrological system could be for your magical work? Or have you wanted to do more work with celestial magic but asked how you could do it?
In this episode I share some of my own experiences with Celestial magic, including how I work with astrological currents, as well as the magic of the planets and stars.
Magical Experiments Podcast : Can I do multiple types of magic?
In the Magical Experiments Facebook group I was recently asked the following question: “Is it okay to do different types of magick at the same time, for example I am delving into PGM, Heptameron, and working with a deity (hekate)?”
In the latest episode of the magical experiments podcast I answer this question and share some thoughts on the advantages and disadvantages of working with different types or systems of magic at the same time.
Magical Experiments Podcast: Is Magic a Quick Fix Solution?
Have you ever tried to magic your way out of a problem?
In this podcast episode I answer the question: Why do people think magic is a quick fix/solution to “mundane”problems, or issues that require “mundane” work.
I also explore the connection between the “mundane” world and magic and show that any division between the two is arbitrary and then share examples of how to marry the mundane to the magical.
Magical Experiments Podcast: Return to Sender Experiment
Sometimes the best response to a situation is to call back what belongs to you, while also returning what doesn’t belong to you. I recently decided to do a return to sender working, using a meditation shared by a friend. I have been working with it a few days and I have noticed some experiences that I have found useful. I share my thoughts on this work in the latest episode of the magical experiments process.
The arbitrary nature of elemental directions
When I first started practicing magic I didn’t question the association of the elements with the directions they were ascribed to. Air was east, fire was south, water was west and earth was north. The association of the elements with the directions was something I treated as a given at the time. It was only later, with experience under my belt that I questioned the placement of the elements in specific directions.
I came to question the association because as with most things magical its ultimately an arbitrary choice. If I live on the east coast, why can’t water be in the east? For that matter why can’t fire, with the rising sun? Or west with the setting sun. It seems more effective to base the directions of elements on the actual reality of what you’re dealing with.
For example if I live south of a lake or a river, water being in the north makes a lot more sense than putting it in another direction, but if someone lives north of that same body of water, then water in the south might make more sense. And yet even then it is arbitrary, a convenient placement based on your own location.
The elements are all around us. And we aren’t even limited to the classic 5 elements. There are many more that we can work with if we choose to. It’s important to question what we know or think about a given paradigm. In my book Walking with Elemental Spirits, I deconstruct the classic paradigms and systems of elemental magic and show the possibilities when we let go of the ideas that have been taught as “gospel truth”.
Discover for yourself: What is true about a given path or process, system or tradition. There will always be people who will tell you what they think is true and for them, it may be truth, but each of us ought to question carefully what the truth is and find out what it can be, as it relates to our spiritual work and our lives.
How grounding yourself improves your magic
When you think of the word grounding, what do you think of? What I think of when I consider grounding is the importance of being in presence in the moment I am in a way that connects me across all the levels of my being: Physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. Let’s considered what grounded means in regards to each of these states of being.
Physically grounding yourself means taking care of your physical needs. For example, you should be making sure you get enough sleep each night. You also want to make sure your eating healthy food, moderating your use of substances and getting exercise each day. When you are grounded physically, you are also able to listen to your body, feel into the sensations it provides you and as a result adjust your lifestyle. A grounded person, physically is someone at peak health.
An emotionally grounded person is a person who is able to feel their emotions and be aware of them without reacting to them. They know that their emotions aren’t their identity. They are experiences the person is having. They provide valuable information that the person can use to be present to the situation they are in and at the same time the emotions don’t overwhelm the person. An emotionally grounded person is able to open to their sensitive heart and be fully present in a way that turns the emotions into energy for the situation and for the magic.
A mentally grounded person is someone who is aware of their thoughts, but doesn’t let their thoughts control them. They can be mindfully aware of their thoughts and consider them carefully without indulging in the monkey mind awareness that causes the mind to go in circles and circles. A person who is grounded mentally has clarity of thought and awareness and applies that clarity to help them make sound decisions.
A spiritually grounded person is in touch with their spiritual energies and with their allies. They are connected to the spirits around them, but don’t let that connection overwhelm them. They are able to see through the veil of time, but don’t let their oracular vision fool them into believing that their knowing is always accurate. The spiritually grounded person learns how to cultivate internal and external sources of energy and knows when to draw on them.
The grounded person overall knows when to take a rest from magic and other activities and also knows when to move ahead. They know how to monitor themselves, take care of the essentials and stay healthy in all the ways mentioned above. At a given time, you may find yourself ungrounded in one of these areas. When you do orient toward that area and do the work you need to do to get yourself back on track.
Magical Experiments Podcast: How I Modify Magical Entities
In this latest episode of the Magical Experiments Podcast, I talk about how you can modify existing magical entities you’ve created and share why and when you would want to modify them. I share a couple of personal examples of entities that I’ve created and modified and how doing these modifications improved the efficacy of their work.
How to accept where you are to get what you want
Are you feeling stuck?
Caught up in the uncomfortable Discomfort?
I share how to turn that stuck state upside so you can get better results with your magical work. When we learn how to accept and relish the state we are in, that’s when we open the doors to potential and unlock the possibilities that we’ve been holding back because of how stuck we felt.
How to improve your energy work
Do you feel like you can’t sense energy?
Do you struggle with figuring out what to do with energy work?
I’ve got you handled. I’m going to answer these questions and share some tips to help you become a better energy worker.
And if you want to take your energy work to the next level, sign up for Advanced Energy Alchemy, starting August 10th.
What does minimal magic mean?
Recently I was asked what my philosophy of minimal magic is, and how it works in the practice of magic. My philosophy behind minimal magic is informed by an essay written by William S. Burroughs, called Do Easy, where he discussed taking the path of least resistance. He applies this approach to life in general, and its one that can be very useful under the right circumstances. In my process of magic taking the path of least resistance means that you use the resources already available to you and that you only use what is needed.
In magic, I apply the practice of minimal magic to a given magical working by using a few principles that embody the practice of do easy. You can apply these principles to your magical work and you’ll discover that they enhance the results you get.
Principle 1: Magic works best on the basis of understanding
One of the occasional pieces of advice I see shared in the occult is that you don’t need to know how magic works. Just do it (with a swoosh) and go on your merry way. The problem I have with this advice is that it diminishes the curiosity of the magician about what’s happening and why its happening. It also leaves a lot of what’s happening in the air.
When you understand what you are doing and why, it increases your overall understanding of what is happening magically and how the magic is interfacing with the world and you. This contributes to the efficacy of the magic and also allows you to let go and let the magic happen, instead of wondering if its working.
Principle 2: Every action should serve a purpose that contributes to your understanding
If you don’t understand why you are doing a given action, then you don’t know how that action is contributing to the magic. If I tell you to do an action, but I don’t explain the purpose of the action, it leaves room for doubt and that doubt works against the magic you are weaving. When you understand an action, then you are able to fully buy into the magical work and actions you are doing. You trust the process.
Principle 3: Your understanding of the working creates the causality of the result
Your understanding of what you are doing and why you are doing it creates buy in and momentum for your magical work. It creates the internal energy that helps move the magic out into the universe. When you understand what you are doing and why you are doing it, you connect the magical working to the causality of the universe and this creates additional power for the magic.
Principle 4: The Result becomes your identity through the magical work you do
The Result is a change in identity. Too often we treat results as separate from ourselves, because there is an external manifestation. But the result is an entanglement of the external manifestation and your inner sense of being. Your sense of being contributes to the manifestation of the result. If some part of you is resistant to the result you will undermine the result, because that part of you doesn’t align with the result. Understanding what we are doing in magic, why we are doing it and what the overall purpose of your actions is significantly contributes to the success of your magic. You are creating internal acceptance of what you are doing and matching it up to the change of identity that your magic creates.
Circularity, somatic adaptation and spacetime magic
In my martial arts and qi gong practice there is a specific concept I’ve been learning more about and applying to my magical practice. This concept is circularity. Circularity, in this context, refers to how the body moves in a circular way. For example, the arms have a circular movement. So do legs. The majority of movements in the martial art practice I’m learning have elements of circularity as well.
I recently starting learning a specific practice of circularity that draws on Nei Gong or inner work. this practice is called circling hands and on the surface it seems simple. You are circling your hands and arms parallel to each other while causing the rest of your body also engage in a vertical circling practice. When doing this practice I feel the energetic channels of my body are activated. This activation serves to release the tension on all levels of my being, while also helping to refine and amplify the natural energetic currents.
As I’ve been learning this practice, I’ve been applying it to space/time magic. The circle is another form of the spiral, seemingly compressed into a singular line, but with the circularity practice I can spiral the qi. the spiraling of the Qi activates the energetic principles of the body, as well as the physical somatic resources. These can be applied to the benefit of our health, but they can also be applied for magical purpose, and in my specific cases, I’ve been using the spiraling of the Qi to access and work the different probabilities of time that are available to all of us.
When I spiral the Qi I can use it to activate my awareness across space and time. I can send myself back to a younger age or move forward to a possible future. The circling spiral opens the possibilities of past and future because I am present in all of those moments. What has limited me is the everyday linear sense of time that functions as a way of making sense of space and time in the physicality of our bodies. When we unlock our bodies through circularity we can embrace the non-linear sequence of the spiral of time and find ourselves in multiple moments of time.
When you’ve done a given action multiple times that action becomes a point of reference that allows you to access the action in a given moment and through that action open the door to another time and another space. Circularity practice can take this to another level because we are engaged in somatic circular actions everyday.
Try this exercise. Stand up and rotate one of your arms in a circle. Do this a few times. Then do the same action with the other arm. After doing this action, do it again, but this time do it with the intention to move across time. There are moments, not conscious ones perse, but moments nonetheless when you’ve been engaged in some rotation movement. Allow your body to guide you across its history of awareness. It knows the ways through the doors of time and it can lead you to another place, another space where you can then use that rotation to bring your forward, back, or sideways through time.
Your body knows time through and through. Everyday we engage in activities that we have done again and again and again. Let those activities lead the way and you’ll discover another way to access the hidden opportunities that await you in the potentiality of time.
Elemental Magic and Energy Work
Is there a connection between elemental magic and energy work?
There definitely is and I share what that connection is and why you would want to work with it. I also explore what the broader definition of elemental magic is and how energy work can be applied to that definition.
How to dissolve emotions with energy
I share how you can use qi gong to help you dissolve and release emotions so that you can express them authentically or let them go. I also share how this work can enhance your magical work and help you get better results.
How to Turn Tower Time into Opportunity
I discuss how to turn your tower time into opportunities for growth and change. While it can be hard to go through a tower time it is also an invitation to change. I discuss how to use tower time to uncover opportunities for change and growth in your life.
How I'm working with Saturn Retrograde in my magical practice and life
Photo by Tara Winstead: https://www.pexels.com/photo/saturn-spelled-out-in-scrabble-tiles-7666410/
Saturn recently went retrograde and will be retrograde through November. When a planet goes retrograde it essentially seems to be moving backwards. From an astrological perspective, a planet going retrograde is an opportunity to work with the particular influence of that planet in a different way. For example, when Mercury goes retrograde, it provides an opportunity to work with your communication and recognize where your communication skills need work. In the case of Saturn retrograde, the opportunity is around examining what you have built in your life with your career, home, relationships and the boundaries you have around each of these areas of your life.
I’ve entered into this Saturn Retrograde with a sense of quiet awareness as I’ve turned inward to examine my current life circumstances. I am getting ready to make some major transitions in the next couple of months and I’m doing a lot of existential kink work around the patterns I’ve observed in my life. While Saturn is known for boundaries, Saturn is also about separating the chaff from the wheat and in the process culling out what isn’t working. One specific example I’ll use is around my career/work and what it means to be of service.
In the last 6 or so years I have worked at jobs I haven’t found to be very fulfilling. They have allowed me to pay the bills, but what they have also emphasized is how much I settle for doing work I don’t like doing because it feels like that’s the work I can find. As a magician, this doesn’t strike me as a very magical attitude…instead it is egoic, wrapped up in a sense of fatalism around the work I am doing. I have been doing a lot of work in the last couple of years to challenge this perspective, and most recently the EK work has helped me see how an unconscious part of myself has continually gotten off on being unhappy because of how it has validated deeper wounds. As I’ve examined those wounds and done the healing work on them, I’m finding that the power of this pattern is falling away.
Saturn retrograde, as a period of reflection is allowing me to continue this process of transformation. I am embracing an opportunity to let go of the fears and insecurities which have acted as boundaries and limitations that have held me back from stepping into my truest self. I am recognizing that these fears and insecurities have held me back because I’ve clung to them as a form of justification for my circumstances. I no longer can hold onto them because they don’t serve me in any way that is useful.
I am using Saturn retrograde to help me dismantle the boundaries and limits I have raised in my life from a place of fear and a drive for safety. I am realizing that clinging to illusory safety hurts me and the people in my life because it keeps me small and holds me back from living and speaking my truth. I have done it in certain areas of my life and the cost is significant. It also hasn’t kept me safe. Saturn retrograde, as an astrological current gives me a chance to take a specific momentum to this work and use it to propel me toward the deeper changes that need to happen if I’m going to live my authentic life.
How is Saturn retrograde showing up in your life?
How to be Present with Tower Time
I share how to recognize Tower Time in your life and describe how the Tower can actually be a really useful and powerful card and energy that shouldn’t be avoided. Instead we can welcome it and use it to help us transform our lives and turn the tower energy into momentum that works in our favor.