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.
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: 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.
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.
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.
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 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.
Saturn Retrograde Reflections
I share some reflections on Saturn Retrograde and what you can be doing right now with this particular cycle. I also discuss the importance of reflecting, evaluating and assessing your life, career, etc, when dealing with Saturnic influences.
The Rules we live by define the magic we work
I’ve been taking a number of classes lately around men’s work and self-development and in one of the classes, there’s an exercise where you define your code of conduct, as a part of a process of learning how to master yourself and become the man you want to be. I think this exercise is applicable to anyone regardless of how they identify as a gender. What’s fascinating to me however is how the rules a person lives by (or lack thereof) define the magic that the person works, and indeed how the person surveys and experiences the world.
I’ve also been reading a book about this same topic where the author defines some rules to live by, so as to bring order to a chaotic life. The rules he shares are insightful because they aren’t moral rules so much as they are practical rules that define the way people tend to organize themselves, both within themselves, with other people, and with the environment they live in. This illustrates to me that there are chosen rules, i.e. rules where a person says I’m agreeing to live this way because this rule or value resonates with my deepest identity and I want to consciously show up with that way in my live. And then there are systemic rules, rules set by society at large that may favor some people over others and encourage a conformity in order to potentially benefit from your position. And finally there are environmental rules, which are rules that operate outside of human consciousness or control. These are rules all of us deal with and they aren’t easily altered, if they can be altered at all.
A life that operates without rules is a chaotic life, a situational response that always tries to adapt to the moment, but creates little, if any, stability. I have lived that life and I have found it to be an unsatisfying life, because there is little certainty or consistency that comes with it. Over time, with lots of effort, I’ve reoriented my life toward living a more orderly life. And even now I am continuing that process because I find that the more I define my life by rules that make sense and organize my way of being, the more focused I get with creating the life I want to live.
The rules we live by define the magic we work. As you get more and more clear around your life and the rules you live by, it shapes your outlook on your life and it shapes the magic you work. It creates the container in which your life operates, and the expectations you have around that container. Some of those rules are consciously chosen, and many of them are unconsciously chosen. The ones that are unconsciously chosen usually arrive from a combination of ancestral and familial patterns of behavior and societal norms and values. The rules that we consciously choose are ones we pick for ourselves based on an awareness around something we want to change in our lives or a way we want to behave in the world, in order to achieve specific results.
Magic is one process that can make us aware of the rules we’ve unconsciously chosen because it brings us up close and personal with our desires and it allows us to see what’s getting in the way of accomplishing those desires. Many people use magic to bend the rules of reality or find some angle that gets them what they want, but in that process they necessarily ought to take a moment to know themselves and discover what is it within them that is calling for that desire.
Sometimes what we discover is that we create rules for ourselves based around our shadows. For example, if you find yourself in a consistent situation where you are continually getting rejected by people around you, there is likely something within you that craves something about that rejection. You might find that statement odd, but consider that the rejection is a symptom of a homeostatic state of being which is comfortably uncomfortable. You know that state of being. It is familiar to you and there are no surprises to it. It ends with you being rejected, but at least you know to expect that. The problem is that leads you to settling for less.
You can only break this rule when you figure out what you getting from it that satisfies you. And you are getting some kind of satisfaction, even if it is the satisfaction of feeling comfortable with the situation, even though you don’t like it. It becomes a rule of your life, until you break it, and make a new rule, a consciously chosen rule, that you live by. Of course there can also be subtle variations of the former rule and what you’ll need to do is a deep dive into these variations and iron them out and in the process change your relationship with yourself and the agreements you’re making with the universe.
The rules we live be define the magic we work and the results we get. What are the rules you are living by? What are the results you’re getting. If you’re not satisfied with them, it might be time to do some deep work around transforming them so you can also change your life.
How to build up and release
Properly executed magic is more than just working a spell…it is a cultivation of energy and attention and other aspects so that you build them up, and then when the time and space is right you release. I share how to incorporate building up and releasing into your magical work in order to optimize your magical workings.
Life Design Magic
A lot of what I see made available around magic is focused on short term results, but my own approach is focused around life design. Today I share some thoughts on what life design magic looks and how you can apply it to your life.
What's underneath the Squiggle: An Exploration of Sigils
picture copyright Taylor Ellwood 2024
Lately I’ve been finding myself fascinating by sigils and symbols again. Whether you’re conjuring a spirit with a sigil or creating a custom sigil for the purposes of manifesting a desire into reality, what makes sigils so versatile is how they can symbolically represent and mediate specific transmissions of information. Yet what’s underneath the sigil?
What’s underneath is something the sigil can’t quite describe or represent. The sigil presents a face to the world that allows us to make sense of the intangible and give it a form we can relate to. It allows us to pack ideas and concepts into the shape and recall them and it allows us to send them out into the world, to create a path of manifestation that turns essence into form and imagination into reality.
Yet a sigil is more even than that. It is a structure that creates a container to describe the essence that is being worked with, whether that’s a spirit’s essence or the essence of a desired result. The sigil becomes a key to unlock that essence and also learn the essence and make it part of your being. The symbol internalizes the essence within you and it becomes manifest through you.
The reason sigils work so well is become of how they work through us. The sigils embed themselves in our consciousness which in turn is acted upon through our actions. It’s a chain of manifestation that acts on the path of least resistance. The sigils, as symbols, are accepted more readily by our consciousness and seed the mind with possibility which then becomes reality, by the convergence of the outer variables of the world and the inner actions of the person.
The sigil is a story as well. We can get to the heart of the story by meditating on the sigil. If the sigil is for the spirit then it becomes path to the spirit that allows the practitioner to interface with the story. If the sigil is for a possibility it speaks to all the variables of the possibility. What’s underneath the squiggle? A universe waiting to be explored.
The commonalities of magick
Different magical traditions and systems and practices are actually more alike than different and why a lot of times the differences have more to do with our own subjective opinions than the actual substance of what is practiced. I also share why its continually important to learn other systems and traditions of magic, even when your practice is mainly oriented around one system or tradition.