Last week I posted a video on how to work with Zero as a principle of space/time magic. However Zero is more than just a principle of space/time magic. Zero is a state of being. And Zero is a process. Zero is razor edged. It'll slice you up if you're not careful, and sometimes even if you are...
So why would you want to work with Zero?
Here's a secret you won't find in most books on magic. What makes magic work is what you put into it. All those spells you read about, with the incense, candles, etc....you know they only really work if you're willing to give yourself to what you're working with. And by giving yourself I mean putting something of yourself into the working to make it happen. If you hold back in some way, well that's when magic doesn't work. And Zero can teach you that because zero is infinite possibility, but more importantly Zero is a state of being that requires an investment of sorts from someone who works with it to turn it from one state of being into a different state of being.
With Zero what you have is a fundamental departure from the normal boundaries of space and time. As I explain in my Space/Time Foundations course (The next round is starting February 17th), the invocation of Zero puts you outside of linear time and space and as a result allows you to work with the infinite possibilities contained within it. But the infinite possibilities are seductive and its easy to get caught up in the lure of those possibilities without actually doing anything. The present themselves before you and can suck you right into them. Your challenge as a magician is to make a choice to turn the Possibilities of Zero into the Manifestation of One.
You have to learn to work with Zero first. Zero can come in many forms. It can be invoked through sound or experienced as a meditative state of stillness or brought about through pushing your limits so that you reach a place of sublime perfection where everything is crystalline clear and perfect, making sense in a way that defies description and yet nonetheless comes together seamlessly. That's the temptation and brilliance of Zero. Yet for Zero to become something more than just possibility, it relies on something essential that it lacks.
What does Zero need?
You and the principle of embodiment you represent. Actually that's true of the spirits in general. The reason they work with us (another secret you won't find in most books on magic) is because what we offer is a taste of the manifested world when we invest ourselves in the work we do with them. You can't turn a possibility into reality without a means of embodying that possibility and so the magician must act as the agent of embodiment. What the embodiment does is limit the possibility into tangible reality, something to be experienced in the linear space and time we are all part of.
With Zero you experience the infinite possibilities as a stream of consciousness, a flow of experience that allows you to open yourself to what could be. Then you pick what you need from what could be and you bring that into yourself and provide it the embodiment, the manifestation it needs to be more than just a possibility. Pretty amazing really.
You must have discipline to turn Zero into One, to turn away from the sublime perfection of entropy you experience and limit it into something you can work with in the reality of life. You give of yourself by choosing the possibility, because at that you've committed to it and made it part of your experience. That's really how magic works in general. It's so simple and yet so often people make it more complex. They add in lots of tedious details that keep you from really experiencing magic. And don't get me wrong those details can be helpful, but more often than not they end up becoming a distraction.
Zero can change that for you, become your spiritual ally and secret weapon where you strip away everything that isn't needed and get back to the pure simplicity of simply investing yourself in what you want to turn into a possibility. What Zero wants is that investment. You want it to, or you wouldn't be practicing magic. What Zero can do is show you how to make that investment by turning it into the 1 of manifestation and building from there.
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Book Review: Captain Z-Ro's Indispensable Book of Days by Bill Whitcomb
If you're a SF geek or a Fantasy nerd or a pop culture magician, this book is an indispensable resource for you. The author has put together a calendar/book of notable in SF/Fantasy as well as some other interesting finds within the book that you'll enjoy. This book made me smile a number of times and is one I recommend for the fantasy and SF geek in your home.
Book Review: Language Intelligence: Lessons on Persuasion from Jesus, Shakespeare, Lincoln, and Lady Gaga by Joseph Romm
If you are a writer or a presenter or someone just interested in understanding how language works, this book is a must read. In this book the author shares the rhetorical strategies of politicians and entertainers and show how these strategies are used to get fans, persuade people to causes, and otherwise influence how we think about the issues in our world. Reading this book was eye-opening for me and has helped change how I write as a result. If you want to become a better writer then read this book and keep it as a resource to draw on in your work.