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One of my areas of interest in magical experimentation is the question of how magic can be used to modify a person. I was recently asked if there’s a way to use magic to increase intelligence. This, to my mind, falls under using magic to modify a person. The question that has to be considered is what exactly is meant by intelligence. Should the increasing of intelligence focus strictly on intellectual intelligence or should it branch out to include emotional intelligence, bodily intelligence, or other forms of intelligence?
In my own work around this very topic I’ve focused on a holistic approach to intelligence that doesn’t privilege one type of intelligence over another. The reason for that is because intelligence comes in many forms and focusing on just one type of intelligence over any others doesn’t necessarily accomplish the goal, especially if there is more than one type of intelligence involved in something you want to change about yourself.
There’s also something to be said for taking a common sense approach toward modifying something about yourself. For example, let’s say you want to be better at focusing. You don’t necessarily need to change anything about yourself, so much as change your habits and behavior to improve your focus. The same can be said for memory. If you want to improve your memory, try doing memory exercises or memorizing chants or doing something else that requires you to use the faculty you want to improve. The reason why we want to take such approaches is because its not always a matter of changing something about yourself, but simply using what you already have access to.
With that said, it is possible to modify your intelligence using magic as a means to do so. I did just such a thing in order to increase my ability to process information from a variety of different sources. In my case, I used the mansion of memory technique, but I altered it in the following way: I created a mansion with multiple rooms and assigned to each room an avatar of myself that is strictly responsible for the contents of that room. Each room is focused on a specific topic area of interest. The avatar for that room processes the information in the room and makes it accessible to me in a way that allows me to create connections with the other information in other rooms. In this case, I’m just not improving my ability to process information, but also my memory and imagination, all of which play an important role in processing information.
I’ve applied a similar methodology toward my creativity. What’s allowed me to become more creative and keep that creativity flowing is the ability replicate the creative state of mind at will. That creative state of mind is flow and instead of having it occur at occasional intervals, I’ve been able to recall that state of experience from my memory and apply it when I’m writing, creating art or experimenting with magic. Being able to draw upon that state of mind at will has allowed me to be more creative.
If you want to learn more about how to modify yourself with magic, check out my class Magical Identity, where I explore this topic in further depth.
