I recently watched the Adjustment Bureau, an intriguing movie that looked at predestiny, free will, and chance, from a perspective where human beings lived fairly pre-destined lives, lived according to a plan, and were monitored by "angels" who would insure they didn't deviate from the plan. The angels monitored the time line of the person by checking a tablet and seeing if the actions of the person deviated from the plan, and if they did, the angels, would make adjustments, either to the choices the person could make, or to his/her thought processes. Pretty interesting concept... I tend to approach possibilities in a similar kind of way. I'll use tarot cards, sigil webs, or other such representations to manipulate possibilities, aligning specific ones with my time line, in order to make adjustments that bring the right possibility into reality. I don't even always rely on tools. Tools, such as Tarot, make it easier to conceptualize space/time possibilities, because they act as representations of what you're trying to manipulate. But it is also possible to interact with the possibility field directly. It involves entering an altered state of mind, where you are receptive to those possibilities and can understand how they can fit into your space and time , as well as being able to keep up with the changes that occur to the possibility field, if you align possibilities into your space and time.
The ability to interact with time non-linearly, whether through tools, or through an altered state of mind, is a lot like the concept of the adjustment bureau. You aren't necessarily making a lot of big changes, so much as you are making adjustments with possibilities. Some possibilities are easier to bring into alignment, while others will require more effort. It depends on how likely the possibility will turn into reality, as well as what other possibilities you'll need to bring into alignment to make it happen. They key is to remember to be flexible in your work...don't push it too hard. Let the possibilities flow over you, and open yourself to the expression of them in your life, but only bring them into alignment when you are ready to handle the consequences.
Book Review: A Cognitive Theory of Magic (Affiliate Link) by Jesper Sorenson
This is a dense read with a lot of academic jargon. If you aren't familiar with conceptual blending or cognitive theory, I recommend reading up on those before reading this work. The other area where this book suffers is the lack of examples. The author does draw on some anthropological examples, but for the most part he obsfucates what he is trying to explain. It doesn't help that he is relying on the anthropological work of other academics, as opposed to doing some of that work himself. With that said, a careful reading of the material will provide you with an explanation of how magic seems to work, from a cognitive perspective. It's an interesting reading and the author has some intriguing ideas about how magic works from a temporal/spatial perspective, but I'd recommend reading this book carefully and in short doses, to really get where he's coming from.
3 out 5