Laws of Magic: II Law of Attention

II Law of Attention:
All Worldviews exist as potential, gaining momentum the more energy and belief we put into them. The more one seeks to support a given law, conclusion, or Worldview, the more evidence one will find. We create our world, moment by moment (as illustrated by the first Law) by means of the recursive internal dialogue of words and symbols with which we constantly edit our perceptions. By focusing our attention to a specific purpose, we rearrange our worldview. In other words, belief is paramount to the function of magic, while doubt in oneself or one’s goal sabotage’s the goal before it can be achieved.

In physics, this is akin to the Observer Effect (some will no doubt get a chuckle from the name of this phenomena), whereby the results of an experiment changes with the observer (Ex. Schrödinger’s Cat). You can use this law to reinforce your Worldview. By seeking to validate your Worldview, you create the evidence you seek, which is both a function and a danger of this Law. Your subconscious provides the symbolism and signs to which your conscious mind responds. A kind of synchronicity occurs between your subconscious and conscious mind which results in coincidental observations. These observations make it seem that what you believe is true or increases your belief that something is true, thereby reinforcing your focus on your personal truth. If you don't see the danger here yet, then consider how our slender anti-friend hunts.

Though this is normally an unconscious function of the mind, it can be done consciously through the use of syllogisms (the conscious stringing together of symbols which lead your mind in a specific direction). Therein lies the power of the Law of Attention. So long as you can maintain focus on your personal truth, you can begin to bend reality to your will. The longer you are able to maintain this attention or the more energy you put into your desires, the more you are able to convince yourself, and the minds around you, of your personal truth. The more minds agree on a "truth," the longer the universe will allow it to last.

By simply desiring a Worldview to be true, your mind begins to discard any illusions between you and its validation (this is called "wish magic" by some). In other words, you see more evidence of its reality because you are no longer disregarding it. The evidence may have existed all along, but until you were ready to accept it, it remained hidden from you. On the other hand, you are also actively creating this evidence as you go as a means of reinforcing the Worldview you are consciously or unconsciously building.

In the long run, this Law is invaluable for strengthening your Worldview. By stringing along events and symbols in a logical fashion, you can prove a Worldview is possible. In doing so, changes to your current Worldview become easier. What I mean is, if you are attempting to alter your current Worldview to a new one (in other words- working a spell), then use of the second Law facilitates that change.

This law has a secondary function applicable to divination. It deals with interpretation of omens and portents which connect to our subconscious desires, and which many fail to note prior to the event they foretell. Those who have a talent for divination can learn to read the will of the Tao reality through the Law of Attention.

Affirmations are one of the easiest ways to put the Law of Worldviews into effect, but the Law of Attention deals more precisely with accessing the subconscious through symbolism. The simplest way to do this is by creating a sigil. A sigil can be produced by collecting any words which apply to the reality you wish to create. Some books will tell you to choose letters from an alphabet that the writer considers in some way magical, but any alphabet or system of symbols can be used. When you are just starting out, it is more important to be familiar with your tools (your own alphabet in this instance) as a boost to your confidence. Later you can choose an alphabet to which you may attach special significance.

To create a simple sigil, write a short sentence pertaining to your hoped for goal. Reduce each word to the first letter and throw out any letters which repeat. Combine the letters, eliminating shared lines, until you have a symbol which is a representation of all the letters. Draw this form on a clean sheet of paper, using whatever ink you feel appropriate. This will be your sigil once you empower it (by focusing your will on the symbol and investing it with the power of your belief in what it represents). Once you put it to use, watch for the changes you desire in your reality. Acknowledgment of those changes will further validate your worldview.

Laws of Magic: I Law of Worldviews

I Law of Worldviews

The world we perceive is not the true world. What we see is a mixture of the underlying reality (the Tao or objective, unknowable reality which supports everything we build upon it) and our perception (the subjective). Science supports the idea that by observing phenomena, we change it. While changing your worldview does not alter the eternal, real world, it does change the world you perceive. That is, by changing his worldview a magician is able to make real changes in the world which is real to humanity. (This will be explored further in Law VII: the Law of Reflections.)

Because there are an infinite number of ways to perceive the world, there are also an infinite number of worlds we may assemble without awareness. The true underlying reality is unknowable to us as long as we retain our worldview of separateness and self. Through meditation and other techniques, an explorer of this underlying reality can become one with it, but when joined to it, he can no longer step back and observe it, having become for that moment a part of it. As soon as he steps back, he begins to build observations about his experience, destroying the moment and obscuring the world which he has left. Thus there is no such thing as an independent observer. You participate in creating the world by perceiving it. This is then the objective all magic, bending reality to your will to create the phenomena or world you desire despite the will of others. The Will is the most powerful tool of a magician.

The Law of Personal Universes Every sentient being lives in and quite possibly creates a unique universe which can never be 100% identical to that lived in by another. So-called “reality” is a matter of consensus opinion.

The Law of Infinite Universes The total number of universes into which all possible combinations of existing phenomena could be organized is infinite. Anything is possible, though some things are more probable than others and so are easier to enact.

According to the Law of Worldviews and its sublaws, our reality is our own creation, attached tenuously to the underlying “real” world. Both worlds are real in so far as we are able to understand, both affect our well-being, but our personal reality is in constant flux, changing according to both the real world and our perception of it. Unlike the underlying reality however, only one’s own personal world may be altered willfully. The underlying reality remains unaltered. It is the foundation upon which we build our observations. A good example of this is the use of positive affirmations. When someone convinces themselves of the possibility of change, they bring that change into being.

True immersion in the “real” world would remove any desire for change. We cannot live in the “real” world (I believe it is as aspect of the Afterlife). It can be visited for short periods by minds that have attuned themselves to it, but staying too long might prevent the observer from returning or remove all desire to return (resulting in death). Since we cannot live in this “real” world, affirmations, meditations, and spellwork are valuable tools for reshaping the subjective world we must live in. Any attempt to alter the objective reality immediately removes the observer to the mutable universe of perception and creation. Only in the universes of our finite perception can change be put into effect. The world we each perceive is created by thought and desire and remains a mutable, warped copy of the underlying universe which exists as the bedrock of all our realities. (However, if your will is strong enough to affect the less material and therefore more spiritually mutable sister dimensions in direct contact with the world most of us see, it is possible to be incredibly kickass like the Amalgamation Sage.)

Because the number of possibilities in any individual universe are infinite, so too are the types of phenomena which can be caused through the application of will. However, since some phenomena are more probable than others, some will require less energy should they be attempted. For instance, it would be easier to create a pig than a flying pig, though creation of any matter from nothing would overtax our limited cognitive abilities.

Because each of us creates our own reality, it is difficult, though not impossible, for two or more people to agree upon the same phenomena. Police will tell you that witnesses to a crime rarely agree on the fine details of what they saw. Creation of phenomena is easier with one observer and becomes successively more difficult the more observers are included. Should a magician manage to obtain the cooperation of other observers however, either in suspending their expectations or in focusing their wills on a joint project (through agreed upon symbolism), the bending of reality to the Will becomes easier than with only one observer/magi. (More on this in Law IV.) This is also where the use of traditional tools and supplies comes into play. Stones, herbs, symbols, and other trappings of magic are powerful due to the combined will of generations of magicians using the same items in their own practice. It taps into the collective unconscious or what some call the Akashic Records.

The Law of Worldviews is a valuable tool towards understanding the underlying universe even as it affects the subjective universes of our perceptions. Application of this Law allows the creation or dispersal of energy in the form of phenomena. Belief is the all important factor. Believing something is possible allows it to be an option in your reality. Doubt destroys that possibility. Belief that something can hurt you, feeds the doubt that you can prevent that harm.

A person who believes in fairies, angels, spirits, etc, can communicate with them if they are present. Is this person delusional? Science would say yes, but such entities can cause changes to the physical universe that others can observe: temperature, weather, cumulative alterations in the subject. If multiple observers can be convinced to share a worldview, they will be able to function partially within that world, and the original observer within theirs. Shared perception creates a shared world through which the occupants may affect each other. The shared world will become more real based upon the number of believers in that world. Thus if three out of four people believe enough in the presence of a spirit, they may be able to empower that entity to appear or cause phenomena the fourth non-believer may experience despite his disbelief. It is not that we create a non-human entity (though it is possible to do so), but that we allow ourselves the option of perceiving it. Others may prefer not to allow it into their personal worldview and therefore, based on the strength of their will and belief, prevent it from manifesting in their reality.

This Law explains also the very real danger of cults, particularly Slendy and friends.