#western magic

Honestly I thought it would be a low-ball from me to make the first image the Inner Librarian the cover photo...haha

So this is a compilation of my of Critique Quareia, not in a disparaging way and I don't really want to bring it down in it's practical/good things in it, except that some parts and pieces in it you want to step back and not take it as a whole. I hope that this is blog isn't taken as an outright attack but a consideration instead of *jumping* into it headfirst without thinking about it. In the provocative sense of Josephine I give a title that might not be so accurate :P

Oh, anon. You do not know what you have unleashed.

This is gonna be a long one.

First off, 'Western Occultism' covers a large swath of practices and disciplines that range from the Medieval Era, to the Renaissance, as well as the Early Modern Period...so over a thousand years. It's vast umbrella includes astrology, alchemy, hermeticism, angel magic, and over a dozen notable grimiores as well as multiple other lesser ones- and it is not for the faint of heart.

I don't mean that in an elitist way either. I mean that some of this shit gets uncomfy real quick. Multiple grimoires are not shy about animal harm and endangerment. They do not flinch at the ethics of love or sex spells, and they certainly are not strangers to misogyny, racism or ableism. If interacting with any of that sounds distasteful to you, I would gently and lovingly suggest you steer clear.

And if you do choose to move forward? Well then I suggest, especially in the case of grimoires, that you are ready to study your ass off. Once again, I don't say this to be an elitist. I don't say this to show off my starry robe and my pointy wizard hat and my "learned" degree from wizard school. I say this because, otherwise, you will not have context for either the spiritual ideas that are trying to be conveyed in these books or the trap doors that are hidden in their pages.

Some grimoires were not meant for mass consumption or regard. Some books, The Picatrix being one, have recipes for philtres and salves that promise numerous benefits but are actually, literally, poison. Why? Because as a student of the occult you should know that pure bitter almond oil is poisonous, of course. Sometimes whole rituals will be detailed with one deviation that may, from the purview of the writer, cause the whole thing to come crashing down. Why? Because you should know that if Venus and Saturn, two planets whose natures are already at odds, are in contention it will sour the whole production. These writings do not give up their secrets easily. It demands a constant engagement supplemented with a hard won knowledge.

Now, in answer to your question: Did Westen Magic appropriate Judaism, or was it shared cultural proximity?

The answer is- yes. To both.

The history is longer than what I can write in a tumblr post but basically Medieval Christian Magic, Jewish Mysticism, and Islamic Mysticism were all in conversation with one another and were borrowing from eachother during this period of magical and spiritual advancement. Christian Magic did influence Jewish Mysticism, though not as much as Jewish Mysticism influenced Christian Magic; and neither as much as Islamic Mystcism influenced both. This blending of spiritual thinking was actually one of the things that made Spain the once great capital of magical thought and reasoning in the 12th century; due to its diverse Jewish, Muslim and Christian population.

This, along with the fact that there are many symbols, names, and spiritual ideas that Christianity brought into their religion post separation from the larger Jewish tradition, makes it difficult to identify whether certain aspects bled into Western Magic via direct cultural proximity and whether others were outright stolen...well, I mean the Hebrew was. The Hebrew was stolen.

However according to some academic theories, this theft may have even been the catalyst for some of the spiritual concepts later used in Kabbalah; Christian Ritual Magic influenced by Hebrew, in turn influencing Jewish Mysticism.

It must be said however that despite many Christians devotion to Hebrew, it was Jewish people who got stuck with the short end of the stick. Over time Jewish people would see themselves labeled as "demon worshippers" and "evil sorcerers" as their language became synonmus with magic.

This definitely presents a conundrum to modern practicioners. What then do we do with these grimoires? What to do with these traditions? If some of it is appropriative, do we throw it out? If some of it was influenced in moments of genuine human interaction and curiosity, do we label it 'permissible' despite the terrible anti-jewish sentiment on the rise in our modern era?

Both are valid questions, but no I personally don't condone their compelete disavowment; like many other traditons, Western Magic should be considered as a whole and with its complex history in mind. I think one should consider that these grimoires were far reaching and culturally influential, and in ways we cannot even begin to understand, or even untangle. A grimoire could be found in Ireland just as easily as in Spain, and not just in the libraries of white bearded men- which only makes sense. Some of what is in the grimoires came from the common people, and to the common people pieces of these books returned.

In terms of Western Magic, I think the magic community would have an easier time creating room for discussion, education and further collaboration. Such an approach would further these traditons in ways that we haven't seen for hundreds of years, and in ways not possible from the beginning. In fact, such groups already exist that contain both Jewish, Christian and Non-Christian practicioners.

With (all) of that being said-

There are ways to get around the parts you feel unsure about, or are approiative. For instance, in the case of most Hebrew, one could swap it out for Enochian since both are "heavenly" and "spiritual" languages. Such substitutions require knowledge of what you're working with and a willingness to experiment but they are possible. In fact, substitutions are necessary as it's not like you can just go buy the musk of a civet cat when you need it.

Personally, I feel the best books to start with are Agrripa's Occult Philosophy, Books 1-3 and 4. It is said that to read all four is akin to achieving a college level degree in Renaissance Magic. Any of the Grimoires in which Stephen Skinner is listed as an editor and collaborater are also great as they are usually more digestable.

As for history-

Dr. Justin Sledge's YouTube channel Esoterica is a great resource for all things Ancient and Medieval Magic Related.

Grimoires: A History of Magic Books by Owen Davis.

Ancient Jewish Magic: A History by Gideon Bohak.

And @woodland-goes, a practcioner of Western Magic and Grimoire Work also suggested I share this link. He has a podcast coming out very soon that will also be discussing what we've covered today and I wholly suggest you go and hit up his inbox if you have any more questions on the topic. He is far more knowledgeable than I.

This is a story about two magicians.

One of them was WB Yeats, writer, poet and politician.

One of them was Aleister Crowley.

You may not know that Yeats was a well-respected member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a very influential (if deeply problematic) esoteric and magical society. Other members included Bram Stoker, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and many other notable artists, writers, actors and political minds of the day.

Aleister Crowley was also a member (and an aspiring poet) and had a passionate rivalry with Yeats. Crowley, famously a complete shithead, was getting a reputation around town for being a total bastard and the rest of the Order of the Golden Dawn was getting sick of his shit. In 1900, they decided to kick him out of the order, which make Crowley absolutely lose his mind in anger.

Crowley decided that if he wouldn’t be let back into the club, he would storm the clubhouse and steal some of their secret papers to help found his own magical school.

He showed up one day at the meeting place of the Golden Dawn on Blythe Road in London - dressed like a highland warrior for some reason - trying to ascend the stairs into the building while shouting spells and curses.

Yeats and a few other members of the Golden Dawn stood at the top of the stairs, shouting back their own curses. Shockingly, neither set of incantations seemed to have any effect.

The two men stared one another down across the stairs as Crowley continued his approach, spells flying. Years of simmering resentment bubbled to the surface.

Suddenly, Crowley was upon them, reportedly armed with a dagger. Yeats had enough and stopped chanting.

As biographer Richard Elman later wrote, "the forces of good struck out with their feet and kicked him downstairs.”

Yeats booted Aleister Crowley full in the chest, who rolled down the stairs and was bodily thrown into the street.

this actually woke up within me an interesting thought and i thought maybe you wouldnt mind if i shared it? i find myself very inspired by christian/jewish mystics and hermeticists that i know due to the amount of academic,philosophical and mystical knowledge involved in those practices, and i find myself being drawn to traditional magic but (classic story nothing unique) oh gosh the heebie jebies over any mention of „the one god” are strong and not lessening. i know mysticism is all about gaining gnosis over what god means to you but born in poland = religious ickeys. i have slowly started incorporating deities into my work, and im starting to feel pleasure venerating hermes and apollo but those are productive connections with specific purposes so its not what i imagine when i think of worship.

have you known people in this situation who have eventually figured out a way to interact with this sphere of esotericism? of course i understand if my question is sudden and overtly personal for a first message haha. let me know if thats the case, otherwise im curious to hear from you!

I'm glad for the question. I think these sorts of conversations (despite how personal they can be) are incredibly important to have and discuss. I can't offer you a clear answer, but hopefully I can add a little bit to your process.

I talk a little bit about this on an upcoming episode of Luxoccult, so if you're a podcast fan keep an eye on that feed. It might be better to hear me say some of this stuff out loud. In the same breath I apologize if I repeat myself.

I went through a very similar thing. When I started to feel a pull towards the grimoires and the history of western magic I felt an incredible amount of fear. I had done so much to distance myself from that world. I had so much suffering inflicted upon me as a queer man in America by Christians and in the name of Christ. I was also someone who had worked for the church, had done ecclesiastical work. Someone who thought I had done a lot of good through that. I turned to Chaos Magic and, through that to Heathenry, to give myself an escape from that confusion. An escape from the dissonance I felt between my work and the people around me.

What purpose could there be for me, someone who was wildly queer and polyamorous and loving it, to engage with the work of dead guys whose perception of good was fundamentally tied with the virginal?

My salvation was philosophy. The realization that our ontologies are not set in stone, and that we have always found some way to disagree. That in disagreeing, in building my own framework for how this operates, I was contributing more to the tradition of western magic and the future of it than by blindly subscribing to the ontologies of my forbears.

The grimoires are prescriptive. They offer us names and seals and modes to operate. And they work as intended. They should be engaged with on their own terms and using their own methods. As best as we have the capability to. None of that means that we are the same as the people who wrote them, or have the same perspectives.

On one hand it is our obligation to know the traditions we pull from, to respect them. We have to put in the work. On the other, it is not our obligation to remain unchanging. To conservatively rest on the laurels of our predecessors.

Read up on some philosophy. Some *weird* philosophy. Check out some Neoplatonists and some Pythagoreans and some "Gnostics" (quotations for how academically fraught that word is). See their perceptions of God or the Monad and what that actually meant to them. See if the idea of God you come out the other end with is something that evens negates the ideas you had already. Sometimes the problem is semantic more than anything else.

I highly recommend the podcast The Secret History of Western Esotericism as a jumping off point for some of these philosophies. The way Eric condenses some of these ideas it can be a great jumping off point for "oh hey actually I kinda like that".

Most importantly however, break your brain a bit before you start getting hard ideas. I'm recommending starting with the philosophy NOT because I want you to have a hard ontology before diving into western magic. I want you to instead have a broader understanding of the many ways people have done and thought about this stuff. That there's no one mode of thought for approaching it.

Finally, you don't have to do any of this. Yes the story of western magic is wrapped up in the grimoires, and it will in some way inform a ton of what any of us in the west find ourselves doing anyway. And I find it, for that reason and others, important to be well-read in. But you are in no obligation to do fucking anything, for any reason. And you are under no obligation to do magic in any way other than the way you want to do it. If that ends up putting theurgy off the table? Fine, that's great. You'll be better for having tried, and for being willing to expand in the first place.

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attribution to the Wyoming Bureau of Land Management's website

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Western Magic & Prairie Folklore Masterpost

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For those of you who don't know me, slàinte mhath! My name is Reggie and I'm a folk magic practitioner. This is the first post of many I'm going to do on the very specific kind of folk magic that traveled West with the pioneers in the 1800s and developed with the settlers and cowboys in the "Equality State."

Fun fact: Wyoming is called the "Equality State" because on December 10, 1869, Wyoming passed the first unconditional law in the U.S. permanently guaranteeing women their inherent right to vote and hold office.

Out of everyone on Tumblr, why am I qualified to speak on this topic? Well, I was born and raised for 23 years in Wyoming. I am from a family of people who were all born, raised, and lived their entire lives in Wyoming. (Specifically the Bear Lake Valley of Wyoming and Idaho, and that little corner of Utah where all 3 touch.)

If you're a prairie folk magic practitioner and would like to participate in this post series, then feel free to send me an ask!

Otherwise, let's get to it.