On our last trip to the B&N, Kat and I took a stroll through the New Age / Self-Transformation isle (publishers will happily sell you tarot cards and witch-kits but they sure don’t want to call it Magick) just to see what was new in the world of the mainstream witch/mage.

I remarked to Kat that I wouldn’t even know where to begin, or what to make out of magick, if this was my entry point. Titles promised me everything from Wicca to Hermeticism, sex magick to boss-witch stylings of a Lean-In era feminism, and even ALIENS LIVING IN THE HOLLOW EARTH

The house is darkened, the blinds shut against the moonlight, a solitary candle burns in the center of the table, illuminating a circle of close-eyed guests. The circle of people ranges in age from younger to older, their hands clasped in determination of deed. Tonight, these gathered hope to pierce the veil between this world and the next. They hope to contact those souls which have departed, and they hope to find answers to the questions which elude them. This is the séance or, at the very least, the way the séance is commonly understood.

“Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.”

― Napoleon Hill

In this section we will begin by setting an intention to learn. In my workshops and events, I often will ask the group to “give themselves permission to have an experience.” We don’t realize the extent to which we block out experiences or new ideas as a matter of reflex, often as the result of childhood instruction, social pressure, or even fear. We internalize scripts that we can’t do something because of what others have told us!

We are awash in symbolism, bombarded by logos, indoctrinated by metaphors, and linked to perpetuated ancestral cycles by a thread of familial stories. For many of us, we move through life unknowingly unmoored — divorced from our internal selves, distracted by social media, and constantly activated by media organizations which profit off of our fear. We have been taught to look towards solutions, to engage with a system of learning that creates “good workers and consumers”, and either engage with our internal spheres as an abstract idea that probably doesn’t really exist, or a soul that must be nurtured through the withering fruit of Fundamentalism. Current events show us a society that news media often refers to as “polarized”, as if two coherent groups of thinkers are rallying around categorically distinct intellectual poles.

I only recently re-invigorated my magickal practice with the power of Saint Magick, something that I was hesitant to reconnect with after years of spiritual searching within a Christian framework. And yet, as my magickal practice developed, I found St. Cyprian to embody the weirdness of magickal traditions that I so sorely sought. Today (September 26th) is the feast day of the various St. Cyprians that compose — like a wizarding Voltron — the Iberian St. Cyprian.

As I was preparing to write the final part of my “Magick Beyond the Magick” series, I realized that to properly address the issue of identity in magick — and witchcraft as a non-operative magickal identity — I should clarify what I mean by “good praxis” and “well-executed magick”. In so doing, I found that what really seems to define “good praxis” is rooted in that old magickal monolith — daily meditation. Meditation is the foundation of all effective magickal workings; it is essential for having a coherent metaphysics and vital for the success of the blossoming online witch-movement.

I believe that what we desire is not only possible, that it is likely, and we can create it if we truly desire. For the past few years I have been dogged by the constant self doubt that what I do will lead to the life of my dreams. I have often wondered, when the going gets tough and it feels like I should simply surrender, whether or not it makes more sense to let go and do something “easier.”

In the first part of this series, we turned our eyes to the world of manifestation in magick and the ways in which the conversation around manifestation has been disconnected from the value of that same practice. Today we are going to address the idea of aesthetics in magick. What are the values of embodying an aesthetic to facilitate a magickal working? Is aesthetic a spell or working in itself? And, how does one engage with an aesthetic that far surpasses the end goal of an Instagram worthy photo or an “immersive” TikTok, or the ego gratification of the novice practitioner?

There is a deeper magick underneath the magick.

One of the primary problems facing magick today is the profoundly materialist goal-setting around for what (and whom) magick is useful. When #witchtok and #witchesofinstagram focus solely on manifestation, aesthetics, and identity, a deeper purpose of magick - the greatness of the great work - is lost, severed from the realities of what magick can truly offer.

“We live in a necessarily violent world,” some say. “Humans cannot truly live nonviolently.”

I find that hard to accept, hard to stomach, even while I understand that perspective. As an occultist, I think about the hidden meanings of things, perspective shifting when it is useful. I understand that even if I don’t want to accept something like this, it is a powerful statement and a powerful narrative that shapes our world. Worlds are built on stories and ideas just like these. So, let’s explore the question of violence.

What thoughts does the word “Wizard” conjure in the mind?

Blue, sparkly robes adorned with silver stars and moons? Gandalf the Grey, with his drooping hat, snow white beard, and long pipe? Or, perhaps a boy wizard with unruly black hair, circular glasses and a curious scar?