Beyond magic

Due to my understanding, there is a regular magic (including "low" magic), and higher magic.

Regular magic is concerned with achieving certain goals, like making a relationship or having a lucky journey. The goals are simple, defined and restricted. This magic could be also called goal-oriented, or exclusive (excluding anything that is not in our interest related to the goal).

Higher magic is concerned with qualities. In this sense, it is inclusive, or expansion-oriented magic type. Typical usage of this magic was by the priests in ancient Egypt, where one calls upon deities - or rather, universal powers - such as Thoth, or inspiration.

My view is that this is not the end of the story: the next step after any kind of magic, high included, is the creation - the real creative power. It's always tightly related with imagination. Imagination is the beginning area (and the ultimate area at the same time) to discover and recognize your own inner power to deal with the universe.

The creation requires higher energy centers to be active, as they are responsible for providing one with the related qualities (rather than energies, which are always secondary to the quality).

I use regular (low) magic when my ability to get higher is limited. I use higher magic when I see a broader picture. When my higher energy centers are working at their best, I move to creation. Creation is not goal-oriened, as magic is; it's getting into the "shoes" of a "life creator", seeing the whole picture / scenery like from up, being actually impersonalized from the whole thing. Imagination attracts you to the pictures you want (desire) to see, but not always are conscious of - depending on how much spirit energy you gathered.

I never really liked the concept of ritual and stuff in magic. I always thought if you wanted to manifest something, all you need is your will alone.

There is something beyond 'magic' which does not rely on energy or intent. It is the direct expression of the soul/spirit/inner-divine. This is based on the idea that most humans are in fact souls having a human incarnation. As such the soul expresses itself in to the physical realm through a creative 'force'. If one gets in touch with their inner divine, one can access this 'force' and create things directly. This type of expression is the basis for miracles (no religious connotation intended).

My view on Qabbalah (Kabbalah)
Like most of the popular esoteric / religious studies, I find in most popular qabbalah studies to be actually misleading. In centuries it grew with a number of intellectual "toys" and speculations which led its students astray, wasting their lives with pure theoretical and intellectual activity with hope of making a discovery of something profound. It's not something unusual, the same happened to the Asian students of taoism, for instance.
So I avoid books or other sources of qabbalah.

In fact, I would not take this subject seriously, if the qabbalah to my surprise didn't started to appear in my dreams more than 10 years ago, when I knew about it virtually nothing. It continued to repeat, and never ended. Dreams seem to insist of paying attention to it. So I took a trial, read a book a bit, found it a stack of non-sense, and put it aside.

The recent focus on spirit, as I mentioned few times on the forum in different places, started to bring some new unexpected revelations. One of those refer to the qabbalah tree.

Magic / mages version of the qabbalah tree states that it is a process of manifestation of creation from top to bottom, and the process of ascension of any energy (human being included, as being also energy) from bottom to top.

It is also a reference for alchemical work and achievement. As such, it is also a spiritual reference for achievement and ascension. As such, it is also an essential guide to human psychology.

But from my personal point of view, when verifying it in practical approach, I find qabbalah to be primarily 10 sources or "kingdoms" of powers which can be mentally reached and gained. They are tools of meta-physical creation / creativity - tools which gods, as refenced by the ancients, tended to use in their manipulation of reality, and manipulation of humans. Interestingly, (ancient) gods seem to be quite limited in using them, as they were able to access only one or just few powers (sephirots) in their own "kingdom" - their range of power / activity / mentality / characteristics (all being the same, after all). In this sense, human being exceeds the ancient gods as (s)he can achieve a full potential of all the powers involved in the universe tree.

The sephirots represent therefore a potential powers at hand that can be:
- reached
- achieved
- developed
- gathered
- utilized
- channeled
- manipulated
- modified
- merged
- used in a protective way
- used in a creative way
- used in a destructive way
- used in a receptive way

All of those powers are typically slumbering within a human mind-spirit and energetic system. Alchemy is one of the ways to reach and develop them consciously.

When developed, the powers coming from sephirots (relations between which have been outlined on the multilevel and multidimensional tree of qabbalah scheme) allow to create / manipulate things and affect other beings in the cosmos (all levels included) and on the planet, in the universe in short. The higher-placed sephirots are more universal and essential (and subtle or abstract as such), while the lower ones tend to be more "tactical" and direct forces (hence their bigger popularity in witchcraft). Anyway, they are used at will / intent, as wstein stated already:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by wstein

one can access this 'force' and create things directly. This type of expression is the basis for miracles

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But I believe that no sephirot should gain precedence and attention over the other ones, but all developed equally and simultanously, with perhaps special attention to the highets one, Kether, which I find often to be overlooked and misunderstood. So I jump from one to another when a need arises. ;)

The key to understanding the qabbalah, however, are not sephirots themselves, but the concept beyond them: the concept of dualism and the concept of triangle (the way to overcome the dualistic dilemma). However, I suspect also other "geometrical patterns" in the qabbalah tree to have a role as well, based not just on 1, 2 or 3 numbers, but all numbers up to 10, through 4, 5... to 9. Dual pairs (like Geburah and Chesed) are meant to define and counter-define themselves, like yin and yang, and they cannot exist without its opposition.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Antares

The sephirots represent therefore a potential powers at hand that can be:
- reached
- achieved
- developed
- gathered
- utilized
- channeled
- manipulated
- modified
- merged
- used in a protective way
- used in a creative way
- used in a destructive way
- used in a receptive way

All of those powers are typically slumbering within a human mind-spirit and energetic system. Alchemy is one of the ways to reach and develop them consciously.

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power <-> harmony

If you balance what's on the left with what's on the right you DO get "God within."

edit: The powers at hand, the harmony that was, I mean.