{"collection":"bos","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/bos/bos333.htm","path":"bos/bos333.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/bos/bos333.htm","text":"Internet Book of Shadows, (Various Authors), [1999]\n \n \n \n The Dangers Of Magical Thinking In Magick \n Nihasa \n .\n Magicalthinking is a psychological term for making a naive assump-\n tion of cause and effect without consideration of intervening mechan-\n isms. In plain English, it is the assumption that if I do THIS, then\n THAT will happen even though I have no idea how or why. Prominent\n examples of magical thinking can be found in Economics (if we cut\n taxes on the Corporations, they will invest more money in upgrading\n their production facilities and create more jobs) and Politics. It is\n typical of the world-view of very young children, who have a somewhat\n simplistic model of How-Things-Work.\n .\n To many outsiders,most Magick seems to bebuilt on this basis...so-\n me guy mutters some weird words and waves his hands and expects to get\n a lot of money soon (sounds like a Management Consultant, come to\n think of it), or to make it rain, or to be rid of an enemy. Then they\n shake their heads, call the Magick-users children or worse, and go on\n with their lives.\n .\n Within real Magick-use, this sort of sloppy thinking can lead to\n anything from disappointing 'fizzles' to disastrous misfires of\n spells. Our cultural heritage's are filled with \"monkey's paw\" type\n stories of the results of ill-thought-out Magick use. While dilettante\n New Agers are more likely to blindly 'cookbook' a spell or ritual,\n some of us have been known to skip a few steps in the process as well.\n .\n Just think of the consequences of invoking Diana or Aphrodite in a\n ritual designed to \"keep those foolish women in their place.\" (Anyone\n remember \"Good-bye, Charlie\"?)\n .\n While I am not saying thatyou need to understand thephysics/chemi-\n stry/etc. of each step down to the subatomic level, I am suggesting\n that you think through each step and each mechanism (and likely\n consequences) of any major working BEFORE you perform it. A black-box\n understanding (detailed knowledge of the inputs and outputs of a\n mechanism and the relationship between them without an understanding\n of the internal details of the mechanism) is usually enough for mot\n purposes. For instance, if invoking or evoking a deity, make sure you\n know the strengths, weaknesses, character, and personality of that\n deity. If using herbs (ingested or in balms or incense) be sure you\n know the pharmacological and combinational effects of each. Most of\n all, when going for a long-term effect think of the ecology of that\n effect: where it can come from and what it may causelater. You can't\n always anticipate all side effects, and you certainly can't always\n avoid them, but with a bit of work you can give yourself a shot at\n handling them.\n .\n Do a reality check before you start a working. If you just pay\n attention to the beginning (the ritual or working) and the end (the\n desired effect) and leave the rest to wishful thinking, you are asking\n for trouble.\n .\n NOTE: The above is an excerpt of a 1988 seminar on Magick and\n Psychology: Insights and Interactions.\n .\n \n \n 1717","title":"Internet Book of Shadows: Dangers of \"Magical Thinki...","type":"page"}