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I want to share some tips with you that will increase your magical potential, raise your awareness and strengthen your mind. In fact, they may change your life!
The following tips belong to no particular religion, cult or tradition. Instead, they are formless and universal… and they work, whether you believe in magic or not. Try them! You’ll see for yourself.
1 – Accept that You do not Know
It’s okay not to have all the answers. You don’t have to be certain all of the time. Magic is the realm of the unknown. If it were ultimately knowable, then science would already have measured it and verified it. On the other hand, some things that once would have been considered magic are now called technology. So there is a spectrum that ranges from useless mumbo jumbo to solid fact. It’s up to you to figure out which is which and keep a sharp, critical mind.
2 – Think for Yourself
Anything — and I mean ANYTHING — that someone else has figured out, you can figure out too. The human mind’s potential is illimitable. But we are continually duped into believing that we can’t do it, that someone else should do it for us. Unless you’re ready to think for yourself, you’ll end up as a fake, or worse: someone else’s pawn.
3 – Keep an Open Mind
You have to be open to new ideas. But, I have a saying: “An open mind is half closed.” A door that is half closed is still open, and it’s same with a mind. Don’t accept as truth anything you hear. Only accept the possibility that it may be. You’ll have to rigorously seek out the truth for yourself, with a critical mind. The emphasis on truth is essential. Illusion is based on deceit, real magic on truth.
4 – Reduce Your Assumptions
An assumption is basically just a guess. We make a lot of guesses in life from whether gods exist to whether the floor will be there when we get out of bed in the morning. Guessing is a psychological reflex, and it’s unlikely that we can ever be fully free from it. The more you can make conscious your unconscious assumptions, the more you will notice strange and magical things about yourself, others and the universe.
5 – Judge Not
Judgement of others clouds your awareness. Like assumption, it’s a reflex. Try reserving judgement when you can. Try allowing yourself the patience to gather more knowledge or more insight into matters. If someone seems like an idiot, ask them genuine questions. Get experience with why others think and act the way they do. Whenever you can avoid judging, you can gain wisdom.
6 – Shed Expectations
Another habitual block to your magical potential is your expectations. Our imagination is always in use, whether consciously or unconsciously. Things are going to be as they are, whether you like it or not. The thing about expectation is that people see not what they WANT to see, but what they EXPECT to see. Projecting our image of things on the present moment or into the future is an unnecessary expenditure of energy that can be freed up for authentic magical experience.
7 – Stop Labeling Everything
What is our obsession with classifying things? As soon as we have a word or a name for a thing, we believe that we understand what that thing is. We can’t help it, it’s how our minds work. Try to notice when you are doing this. Naming can be a very powerful magical act, but only if it’s conscious. Habitual labeling will actually end up being an obstacle to true understanding.
8 – Surrender to What Is
This is about allowing the present moment to Be. We often believe that the present moment is more like the future, in that we can change it. But the present moment is more like the past, in that once it’s here, it’s here — it’s real and unalterable. If you can’t accept that, accept that you can’t accept it. Don’t take my word for it, look at what is around you and see that it IS how it IS.
9 – Cultivate Courage
Courage is essential to the Northern Traditions, and the universe rewards courage with Hamingja, a form of luck or charisma. Hamingja goes by many names in many traditions, but the basis is simple: Courageous acts are rewarded by the universe. Start small and work your way up. Building courage is like building a muscle; you may not be able to start with your ultimate fears, but tackle what you can and you will get there. The more courage, the greater your magical potential.
10 – Trust the Universe
If you only have faith in one thing, have faith in this: ultimately, this universe is here for you to learn what you must learn, to face what you must face, and to allow you to find enlightenment. It’s not out to get you, it wants to play. Enthusiasm and playfulness are two of the strongest energies and mind-sets with which we can engage in the exploration of magic. Go with the flow!
11 – Meditate
Meditation can be very simple. Sit up straight, focus on your breathing, and the feeling of your life force. Connect with yourself. When you get distracted by thought, and realize it, simply say to yourself ‘thought’ and go back to your breathing. There’s information everywhere on various styles of meditation, but I recommend beginning with Zazen. It will help you master your mind and achieve grounded clarity.
12 – Put it into Action
You can read all the books, attend all the lectures, join all the groups and talk on and on about magic, but in the end, nothing will happen unless you find some practical means to put it into action. Don’t just think, do. Manifest your desires by practicing and experimenting for yourself. Learn through trial and error — it will be more valuable and more powerful than anything anyone else can tell you. Have something to do? Go do it now.
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24 Responses to 12 Ways to Increase your Magical Potential
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This is awesome. I wouldn’t expect such grounded advice from a site about Runes. I think most people I know could apply the 12 ways above just to get better piece of mind.
Tx
Thank you, cosmicbdog! I hope to continue the series over time to really get at the fundamentals of all magic, not just rune magic. There are a lot of people coming in from StumbleUpon right now, I hope that people take interest :)
amazing article. i’m going through a bit of a rough time right now and this was like a breath of fresh air. Thank you :)
I’m so glad I could help, Trysh! I’m really motivated to write and produce music (and potentially some video) on this site… I know you’ve followed some of my other projects. This one looks like it’s really going to take off, and if I can give that ‘breath of fresh air’ to some of my friends and readers, I’m deeply honoured and satisfied!
This is a good one- I only really have an issue with number four, assumptions. I make a lot. At the same time, though, it seems more of a ‘expect the unexpected’ than a ‘stop or reduce your assumptions’. A person who didn’t assume anything would border on paranoia- Every step taken a new possibility occurs that is out of the norm, that wouldn’t normally happen and you would never guess could happen unless you were to stop assuming.
Of course, at the same time, not assuming at all would open up a realm of infinite possibilities- I’m assuming right now that we have to obey the laws of physics in normal life. If we didn’t, assuming that I didn’t assume this, it would be possible to jump up twenty floors and land without dying (I’m not being sarcastic- belief is important in magic, I think, so a lack of assumption would be the best when casting. Just have to think more positively when not assuming.) Just my thoughts. =)
Thursaz-
“Expect the unexpected” is good advice, and could belong here, and maybe I will include that in the next post of this type…
But #4′s exercise is basically to spot/notice when you are making assumptions. To watch for it, to ‘know what you do not know’ as it were.
From above:
“Guessing is a psychological reflex, and it’s unlikely that we can ever be fully free from it.”
Our brains are wired to make assumptions, that’s for certain. The principle is to reverse the tendency in our minds to make those assumptions that limit us unnecessarily.
For instance, if I assume that I will never be resourceful enough to make a million dollars, my behavior will be affected … and with that assumption firmly in place, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Several assumptions can be linked up together. I might assume that anyone who makes a lot of money is greedy. I might assume that most people I’m dealing with are idiots, or worse, think that I’m not ‘smart enough’ to figure things out. I might assume that business has to work a ‘certain way’, or that it will be boring. But if I actually DO NOT KNOW these things are true, then assuming automatically that they are creates a kind of network of chains that stop me from becoming wealthy.
In the Northern tradition, these are called ‘fetters’. Limiting beliefs or self-imposed circumstances.
So we’re really after assumptions that limit us, and where we can reduce those assumptions, you’re very right that new possibilities manifest… leading us in directions we never thought possible.
Reducing assumptions also increases our knowledge and awareness. If we think we know the answer, when we don’t, we won’t spend any energy on finding out the truth. We’d just assume we know it and go on our way. There is a type of magic that depends on deceit, but magic based on truth is much more powerful.
I apologise if I’ve caused offence; it wasn’t my intention.
So the goal is to remove our limits as far as possible? Either way, thanks for the advice.
No need to think you caused offense Thursaz :)
I was just trying to get a thoght out for you as clearly as I could manage at 3am, haha! I forgot to thank you though, so:
Thanks, Thursaz!
On the discussion of assumptions: Thursaz and Tyriel, I was enjoying your exchange of thoughts and taken aback that you thought you might have given offence Thursaz. Your comments made me stop and think about the degree we do have to assume in daily life – in a sense trust that things are a certain way. If we don’t as you say Thursaz, we will be in psychological trouble! On the other hand I have found – too many times – that the little saying to ‘assume’ makes and ‘ass of U and Me’ to be worth rememebring. May I suggest that perhaps the way to think of this is that we should always be aware of what it is we assume and question ourselves about it?
Yep- Reality isn’t set in stone.
I tend to be pessimistic at times. xP
I think everyone has to battle with pessimism… but skepticism (not believing everything you hear, or taking it at face value) can be really healthy.
The key is to test things out for yourself, and only accept that which makes sense to you, that works. :)
Building courage and be ready to face what one must face… That’s a great advice. Indeed, this is quite universal and does not belong exclusively to any particular tradition.
Hi All,
I have been gifted some beautiful Runes, not knowing much about this I have been sarching the net, to try to get some knowlwdge and understanding of Runes, so far this is the Best site of them all, its Fantastic, the reading is so Powerful and Spiritual.. I’m loving it, the comments are a great help also.
I feel I dont know enough about the Runes to give myself a basic reading, do I read up more till I feel confident that I know what I am doing or just start by giving myself basic readings and work from there?
Appreciate help, Thanks
Auntie Em
Thanks for the praise, Auntie Em. I’m really happy that Rune Secrets has been so useful to you.
I think it’s fine for you to use the runes for basic readings, and work from there. The best way to learn is to find the practical applications and apply them immediately.
You can meditate on certain runes… memorize core meanings… practice asking questions…
Of course, make your own notes on the runes, and refer to them often: they are YOUR runes. Anything on this site or any other site are suggestions drawn from a remarkably incomplete scholarly set of sources. But there are some agreements on them.
What I would emphasize MOST is: Always draw the 24 runes in the correct order (Fehu, Uruz, Thurisaz, Ansuz, etc.) and do not use a blank rune. The blank rune is basically the same as the rune Perthro… there’s no need to put two of those in the set.
Also, arranged in the proper order, the 24 runes will eventually give you clues about one another, due to their relationship (position-wise) to the other runes. This is one of the ways I’ve gone very deeply into individual runes, having these sudden flashes of insight because of that runes position, and it’s relationship with those that surround it.
Positioning them in a circle, clockwise, is not a bad idea either. See what you can infer about certain runes due to their relationships along that circle.
Dive in, Auntie Em, and don’t be shy. They are YOUR runes, and they will lead you to insight about YOUR world.
Hello Auntie Em and welcome to Rune Secrets! I agree with Tyriel – these runes are yours – a special gift. Go ahead and handle them, feel them, use them. So much knowledge about the Runes has been lost that every one of us is in constant state of learning. Fortunately, the energies of the Runes themselves are our teachers.
When a friend first showed me her Runes I knew these were something I once ‘knew.’ I was immediately driven to have a set for myself (and being near the ocean at the time was able to collect and make a set from pebbles). I found that the Runes worked for me at my level of understanding (which was very minimal!). As we gain a little more understanding they expect more of us, but go ahead and try some ‘readings.’ Ask questions about situations you want better understand (avoid phrasing for yes/no answers though). Allow the rune to ‘give’ you understanding as well as using this site and other sources you find.
By the way, I thought Tyriel’s comment about always drawing the Runes in order might be a bit confusing. I think that he meant if you WRITE them down to do so in the order of Furthark. If you use a method of pulling (drawing) runes from your set the runes will come to you in the appropriate sequence. You merely let them find your hand and then pull them out and lay them down. This has got me thinking we could use an article from someone who is experienced with the casting method ….
[...] Surrender to What Is [...]
[...] Malkuth is Malkuth [...] (Foucault’s Pendulum)
[...] Be the change you want to see in the World [...] (Mahatma Gandhi)
I believe that one should not and could not try to change the World itself and directly. One could try to change its own inner processes. This alteration can be reflected upon the World’s inner processes and that can result to making our World better.
I also agree that it is extremely refreshing to see such a list of goals related to Rune magic or of any sort really. Thanks so much for putting this out there.
Oh, and thanks for the link to Hex :)
cheers, ~Arrowyn
Your welcome Arrowyn! I want to do a part two of this article, so if anyone has any ideas, post em up! ;)
I have only recently began my path as a light witch.. and find a true connection with all of the above. I read them at night before I sleep to help me stay focused and strong.
Thank you so much for such a wonderful site.
I’m greatly honored Gitana. I am going to include a lot more of this type of teaching in my Rune Secrets: The Book (or whatever I decide to call it). My current task is to finish the analysis of each rune, a prototype of which ends up on the site. There’ll be lots more reserved for the book — only so much you can do with a website, but I’m glad it serves. Thank you for speaking up and letting me know this was useful to you :)
This is very sound advice, as a practicing Buddhist and student of Eastern Philosophy, this is what I practice. I really liked that you choose “Accept that You do not Know” as your first Axiom.
I like to say “when you know, you don’t know, you know” What can we ever know for certain? Nothing, right? But this “knowing” or “Great Doubt” as it’s called in Zen tradition is a kind of “knowing”.
Only with this paradoxical, Zen knowing can we know the Unknowable, that is the Infinite and Eternal present in every moment.
On the above comment.
Socrates said “En oida, oti ouden oida” meaning “I only know that I know nothing”.
Buddhists used to fill up a cup of tea until the tea spilt down in order to show that a full mind cannot approach Zen.
It is surprising to find all the time common thoughts between seemingly different cultures.
These are most definitely cross-cultural… wisdom that transcends time and place.
“Accept that You do not Know” ; everything.
“Anything — and I mean ANYTHING — that someone else has figured out, you can figure out too.”
I’ll have to repeat that observation that goes, “if that were the case the world would be a different place.”
There’s that damn slogan, “knowledge is power”. I say Insider knowledge is power.
I must build courage however. This includes those insidious face saving ego machinations I fear.
I agree with the rest 100%.
Ya, about figuring things out. I suppose you mean tapping into the morphic field as new agers might say. Tie this in with the idea of reincarnation tho. Most humans like music…they’ve more than likely learned an insrtument or two throughout their many incarnations. But what happens when (this) little billy gets a bit older? He takes piano lessons, again!
THAT my friends is the way of things. We are dupes of a larger cosmic process…. A. Crowley said we are all Stars.I’ll add that stars go nova. I suppose the PTB leave truths in plain sight for those with astute eyes. Other than this tho, any magickal (etc) systems out there, say on the shelves at your local Border’s book store or plastered everywhere online, are as watered down and neutered as to be perfect wheel spinners.
I do wonder if black op scientists ever looked into Dr. John Dee’s “enochian” or Angelical system.
But in general, I guess we can say there’s nothing inherent, as in power, contained in a symbol. it is the user themselves which empower said symbol. Prior cultural conditioning/consensus may be just that; it still doesn’t indicate Innate power in symbol.
Interestingly, this idea seems to be a complimentary of karma conjunct reincarnation. That is, it would appear, ultimately, we are our own judge of karmic outcomes.
So as usual, it’s all in the mind. So again, I feel symbols, in magickal use, seem to be surprisingly moot. They are more like file names or records for general lore. And really, this Lore may be as relative as subjective time. Do you really need color coded candles and the right squiggly lines to manifest such and such? I think this stuff is for low magick manifestations. Then what about same for high magick;which is much more subjective? And isn’t good living and charity etc better than high ceremonial rituals?
Something seems amiss here.
This is why I’ve been perusing “sacred” geometry and aether physics. The rest seems pure contrivance.
This is also the weekend however and I may feel different in a few hours!
Thanks for your patience.