alt.magick_FAQ_(Frequently_Asked_Questions)
Tyagi Nagasiva
Archive-name: magick/faq
Version: 9604
Posting-Frequency: monthly or by inquiry
This file may be found at:
ftp://ftp.hollyfeld.org/pub/Esoteric/Usenet/Magick/FAQ.amagick.9604
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The alt.magick FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions file)
by tyaginator (ty...@houseofkaos.abyss.com)
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CONTENTS
00 FOREWORD
10 NEWSGROUP
11 Why do you spell (alt.)magick with a K? etc.
12 Shouldn't there be limits to what people can post here?
20 SUBJECT
21 What is magic(k)?
22 Is magick real, how does it work, what influences it? etc.
23 Is magick black/white? Should we do black magick?
24 Is magick compatible with modern Science?
25 How are magick and religion/mysticism related or different? etc.
30 STUDIES
31 How should I start learning about magick? teachers?
32 What are some books for a beginner?
33 Where is online information about magick to be found? etc.
40 SPELL COMPILATIONS
41 Love/Lust
42 Summoning Demons/Cursing/Death
50 REFERENCES AND REFERRALS
51 Magick-related Newsgroups
52 Card Game Magic ('the Obsession')
53 Role-Playing Game Spellcasting
60 AFTERWORD
61 Footnotes
62 Credits
63 Copyrights
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00 FOREWORD
The alt.magick FAQ may be obtained at:
HTML
http://www.hollyfeld.org/~tyagi/amgkfaq.html
ASCII
ftp://ftp.hollyfeld.org/pub/Esoteric/Usenet/Magick/FAQ.amagick.9604
Look for the newsgroup REF files also:
HTML
http://www.hollyfeld.org/~tyagi/Amgkfaq/REFref.html
ASCII
ftp://ftp.hollyfeld.org/pub/Esoteric/Web/Amgkfaq/
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10 NEWSGROUP
This section pertains to the most commonly asked questions about
the newsgroup itself; specifically the newsgroup's name and its
customs.
11 Why do you spell (alt.)magick with a K?
alt.magick was created with a 'k' to avoid confusion with stage
magic. @01 [@##'s are footnotes; see the end of this file - ed]
'Magick' is a spelling popularly associated with Aleister Crowley,
yet the spelling precedes him by hundreds of years. @02
Many people presume a difference between conjuring tricks and
occult spells; between magic and magick. There may be grounds
for comparing them metaphorically to chemistry and alchemy.
Sr. Virakam and others maintain that it separated Crowley from
his competitors (and thus served as a marketing or elitist
scheme). @03
Symonds and Grant contend that the 'k' is a conceit of Crowley's
and that it is related to potentially dangerous ("demonic and
chaotic") energies, as well as life-oriented symbols such as
'khu' and 'kteis', for which they say it stands, "the complement
to the wand (or phallus) which is used by the Magician in
certain aspects of the Great Work." @04
12 Shouldn't there be limits to what people can post here?
There has been movement, off and on over the years, to work
toward some sort of moderated alt.magick forum.
alt.magick.moderated was the result. @05
There are many subgroups of alt.magick to which specific types
of discussion should be taken if you wish to cooperate with
newsgroup regulars. Here is a list of the discussion-oriented
subgroups to get you started:
news:alt.magick.ethics (philosophia:ethics)
news:alt.magick.folk (primitivas)
news:alt.magick.moderated (selectivas)
news:alt.magick.order (politicos)
news:alt.magick.tantra (eros/tantra)
news:alt.magick.tyagi (synthesia)
There is a comprehensive list of posting suggestions in the
document called 'alt.magick RULES'. These are quotes from
Usenet authorities about posting content:
ftp://ftp.hollyfeld.org/pub/Esoteric/Web/Amgkfaq/ruleref
With regard to limiting the *substance* or *topic*, some
copyrighted files have been under intense heat from occult
organizations to keep them from being posted to the newsgroup.
There is often a great outcry anytime someone posts a ritual
or suggestion which conflicts with the morality or maturity
level of participants, yet as alt.magick is not moderated,
complaints and savvy folks who know how to cancel posted
messages will be able to keep a single post from being seen,
discussion of it carrying over into one of the sub-forums
at most.
In short, there are no technical limitations, but there are
some factions (participants, occult groups) who have a very
sincere interest in affecting what is posted.
=====================================================================
20 SUBJECT
There are a few questions about magic(k) which arise
consistently. These concern an analysis of magick,
its workings and principles and its relationship to
science, religion and morality.
21 What is magic(k)?
Magick has been defined by many people in many different
ways. One infamous mage defined it as "the Science and Art
of causing Change to occur in comformity with Will." @06
Some see magick as a kind of energy which pervades the cosmos.
Others see it as a psychic tool by which we may influence the
material world using symbols and ritual. Many see it as a
means of coming to unite with the divine, and some consider
it to be the exercise of will or Will.
Whatever the word means, 'magick' is the subject, generally,
of the newsgroup, and will likely be given many differing and
contradictory meanings during discussions there.
22 Is magick real, how does it work, what influences it? etc.
Many have suggested the differentiation of magical 'currents'
or 'energies' based on style and/or intent. Some posit the
notion of principles, a la scientific structure, 'laws of
magick' and whatnot. Others approach it more subjectively,
considering all knowledge about the elements of magick to be
personal and therefore particular only to the individual
condition, variable of form.
All of these are popular responses to this question, though
more inventive theories would be welcomed. Conventional
approaches may be cross-posted to sci.philosophy.meta.
23 Is magick black/white? Should we do black magick?
For discussion about the ethics of magick, see alt.magick.ethics.
24 Is magick compatible with modern Science?
An oft-asked question, particularly with reference to
Heisenberg and chaos theories. Hang around a little before
getting into one of these discussions. They can take quite a
while to untangle.
25 How are magick and religion/mysticism related or different? etc.
There have been a number of different discussions on these
subjects. The hypotheses which I can remember are the
magick/individual:religion/group model, and the idea that
religion is the degeneration of magick. Some do not seem to
discern between magick and mysticism at all, and many have
never considered the subject, being unexposed to the latter.
Thelemites might equate magick with will and mysticism with
love, and the association has been made between mysticism and
theurgy, magick and thaumaturgy. For more on mysticism, see the
Mysticism section of the _Mage's Guide to the Internet_ (MaGI):
http://www.hollyfeld.org/~tyagi/Magi/mysticism.html
=====================================================================
30 STUDIES
How to learn about magick and what ought be considered the
best sources are frequently discussed topics in the newsgroup.
Occasionally someone will compile a REF file of newsgroup posts
for a common topic. Make a collection of posts and assist in the
project yourself:
ftp://ftp.hollyfeld.org/pub/Esoteric/Web/Amgkfaq/REFref
http://www.hollyfeld.org/~tyagi/Amgkfaq/REFref.html
31 How should I start learning about magick? teachers? etc.
As CHenningsson (ce...@lysator.liu.se) writes:
"Books are one answer. There are actually books which
try to take you from your first tentative attempts
at relaxation into holding a ritual....
"Other than that.... Just do it! If you like to, you
can see this as one of the very first exercises in Will;
you Will yourself into making a ritual."
Some recommend the use of particular mechanisms or tools,
such as tarot, a magical diary, meditation or dreamwork.
Some recommend specific books or teachers, others place more
emphasis on the aptitude and imagination of the student.
Robin (ro...@winternet.com) provides marvelous advice:
"Resist the temptation to believe what anyone else
tells you. Try to invent ways to find out things
for yourself. Remain skeptical.
"Look for ways in which you have may have been
doing magick without realizing it. Think about
what it might mean if you could use it with
intention, and how you might go about that."
MKampe (ma...@cypress.West.Sun.COM) offers:
"if you have clear notions of what magick is all
about, it might be better for you to pursue your
inner course and avoid outside contamination
[from teachers/books/etc.]."
There are REF files on such things as the Kabbalistic Abyss,
Chaos Magick, Wicca, and the Golden Dawn. Teachers, masters
and adepts are often a topic of discussion in the newsgroup,
and magical organizations may wrangle out their political
issues in alt.magick.order.
I would echo LDarkchilde (lil...@slip-1.slip.net):
"Take heed of those who say that they can teach
you all about what is magickal. Especially if
you must join their 'coven' or group to do so....
"I hold the key to my own self knowing."
32 What are some books for a beginner?
There're a few different booklists available at:
ftp://ftp.hollyfeld.org/pub/Esoteric/Web/Amgkfaq/bookref
ftp://ftp.hollyfeld.org/pub/Esoteric/Web/Amgkfaq/book2ref
ftp://ftp.hollyfeld.org/pub/Esoteric/Web/Amgkfaq/book3ref
33 Where is online information about magick to be found? etc.
There is quite a bit of information available. Provided
below, please find reference to many good starting places.
WWW
alt.magick REFs
http://www.hollyfeld.org/~tyagi/Amgkfaq/REFref.html
A.'. A.'.
http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~shawn/occult/thelema/aa.html
Achad, Fr. (CSJones)
http://www.holli.com/~nihil777/achad.html
Akashic Record
http://www.speakeasy.org/~mimir/akashic/hermetic.html
Alchemy VLib
http://www.colloquium.co.uk/alchemy/home.html
Anandazone
http://www.nauticom.net/www/ananda/index.htm
Anders (links)
http://www.nada.kth.se/~nv91-asa/Magick/net_page.html
Association of Magicians and Outlaws (AMO)
http://www.speakeasy.org/~mimir/amo/index.html
Bruce (links)
http://www.york.ac.uk/~bld103/magick.htm
Chaoticism
http://tfs.necronomi.com/d/chaoticism/home.html
College/Temple of Thelema
http://www.crl.com/~suti/
Crowley, Aleister
http://www.speakeasy.org/~netropic/crowley
CyberMagick (Paradigm)
http://members.aol.com/hadit1/center.htm
DSprague (links)
http://csbh.mhv.net/~dsprague/modmag/modmag.html">
Gnosis
http://www.webcom.com/~gnosis/
Kabbalah
http://csbh.mhv.net/~mgraffam/kabbalah.html
Lucky W Amulet Archive
http://www.sonic.net/yronwode/LuckyW.html
Mage's Guide to the Internet (MaGI)
http://www.hollyfeld.org/~tyagi/magi.html
#Occult
http://www.c2.org/~gulliver/occult.html
Parsons, John "Jack" {Fr.Jopan, 210})
http://www.holli.com/~nihil777/parsons.html
Robin (links)
http://www.winternet.com/~robin/
Rowe, Benjamin
http://www.holli.com/~nihil777/rowe.html
Shawn (links)
http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~shawn/occult//
Tarot (DTKing)
http://www.iii.net/users/dtking/tarot/
Thelema (Home)
http://www.crl.com/~thelema/home.html
Thelema (Nihil)
http://www.holli.com/~nihil777/thelema.html
Tools of Magick (links)
http://www.crl.com/~tzimon/
Virtual Tree of Life
http://sephiroth.org/vtol/
Witchcraft (Yahoo Religion)
http://www.yahoo.com/Society_and_Culture/Religion/Witchcraft/
FTP
Builders of the Adytum (BOTA)
ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/bo/bota
Chaos (Carcosa)
ftp://ftp.eskimo.com/u/c/carcosa/chaos/
Chaos (Funet)
ftp://nic.funet.fi/pub/doc/religion/occult/chaos/
Magick (Hollyfeld)
ftp://ftp.hollyfeld.org/pub/Esoteric/Usenet/Magick/
Magick (Imageek)
ftp://imageek.york.cuny.edu/pub/magick
Magick (Lysator)
ftp://ftp.lysator.liu.se/pub/magick/
Neopagan (Lysator)
ftp://ftp.lysator.liu.se/pub/religion/neopagan
Occult (Funet)
ftp://nic.funet.fi/pub/doc/occult/
Occult (Robin)
ftp://ftp.winternet.com/users/robin
Occult (Wiretap)
ftp://wiretap.spies.com/Library/Fringe/Occult/
Thee Shub
ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/Sh/Shub
Thelema (Hollyfeld)
ftp://ftp.hollyfeld.org/pub/Esoteric/Usenet/Thelema/
Thelema (Shub)
ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/Sh/Shub/Thelema
TEL
Divination Web
telnet://densan.math.uconn.edu:9393
USE
news:alt.magick
FAQ: This is it, unless you want the HTML Version:
http://www.hollyfeld.org/~tyagi/amgkfaq.html
alt.magick.chaos FAQ:
http://www.hollyfeld.org/pub/Esoteric/Web/Amgkfaq/amcref
news:alt.magick.moderated
FAQ:
ftp://ftp.hollyfeld.org/pub/Esoteric/Usenet/Magick/FAQ.ammoder.9503
mailto:amm-mod...@retix.com
news:alt.magick.tantra
news:alt.magick.tyagi
FAQ:
ftp://ftp.hollyfeld.org/pub/Esoteric/Usenet/Magick/FAM.-------.TRAD
EML
ARCANA (General History and Theory of the Occult)
mailto:list...@unccvm.uncc.edu (admin)
text:"SUB ARCANA <full name>"
mailto:owner-...@unccvm.uncc.edu (listowners)
FiatLVX (Magical Christians)
mailto:fiatlv...@cmns.think.com (admin)
text: "subscribe fiatlvx <eddress> <name>"
mailto:fiatlvx-m...@cmns.think.com (moderators)
TAZ Group (Chaos)
mailto:ma...@aol.com
Thelema93-L (Thelema/Magick)
mailto:majo...@hollyfeld.org (admin)
text: "subscribe thelema93-l"
mailto:xas...@hollyfeld.org (moderator)
TXT
Caduceus
http://www.speakeasy.org/~mimir/caduceus/index.html
Case, Paul Foster
ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/bo/bota/misc/pfcase.txt
Handbook of Chaos Magick
http://www.t0.or.at/~c.corvi/HB.html
Learning Magick Online (tn)
ftp://ftp.hollyfeld.org/pub/Esoteric/Usenet/Magick/REF.lrnonln.9505
Mage's Guide to the Internet (MaGI 2.0)
ftp://ftp.hollyfeld.org/pub/Esoteric/OMNet/magi
Mage's Guide to the Internet (MaGI 1.0)
ftp://ftp.hollyfeld.org/pub/Esoteric/OMNet/magi.old
Necronomicon (Introduction)
http://coe1.engr.umbc.edu/~vijay2/clips/necronomicon.html
Necronomicon (Simon)
ftp://wiretap.spies.com/Library/Fringe/Occult/necron.txt
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40 SPELL COMPILATIONS
Spells may be obtained from several offline sources, the folk
and ceremonial varieties maintained at times with diligent care.
The spells contained within the following sites may be dangerous
to your health.
41 Love/Lust
I collected a file of spell responses in alt.magick.*
over several years and placed them in a REF file (at the URL
below. Other contributions would be welcomed (preferably
linked, HTML documents).
ftp://ftp.hollyfeld.org/pub/Esoteric/Web/Amgkfaq/fukspls
42 Summoning/Cursing/Death
Demon-summoning, curse- and death-oriented spells were
collected from alt.magick.* over the last few years and
these have been placed in a REF file (again, additional
contributions welcome):
ftp://ftp.hollyfeld.org/pub/Esoteric/Web/Amgkfaq/owspls
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50 REFERENCES AND REFERRALS
After consulting the various resources listed in this FAQ
and lurking in the newsgroup for a few weeks, feel free to
bring up any relevant subjects there.
51 Magick-related Newsgroups
See the MaGI (listed above) for much magick-related
information. Usenet newsgroups which you should check out
before being completely sure that alt.magick is the best
place to post regarding any subject are:
(magick-related)
news:alt.astrology
news:alt.chinese.fengshui
news:alt.divination
news:alt.magick.chaos
news:alt.occult.kabbalah.golden-dawn
news:alt.pagan.magick
news:alt.tarot
(neopaganism/shamanism/witchcraft)
news:alt.folklore
news:alt.lucky.w
news:alt.mythology
news:alt.pagan
news:alt.religion.asatru
news:alt.religion.orisha
news:alt.religion.wicca
news:alt.religion.shamanism
news:alt.shamanism
news:alt.techno-shamanism
news:soc.religion.shamanism
(darkness and power)
news:alt.evil
news:alt.necronomicon
news:alt.satanism
(eastern and mystic things)
news:alt.astrology.asian
news:alt.meditation
news:alt.philosophy.taoism
news:alt.yoga
news:soc.religion.eastern
(psychology and parapsychology)
news:alt.consciousness
news:alt.mindcontrol
news:alt.out-of-body
news:alt.paranet
news:alt.paranormal
news:alt.soulmates
news:alt.usenet.recovery
news:talk.religion.newage
52 Card Game Magic ('the Obsession')
There are many newsgroups in the rec.games.trading-cards.*
hierarchy from which to choose. Also see:
http://mox.perl.com/deckmaster/
53 Role-Playing Game Spellcasting
If you are looking for role-playing game magic, you can find
it in the Great Net Spellbook:
ftp://ftp.win.tue.nl/pub/games/spells/html/gnsb.html
=====================================================================
60 AFTERWORD
Thanks to all the fine authors of files I came across during
my sift for networking documents to fill out this edition of
the FAQ. There's an amazing database growing here. May she
long remain unblemished by violence or imprisonment.
61 Footnotes
@01 - news:alt.magic (Stage Magic)
@02 - Due to his many publications and the orders he crafted,
Aleister Crowley is revered by many and despised by as
many more, and his magical treatise (_Book Four_,
recently reissued assembled by the OTO) may likely
prove his most popular text.
@03 - Aleister Crowley (if Soror Virakam may be relied upon)
is said to have adopted "the old spelling of MAGICK...
in order to distinguish the Science of the Magi from
all its counterfeits."
(_Magick_, eds. Symonds/Grant, p. 45 note).
@04 - _Magick_, p. xvi.
@05 - See the Silicon Tablet at:
ftp://ftp.hollyfeld.org/pub/Esoteric/Usenet/FAQ.ammoder.9503
@06 - _Magick_, p. 131.
=====================================================================
62 Credits
Those that assisted in reviewing the FAQ whose ideas and/or
networking I utilized:
ash...@netcom.com (AShub)
oisp...@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu (Peggy Brown)
bur...@kodak.com (Kim Burkard)
dsh...@aol.com (Dshoem)
kdav...@library.uwaterloo.ca (Karen)
k...@newton.apple.com (peter kim)
ro...@winternet.com (robin)
yron...@sonic.net (catherine yronwode)
If you have suggestions for changes or additions to document,
send them to the Editor (ty...@houseofkaos.abyss.com).
=====================================================================
63 Copyrights
This document is Copyright (c) 1996, tyagi nagasiva.
All rights reserved. Permission to distribute the collection
is hereby granted providing that distribution is electronic,
no money isiinvolved, reasonable attempts are made to use the
latest version and all credits and this copyright notice are
maintained. Other requests for distribution should be directed
to the Editor or to the individual authors of the quoted materials.
ty...@houseofkaos.abyss.com (tyaginator)
Editor, alt.magick FAQ
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EOF