Just recently starting to see that some traditions of magic/sorcery are a bit more profound than the typical mumbo jumbo its represented as. I have a couple questions I wanted to lay before the Veeky Forumserati: 1. Is there anything to this magic/sorcery stuff? The obvious answer seems like no, but I guess what I mean is, is this at all contended by somewhat legitimate personal accounts or stories, in similar way that spiritual experiences are? What evidence is there that any form of magic or sorcery actually exists? I'm very curious. 2. What philosophy or texts should I look into that give a more detailed account of supposed magical systems? I've got this book on quantum sorcery and I've heard whispers through the grapevine of names like Hermes Trismegistus and Simon Magus, but I'm hoping someone can give me an informed opinion of where to start.
Thanks as always for the knowledge offered by you guys.
Don't tease me like that bro, what shit should I look into?
Noah Campbell
It's a pretty deep rabbit hole. Philosophy is very porous with theology and mysticism, and theology and mysticism are very porous with the occult. There are whole traditions, relatively mainstream, that you can indulge in if you want to be an /x/ guy and read about sp00ky demonic entities, esoteric rituals, and other hermetic secrets alongside your idealist metaphysics. From the theosophists around the turn of the century, to a thousand similar things. Many of these movements have extremely brilliant thinkers attached to them, and much of the stuff is plausibly deep.
Just as a forewarning, a lot of the people into this stuff tend to be burnouts and schizos who waste their lives on it. It's always got some more shit for you to delve into, always got something else to draw your curiosity. It's enough to waste decades on. It's basically a hobby for weirdos.
Austin Evans
go to /omg/ on /x/
Angel Morales
He's a bit of a meme on here, but try Alan Moore's writing/interviews on the subject. The important thing is not to think of magic as necessarily "supernatural powers", like casting a fireball for 12 mana or whatever's usually shown in the media, but a way of manipulating symbols and ideas to change things about your mind (or other people's). Like, to a primitive people, the ability to preserve your thoughts after you're dead was basically magic, but we just call it "writing". To cast a spell is just to spell. Money has huge influence over people, but it's ultimately just a symbol.
>Just as a forewarning, a lot of the people into this stuff tend to be burnouts and schizos who waste their lives on it. It's always got some more shit for you to delve into, always got something else to draw your curiosity. It's enough to waste decades on. It's basically a hobby for weirdos. Yeah, seems as if it may be an exaggeration but it's true. The occult can be pretty dangerous for unbalanced minds.
Josiah Fisher
I feel like I shouldn't be but I am intrigued by this. I've always brushed magic off as Harry Potter/disney bullshit, but some stuff I'm hearing about will-based philosophy is interesting. What should I get into?
Well I do like Moore so I'l check this out for sure. Definitely sounds interesting.
>The important thing is not to think of magic as necessarily "supernatural powers", like casting a fireball for 12 mana or whatever's usually shown in the media
I'm definitely trying to steer clear of stuff that starts to veer into this territory, but I am interested in claims that magic is supposed to more closely resemble using your will to influence the world around you. Whether that's /x/ or just a metaphor for what the will can accomplish, either way I'm definitely interested.
