I think this is very strong with us at the moment. I know that you do not like to trust to divination, but it is significant that the first card I draw today is the Magician. The living flame, the Magus, Thoth, Hermes, Mercury. He is the Alchemist, transmutation, he stands at the balance between light and dark. As above so below. It is an omen.
Have you read any of the Corpus Hermeticum? There are shadows in your mind of this.
Locked to the Order and Allies.
There is a saying in Italia; 'Siccome la casa brucia, riscaldiamoci.' - 'As the house is on fire, let us warm ourselves.' Or in better English; 'Let us make the best of a bad situation.'
Locked to the Order of the Phoenix and Allies.aculeatusNovember 17 2007, 20:46:46 UTC
"...the Magician. The living flame, the Magus, Thoth, Hermes, Mercury. He is the Alchemist, transmutation, he stands at the balance between light and dark. As above so below."
I have not read the Corpus Hermeticum, but I have made extensive notes on Rationis Anguigena, which draws on some of the same sources. The idea of base magical signature naturally gravitating towards a serpentine structure is, of course, very attractive to a Slytherin.
Locked to the Order of the Phoenix and Allies.val_viscontiNovember 17 2007, 21:58:35 UTC
I apologise, I should have made my original comment in public.
I have not read Rationis Anguigena, but as you say, the idea seems very attractive. It reminds me of the caduceus again, the universe in equilibrium. All energy and all magic constantly moving and yet also staying the same; the light and the dark woven together. It is not possible to have one without the other. To try to separate them is to deny half of your magical existence. It is so. I have seen it.
On further reading, this might be important - it is from the Lament of Hermes, from the Asclepius in the Corpus Hermeticum;
The purpose of all rituals in ceremonial magic is to unite the microcosm with the macrocosm, to join God, or the gods, when invoked (prayer or concentrated thought) with human consciousness. When such a supreme union is achieved, the subject and object become one.
The magician feels that he is consciously in touch with all elements of the universe, therefore, he can control them.
Locked to the Order of the Phoenix and Allies.diane_archerNovember 18 2007, 00:34:58 UTC
Bloodline without magic, magic without blood. Very Taiji. Why? There must be a why. Unless He's gone so far of the deep end it's something like 'because the Pureblood pixies told me to'. We should be so lucky.
If... can you shift the point of balance in an alchemical formula? If he's so far off the edge one way, and knows it isn't stable, but won't move. I mean, the balance/pivot point of an equally-weighted system is in the centre, but weighing down one side or other will move the equilibrium point closer to the weighted end.
Locked to the Order of the Phoenix and Allies.diane_archerNovember 20 2007, 01:33:05 UTC
Not weight as in 'heavy'. More... skew, distort, obligatory rubber-sheet metaphor here, refract. Refract. Like when you shine light into a prism? And it comes out broken into different colours of light. If you could put... some prism, some spell, some lens or something in the way of normal magical flows, so instead of getting normal 'frequencies', almost, of light or dark - you get mostly dark?
Locked to the Order of the Phoenix and Allies.val_viscontiNovember 20 2007, 02:27:53 UTC
Magical energy is twisted around itself. It is entwined, order with chaos, in a balance that is eternally flowing. As you say, like equilibrium in a potion. I understand what you are saying - not making a spell light or dark, more altering the background magical aura? I can see the theory.
I think it would always strive to find a balance. So if it was darker here, it would be lighter somewhere else?
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I think this is very strong with us at the moment. I know that you do not like to trust to divination, but it is significant that the first card I draw today is the Magician. The living flame, the Magus, Thoth, Hermes, Mercury. He is the Alchemist, transmutation, he stands at the balance between light and dark. As above so below.
It is an omen.
Have you read any of the Corpus Hermeticum? There are shadows in your mind of this.
Locked to the Order and Allies.
There is a saying in Italia; 'Siccome la casa brucia, riscaldiamoci.' - 'As the house is on fire, let us warm ourselves.' Or in better English; 'Let us make the best of a bad situation.'
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I have not read the Corpus Hermeticum, but I have made extensive notes on Rationis Anguigena, which draws on some of the same sources. The idea of base magical signature naturally gravitating towards a serpentine structure is, of course, very attractive to a Slytherin.
Reply
I have not read Rationis Anguigena, but as you say, the idea seems very attractive. It reminds me of the caduceus again, the universe in equilibrium. All energy and all magic constantly moving and yet also staying the same; the light and the dark woven together. It is not possible to have one without the other. To try to separate them is to deny half of your magical existence. It is so. I have seen it.
On further reading, this might be important - it is from the Lament of Hermes, from the Asclepius in the Corpus Hermeticum;
The purpose of all rituals in ceremonial magic is to unite the microcosm with the macrocosm, to join God, or the gods, when invoked (prayer or concentrated thought) with human consciousness. When such a supreme union is achieved, the subject and object become one.
The magician feels that he is consciously in touch with all elements of the universe, therefore, he can control them.
Reply
Why?
There must be a why. Unless He's gone so far of the deep end it's something like 'because the Pureblood pixies told me to'. We should be so lucky.
If... can you shift the point of balance in an alchemical formula? If he's so far off the edge one way, and knows it isn't stable, but won't move. I mean, the balance/pivot point of an equally-weighted system is in the centre, but weighing down one side or other will move the equilibrium point closer to the weighted end.
You can't...weight magic, can you?
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However, it is possible to influence how light or how dark it is.
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More... skew, distort, obligatory rubber-sheet metaphor here, refract.
Refract. Like when you shine light into a prism? And it comes out broken into different colours of light.
If you could put... some prism, some spell, some lens or something in the way of normal magical flows, so instead of getting normal 'frequencies', almost, of light or dark - you get mostly dark?
This might not make any sense, mind.
Reply
I understand what you are saying - not making a spell light or dark, more altering the background magical aura? I can see the theory.
I think it would always strive to find a balance. So if it was darker here, it would be lighter somewhere else?
Reply
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