Why Magick Works
I'm towards the end of reading (okay, audio book - being read to me) Isaacson's biography of Einstein. It's a great book. Very enjoyable. I have Franklin's bio as well, but haven't read it yet. I've always been fascinated by Einstein and relativity. I remember reading about it when I was in junior high school. Sadly, I lack the math for a full understanding.
Anyway, the whole thing got me thinking again to the nature of magick and why it works. Not how, but why. One of the first things I assign my Wicca 101 students is Nick Herbert's book; Quantum Reality. I know that magick is real and it works and understanding at least in a passing sense the science underlying reality, is fundamental to the understanding of Wicca, spell casting, magick, divination and so on. I feel it is in fact, essential to come to grips with the nature of reality or one will never understand magick. Herbert's book has the added advantage that it is very readable even to the layman (I certainly qualify there!), making the concepts very accessible.
Of course, even though I really don't assign much more than the first two chapters, where he discusses the eight major quantum theories of reality, I have few illusions that anyone actually reads the assignment. More's the pity. It's a lot of fun to ponder and discuss, not to mention missing out on a major building block of why the Wiccan faith actually works.
In any event, I was looking around in the Internet about it, because I have that kind of time right now. I found a really interesting interview with Nick Herbert about it. Especially interesting here is the discussion about the bit rate of the human brain as opposed to other things, such as TV. Even more so, how little of the human brain bandwidth is used for consciousness compared to what is actually being received.
His discussion of the metaphase typewriter is also fascinating, if a little bit spooky. I recommend reading the interview, if not also the book itself. No, it won't make you convert to Wicca.
Anyway, the whole thing got me thinking again to the nature of magick and why it works. Not how, but why. One of the first things I assign my Wicca 101 students is Nick Herbert's book; Quantum Reality. I know that magick is real and it works and understanding at least in a passing sense the science underlying reality, is fundamental to the understanding of Wicca, spell casting, magick, divination and so on. I feel it is in fact, essential to come to grips with the nature of reality or one will never understand magick. Herbert's book has the added advantage that it is very readable even to the layman (I certainly qualify there!), making the concepts very accessible.
Of course, even though I really don't assign much more than the first two chapters, where he discusses the eight major quantum theories of reality, I have few illusions that anyone actually reads the assignment. More's the pity. It's a lot of fun to ponder and discuss, not to mention missing out on a major building block of why the Wiccan faith actually works.
In any event, I was looking around in the Internet about it, because I have that kind of time right now. I found a really interesting interview with Nick Herbert about it. Especially interesting here is the discussion about the bit rate of the human brain as opposed to other things, such as TV. Even more so, how little of the human brain bandwidth is used for consciousness compared to what is actually being received.
His discussion of the metaphase typewriter is also fascinating, if a little bit spooky. I recommend reading the interview, if not also the book itself. No, it won't make you convert to Wicca.