Gratitude, Obligation, Sacrifice: A triad for magical practice
Gratitude, Obligation, Sacrifice: A triad for magical practice
By Caelum Rainieri
As I write this essay, it’s the Full Moon in Capricorn; a very practical, utilitarian energy, and one that I’m comfortable working with. In my profession as a technology writer, I have to tackle complex subjects and make them less complex. Magic is a complex subject. The following is how I utilize its power. It is my sincere hope that what I write here resonates with some of you, and makes the power interactions of magical practice a little easier to grasp, and to apply, in your own life.
Imagine hooking up a set of jumper cables to a live car battery. Click the ends together and they spark. As long as both ends of the cable are connected, a live battery will transfer its power to a dead battery, bringing it back to life. The polarities of the battery can represent the physical plane, and the ethereal plane. The spark that occurs when the two connect is the equivalent of magical power. How to connect the two planes with intention is the basis of magical knowledge.
I have found that there are three required states of mind for the person who hopes to influence the world around him and manifest his magical intentions. The first is Gratitude.
Gratitude, in a magical sense, means being aware that there are forces and beings around you who love you, and who stand ready to guide, protect, and instruct you once you open yourself up to them. They may be your ancestors, or totem animals, or spirit guides, or they may be more elemental than that. You certainly have shared past lives with them at some point, and out of love and compassion, they have remained with you, ready to assist once you are open to receive. Being grateful restores the openness that most of us have lost as adults.
With gratitude comes a sense of obligation. Once you recognize that you are receiving aid, love, knowledge, and power from your unseen allies, you must acknowledge your debt to them. Without acknowledgment, debts accumulate, creating a burden that weighs you down, robbing you of energy and weakening your ability to influence your environment, and manifest your desires. Acknowledging what you owe is vital to the process of freeing yourself from the crushing burden of unpaid debts.
In the physical world, a debt is repaid through an exchange of value, such as with money, or through a trade of services or property. In the ethereal world, a debt is repaid through sacrifice. A suitable sacrifice must cost you something. As an example, sacrifices that I’ve made in the past have included building and filling bird feeders around our house. I’ve walked the coast line along a public beach picking up trash. I’ve donated blood. Other sacrifices have included donating money to animal welfare organizations, or building and maintaining an altar to a patron deity. Basically, I try to mix them up, but I’m always engaged in some kind of giving. It’s the least that I can do for all of those entities, seen and unseen, who tirelessly assist me on a daily basis. It also serves to remind me of how grateful I am for what I have and to whom I am obligated.
The magical universe is a perpetually mysterious place. Like the physical universe, it represents a great unknown. When faced with such a mystery, you cannot err by observing it with gratitude, recognizing your obligation to it for sustaining you and giving something back through sacrifice.
Copyright 2007 Caelum Rainieri All Rights Reserved.
By Caelum Rainieri
As I write this essay, it’s the Full Moon in Capricorn; a very practical, utilitarian energy, and one that I’m comfortable working with. In my profession as a technology writer, I have to tackle complex subjects and make them less complex. Magic is a complex subject. The following is how I utilize its power. It is my sincere hope that what I write here resonates with some of you, and makes the power interactions of magical practice a little easier to grasp, and to apply, in your own life.
Imagine hooking up a set of jumper cables to a live car battery. Click the ends together and they spark. As long as both ends of the cable are connected, a live battery will transfer its power to a dead battery, bringing it back to life. The polarities of the battery can represent the physical plane, and the ethereal plane. The spark that occurs when the two connect is the equivalent of magical power. How to connect the two planes with intention is the basis of magical knowledge.
I have found that there are three required states of mind for the person who hopes to influence the world around him and manifest his magical intentions. The first is Gratitude.
Gratitude, in a magical sense, means being aware that there are forces and beings around you who love you, and who stand ready to guide, protect, and instruct you once you open yourself up to them. They may be your ancestors, or totem animals, or spirit guides, or they may be more elemental than that. You certainly have shared past lives with them at some point, and out of love and compassion, they have remained with you, ready to assist once you are open to receive. Being grateful restores the openness that most of us have lost as adults.
With gratitude comes a sense of obligation. Once you recognize that you are receiving aid, love, knowledge, and power from your unseen allies, you must acknowledge your debt to them. Without acknowledgment, debts accumulate, creating a burden that weighs you down, robbing you of energy and weakening your ability to influence your environment, and manifest your desires. Acknowledging what you owe is vital to the process of freeing yourself from the crushing burden of unpaid debts.
In the physical world, a debt is repaid through an exchange of value, such as with money, or through a trade of services or property. In the ethereal world, a debt is repaid through sacrifice. A suitable sacrifice must cost you something. As an example, sacrifices that I’ve made in the past have included building and filling bird feeders around our house. I’ve walked the coast line along a public beach picking up trash. I’ve donated blood. Other sacrifices have included donating money to animal welfare organizations, or building and maintaining an altar to a patron deity. Basically, I try to mix them up, but I’m always engaged in some kind of giving. It’s the least that I can do for all of those entities, seen and unseen, who tirelessly assist me on a daily basis. It also serves to remind me of how grateful I am for what I have and to whom I am obligated.
The magical universe is a perpetually mysterious place. Like the physical universe, it represents a great unknown. When faced with such a mystery, you cannot err by observing it with gratitude, recognizing your obligation to it for sustaining you and giving something back through sacrifice.
Copyright 2007 Caelum Rainieri All Rights Reserved.