As much as I would like to avoid it, I feel I must first define Emergent Magick (EMK). Especially considering that at this point, there are maybe about fifty practitioners of EMK on the planet. If you follow my other blog, Scroll of Thoth, you probably have some idea what it is, but I know that I have failed to define it with any concision. Part of that is because I am publishing a book on the subject, which will be released in early 2019. It really needs an entire book and more to get the concept across. Also because like any other magical philosophy, it’s slippery, and no matter how skilled I think I am as a writer, words always fail to encompass it in its entirety. And you’ve probably figured out by now I’m a wordy son-of-a-bitch, which makes it doubly hard to do this. I’ll endeavor to make it as short as possible so we can get on with the real subject at hand.
To learn more about Emergent Magick, follow my other tumblr blog Scroll of Thoth, and sign up for the EMK Facebook group.
EMK defines magick as, “The art of altering consciousness.” In essence, the universe itself is created and directed by consciousness, and magick is a way to influence that consciousness. Consciousness itself lacks universally accepted definition. For our purposes it includes any sufficiently complex system that can perceive. If you accept that sub-atomic systems are sufficiently complex, and that quantum theory proves that particles have some form of perception, this includes everything in the universe to a greater or lesser degree. Art, the activity of creation, influences consciousness. Ritual is the art of the magician, and it is specifically designed to alter consciousness.
In Emergent Magick, a magus performs rituals with the purpose of creating altered states of consciousness. The magus then takes what they learn from those rituals to build an ever more concise paradigm, essentially a model for the universe and a method to alter it. While a magus can certainly learn from the magi who came before them, it is what they learn through altered states of consciousness that best informs their magick. Since all consciousness is perspective, what a magus learns through altered states has more weight than anything they can learn by other means.
The ultimate goal of the magus is to perceive the unity of consciousness. To interact with it as part of a larger whole. This manifests in the physical plane by forming tribes of magi and working with them to experience their paradigm, form bonds of love and acceptance, and to influence the collective unconscious through the creation of culture.
At least that’s the short form description of Emergent Magick. Which finally brings us back to Emergent Animism (EMAN).
Emergent Animism is the art of communicating with the spirits.
At least that’s the one-sentence vital core of it. Some old-school magi like to have things summed up in a sentence or two (and I am one of those magi). Why Emergent? First, because I am one of the creators of Emergent Magick and it is how I currently define my practice. Since Emergent Animism is my personal paradigm, it comes from an EMK perspective. Because the methods used to explore and define the paradigm are the methods of EMK. Verified personal experience takes precedent over accepted knowledge (although there will be plenty of that). Those experiences are then shared with my personal tribe and their experiences added to the body of knowledge. You may notice the shifting tense there, because this is work that has been performed and is ongoing. In fact, the creation of this blog is a lot about me documenting my personal paradigm, and renewed awareness that I need to get back to the basics and start rebuilding things from the ground up. This blog will contain descriptions and results of my daily practice.
Which brings us to animism. Much smarter people with better sources have described animism. And I really want to just tell people to go read Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy, by Mircea Eliade and Willard R. Trask, and then come back and continue reading this. But I understand that’s not a realistic expectation, so I’m gonna have to give you my woefully inadequate description. Animism has been called the world’s first religion, and from the archaeological evidence and current anthropology there is little reason to doubt that all hunter-gatherers practiced some form of animism.
Animism as a world view, sees the universe as populated with spirits. In animism, all things have some vital essence that can be communicated with, from spirits of rivers, mountains, and lakes, to trees, rocks, and clouds, also the spirits of humans, animals, insects, and the spirits of those living creatures that have died. Some animists also believe in alien spirits that come from other dimensions of reality. The practice of animism is the communication with these spirits through some form of altered state of consciousness. This can be ritual, dance, music, meditation, and the use of psychoactive substances. Shamanism is a particular type of animism where individuals of a tribe use altered states of consciousness to contact the spirit realm, referred to as journeying, and petitions the spirits for the benefit of the shaman and their tribe. I do not consider myself a shaman for various nit-picking reasons that I am sure I will go into at some point.
In Emergent Animism, spirit is synonymous with consciousness. So the art of magick in EMAN terms is the art of communicating with the spirits. Which entails all forms of conversations, pacts, offerings, and all the other traditional and non-traditional methods of contacting them.
Still interested? It’s going to get better from here. This blog will mainly include my writing on the subject, and how I practice magick, along with other resources I find helpful. Know right off the bat that I don’t think anyone should try to pick this up whole-cloth and use it as their own. All magi must ultimately discover their own paradigm and follow that. But I do know it has been helpful for me as a magician to read about other people’s practice. To see what works for them and what does not and learn from it. I find the magical world to be sorely lacking in resources that describe exactly what magi are doing. There’s plenty of description of rituals and theory but little of what a magus actually does on a day-to-day basis. I hope I can add a unique perspective and inspire some people to try these practices themselves. I say don’t follow my path, but do feel free to steal anything that you think can work for you.
Why take my word on any of this? I have some credentials. I have dabbled off and on through my entire life, but truthfully, I only came to seriously dedicate myself to magick in the past decade, much later in life than most. I am initiated member of the Illuminates of Thanateros, and hold a degree in Comparative Religion. I am co-creator of Emergent Magick, and Scribe for the Order of Emergent Magi. At the risk of displaying my ego, I consider myself well-read on a variety of subjects—religion, history, anthropology, archaeology, primatology, Ancient Egyptian spiritual practice, to name a few. As a devoted magus in the service of Thoth, I also happen to believe I am a passable writer.
What I am not is a great magician. I admit that my own work is sloppy, ill-documented, lacking in discipline, and does not meet basic standards of progressive research. That’s another reason why I’m doing this. To hold myself accountable to actually doing the work the way it should be done. It’s well past time for me to get back to the bottom, and do this the right way.
Which is why I decided to make this a tumblr blog. I could have just decided to write another book, but I have plenty of other books I need to write. Doing this as a blog keeps it raw. No content editors, no limitations that come with putting things in print. I can use art that I find on tumblr to illustrate my feelings and link books, articles, and video. No need to make this a single coherent narrative. I can just fire off thoughts as I have them, long or short. Right now the goal is one long text post a day, maybe a couple of short ones, and miscellaneous re-blogs and links when I stumble across them or they seem appropriate.
For the sake of auspice, we begin on the Day of the Dead, All Saints Day. A time when so many cultures feel the nearness of the spirits and honor their ancestors.
Let’s go on a journey….
Threskiornis, “Ego Sum Legio”
Scribe of the Order of Emergent Magi
November 1st, 2018
