Magic, ver1.01
                                     or
                     The inner world according to Thingol.

     To the person that is reading this: you may or may not believe in the
phenomena known as magic.  I do not personally care, one way or the other,
but by reading this it is indicating to me that you do.  That's good.
because this is one of those "faith" things (you have to believe in it for
it to work for you).  But, unlike the primary purveyors of "faith", i.e.
the Christian-based church, what you are doing with magic is affecting
the world around you.  So, if it works, it's not faith, its fact; if it
does not work for you it is just faith, something you can keep or just toss
out the door if you are tired of it.

    But, in order to make magic work for you, at one time or the other you
must have faith, complete trust, that magic WORKS.  There can be no doubt
within your own mind of this.  I realize this gives cynics an opening a
mile wide, but it cannot be helped.

    The next thing I will cover is the various forms of magic.  This is a
heck of a lot easier than it sounds, because most established forms of
magic, no matter what they teach about themselves, have pretty firm
similarities.


                                 INVOCATION

    Invocation is, put simply, using an outside source of energy to do your
will.  Whether you are standing in a Judeo-Christian church praying, or
kneeling in front of a alter with an upside down cross behind it, you are
invoking, with most likely similar wording, a being greater than yourself
to do your will.  No kidding.  Look up the definition in a good dictionary.


                                  EVOCATION

    Evocation, once again put simply, is using the power within yourself
or a object to do your will.  ESP is Evocation, as is crystal-use. 

    These types of magic are not exclusive of each other. In some forms of
white magic i've run across, you invoke a lesser entity or force, and
evoke the power from within yourself to control it.  Or you may use both
at the same time to further amplify the effect of what you are doing.

    Whatever it is you are doing, the concept of evocation obviously
assumes hidden "power" within a person.  I do not know if every human has
this power; I have not met every human.  But all that I have met and worked
with have had power to some degree, whether they were able to utilize it
effectively or not.

    So, the object of this file series as I see it, is to teach people to use
their own personal power of Evocation.  As to invocation, there are
enough people and organizations teaching that; choose one that sounds
good to you and give it a try.  If you are unable to find one, let me know
and i'll see what I can do to help.

    One final note: I am not personally going to put down any particular
form of faith if I can help it; they do a good enough job of that,
themselves.  If you catch me doing it, let me know!  Also, remember this
is just one way of viewing evocation; it may not be right for you.  As to
credentials, I have been a member of 2 "black" cults; 1 La Vey based, 1
not, was raised a baptist, have been a member of a Wiccan coven, and have
been practicing magic for 16 years and interacting with other practi-
tioners the whole time.  And I know Magic works.







                     SECTION 1: EVOCATION OVERVIEW

    Evoking the power within your self is not easy; most people have been
raised to think that such things as a intangible force within one's self
that can affect the physical world is improbable, at best.  However, this
is not the case; modern-day research has verified the phenomena of ESP as
being real, or at least unexplainable, so there is no reason to dwell on
this point.

    What evocative magic users do is not complex, and is much like
performing a task, such as for example picking up a glass.  You identify
the problem (the glass needs to move), choose an option to solve the
problem (using an appendage of your body to defy the force of gravity
which holds the glass down), and perform the chosen option, solving the
problem.

    But when you move the glass with your arm, you are performing a task
more complex than a shuttle launch; you are coordinating thousands of
muscles, feedback sensors, nerves and other components of your body; and
the only way you are able to perform this miraculous task is because your
brain knows how, through past experience, to exert the precise control
necessary.

    Ok, I've established that the brain is able to perform amazing feats
without a person having any idea how they are actually doing it; and that
there is good reason to suspect that "power" resides within some, if not
all, of humanity.  Obviously, in those people able to exercise power, the
firing of each neuron that controls this effect is not known, the brain
just somehow does it. 

    But, also obviously, if you are reading this you have yet to teach your
brain how to handle your personal power, at least not as proficiently as
you might like.

    So the problem you face is to teach your mind how to handle power.
There are several known methods, most of them centering around something
known as "visualization", where you teach yourself to "see" power, and the
effects of it.  There are as many ways of doing this taught as there are
books on the subject in print, but we will try to stick to as basic a
method as possible.

                            SECTION II: PREPARATION

    As mentioned before, you must believe in magic for it to work for you;
this perhaps the hardest thing to learn.  In order to overcome your
preconceptions, it is usually necessary to place yourself in something
resembling a self-hypnotic state, basically telling the logical side of
your brain to take a break for a while.  To those of you without the ability
to do this, I will outline a two basic methods.

1] Candle burning.

     There are multiple volumes on the magic power of candles
     written, but that's for a different file; this is just a aid to
     concentration.  Get a comfortable chair that can be placed
     against a table, and 2 candles.  Place the candles on the
     table, about 4-6" apart, light the candles and extinguish any
     external light source.  Sit in the chair, assuming as relaxed
     a position as possible, and mentally find the center-point
     between the 2 flames.  Take deep, even breaths; in through your
     nose, out through the mouth, until it is natural.  After a
     minute or two, you should see a "ball" floating between the
     flames (no, you have not become a wizard, this is a optical
     illusion that serves as a great tool).  Try to keep your mind as
     blank as possible.  After a time period that varies with person
     to person, you will begin to feel a "floating" sensation, and
     a general distancing from your body.  This state is considered
     the first level of trance and is your target state.  WARNING:
     if you should happen to feel a great distancing, or even SEE
     your body, immediately stop the exercise.  Astral projection
     should never be attempted without a assistant on hand, and can
     be dangerous even then.  With practice, this target state can
     be attained without the use of props.

2] Meditation.
     This method is the one used most often by experienced
     practitioners of magic, and is usable by anyone with training
     in zen or yoga.  This method is covered in to many disparate
     sources to repeat here.

3] Just give it a try.
    pretty self explanatory, huh?

                            SECTION III: VISUALIZATION

  At this point you should have yourself in a relaxed, comfortable state.
whether you use any form of intoxicant to achieve this state or not, is up
to you, but I would not reccomend it initially. Turn the lights down, and
find a comfortable position, with no outside distractions to bother you.
  Position your body so that you can easily see your hands; try resting them
on your knees, with the palms facing up. Now, pick a color that you like,
preferably in a lighter shade.
  While looking at the palm of your hand, form a mental picture of a ball
of light in this color, floating in the palm of your hand, without touching;
do this by envisioning the energy flowing from your hand slowly to form a
sphere approximatly the size of a golf ball.
  After you have formed the sphere, just hold it in place for a few seconds,
if you are having problems maintaining a certain color or size, do not be
concerned, just try to keep the mental picture as steady as you can.
  When you scense that the image is getting hard to maintain, either reverse
the first step (slowly picture the ball shrinking, as the light flows into your
hand), or try allowing the ball to float slowly down to, and in to, the ground.
  Most people are able to accomplish this little exercise. What most people are
also doing in the process, is opening up the pathways for use of their own
inner energies; when you, in a meditative/relaxed state, envision a
non-substansive ball of light, you are also calling up the dormant portions of
your mind to accomplish what you are making yourself see.
NOTE: it is very important that you either re-absorb or ground-out this energy;
you never can tell, there might be something that is called to this like a
shark is to blood, but more on that later.
  This is visualization. making your internal energy visible to yourself is
the first step in using this energy to a constructive end; continue to practice
this exercise until the ball forms effortlessly in your hands, and dissappears
just as easily, with no change of color or size. This will effectivly "teach"
your brain confidence in its use of magic, and widen the pathways where it
flows.

next section: the practice of visualization.
laters