
                            VIRTUAL MAGICK
        Speculations on Practice in the Electronic Astral Plane
                                   
                         by Iona Miller, c1992


     We  are  entering an era of magical technologies  which  are
     relevant  to  the  inner world of imagery  and  imagination.
     Through  Virtual  Reality (VR) we can create  an  electronic
     representation of typical symbols of the psyche and interact
     with  them.   Even  though  these images  have  no  concrete
     existence,   they   are   influential  in  the  process   of
     transformation.
     
     The  practice  of  magick,  a  sacred  technology,  normally
     involves  concentrated  visualization activity coupled  with
     immersion in the autonomous stream of consciousness.   Since
     much  of  the training and practice in magick is based on  a
     recipe,   formula,  or  protocol,   these  could  easily  be
     programmed, using virtual reality, to guide an aspirant into
     a  specific state of consciousness.   Biofeedback monitoring
     could enhance that state.
     
     Each  virtual  world  would  include a  panoply  of  symbols
     related to a specific archetype.  The aspirant would journey
     through this world.   In the process of positive interaction
     with  these archetypal forms (or perhaps imaginally becoming
     them), the psyche becomes "inoculated" with their resources. 
     A  conscious  relationship  is fostered.   This leads  to  a
     greater  sense of wholeness and communion with transpersonal
     energies.


Through  the arrival of Virtual Reality (VR) technology,  we will soon
have access to a fully programmable electronic "astral plane."   Magic
has  always been a sacred technology,  and combining it with VR  makes
for a state-of-the-art practice.   In virtual reality, we can create a
world  which is,  in essence or effect,  "as good as"  normal reality. 
Through  the  use  of  visual,   audial,  kinesthetic,  and  olfactory
feedback,  the experiential (rather than analytical) part of the brain
is guided to suspend its disbelief in the synthetic reality.

The  realization of a system of interactive fantasy will allow us,  as
artists  or magicians,  to shape the experience from the  inside.   It
will allow us to re-shape ourselves, also.  A central premise in VR is
that you can manipulate your self-representation,  or self-image.   VR
represents  a cultural revolution in the way we view reality,  nature,
art, ourselves, and our relationship with transpersonal powers. 

Interactive  media  will give us the ability to author moving  images. 
When  you  can put your images in cyberspace,  you introduce your  own
unique content into the experience.   Background,  or natural imagery,
will  be  texture-mapped for ambiguity.   Ambiguity is one key to  the
engagement  of  the  imagination  (Laurel,  1992).   Communal  virtual
reality   is  also  possible  for  group  rituals,   but  requires   a
tremendously  powerful computer to keep track of all the details which
perpetuate a believable virtual space.

The  realm  of  imagination  has traditionally been  the  province  of
shamans and magicians.   More recently,  psychotherapists have entered
the  arena  of  imagination as guides to the heights and  the  depths. 
There  are  many  different  styles  in the  practice  of  magic  from
primitive  to  sophisticated.   Magic  is the ancient  technology  for
dealing with lost or questing souls,  while archetypal psychology is a
modern counterpart.

Basically,  there  are  three  ways of encountering the  inner  world,
reflecting  the  state  of consciousness  of  the  practitioner:   1).
prototaxic  mode,  a  "possession"  or trance state where the  ego  is
absent  through regression;  2).  parataxic mode,  which includes art,
archetype,  myth, dream, and ritual wherein the ego is enthralled; and
3).  syntaxic  mode,  which includes creativity,  gnosis,  and  higher
mystical   states,   where  the  ego  is  enraptured  and   eventually
transcended.

Sophisticated  magick,  or  Theurgy,  has  been practiced  in  western
occultism through the centuries largely by an elite group of eccentric
intellectuals.  Many of them identified with the Rosicrucians, Masons,
Gnostics, or other "hidden" orders.  These practitioners of the mystic
arts  were the forefathers of modern sciences like chemistry,  botany,
medicine,  physics,  astronomy, and philosophy.  Through magick,  they
learned a unique way of looking at the inner and outer world.  This is
the  major premise of any philosophy:  "Look at it like this..."   The
magical philosophy has left a tremendous legacy.  The history of these
alchemists,  mystics, healers, and theurgists outlines one of the most
interesting areas of human endeavor: consciousness studies.

The  mapping  of consciousness states and their corresponding  typical
experiences  (plus  how to attain them) forms part of the doctrine  of
any  magical philosophy.   The most widely embraced map is called  The
Tree  of  Life.   The  very foundation of the  modern  western  occult
tradition  is contained in this circuit or glyph of The Tree of  Life. 
It  describes  a  hierarchy of 10 states of being  (Spheres),  and  22
characteristic  modes  of transition between them  (Paths).   All  the
corresponding  symbolism of the human psyche is categorized  according
to  this  comprehensive basic structure.   It represents all  ways  of
being and becoming--all possible states of consciousness.

The  philosophical system which the Tree represents originated in  the
Jewish culture.   Through synchronism it amalgamated with the Gnostic,
Egyptian,  Arabic, and other systems.   This synthesis became known as
Hermetic Qabalism.   In divorcing itself from its Hebrew roots, Qabala
returned to the mythic domain of its informing archetype, Hermes.

In  ancient Egypt,  this archetypal energy was represented by the  god
Thoth,  Lord  of Magic.   He presided over skills such as writing  and
translating.   In Greece, as Hermes,  he was the messenger between the
realm  of  the  gods  and men--he who could fly into  the  heights  or
depths.   Our  modern forms of writing and translating have moved into
information  processing  via  computers.   Information  processing  is
fundamental to any form of communication.

Information  processing  is the foundation of all  technology.   Thus,
Hermes  is  the informing myth of a technological approach  to  sacred
psychology  and  spirituality.   Hermes'  domain includes  gnosticism,
alchemy, magick, and depth psychology.  Like programming, they are all
hermeneutic endeavors,  involving the process of interpretation.  Jung
noticed  that,  "Every interpretation necessarily remains an  "as-if." 
The ultimate core of meaning may be circumscribed, but not described." 
He refers to the "as-if"  reality as the closest we can come to direct
knowledge.   For  example,  our God-image in the psyche is our closest
(and  only)  experience of Divinity,  however unique it  may  be.   We
perceive  it  directly,  but  it is a specific interpretation  of  the
unknowable archetype.


MYTHICAL REALISM:

Ultimately,  it  is our sense organs which help us interpret the world
and  our  experience  through our perceptions.   They help us  make  a
distinction between what is "real"  and "unreal."   The emotional part
of  the  brain,   (the  right,  spatial  lobe),   cannot  analytically
distinguish  a symbol from a symbolic representation.   In imagination
or  virtual  reality  it becomes a  moot  point.   Fantasy,  in  fact,
animates  both our inner and outer worlds,  and creates meaning.   The
on-going  imaginative  process of the psyche is the ground  of  being. 
Jung  spoke  of  the psychoid aspect of psyche as the  vast  non-human
action of the universal forces.

Through  the  technology of virtual reality,  we can take the  imagery
arising  from  deep within our psyche and create  an  "as-if"  reality
which  we  can  enter at will.   If magick is the art and  science  of
changing  consciousness  at  will,  in this  context,  imagination  is
reality.   It  manifests  as images.   Jung implied that  our  closest
approach  to  God or any minor deity is through the  God-image.   This
brings  to mind the process of invocation,  or calling in the god-form
in   magick.    The   conjuring  of  these  archetypal   images,   and
identification  or  interaction with them is a primary application  of
ritual  in theurgy.   In magick,  it is taken virtually literally,  as
magician Dion Fortune's comment shows:

     ...the  Ministrant  proceeds boldly with the ceremony as  if
     that  which he had invoked had actually come about...He must
     have  the  courage of his convictions,  and give himself  up
     boldly  to  be the instrument of the forces he has  invoked,
     relying upon them to bring about the transition from fantasy
     to fact,  which is the meaning of transubstantiation.  If he
     proceeds  to play the part he has assigned himself as if  it
     were  a  reality,  he will find,  provided the force he  has
     invoked  is  a genuine force and the pictorial image he  has
     made is a suitable one,  that imagination has become reality
     and  that  an influence is flowing into him,  and  emanating
     from him, which is a very real thing indeed...

Since  archetypal images arise from the collective  unconscious,  they
are  common to all mankind.   The God-forms invoked in magick are  the
basis  of  our  psychic  life and our relationship  to  the  universe. 
Everything  we  are  is virtually imagined through  their  forces  and
forms.   There  is  nothing but their primary essence to be  found  in
either  our concrete or imaginal reality,  if psyche is the foundation
of reality.  Magic and archetypal psychology allege this is so.

Jung  advocated the practice of Active Imagination for transformation. 
He  based  his  technique on the  alchemical  meditatio,  or  dialogic
exchange with the transpersonal.   It involves entering the autonomous
stream of psychic imagery with the values,  ethics, and perspective of
the  ego,  and  interacting therein.   Magick proposes a very  similar
premise,  but  has  an entire technology for clearing out  a  purified
psychic  "space"  into  which an undiluted primal force may be  called
forth.   Both  techniques  share  the same  result:   a  consciousness
journey  with real-time effects.   Imagination is reality when it  has
the  power  to  move  us  biologically,  kinesthetically,  viscerally,
emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.

The  prospect  of "home-brewed"  imaginal worlds for  exploration  and
recreation is on the horizon before the turn of the millennium.  Those
pursuing  the  age-old Quest or Great Work will certainly want to  put
this  possibility to purposeful use.   When a person becomes caught up
in a ritual,  visualization, or meditation, inner vs.  outer becomes a
moot point.   Imagination becomes a spontaneous influence which can be
"seen"  through  the Observer Self.   Magick is the directing of  that
experience  in  a specific direction,  to a  particular  focus.   Each
ritual has its own telos, or goal.  It is this striving, goal-oriented
attitude of the ego that makes magick a heroic quest.

We  may  speculate that similating archetypal forms in VR gives  their
transpersonal  energy a "body"  to inhabit,  just as visualizing does. 
Chronicity   (the  propensity  for  archetypal  forms  and  events  to
cyclically  recur)  and  synchronicity  (acausal  connection)  provide
magically-charged energy for the simulated forms.   All perceptions of
archetypes are simulations of their unknowable primal nature,  anyway. 
This  holds  true  in  mystical  experience,   art,  and  imagination. 
According to Jung,  archetypes are everywhere,  so they will certainly
be found in virtual reality,  alive and well.  In this form, they will
be  more  accessible  than  ever.   The  novice  could  easily  get  a
first-hand training experience in what inner dialogue is like.

Archetypes will be just as inclined to inhabit or inform these virtual
images  as  any other.   In fact,  there is no way around it,  if  the
programs are consistent and coherent.  With an artificial intelligence
program  added,  they will behave with a certain degree of spontaneity
and novelty, congruent with their character.  VR conjures them, evokes
them,  or calls them up into awareness for interaction.   The imaginal
character speaks and behaves in its characteristic manner,  but reacts
uniquely  in each specific situation.   The entire panoply of symbolic
correspondences,  for  which  the  god-form is  the  nexus,  could  be
displayed interactively for the aspirant.

In  the  magical operation known as assumption of the   god-form,  the
participant identifies with the archetypal power.  In VR, the aspirant
could  experience  being  decked out in full  regalia,  with  all  the
symbolic  appurtenances,  in an environment and atmosphere exclusively
geared  to  expressing that power.   To role-play  the  characteristic
utterances  and  acts  of  that  god or goddess  could  be  a  further
amplification of the process.   Mythic journeys,  programmed by master
magicians,  will be available like the electronic games of today.   It
could  be used for accessing and anchoring transpersonal resources for
the personality.


VIRTUAL BODIES OF LIGHT:

A  major tenet of Qabala and occult philosophy concerns the nature  of
the  astral body.   The Jews call it the Tselem.   This starry body is
composed  of  scintillating  etheric  energy.    It  is  perceived  in
imagination  as  being  composed of light that takes on  various  fine
forms.   The analogy with electrical energy and light in cyberspace is
obvious, if not literal.

To work on the astral level, the magician identifies with this virtual
double of the physical body.   In imagination,  one perceives with the
eyes  of  the  body  of light while maintaining  its  perspective  and
orientation.  The light body has the ability of separating itself from
the constraints of the flesh and blood body,  without limitations of a
mortal frame.

The  astral  body contains the fully functioning consciousness of  the
aspirant.   Its  existence is alleged to persist after physical death,
as  reported  by those  with  near-death-experiences.   Magically,  or
psychically,  the  astral body is built in the imagination through the
process  of breath control,  or pranayama.   The VR program supercedes
the trained imaginative faculty.  It opens the experience to those who
are  not of contemplative nature,  those unwilling or unable to  spend
years  training  the mind and visualization capacity.   It  makes  the
dialogic  realm  open to all in limited form.   It establishes  a  new
medium for the traditional I-Thou dialogue.

The  virtual  astral  body  could  be employed  for  the  practice  of
pathworking.  Magick, itself, is the practice of practical Qabala, and
its  most  practical exploits are the imaginal consciousness  journeys
known as pathworking.  As a magical practice, pathworking differs from
ceremonial  invocation by imaginally transporting the aspirant to  the
location of an archetypal Form,  rather than calling the Form into the
circle  or oneself.   The experience includes a "there-and-back-again"
experience  of a very specially conditioned terrain.   The exposure to
symbols  keys  processes  in the mind which influence the  process  of
transformation.

The paths of The Tree of Life are metaphorical "in-roads"  through the
imagination.   Each  is marked by typical landmarks,  milestones,  and
signposts.   Each  contain their ordeals,  challenges,  and  intrinsic
rewards.    Pathworking  offers  a  way  of  "finding"  or  "locating"
archetypes  in  imaginal space.   In imagination,  we do it simply  by
wishing  ourselves there,  actively interacting.   In VR,  it requires
some programming,  but the initial intent is the same whether creating
your own program or authoring a master program for others.

Each  successive  pathworking increases the area of perceptible  inner
space.   One can enter the experience as a passive spectator, or as an
active  participant.   The emotional impact of the experience is real. 
Imagine when these experiences become re-processed in your dream life! 
In VR,  other humans could play the parts of entities encountered,  or
the journey may be undertaken as a common adventure.  All pathworkings
return  the  traveller to the point of origin,  which is usually  some
symbolic form of door to the netherworld.

Another magical exercise,  rising on the planes, is conducted while in
the  Body  of Light.   In this process,  one imagines  oneself  moving
further  and  further up through the hierarchy of planes described  in
the  Qabala.   You  can  get  a sense for it if  you  can  imagine  an
ever-widening  perspective  moving  from sub-atomic  to  cosmic.   For
example,  imagine you are a sub-atomic particle, an atom,  a molecule,
an organism,  an animal, a human, the biosphere, the earth,  the solar
system,  the  galaxy,  ad infinitum.   All of this type of imagery  is
readily programmable and universal in meaning.


VIRTUAL SEX MAGICK:

When  people  hear of VR,  one of the first application that leaps  to
mind  is  the possibility of virtual sex.   Extending that  idea  into
magical  realism  we  come across the notion of  virtual  sex  magick. 
Virtual sex magick awaits the development of tactile feedback systems. 
However,  the  act  itself is a generator for surplus  magical  energy
which  may therefore be focused on a specific desire or intent.   This
is known as the "bud will" or "magickal child."  It uses the emotional
energy  of  enflamment  coupled  with the directive  powers  of  will,
visualization, and intentionality.

Perhaps the most commonly recommended application of sex magick is for
attaining  "knowledge and conversation with the Holy Guardian  Angel." 
While  this wasn't meant as "knowledge"  in the Biblical sense,  it is
certainly  a  possibility in VR.   The consummation of the  act  means
either  identification with,  or dialogic interaction with the  higher
self.  Most acts of sacred sex reenact the holy union (hierosgamos) of
God  and Goddess,  Shiva and Shakti,  Krisna and Radha,  Yang and  Yin
forces.   It is a cosmic union of complements.   Here again is fertile
ground  for the programming of a VR reality to enhance the imaginative
faculty.

Imaginal  variations  on  the  mystic marriage  could  use  images  of
mythical  and historical figures or draw from the symbolism of Tantra,
alchemy, and Taoism, to name a few.  One might perceive the experience
from  the  perspective of a particular god or goddess in  a  classical
union.   Each  program  might  contain one or many  experiences  of  a
similar  nature.   The  menu  might include the union of God  and  the
Shekinah,   God   and  Sophia,   spirit  and   nature,   anima/animus,
priest/priestess,  or  King and Queen.   One time you might be Solomon
and Sheba, another Ares and Aphrodite, another Arthur and Guinevere.

The Royal Marriage is a transcendent symbol of the Self,  and embodies
psychic totality.  With plasticity of form and interaction we can only
speculate what hermaphroditic creations might result, what androgynous
beings.    These   experiences   might  not  represent  their   mature
psychological    counterparts,    but   they   could   be    inspiring
dress-rehearsals,  which jump-start the creative imagination, adding a
new dimension to sexual life--sort of the reverse of pornography.

Normally,  we  are  not taught to direct our thoughts into any  higher
purpose during sex,  much less at the point of orgasm.  Yet,  to do so
can be healing and connective in a very deep way.  VR could serve as a
model  and  demonstration  far  beyond any  orthodox  sexual  therapy. 
Interactive  fantasy could be raised to new heights.   This technology
could  teach us new ways to relate to our bodies,  sexuality,  and art
(including the art of magick).

Another  VR alternative for sex magick is to engage in actual sex with
one's  partner.   Both  parties have VR helmets (much reduced in  size
from   current   cumbersome  models)  which  allow  the   simultaneous
visualization of the "bud will,"  the "magickal child," or goal of the
operation.   This  dynamic image is the focus of the lovers who invest
it  with  their  mutual  energy and love to  transform  it  from  mere
potential into a vital force for change in the real world.  VR insures
that both parties visualizations are identical as possible.

The  moment  just prior to orgasm is a very open,  suggestible  state. 
For  some  it is difficult to hold the magickal focus at that  moment. 
Passive  impregnation  by  the  VR system  (based  on  the  aspirant's
desires)  could  be readily accomplished at that point  with  suitable
imagery.   It  could  be  a  non-literal,  yet  post-symbolic  way  of
conceiving an inner,  spiritual "child"  through ritual--the embryonic
form  of the greater self.   Countless variations on magical talismans
and  mandalas  might constitute part of the programming,  as  well  as
explosive imagery of cosmic union.   For the Royal Wedding to be truly
consummated,  insights  must be applied in practice.   For it to fully
work  its  magic,  it  requires a prior marriage of Anima  and  Animus
within each aspirant.  This is a form of "spiritual body" building.
