Beginning Magick Practice

[Saint Of Demons]

Ok so i've been thinking about it for bout a year now and i think it's bout time i start putting my thought into action.

Ok so basically i want to start practicing magick.

Ok first i heard there was Black and White magick suposedly good and bad magick white being good and black being bad. Well i recently learned that magick can't be classified as good or bad because it is all in the eyes of the beholder and it being good or bad differs from person to person. Then I learned of High magick and low magick. High magick is like ceremonial magick (Nuri told me this) and low magick is like folk magick (also told to me by Nuri). I would like to eventually practice all magick. But before i can even begin i need A LOT of help getting started.

I need to know the following (i think)

-what are all the types of magick
-where should i start
-what are some good books i can get to help get me started practicing magick
-what should i do to prepare to practice magick
-are there any precautions i should know about?
-what are the risks of practicing magick
-can it be done solitarily?
-do i need to be apart of a riligion to practice magick?
-and ANYTHING else a beginner would need to know to get started.  

[jaden kendam]

Saint Of Demons

Ok so i've been thinking about it for bout a year now and i think it's bout time i start putting my thought into action.

Ok so basically i want to start practicing magick.

Ok first i heard there was Black and White magick suposedly good and bad magick white being good and black being bad. Well i recently learned that magick can't be classified as good or bad because it is all in the eyes of the beholder and it being good or bad differs from person to person. Then I learned of High magick and low magick. High magick is like ceremonial magick (Nuri told me this) and low magick is like folk magick (also told to me by Nuri). I would like to eventually practice all magick. But before i can even begin i need A LOT of help getting started.

I need to know the following (i think)

-what are all the types of magick
-where should i start
-what are some good books i can get to help get me started practicing magick
-what should i do to prepare to practice magick
-are there any precautions i should know about?
-what are the risks of practicing magick
-can it be done solitarily?
-do i need to be apart of a riligion to practice magick?
-and ANYTHING else a beginner would need to know to get started.

I am probably not a good one to do this, but lets see if I can help a little.

First, drop the K. The people that know why it is there can sometimes get irritated by it. Alistair Crowely was a big fan of numbers, and thus he liked the K. It is also used by Thelemics.

You do not have to be of any particular religion to do magic. However, certain gods and cultures do not like/want outsiders involved, so know which God or Entity you are dealing with, and research the heck out of it.

The biggest thing I can tell you to get started, is research mythology and history. Those will help further than a book by someone like Silver Ravenwolf who seems to ignore both. And please stay away from authors who talk about witches being burned at the stake in Salem. No one was burned, and the people that were killed were Puritans. And it was more political/financial/stupid kids that were the reasons.  

[Saint Of Demons]

ok any good books for mythology? and what type of history?  

[Pelta]

Saint Of Demons

I need to know the following (i think)

-what are all the types of magick

This is a tricky question, partially because a set definition of magic is impossible to come by. But the way you're asking it it looks like you want names and classes. So first of all, stop thinking in terms of D&D. razz

Secondly, magic in my opinion is just magic. It all does whatever it's supposed to - what you do to acheive those ends is where the boundaries get drawn. But because there are so many ways of doing things it's impossible to attempt to describe every single one. I suggest looking into a few practises that you find interesting and exploring how they work. Then switch to something else and you may realise how vast and undefinable the genres of magic actually are.

Quote:

-where should i start
-what are some good books i can get to help get me started practicing magick

These two questions mostly go together. The answer is: read. Read whatever you can get your hand on, and then perhaps start putting some of it into practise. For good books to start researching, perhaps take a look at the link/books sticky at the top of the guild forum.

Quote:

-what should i do to prepare to practice magick

Um, I'm not entirely sure what you mean by this question. Do you mean before you do a working, before you start doing anything else at all or do you mean about tools and stuff?

Concentration really seems the answer to your question, as vague as it may be. I've always found concentration to be the key to a successful working.

Quote:

-are there any precautions i should know about?

Yes. It's dangerous. You can do serious damage. You have to shield and take care of yourself. It's like anything, really: Be careful.

Quote:

-what are the risks of practicing magick

That really depends on what you're doing...

Quote:

-can it be done solitarily?

Yes. But look in to whatever type you intend on practising first. Some traditions require you to be in a coven.

Quote:

-do i need to be apart of a riligion to practice magick?

I don't think so, but some may disagree with me there. Hell, I don't even think you need a religion to practise magic.

Quote:

-and ANYTHING else a beginner would need to know to get started.

Well I think you pretty much covered it there.

Really, questions are great but it's only when you start delving into it and practising that you learn properly. The questions are only really meaningful when you've become able to answer them yourself.  

[maenad nuri]

Saint Of Demons

ok any good books for mythology? and what type of history?

What culture?  

[Starlock]

-what are all the types of magick

As Pelta alluded to, this is a tricky question. I've seen all sorts of different ways of categorizing magic. It's a way to wrap your head around it; a construct to assist understanding. Perhaps the closest you're going to get to classifying 'types' of magic is to look at the LAWS of magic. Check out Isaac Bonewitz's "Real Magic;" one of the earlier chapters details the laws of magic and these guidelines can be useful for those wanting to put a structure of some sort onto magical practice.

-where should i start

"Real Magic" isn't a bad starting point. When starting on something, typically I just read everything and anything to get a sense of what is out there and discern out the sources that are more useful to me from those that are less useful. Check out some of the history behind magic; look at its origins and use in ancient Pagan cultures and its revival post-Rennaisance. Get some electronic PDFs of grimoires from occultists like Agrippa. Look for theories on the modern usage of magic; I ran across some interesting ones recently.

Also, start basic. Basic basic. Basic energy work, basic meditation (or anything that teaches you good focus/concentration), basic magical laws, basic energy anatomy.

-what should i do to prepare to practice magick

Probably depends on what you're doing. As a general rule, relaxation and focus (or concentration, as Pelta put it) are good starters. It's also good to know what you're doing in advance and to have the will to do it. Make sure to consider the consequences fully; how it might affect both you, your environment, and other people. Wishing for money might just kill your beloved parents and get you an inheritence; not exactly the kind of price you probably wanted to pay.

-are there any precautions i should know about?

See above. whee

-what are the risks of practicing magick

Personally I haven't run into any problems. Perhaps the amount of problems you experience is related to how dangerous you think magic is and how paranoid/fixative you are on risks? I don't think it's particularly dangerous but then I don't ask for things that are stupid and carefully evaluate consequences. I don't bother with shielding or warding. I simply have trust in what I'm doing and hold a positive attitude.

-can it be done solitarily?

Why not?

-do i need to be apart of a riligion to practice magick?

I think that magical systems (keyword = systems) are pretty religious in that those who hold them are zealously devoted to them and they function as a structure for their general worldview and outlook on life. It isn't that way for everyone though. A magical system can be compounded with another religious practice just fine and not serve as a keystone of your worldview.

-and ANYTHING else a beginner would need to know to get started.

Put off the urge to label experiences too quickly. You might start to pigeonhole them instead of experiencing them more viscerally. Terminology is often quite imprecise and unstandardized; asking for clarifications and definitions of what people mean by a particular word is always a good thing. For instance, what the hell do we even *mean* by magic? There are quite a few answers to that one alone!  

[Saint Of Demons]

Ok i don't know many specifics at all. I don't know what cultures it comes from or anything. I've heard of some "types" of magic such as ceremonial. It seems like such a huge subject i can't really think of how to be specific.

I'm extremely interested in Germanic history (due to the fact I'm bout 90% german myself ^.^) so if theres any magic that has to do of Germanic orgion id love to know about that.
What type of mythology?
Just on gods in general?
Should I reserch any MAJOR entitys or deitys that may deal with magic? Such as Chorozon (if thats how you spell it) all i know from reading a little on Crowley is that Chorozon (sp?) is a fairly strong demon.

I looked in the book list but alot of it seemed to be on Wicca I'll look again.

One of my friends has just started this with me he already performed a protection ritual against other individuals now i'm not sure the outcomes yet but was this a stupid move?

So as far as books and authers are concerned
Real Magic-Isaac Bonewitz is good?  

[Deoridhe]

Saint Of Demons

Ok i don't know many specifics at all. I don't know what cultures it comes from or anything. I've heard of some "types" of magic such as ceremonial. It seems like such a huge subject i can't really think of how to be specific.

Ceremonial Magic is a form of ritual magic derived from Jewish and Christian lore and culture.

Saint Of Demons

I'm extremely interested in Germanic history (due to the fact I'm bout 90% german myself ^.^) so if theres any magic that has to do of Germanic orgion id love to know about that.

There are two types of Norse/Germanic magics. One is the runes and is a symbolic form of magic (you create or inscribe symbols and redden them with blood). The other is seidhr/spaecraft, which is a form of healing/harming/travelling magic that includes some sort of drug and some sort of song. We know very little about either.

Saint Of Demons

Should I reserch any MAJOR entitys or deitys that may deal with magic? Such as Chorozon (if thats how you spell it) all i know from reading a little on Crowley is that Chorozon (sp?) is a fairly strong demon.

Demons may be created from older traditions as a form of adulteration, but that doesn't mean all demons are gods.

Saint Of Demons

I looked in the book list but alot of it seemed to be on Wicca I'll look again.

How are you defining Wicca?

Saint Of Demons

One of my friends has just started this with me he already performed a protection ritual against other individuals now i'm not sure the outcomes yet but was this a stupid move?

What did he do? "protection ritual" is all but meaningless.  

[Pelta]

Starlock

-what are the risks of practicing magick

Personally I haven't run into any problems. Perhaps the amount of problems you experience is related to how dangerous you think magic is and how paranoid/fixative you are on risks? I don't think it's particularly dangerous but then I don't ask for things that are stupid and carefully evaluate consequences. I don't bother with shielding or warding. I simply have trust in what I'm doing and hold a positive attitude.

I'm going to have to disagree with your stance on this. Risks are potential danger points, of which there are many in almost anything. For example, by working magic you run the risk of becoming a head-inflated egomaniac. By deciding to do a working you are deciding to take the chance that something might go wrong. By dealing with spirits you always run the risk of saying something stupid and getting on their bad sides. The risk is always there.

What's important is that these never happen. That is why concentration, control and just generally being careful are so important.

Saint Of Demons

I'm extremely interested in Germanic history (due to the fact I'm bout 90% german myself ^.^) so if theres any magic that has to do of Germanic orgion id love to know about that.

Perhaps look into Asatru? I know it's Norse, but it's a similar geographic region and many of the traditions spanned a wide area. Look it up somewhere if you can, or ask one of our resident Asatru.

Quote:

I looked in the book list but alot of it seemed to be on Wicca I'll look again.

www.sacred-texts.com mrgreen

Quote:

So as far as books and authers are concerned
Real Magic-Isaac Bonewitz is good?

I haven't read Bonewitz, but as far as beginning stuff goes I've always liked Cunningham. Scott Cunningham wrote some interesting books that make magic rather accessible to people only starting out. Just stay away from his Wicca ones.  

[Saint Of Demons]

ok so far I have the following written down.

Books/Authors
Scott Cunningham (stay away from Wicca books)
"Real Magic"-Isaac Bonewitz

Websites
www.sacred-texts.com

"Types" to Research
Asatru
Runes (symbolic) (Germanic/Norse)
Seighr/Spaecraft

Are there any other good books/websites that explain the bascis of magic?
Also are there any other Germanic/Norse based practices?
If you could list other "types" of practices and their roots/origion?  

[80s_Queen]

also don't forget the wiccan rede, should you be a wiccan. remember that because if you should seek revenge, do a revenge spell, it could cause you great harm in return. safety measures is a definite must!  

[scorplett]

80s_Queen

also don't forget the wiccan rede, should you be a wiccan. remember that because if you should seek revenge, do a revenge spell, it could cause you great harm in return. safety measures is a definite must!

The Wiccan rede has nothing to do with spellwork and has nothing to do with the consequences of a poorly thought out working, There is no prohibition on such working as you have suggested... Also, the OP has not stated an interest in Wicca