Notes

INTRODUCTION

Before beginning to travel through a foreign country, and in order to have the possibility to understand in depth the customs, it is necessary to know, at least in a partial way, the language that is spoken in that place, paying special attention to the meanings of the expressions and their respective intonations. Otherwise, we run the risk of limiting our knowledge to a very superficial level or, in the worst case, we risk misinterpreting the reality with which we come into contact.

Magic can also be considered an unknown territory that we must explore. Undoubtedly it is a vast country, mysterious and fascinating but for whose visit and understanding it is necessary to prepare and provide the necessary instruments.

In this case, the preparation must be spiritual and intellectual because it is necessary to prepare the spirit to receive and at the same time to learn all the meanings of the words and expressions of the different magic rituals so that we are able to recognize and denounce the improper uses. The work of preparation is a long work and sometimes also complicated; learning respect for a world, for an unknown culture and difficult to know implies the effort of all one’s being. We must never be discouraged: with patience and goodwill we can go very far. The prize is assured and surpasses the best hopes.

Part One

THE MAGIC DIMENSION: LEXICON, HISTORY AND ACCESS ROUTES

The drawn veil represents the appearance of the world that hides the truth that can only be revealed at the end of an exciting investigation.

Definition of the term magic

For many centuries, the word magic has been part of the common language, appearing in many expressions of remote origin that attest to the interest shown by all societies for these practices. I am convinced that everyone has an idea about its meaning, although it may not be based on the most accurate definition of the word.

Many people will be inclined to define as magical all phenomena that happen without a clear logical explanation or that are characterized in a way that makes you immediately think of the supernatural. In everyday language there are very frequent phrases such as "it has appeared at the precise moment, as if by magic, I would like to have a magic wand to get out of this situation, it is a magical moment that will hardly be repeated, you can breathe magical air in this place", and so on. These are all phrases that many people have uttered or have surely heard a lot of times; these phrases give us a fairly accurate idea of the meaning and role commonly attributed to magic.

The most superstitious people pronounce this word with great caution so as not to distort its meaning, whose implications are still unknown to us and always arouse a reverential fear. That is why, more than once, in the course of a conversation that may take these directions, someone changes the subject abruptly saying, it is better not to talk about these things; it can bring us bad luck.

Much more different is the definition given by those who deal with or are interested in the paranormal or the esoteric, who prefer to approach the subject under the premise that magic is a discipline that helps to come into contact with astral forces. Although there is some truth to each of the definitions we have just seen, the complexity and subtlety of the latter require a much more extensive and detailed explanation.

Since I want to deal with the subject in a serious and profound way, I cannot be content to mention these ideas in a vague way, but I must try to sketch out a much more precise definition that will help us to understand this phenomenon in all its complexity.

One of the most important magicians of our time, Allister Crowley, whom I will quote often throughout this book, defined magic as the art of bringing about change in accordance with the will. Each change can be obtained by applying the most suitable grade and species of force, in the most suitable way and through the most suitable means directed towards the most suitable object.

Thus, for this scholar, magic is a form of knowledge that, moreover, is not abstract nor is it an end in itself but tries to project itself towards the attainment of a concrete end. In other words, we can affirm in more modern terms that magic is an operative knowledge of reality.

Anyway, although this definition is true, in my opinion, it is totally insufficient because it does not differentiate the magic of other completely different disciplines, such as, for example, science, because the latter, in fact, also teaches how to use the appropriate instruments to obtain the desired effects.

What differentiates the two disciplines is essentially the method used. While science constantly aspires to an impersonal and objective point of view, magic is based precisely on the personal and subjective experiences of those who practice it.

I would like to clarify this concept as much as possible because it seems fundamental to me for the correct understanding of the whole book.

When a scientist discovers one of the many laws governing nature, he strives to describe it in a universal way that can be applied in all cases. Above all, it is concerned with ensuring that the process that has led to the discovery is repeatable by all those people who, knowing the appropriate scientific method, want to verify the value. In this way, an American scientist seeking to build a radar will use the same formulas and the same basic principles that have guided the work of a Russian or Japanese colleague of his. This is because, in the specific case, the functioning of the radar depends on factors that do not change depending on the place, time and human intervention, i.e. that it is based on universal principles.

Another similar example is formed by the law that regulates the movement of falling weights, which Galileo Galilei and other physicists studied at the dawn of modern science.

This law was established after long and patient sessions of observation of the movement of various objects of various shapes and weights that were dropped on planes of various inclinations and of different length.

In this way, the times of fall and the length travelled were measured and compared; this led to the drafting of mathematical formulas that related them, describing the phenomenon in the totality of its factors. These formulas continue to be valid today, although no one is no longer observing the fall of objects: the principles that regulate the phenomenon are somehow innate in the natural phenomenon itself and, as everyone knows, they were true even before anyone discovered them.

Unlike what we have just seen, the magician does not behave in any case like a scientist, but tries to produce extraordinary events or tries to change different realities in a substantial way with a methodology based on the traditional knowledge of his people and his own personal experience.

For this reason, a sorcerer from Mexico who wants to invoke rain to fall on the arid meadows of his tribe will use formulas and operations very different from those that a Chinese or African magician would use.

I would also like to point out that all events that are really magical are never repeated, either qualitatively or quantitatively, by the same operator, because they depend on various physical and psychological factors. It is still less possible that another magician will be able to reproduce them exactly.

In other words, while scientific laws refer to nature itself (and are, therefore, also called natural laws), magical principles are based on the interaction between the magician himself and nature.

As an aside, it is precisely because of this radical difference that official science observes magic and other collateral disciplines with such suspicion and sufficiency.

However, despite the subjective essence of the magical event, it is true that magic can be taught and can be learned, if we stick to the existence of traditions and magical practices spread in a more or less extensive way and in addition some fundamental traces of magic are found in almost all the cultures of the earth.

But each magician, after having initiated his own path of knowledge, must develop on his own the different techniques which he has learned and make them his own in order to take flight; otherwise, everything he has learned will have no validity. It is precisely part of the essence of magic itself to involve not only the intelligence of the adepts, but also a whole series of other aspects of the personality, among which the will stands out in a particular way, which is the motor necessary to make magical knowledge real. The training of the will constitutes an essential part of the preparation and maintenance of the forces of each magician, together with the study and accumulation of theoretical knowledge.

I don’t want to dwell on this elementary concept because later on, we will find all the explanations and, above all, the most suitable exercises to strengthen the mind and the will (see the second part of the book). Here it will be enough to specify that it must be a constant and serious training, oriented to internalize the personal knowledge of each one. Those who wish to access the magic dimension must behave as if they were professional sportsmen and women, accustomed to carrying out all the exercises of their speciality with great naturalness as if it were something that belonged to their own essence, and not bound by external orders or demands, which only provoke mechanical attitudes.

Also from this point of view, the difference between the magician and the scientist is very profound: the latter, in fact, does not really have to do preparatory work on himself, but only has to study and learn methods, criteria, techniques and notions. The work required of those who wish to learn magic, on the other hand, provides the adept who does not get lost along the way with remarkable inner growth, comparable to that obtained with other mental or mystical disciplines, such as yoga, for example.

In this sense, it can be said that magic takes place in the magician himself and that its external manifestations are nothing more than emanations of this first and fundamental work carried out in the magician’s personality. In order to complete this process of learning and initiation, magic, as it is necessary to face now the discourse that refers to the so-called colour of magic.

In fact, it is commonly heard that it can be white, pink or black magic as if the discipline had three