tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2600947515654238699.post8156663173335162895..comments2024-03-09T19:23:22.482-03:00Comments on The RPGPundit: Classic Rant: Real Magic In RPGs Letter DayRPGPundithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17267330191433119298noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2600947515654238699.post-82574321855793203842017-12-06T02:18:25.432-03:002017-12-06T02:18:25.432-03:00That's hilarious, I guess you think it's i...That's hilarious, I guess you think it's impressive.<br />Anyways, I've been doing magick for something like 15 years before I started blogging. RPGPundithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17267330191433119298noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2600947515654238699.post-43811265343066144062017-12-05T15:05:57.831-03:002017-12-05T15:05:57.831-03:00Short answer: you do "magick" so you can...Short answer: you do "magick" so you can blog about it and impress the easily persuaded.Doc Savagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08783244633195233970noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2600947515654238699.post-88360072160293966092017-11-30T23:55:59.025-03:002017-11-30T23:55:59.025-03:00This is great! Thank you. A while ago I read a boo...This is great! Thank you. A while ago I read a book about magic in Ancient Rome, that was first published in 1902, and all in it precisely echoed your sentiment about symbolism and "like forces". I was disappointed to find no mysticism or mysteriousness in it. Around the same time I read the Ancient Roman account of the Druids in Brittania, by one of the Pliny's, I think. The impression I got was that historic Druids sand their scriptures like Muslims, except from memory, and that they believed in reincarnation, like the Hindus, and they convinced Romans that they were not afraid to die, because they will be reincarnated again, and the Romans treated them back then, in a very modern way, like dangerous religious fanatics, who aren't afraid to die and pose a special danger. Another piece of Ancient Roman writing I came across that blew my mind, was a message sent to the Roman authorities in Judea, warning then about a dangerous zealot named "something something Of Egypt" (I forgot the name), who was headed their way and a brief description. It was so much like US in Iraq, my jaw dropped! Anyway, I have one other question. You mentioned that Occult is similar to Tibetan Buddhism in that you get to face demons. Tibetan Buddhism features a thing called "Tutular Deities", i.e. dieties representing various aspects of human condition, say, addiction, indebtedness or gluttony. If you are suffering from one of those conditions, the deity appears as a demon tormenting you, but if you overcome it and master it, the demon transforms into a deity (usually a magical dog) and an ally. Does the occult feature the same dynamic or is this unique to Tibetan Buddhism. And while I am on topic, I came across the writing of Michael Aquino disagreeing with Anton La Vey. Aquino basically said that Pentegrams are nonsense, since the demons can cross them at will and destroy the magician summoning them, if they wished. You have to face demons you summon without any protective illusions, you must have the balls to go toe to toe with them, and a true magician doe snot use the same useless Pentegrams. Aquino was a Special Forces operator in Vietnam, and while he appears to have been responsible for psychological warfare (either harmless propaganda, he would have been stuck doing as a commissioned officer) or the much darker acts of violence to cow and intimidate the countryside (for which I seen no evidence for his involvement, but I never really looked). IN any case, his approach would have been much more useful outlook for an undercover cop, who has to infiltrate the violent bad guys without any real protection or hope of rescue if his or her cover gets blown. I.e. "demons" that can rip you to shreds (torture, murder you) at any time and there is nothing that can save you except how you carry yourself with the deadly psychos you happen to be infiltrating. SF soldiers were trained specifically to work underground in the enemy rear and to survive and resist capture. I can see where his military training may have influenced his philosophy. I have no idea why he discredited himself by appearing in Conan and with his pedophilia charges later on. My big question is, does his philosophy of facing demons with your inner resourcefulness alone have any basis in historical occult of medieval magic? Thank you again! Brooser Bearhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08487438364129415650noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2600947515654238699.post-35870800626811076522017-11-30T03:23:33.260-03:002017-11-30T03:23:33.260-03:00Not really. That's a highly modernist idea.
T...Not really. That's a highly modernist idea. <br />The ancient notions are instead that there is a CAUSAL link between 'like forces'; often described as 'sympathy'.<br />And the most powerful of such things is the connection between symbols and the things they symbolize. This is why, for example, systems of divination work: because they are based on cosmologies; they act like a model of the universe, like a kind of simulation of reality, and can thus predict patterns in reality. <br />It's also why knowing the name of a thing gives you power over a thing. Or why mantras can tap into the forces those mantras connect to.RPGPundithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17267330191433119298noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2600947515654238699.post-61712288067350548312017-11-30T02:53:40.806-03:002017-11-30T02:53:40.806-03:00Pundit, I have this question about magic, it would...Pundit, I have this question about magic, it would be great if you could answer it. Carl Jung came up with the concept of Synchronicity, an acausal connection between two unrelated things. He may have borrowed this idea from medieval philosophy, since he based a lot of his theory on that, but he clearly restricted Synchronicity in his writing to subjective interpretation, i.e. a person may attach synchronicity to events based on their personal experience - an innocuous observation may trigger an emotional response in a person based on their personal experience. After Jung died, some New Agers took to using the concept of Synchronicity outside Jung's theory - i.e. actual acausal connection between unrelated events in the real world as a basis of mysticism. If such as thing was true, it would be a good theoretical explanation for any divination - any oracle that can be interpreted is synchronistically linked to the event being predicted. So, my big questions is, based on your knowledge, did the concept of Synchronicity exist in medieval thinking before Jung, and if there any mention of it anywhere in the occult? Thank you.Brooser Bearhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08487438364129415650noreply@blogger.com