I’m a writer, editor, communicator, ant keeper, kite flyer, sandwich maker and many things besides.
I’m not religious, I follow the Tao, but I do rely on magick at times, so one might say I’m a magickian, mage, elementalist, warlock, even sorcerer! These words are fun, but such labels don’t mean much, any more than ‘writer’ tells you who I am or what I do to earn a living.
At times, I rely on Chaos Magick with a hint of Elementalism thrown in, to get things done. I see magick as fantastic (in the true sense of the word) but also practical - life is magickal, and so magick is in my life.
I don’t hold that many ‘beliefs’ - I think beliefs are quite dangerous; they’re narrow and too easily fought over (see ‘Rest of World’, ‘All History’ and ‘Religion’) but I have a few simple ideas that I’ve gleaned from my experiences, and I’m happy to discuss ideas. No one needs get nailed to anything for just an idea, and ideas are mutable and can develop and grow.
Sigils
Chaos Magick is beyond my definition at this time - too many people are ready to argue with definitions, and that’s right and proper, because Chaos Magick doesn’t adhere to any set precepts, it’s about developing a personal system of magick that works - not one that sounds good or that other people respect, but a system that brings about change in accordance with the Will.
Sigil Magick might be a cornerstone of Chaos Magick. I’ve been making use of Signs, Seals, BindRunes and glyphs for many years, and I’ve come to appreciate the simplicity of the written Statement of Intent and the crafting of Sigils.
A Sigil is an abstract representation of a desire. It is not representative of the desired outcome at all! The conscious mind cannot divine the meaning of a Sigil, rather, the unconscious mind empowers the Sigil without any interference or intellectual static.
Sigils are not ‘filled with power’ - they’re just designs, and as such, a Sigil of and in itself isn’t going to do anyone any good. Sigils are foci for the intent, and they convey information to the subconscious mind. Because they are ‘charged and fired’ in an idiosyncratic manner by the mage, they are often ‘one shot’ devices.
My designs
I’m happy to share some of my recent designs; I’m certain that they are no longer ‘active’ and so I’m willing to show them to others now, whereas I keep ‘working’ Sigils under wraps.
Click on the image to see a larger view.
Each Sigil is bespoke and unique, although you may see some themes within them - certain colours and shapes are repeated because, well, because I create so many similarly themed Sigils that’s why!
See, although Sigils are intensely personal, I’m experimenting with crafting them for others. It helps me to develop my Sigil discipline, and it’s an experiment in helping others. I must admit, because I’m selling my services on eBay, I am fairly swayed by market forces, and so the types of Sigils I sell are a little less ‘grand’ than some magickians might be happy with, but as I said, magick is practical, and should fit our modern everyday lives.
- Xaos.org.uk - my e-commerce sigil site
Public opinion
The unwashed masses may groan, growl and joke about my ideas, and the concept of magick itself; and perhaps some people may feel that I can’t be a serious web publisher, editor and organisation director if I also ‘believe’ in such weird stuff.
I don’t have the time to say that I find the dogma and doctrines of religions to be incredibly weird and wonderful, but I will say that my ideas shouldn’t affect you unless you want them to. If I eat toast that’s fallen on the floor, that might be bad for me, but it ain’t bad for you, so let it slide yeah?
I feel it’s OK to be true to myself now; I’ve been online for decades now (had my first email address long before the WWW was invented) and I’ve always published personal stuff - my personal mobile number has been online for like seven years. I’m older and wiser now, and I’m OK with who I am and what I do. I’m not kidding myself anymore, I’m not some teen caught up in occult books. I’m just living my life.
I am also inspired by some clever, hard-working, ‘normal’ technology workers who also happen to have alternatve views and ideas, and who work magick when needed. Some of the search engines you use, some of the add-ons you use, some of the podcasts you listen to and some of the web apps you have bookmarked were created by energy workers and magickians.
So check out my Xaos site (which is in development) and try to see if it bothers you that I’m a writer and a magickian - if so, ask yourself why, and let me know in the comments!
[Wedge]
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I’m a big fan of Magic, though this mostly takes the form of illusion and misdirection from the likes of Pen & Teller and Derren Brown.
Magik on the other hand may not be as flashy and glamourous but after seeing it work a couple of times it’s a powerful tool and amazing to be involved in. You can use it on your own or increase the potential by spreading it around your friends. As many have already discovered a good sigil from http://xaos.org.uk can do good things for you and your life.
I would hope that it doesn’t bother anyone that Wedge is a writer *and* a magickian – I aspire to be both one day! If anyone does have a problem with it I’d be very interested to hear their reasons why.
I suppose I am a writer in the sense that I write a lot, and I am a magickian in the sense that I work magick, but I’m way behind our author here. In my opinion, magick isn’t something you can learn from a book. It has to be developed over many many years and involves a great deal of personal development too. I’ve been working with colours for most of my life, but like I say, I’m way behind Wedge.
My own magickal journey has taken me through wicca to my current passion for elemental magick – and I think it’s here that I’ve really found my ‘magickal me’. The magick I work is relatively simple and the spells I use are created largely by myself. They combine elemental magick with coloured energy.
As proud as I am of my own magick, when it came to needing something quite powerful that I knew would work quickly I turned to Wedge and asked for a Sigil. And of course it worked :)