==I think that here is a challenge, here, to discover what a successful practitioner like Crowley meant by _thelema_. One obstacle to this is that, in Anglo-American culture, "willfull" can refer to the impetuousness of someone who doesn't know what he or she wants, whereas a magus must continually redirect what he does not want (rather than trying to rebuff it head on), in order to get the stuff with which to construct his desired reality. It seems to me that the Will that Crowley was talking about had much to do with _willingness_ because, when a human being uses natural energy to create supernatural effects or uses supernatural energy to cause natural effects, these things are accomplished by means of complex mechanisms and helpers, like an iPhone app. And, without the proper attitude, it is not possible to activate these supports, regardless of how much lore one has learned. Recently, one of my dragon companions said to me, "Magick is volition and assistance!" I think the basic trick of magick is to learn to identify, locate, and cooperate with other beings who share ones affinities, and to develop the patience and tolerance to secure their cooperation.
>>I want to know however, what exactly is magick capable of?
==In one instruction about Magick, Lord Shiva said, "All accomplishments are possible through faith." Again, in Anglo-American culture, faith can mean belief, but the god was here referring to a genuine desire to accomplish a particular aim, accompanied by the cogent resolve and self discipline to follow the necessary procedures to manifest it. Now, this generally requires a shift of focus away from what the mage does not want, and toward the engineering problems involved with bringing about what he or she does want. There are all kinds of things that can slow down or abort the realization of a goal. In our society, it us usually the tendency to complain rather than create. Now, the kind of sorcery we see in the typical Harry Potter book can be brought about, but that kind of advanced thing requires an extensive network of powerful servitors. And, before one can find ones way to a Hogwarts, it has to be deeply okay with the individual that such a thing deserves to exist. Otherwise, if he is willing to import memes manufactured by enemy systems, he will be excluded.
>>Is it capable of anything that affects the physical world? For instance can a witch or magi cause even the faintest breeze or light a candle with the power of magick alone?
==That depends on the knowledge and power of the witch. What seems to the average observer to be a preternatural miracle may rely on an illusion, or may rely on a rendering anomaly. If one has the power to produce a genuine rendering anomaly, then that wizard has to have enough protection to deal with the jealousy, shock, or outrage that such a thing will inevitably generate in a world that is saturated with psychological spyware that is designed to prevent just such a thing from happening. In India, when studying mystic power, students are often discouraged from displaying special powers, as this can generate resistance and also undermine character. But, when a mage can actually command spirits and elements to reshape themselves into the things he needs and wants, it is usually better that these things bring joy to him and his companions, rather than generating a wow factor that will lead to blowback.
>>If I willed to light a candle and used a match that would be magick by definition, but I think you know what I mean.
==Anton LaVey somewhere explained that a sorcerer needs to use the least amount of energy possible to bring about a desired effect. Carlos Castaneda said that a sorcerer has to learn to conserve energy in every way, so that what would be wasted by ordinary people will be available to the shaman. Ultimately, the aim of magick is something of a more spiritual and elaborate version of stage magic: to amaze and delight the friends of the magician, and give him work as a creator of strange and wonderful things and events. My stained glass professor was very proud of one of his students, whose first love was art, but who was willing to work as a house painter in order to get the necessary sustenance to maintain himself in a position whereby he could do the art that he felt he ought to do, regardless of whether his painting or stained glass was met with immediate enthusiasm by those writing the checks. Once you discover what it is that you will to accomplish, the rest is a set of engineering problems: using ingenuity to overcome the obstacles present in the environment where you wish to manifest your cool thing, amaze your friends, and make your enemies feel inept.
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