“Malicious acts are performed by people for personal gain … Sorcerers, though, have an ulterior purpose for their acts, which has nothing to do with personal gain. The fact that they enjoy their acts does not count as gain. Rather, it is a condition of their character. The average man acts only if there is a chance for profit. Warriors say they act not for profit but for the spirit.”
With such a broad definition, it’s helpful to be clear about what animism isn’t.
The Occult Traditions
Occult traditions like Kaballah, the Masons and the Western mystery schools are not animism. Instead, they are often magical systems close to more well known religions.
They have organised structures and a fixed approach that is
consistent between practitioners. They also tend to have a series of
tools and methods which students progress through.
However, the occult traditions do use (and often keep alive) tools
that are grounded in animism such as spirit communication and spiritual
healing through prayer. They often work with symbolism and sacred space,
like animism, but in a more structured, less individual, approach.
Mysticism
Mysticism is often very close to animism, and sometimes the only distinction I can find is a more inward looking, less practical, approach.
THERE ARE TWO FORMS OF SATANISM, THEIST SATANISM, THE ACTUAL BELIEVE IN SATAN AS A BEING (THEIST SATANISTS CAN’T BE ANIMISTS.) AND LAVEYAN SATANISM, IN WHICH SATAN IS SEEN MERELY AS A SYMBOL OF OPPOSITION TO CHRISITAN AND OTHER THEIST BELIEVES AND DOGMA. LAVEYAN SATANISM IS STRICTLY ATHEITST. THEREFORE A SUPPORTER OF ANTON LAVEY’S PHILOSOPHY CAN BE AN ANIMIST TOO. THIS IS THE MORE TRADITIONAL FORM OF SATANISM, AS PRACTICED IN THE CHURCH OF SATAN. (THAT MIGHT BE THE REFERENCE OF ‘‘SOME FORMS OF SATANISM, THAT PROMOTE PERSONAL RESONSIBILITY ETC’‘, WRITTEN ABOUT IN THE TEXT.)
OLD NICKY939393 (WHO LOVES NATURE, IT’S SPIRITS AND MAGICK (ART) MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE.)
“One useful magical model will be outlined next. It is the shamanic theory which views the ecosystem as a single, living entity composed of myriads of different life forms, all of which depend on each other. Over the last decades, biology began to discover that living beings cannot be seen outside of the context in which they exist, and that in each and every ecological system all participants are connected with each other. In this sense we may consider a biosphere as a single living entity and the hypothesis that the biosphere of this planet is also a single, living entity, is but an extension of this idea.”
— Jan Fries, Visual Magick – A manual of Freestyle Shamanism; A Practical Guide to Trance, Sigils & Visualisation Techniques
“To the shaman the natural world (outside) and the mental world (inside) are closely connected. They are organized in similar ways, they include the same items, and they can influence each other … When the outside world is considered a reflection of the deep mind, life will be full of messages and secret meanings.”
— Jan Fries, Visual Magick – A manual of Freestyle Shamanism; A Practical Guide to Trance, Sigils & Visualisation Techniques
Aleister Crowley defined magick as the “Science and Art of causing
Change to occur in conformity with Will”. However, all magical working
concerns the manipulation of glamours, and none of these results or the
desires that fuel them have any substance or reality in themselves.
Hadit is the Magician and the Exorcist, and all phenomena appear
spontaneously—there are no causes and no effects.— Hermetic Qabalah Initiation Workbook
Advaita or Non-Dual reality is often ascribed exclusively to Eastern
mysticism, as though it had no part in the Western Hermetic Tradition.
And yet, the Hermetic Tree of Life does not begin with Kether, the
‘One’, or Chokmah, the ‘Two’. The three veils of Negativity that precede
Kether—Ain, Ain Soph and Ain Soph Aur—have a vital role in all
practical working, whether the aim is mystical, magical or both. When we
begin meditation on the Tree of Life with Kether, or the Rituals of the
Pentagram with the word “IAO”, aspiring upwards, there is a momentary
pause. In that pause, we clear our minds of all thought and sensation,
and contemplate the Ain as no-thing, no object, no subject—pure
emptiness and spaciousness. Then when we utter the first words, Kether
is truly formulated from the three veils of the infinite.
Kether and Atziluth as a concentration of the three veils of Negative Existence
The Mexican sorcery or shamanism that
is described in the writings of Carlos Castaneda is none too different
from the magick of the Hermetic tradition. The trick of following a
symbol back to its source with the infinite—analogous thought as opposed
to analytical thought—is vital to both traditions. With the Mexican
sorcerers, there is more emphasis on the natural world, whereas the
urban magician is usually inclined towards more abstract ciphers. The
hieroglyphs are ‘out there’ in nature, in rocks, plants, mountains,
physical places and their genius loci.
However, this is no
different than the magick practiced by our ancient Egyptian forebears.
Every bird, animal, creature, stone, plant, building or place is a
cipher of the infinite. The word “cipher” itself is derived from the
Arabic sifre , meaning “zero”, and there is a meaningful correspondence between sifre and sephira or “number”. In the Egyptian Book of the Law, Liber AL vel
Legis, Nuit says: “Every number is infinite; there is no difference.”
The teachings of Castaneda’s Don Juan insist that the nagual —the
Mexican word for the formlessness and space that is the true nature of
matter—is the only source of real power to the magician or shaman. The nagual—more
or less equivalent to the thread of the Ain Soph of the Qabalah—is the
timeless source of all magick and sorcery. It is said that if a sorcerer
has enough power, then he or she can enter the nagual and leave
it at any point in space or time. A shaman can thus disappear from one
place and in an instant be transported to some other place a thousand
miles away. The Mexican shaman gains knowledge of every thing, object,
creature or plant, by entering into the formless reality that is veiled
by the object. Likewise, the Kemetic and Hermetic magician follows every
symbol back to its source with the infinite.
Lightning Flash
One unique thing about the Hermetic practice is that we start at the top
and then draw down the force, before working upwards again. In other
traditions, it is more common to begin from the ground and work your way
up. So it appears from our practical work that we begin with Kether the
Crown, the first emanation of the Tree of Life. Kether more or less
approximates with the Atman of Eastern philosophy. The Egyptian god Atem
or Atem Ra embodies much the same principle. However, numbers begin
from zero, not one. The idea of negative existence or Non-Being is as
integral to the Hermetic tradition as it is to Eastern Advaita. In the
Qabalah we have three veils of the negative light, the Ain, the Ain Soph
and the Ain Soph Aur—No-thing, Limitless Space, and Limitless Light.
Kether is the first appearance, and is really a concentration or mirror
reflection of those three veils of the infinite. The traditional name of
Kether in Atziluth is AHIH, “I Am”, the pure existence,
undifferentiated. If we say “I Am” backwards, we declare “Maya”—that
the ‘One’ is the root of the delusion of appearances. The Ain, Ain Soph
and Ain Soph Aur reflected in Kether is Light in Extension, the LVX
formulation of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. When this is
reversed, we formulate NOX or Night, the threefold eye of Ain, Not-Self
or Non-Being. The word Ain is closely related to the letter and word
Ayin, the eye of the void.
The Qabalist bears in mind at all times that the sephiroth of the
Hermetic Tree exist at four worlds or levels, and that there is a tree
in every sphere. The divine world, Atziluth, is more or less the plane
of the gods at the cosmic level. The Egyptian gods are Neters,
“Principles”, that are the divine expressed in nature by natural laws.
Nuit and Hadit, the primary gods of the Egyptian Book of the Law, Liber
AL vel Legis, are the most cosmic or absolute of all the gods. As such,
their first place on the Hermetic Tree is with the Ain and the Ain Soph.
There is some correspondence with Shiva and Shakti of the Eastern
Tantras.
On the plane of time and space, the temporal world, all things, objects
and creatures appear to be a result of causes. We therefore tend to
perceive everything as a chain of cause of effect. Malkuth in Assiah is
the world of action and elements, identical to the Sanskrit “karma”. In
the cosmic world of Nuit and Hadit, there are no causes and no
effects—there is no time. The notion of time where there seems to be a
past that is no more, a present that is ‘here’, yet constantly moving
forward, and a future that is as yet unborn, does not come about until
the midpoint of the Tree, Tiphereth. Even then, time does not fully
obtain until we reach Malkuth, the world of manifest appearances. The
perception of cause and effect, although real enough on its own plane,
is a trick of how we perceive things.
Form vs. Formless Reality
The argument between the advocates of a formless absolute and those that
revere gods, divinities, is an exceedingly ancient one. The great Hindu
sage Ramakrishna proposed a satisfying solution to that argument. The
story goes that one day Ramakrishna encountered some ardent followers of
Shiva, and they said to him, “Why are you worshipping this goddess? She
is Maya, the great delusion. We are followers of Shiva, who is Formless
and absolute, the only Reality.” Ramakrishna went away to think and
meditate on this. When he returned, he found the Shivaites again and
told them, “You are right! However, so am I! The goddess that I love is
the Form of the Formless. Ultimately, the Form and Formless are
perfectly equal and amount to an expression of the same Reality.”
The thread of the Ain Soph does not only exist ‘above Kether’, for it is
the key to transformation at every conceivable level. How does Geburah,
the 5th sephira, become Tiphereth, the 6th? How does the world of
Yetzirah become the world of Assiah? It is through the thread of the Ain
Soph that weaves throughout the worlds. In the numerical scheme of
things, Malkuth is ‘below’ and Kether is ‘above’. And yet, Malkuth is
Kether, but after another fashion. The Ain Soph is hidden in Malkuth—and
so present at all times—as much as it is ‘above’ even Kether.
In the practice—whether it is a meditation on the Hermetic Tree, the
Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram, or an operation to consecrate a
talisman, we start at the ‘top’, the most absolute that we can conceive,
then work towards manifestation. And that is the transformation or
Great Work that is essential to magick and alchemy, the working upon the
plane of matter. When this is reversed, so that each symbol is followed
back to its source in the infinite, the Non-Dual reality may be
realised. To use the Eastern terminology, which is more familiar to many
than the symbolism of the Hermetic tradition, Jnanamudra leads naturally to Mahamudra. According to “The Rites and Ceremonies of Hormaku”, Ritual Magick
:The adept embraces both heaven and hell, becoming at the last a
flame—and then the fire itself. Enoch provides the primary example of
magical invisibility since, after the translation of his Ka into spirit
or Khu, he was never seen again on earth by mortals. When the adept
knows that which he loves even as he is known and loved, a universe is
crushed to nought (i.e. returned to Nuit). “That which remains” (Liber
AL, II: 9) is not created from the substance of the earth—for it is not
of created things. The adept—unless he falls back into time and space at
the crossroads—is therefore invisible to all men, even while dwelling
in the body of flesh.
The True Will in the tradition of Thelema is a wonderful conception, and
can be truly liberating. It is inevitably confused, though, with the
personal will that appears to drive choices and decisions that, in turn,
seem to affect changes in the material life. If too much personal
energy is applied to effecting change on its own plane , that
energy becomes depleted and the Ka (vital body) becomes a vampirical
force. Although vampires and ghouls are a glamorous concept, especially
to those that have never experienced the psychic planes directly, the
(relative) reality of such things is unpleasant, to put it mildly.
The Great Work of magick and alchemy is identical, and the work of
transformation is effected downwards on the planes, “As above so below”.
The world of Assiah is ‘negative’ to the ‘positive’ of the world of
Yetzirah. Geburah is negative to Binah and Chesed, but positive to
Tiphereth and Hod. To work upon Malkuth, the plane of material illusion,
one does not begin with a wish or desire—though such a wish may have
served as a lever to turn the magician towards the Great Work. With the
Ain or non-conceptual reality there is no subject, no object and no will
to do anything or to change anything. There are no things or objects
with Ain, there is no-thing to desire or crave and no one to desire it.
Yet it is from Ain that magick is worked and it is only by embracing
Non-Being that the true Will is known. Magick and mysticism can easily
be seen as two entirely different paths, one leading this way, the other
leading that way. The magick of the true Will, however, works
simultaneously from the Formless to Form, and from Form to the Formless.
This mirroring or doubling of the worlds is described in the writings
of Kenneth Grant as the “Aeon of Zain”, named after the 17th path of the
Hermetic Tree to which the symbol of the sword is referred.
The downward striking action of the Flaming Sword or Lightning Flash—the
word or utterance of Kether which is itself a mirror of the void of Ain
Soph—automatically invokes a reflex, a current of return from Malkuth.
This simultaneous, two-way relationship between the Formless void and
its expression in matter and substance weaves the very fabric of
anything we can perceive as existence. By travelling to and fro across
the planes, a ‘substance’ is created that has an existence outside of
the gates of matter and time. This is no different than the immortal
stone or elixir of life that was described by medieval alchemists.
Referring once more to the writings of Carlos Castaneda, Don Juan was
always insistent that the ‘tricks’ of the shamans, whether to travel
over vast distances, to effect magical transmutations upon things,
creatures or humans, or to play some humiliating practical joke upon an
unwary acolyte, has deadly serious intent. And that intent is the
ultimate liberation of the soul from all constraints of matter, time and
death. This is no different in any way from the Great Work of the
Hermetic tradition or the goal of liberation of the Advaitans.
– A shaman will work with all things of nature. They will see life as a ceremony, something sacred and to be honored. The call of the shaman is one which cannot be taken lightly, for the well-being of all community is their path.
Shamanism is the dedication of either a man or a woman whose life path is to assist others in achieving a better quality of life. A shaman will often be seen in a community functioning as the witch doctor, medicine person, doctor, priest, social worker, healer and/or mystic. Shamans use both mental and emotional adventures with a client. The intent of these adventures is to aid the client in being able to overcome physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual limitations. A shaman’s life is dedicated to assisting others, in their community. In performing the duties of a shaman, the shaman will move between the physical and ether worlds. The shaman is able to move between worlds with ease and often this is accomplished when the shaman enters an altered state of consciousnesses. The purpose for doing this is to improve the quality of life for the client, using and doing what is needed to make this happen.
A client, or sitter, is defined as one who has come to the shaman for healing, guidance and with life questions. The client may need healing physically, emotionally, mentally and or spiritually. The shaman works with the client to heal all areas of their life and the shaman is open to aid and assist how they are lead while in the trance or altered state of awareness. In the practice of shamanism, the shaman will use a variety of natural tools such as drums, herbs, plants, meditation, rattles, and sweat lodges to assist them as they shift their level of awareness. These tools assist the shaman and open the way for the shaman to leave their physical body freely. Leaving their physical body is done when the shaman is on a soul flight, or on a soul journey. While on these journeys, or times away from their physical body, the shaman’s distinct purpose is to connect with universal energies in order to receive information and answers to assist in healing and growth. Shamans are natural healers. They just know what needs to be done.
A shaman will see illness as the loss of one’s personal power. The shaman will, through the soul journey, aid their client in returning this personal power in order to recover. The shaman sees the loss of personal power as a loss of a part of the client. This is recognized as a part of the person being lost, almost as if the person has a splinter of themselves gone. It is then, through a shamanic journey, where the shaman leaves their body. The shaman goes to retrieve this lost part of the person or to retrieve the lost soul of their client. An example of this would be a person losing their power when they have suffered a trauma; this trauma may have taken place in the form of an accident, or event which caused a part of their soul to depart from the body. This departing happens when the soul and body have experienced an event so severe that had the soul remained, the physical body would have died; something causing the heart to jump, an extreme shock. The retrieval process can be a tedious adventure as the shaman must locate the lost or severed part of their client and they must then confirm for the lost part that it is safe to return. The retrieval process is then done through a ritual re-uniting where the shaman serves as the middle person assisting the soul and the client in a re-uniting ceremony.
In shamanism, the shaman also works with the land, healing the land, bringing harmony and balance to the land. It is through the wisdom of the ages that a shaman is able to do this type of healing work, working with nature and the spirit of the animals: (four-legged, creepy crawlies, the winged ones, the swimming ones), elements: (earth, air, water, and fire), polar directions: (east, south, west, and north / above, below and within), plants, stones, sky, trees, vegetation, and the universe around them. It is with this assistance that they are able to tap into the healing energies of ancient wisdom. The essence of all that they work with is seen as alive and as a divine source connected to the higher source as the provider of life. A shaman will often refer to the ancestors as natural elements of nature, for example: stone people, the standing ones (trees). Through connecting with the energy and ancient wisdom and through drawing in help from natural energy, the shaman is then able to collect the power that is needed for them to perform for their client, for the land, community, bringing the healings and blessings that are sought out and needed.
Dream time is another source of travel for a shaman. It is while in dream time that the shaman is then able to travel and to seek the answers needed. They then bring the answers back with them when they awaken. This is done through programming the conscious mind to remember and receive the information that the subconscious mind retrieves while asleep and while the shaman is in the dream state.
The power of the shaman is recognized by the level of results they achieve from the work they perform. This can be recognized as work done for the individual, for the village, for the community, the environment and the good of the whole. The results depend on the shaman’s ability to travel and bring back to the land or the client that which it is they are seeking. A shaman who is unable to bring back from their travels the medicine needed, or the soul parts sought after, will bring shame to themselves and the client, community, and land.
It is also believed that the shaman can control the weather. They travel between the worlds and bring to the community, for good or bad, what is needed for the community. Today, the modern shaman will bring personal power, spiritual enlightenment, and harmony with nature, psychological understanding and healing on all levels: physical, emotional, and spiritual.
Shamans are also able to communicate with the animal kingdom, dead or alive. In this communication, they are able to know when an animal is trying to tell their owner something; or if an animal is not acting normal, the shaman is able to communicate to the owner what is wrong. They are then able to offer healing remedies for the animal.
A magician is any practitioner of magic; therefore a magician may be a specialist or a common practitioner, even if he or she does not consider himself a magician. All that is required is the possession of esoteric knowledge, traits, or expertise that are culturally acknowledged to harbor magical powers.
Magical knowledge is usually passed down from one magician to another through family or apprenticeships, though in some cultures it may also be purchased. The information transferred usually consists of instructions on how to perform a variety of rituals, manipulate magical objects, or how to appeal to gods or to other supernatural forces. Magical knowledge is often well guarded, as it is a valuable commodity to which each magician believes that he has a proprietary right.
Yet the possession of magical knowledge alone may be insufficient to grant magical power; often a person must also possess certain magical objects, traits or life experiences in order to be a magician. Among the Azande, for example, in order to question an oracle a man must have both the physical oracle (poison, or a washboard, for example) and knowledge of the words and the rites needed to make the object function.
A variety of personal traits may be credited to magical power, though frequently they are associated with an unusual birth into the world. For example, in 16th century Friuli, babies born with the caul were believed to be good witches, benandanti, who would engage evil witches in nighttime battles over the bounty of the next year’s crops.
Certain post-birth experiences may also be believed to convey magical power. For example a person’s survival of a near-death illness may be taken as evidence of their power as a healer: in Bali a medium’s survival is proof of her association with a patron deity and therefore her ability to communicate with other gods and spirits. Initiations are perhaps the most commonly used ceremonies to establish and to differentiate magicians from common people. In these rites the magician’s relationship to the supernatural and his entry into a closed professional class is established, often through rituals that simulate death and rebirth into a new life.
Given the exclusivity of the criteria needed to become a magician, much magic is performed by specialists. Laypeople will likely have some simple magical rituals for everyday living, but in situations of particular importance, especially when health or major life events are concerned, a specialist magician will often be consulted. The powers of both specialist and common magicians are determined by culturally accepted standards of the sources and the breadth of magic. A magician may not simply invent or claim new magic; the magician is only as powerful as his peers believe him to be.
In different cultures, various types of magicians may be differentiated based on their abilities, their sources of power, and on moral considerations, including divisions into different categories like sorcerer, witch, healer and others.
Occult Aspects 