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Reddit mentions of Postmodern Magic: The Art of Magic in the Information Age

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Reddit mentions: 7

We found 7 Reddit mentions of Postmodern Magic: The Art of Magic in the Information Age. Here are the top ones.

Postmodern Magic: The Art of Magic in the Information Age
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Found 7 comments on Postmodern Magic: The Art of Magic in the Information Age:

u/wockyman · 22 pointsr/magick

Patrick Dunn wrote the clearest, most no-nonsense explanation of the relationship between science and magic that I've read. Note that when he says "the scientist" and "the mage," he is aware he's making broad generalizations. As a linguistics professor, he wears both hats.

>For the past few centuries, Western culture has learned to perceive reality empirically - that is, fundamental beliefs rely on conclusions solely derived from observation. This approach is known as the scientific method. This systematic method is something of an anomaly in human history, though it has allowed us to make advancements far beyond the dreams of our ancestors. In the past hundred years alone we've split an atom, traveled to the moon, turned gold into lead, found treatments for countless diseases, and cracked the human genome. The scientific method is useful for understanding reality, and the mage would do well to understand and be able to employ it as necessary.

>The scientific method assumes the laws of reality are more or less constant. The mage, on the other hand, follows Heraclitus' maxim: "One cannot step in the same river twice." Scientists often recognize some truth in this maxim. But if reality is not more or less constant, the scientific method is a moot practice. Obviously, the world in many ways does remain constant over a period of time - the sun will probably come up tomorrow and we can safely assume that all the oxygen atoms in the atmosphere won't suddenly condense over London, causing the rest of the world to suffocate. The assumption of constancy is what leads scientists to expect they can make future predictions based on repetitive results. And for the most part they can.

>Even science recognizes, however, that some things are not subject to this method. One cannot, for example, repeat a work of art in the same way one can repeat an experiment. The repetition of an experiment results in the accumulation of evidence, which either proves or disproves the validity of a hypothesis. The repetition of a work of art does not prove anything about the art - it's just a copy. Like art, magic is not subject to scientifically controlled repetition, because it deals with the subtle states of self, mind, and holistic reality at the moment of the act of magic. Sorcery is utterly untestable, which is fine. It doesn't have to be.

>Unlike scientists, mages approach reality intuitively rather than empirically. A scientist observes a phenomenon, makes a hypothesis about it, and then gathers data to support or disprove that hypothesis. A mage, on the other hand, observes the symbol systems interacting to make up our world. A mage may have many hypotheses, and feel no need to gather data to prove any of them. A mage perceives the world not as a constant interaction of immutable laws - although often and in many ways it is - but as an ever-changing interaction of arbitrary and constantly shifting symbols. Each symbol, each fundamental building block of reality, connects to some other symbol - or more likely a series of symbols - themselves connecting to others, and so on. The scientist tries to understand and systemize the world; the mage simply tries to experience it.

>An astute and well-educated reader might insist that atoms, or perhaps energy - not symbols - are the fundamental substance of existence. I will discuss symbols more fully in the next chapter, but let me further clarify here. Energy makes up all the matter we perceive in the universe, but our reality does not merely consist of matter. In fact, if you list the things that most impact your reality, I suspect immaterial, even abstract, symbols - love, money, health - appear most frequently. Even the significance of matter itself is often more symbolic than material. The little pewter wizard on top of my computer does not simply remind me of lead and tin; to me, it is a gift from a family member, a little joke on myself, and an object that manages to fall and bruise my toe every time I move my computer.

--Postmodern Magic

u/egardercas · 8 pointsr/occult

Do skip church. I think I went back to church once when I got scared, and another time when a group of assholes shangahaid me through AA. Both times I had to start over from scratch. Your instincts about big box religion are correct, and you should listen to them.

Don't dismiss, well...alternatives to materialism, we'll say, out of hand. A lot of them are BS, sure. And a lot of them that look like BS on the surface have more to them than you'd imagine, if you can get past the scam artists pimping them off for profit.

I personally think, for those who become atheist, you have to push through to the ends of atheism to become a gnostic- and I don't mean Christian Gnostic, I mean that in the generic sense. I had to, there's no shame in it. Don't take things on faith, but do incorporate experience and introspection into your worldview.

Apart from that, if you want to test reality's edges out to see if it's actually the way they explain it to school children, try something like astral projection til it happens. Or some other type of magic. I'd stay away from "black" magic until you find your feet, though. You can certainly go that route if you want, but...I'd get a feel for things first.

Here's a book, Postmodern Magic. If you feel inclined to get it, do the exercises and keep a journal. It's not the only introductory book, but it's a nice one. A free intro to Chaos Magic can be found here, Oven-Ready Chaos by Phil Hine. Both of those are kinda in the Chaos vein of things, but look around, there's plenty of other systems to work in. Druidry, Wicca, Traditional Witchcraft, Shamanism, Hermeticism...blah blah, try stuff til something sticks.

u/wordtempletarot · 4 pointsr/occult

I'd like to recommend a book if you're interested.
It's Patrick Dunn's "Postmodern Magic: The Art of Magic in the Information Age". He presents a wide number of trans-paradigmatic exercises and "rituals" that I think would be very approachable in this instance.

u/[deleted] · 2 pointsr/occult

This is probably a good kind of book to start with. Chaos magick material in general will be more appealing to a modern materialist than much of the classical occult stuff (as they come from a more Victorian point of view).

u/peacev1rus · 2 pointsr/Psychonaut

How into energy manipulation are you? Your question about the weight of words made me want to mention models of magick based on information.

check out this book
http://www.amazon.com/Postmodern-Magic-Art-Information-Age/dp/0738706639

u/Gneognosis · 1 pointr/science

For an explanation for why Scientology "works," I urge you to read Postmodern Magic.

After which, I hope you'll see why it's important to audit yourself rather than be audited. This is a first step.

u/the_carcosan · 1 pointr/occult

You might actually benefit by not having too much money to throw at books for now. I was working at a used book warehouse when I first got into the occult, which resulted in me buying way too many books than I have time to read. By only purchasing one book at a time, you will be able to focus your studies rather than split your attention.

Based on the reading list in the FAQ, I'd recommend getting something that is in the tradition you are most interested in. Of the paths I know about, I'd recommend Phil Hine's Condensed Chaos for chaos magic and Modern Magick by Don Michael Kraig for Hermetic magic.

Going off the list, Postmodern Magic by Patrick Dunn and The New Hermetics by Jason Newcomb are both excellent crash courses in general occultism with a contemporary twist.

And as others have suggested, get free resources from the internet.

As for the left/right-hand dichotomy, it all comes down to how you want to go about improving yourself though magic. The "right-hand path" leads to unity with divinity, while the "left-hand path" aims to become equal with divinity. Things like black clothing, horned gods or white crystals and angels are just window dressing.

It is important that you remember that you do not need to worry about following one path over the other. They are not roads that diverge in a wood and you must choose when one to take for the rest of your life. "Path" is actually a very poor choice of words for this idea. Think of them as modes, or focuses, for your magical life. You can shift from one mode to the other as needed. Just be sure that you are using symbols that make sense for your world view. Having a focus in Shito spiritualism and then suddenly flipping to goetic demon summoning for one night might not yield effective results.

Wicca is a form of occultism. As an established religion it does not foster the level of free-thinking that many contemporary occultists would like, but it still much more occult than most religions out there. As for mono- and polytheistic occultism, nearly every pantheon has it's own form of mysticism, including the Judeo-Christian religion.