Note: the following is the first of a series of articles that explore the therapeutic methods of Dr. David Brizer. Although some of the practices may seem arcane, or even impossible, a careful reading of these paragraphs will convince you otherwise!
This system of thought has been labeled ‘white magic’, ‘occultism,’ ‘alchemy’ and ‘hermetic science.’ Nonetheless, its close resemblance to the methods of modern science are astonishing.
Postulate 1: Everything that happens in nature takes place without the presence or intervention of spiritual or ‘supernatural’ forces.
Postulate 2: Nature has order, consistency, and predictability. In other words, the same causes will always produce the same effects.
Postulate 3: The proper ‘ceremony’ (sequence of thoughts and events), accompanied by the proper ‘spell’ (mantra, verbalization, oath), will inevitably produce the desired results.
Conclusion 1: The ‘magical’ and scientific conceptions of the world are very close, if not identical. Each system features the axiom that events in nature are regular and certain, and these events are determined by immutable laws.
Postulate 4: The operation of these laws can be determined and repeated at will. This opens up a limitless vista of possibilities to those who know the cause of things and can work the secret springs that move vast and intricate mechanism of the world.
Definition: Mind Magic is the science of causing change to occur by means of your will. Each and every decision you make results in a ‘magical’ transformation, for good or for bad, of your inner and outer worlds.
Here’s an example of mind magic at work: I decide to tell people about some powerful wisdom that I know. Using magical ‘weapons’ (word processor, paper, printer, e-mail) I write these words in a ‘magical language’ (or incantation) which is understood by those I wish to inform; I recruit various ‘spirits’ (publishers, booksellers, web site designers) to get my message across. The creation and dissemination of this knowledge from me to you is therefore a true act of magic—I have caused changes to occur in strict conformity to my will.
Postulate 5: Any change may be caused by applying the right kind and amount of force in the proper manner through the proper medium to the proper object.
Example: I am having a dinner party, and want to be sure that the guest list is varied enough that my guests will be entertained and appreciated and will leave feeling they have had a great time. I look through my contact list and deliberately choose the right mix of friends to guarantee that a good time will be had by all. The party occurs and is a smashing success. By applying my will in the proper manner, I have ‘magically’ crafted the party of the year!
At our present level of knowledge, some changes are not yet possible. We cannot, for example, turn off the sun. Nor can we reliably cure cancer. Nonetheless, it is theoretically possible to cause in any object any change which that object is capable of by nature.
AXIOMS:
1. Every intentional act is a magical act.
2. Every successful act results from adherence to these rules. Every failure results from not having fulfilled one or more requirements of the postulates.
For example, there may be a failure to understand the conditions required for change; failure to apply the right kind or the right amount of force; failure to apply the force in the proper manner (you don’t try to cash a check that is incompletely signed); or there may be failure to use the correct medium (building a house with straw will not help you last out the storm.)
3. The first rule for change is a complete understanding of the required conditions. It has been said that the most common cause of failure in life is ignorance of one’s own will, or ignorance of the methods necessary to realize that will. (You may think that your path involves high finance and banking, yet you may waste your years trying to succeed in a realm that is foreign to your nature.)
4. The second rule for change is the actual ability to set in motion the necessary forces.
5. You are on a path, specifically and individually yours, which depends on multiple factors including you and your environment. Anyone who is forced from, or who strays, from their path (whether a result of limited self-knowledge, or of external opposition), comes into conflict with the order and flow of the universe, and he or she suffers as a result. (You may consider yourself a ‘people person’ who should succeed admirably as a therapist. Because you denied or didn’t acknowledge your core personality—who prefers privacy, and gets anxious around people—you subject yourself to a decade of miserable, unfulfilling interactions with your clients.)
6. If your conscious will is at odds with your ‘True Will’, you are wasting your power: you cannot expect to change your environment in the desired direction.
7. If you are expressing your True Will, you have the power of the universe behind you.
8. For the most part, we are ignorant of the nature of our own being and powers. All your ideas about your personal limitations are based solely on past experiences; every step forward you take extends your domain—and redefines your self-imagined limits. There is no reason to assume that there are theoretical limits to what you can be or to what you can do.
Example: not that long ago, the notion that we could communicate with each other across the globe—without wires—would have been considered mad, crazy, impossible. Nowadays, satellite networks and sophisticated radio relays have made the previously unimaginable now commonplace. Modern scientists continue to identify new forms of energy which up until now had been completely imperceptible to man.
9. Mind magic involves the discovery and application of previously unknown natural forces. We know these must exist, and there is little doubt that mental and/or physical instruments yet to come will be capable of tuning into these forms of energy.
10. You are aware on some level that ‘you’ participate in several orders of being (ie, biomechanical; intuitive; dream state; what has been termed ‘collective unconscious’). It is not unreasonable to assume that a similar order pervades nature. You have this awareness even if at times you fully support a ‘physical’, spirit-less, cause-less model of the universe.
11. In this universe, imperceptible influences on physical matter abound. There is absolutely no reason to assume that we cannot work on matter by means of such forces.
12. You are capable of being, and using, anything you can perceive—because anything you perceive is literally connected in some way to you.
13. You may even be able to transform any part of the universe you are conscious of, by shaping it to your will.
14. Every force in nature can be transformed into any other kind of force, provided you use the appropriate means. Physicists have been changing one element into another for decades, by using atom smashers. A speech or essay—literary/narrative forces—can cause vast political changes in a society. Steam heat can be transformed into electricity, and then electricity can be turned into light. There is an inexhaustible amount of any kind of force that you, the wizard, may ever need.
Example: the mysterious force of sex results in the perpetuation of the human race!
15. The use of any given force impacts all the orders of being which make up the object to which the force is applied.
Example: if you murder someone, you not only affect the victim’s body, but you significantly affect his or her consciousness as well.
16. By taking advantage of these laws, you can learn to use any force to serve any purpose.
17. By making yourself a suitable vessel, and arranging conditions for movement toward you, you can attract any force of the universe. Example: if, for some reason, you want your home to be filled with ants, you lather the floor with honey and other foods.
18. The most effective way to insulate yourself from the power flow of the universe is to keep on believing that you are separate from the universe, and that the force of the universe is against you.
19. You are frustrated and unhappy with yourself until you have aligned your energy with that of the universe.
20. This science called Magic is the science of understanding yourself and your conditions, and of applying your understanding to action.
21. You have a right—calling it an imperative would not be overstating the case—to be what you (really) are.
22. Whether you realize it or not, every time you have a thought you are performing magic. Thought is an internal action that often brings about change in the material, physical world.
23. You will do yourself a magnificent service by making Magic the foundation of your life.
