Spirit Model: magick works through spirits do things for you
Energy Model: magick works through energy charged with intent
Psychological Model: magick works on me using psychologycal principles
Information Model: the world is a database of what is and magick works by rewriting the data inside it
Mixed Model: any combination of above four
Dimension Shifting Model: you “manifest” things by shifting your consciousness from the parallel dimension where you don’t have them to one where you do
TL;DR;
What are “Models of Magick”?
We do not know how magick works (even those of us who think they do). In order to make decisions and create new rituals, it is necessary to have an idea of how we think it might operate. People’s understanding of magickal technology can be grouped into a couple of main models:
Spirit Model
This is the oldest of all models. It understands magick through the idea of “spirits”: independent, intelligent, sentient beings that have no visible physical form. They are, however, believed to be able to have influence over the physical world. These are, sometimes, nature spirits, or ancestor spirits, gods, goddesses, ghosts, angels, demons, etc.
The magick of someone who ascribes to the spirit model of magick would consist of summoning these spirits and asking them to do things on their behalf.
Energy Model
While working with “energy” (chi, ki, etc) was always popular in Eastern traditions, this model is somewhat of a newcomer to Western magick. It centers around the idea that things and people have subtle “energy,” or “force-field” of sorts that can be programmed with intention and cause a change in the physical world.
When you hear witches talk of “raising energy,” that is a sign that they subscribe to the energy model, at least partially.
Psychological Model
Did you know that there are magickal practitioners who are atheists and do not believe in the supernatural? The modern advancements in psychology and the idea of the unconscious/subconscious mind gave fuel to the creation of a new, very recent model: the psychological one.
In this case, the mysterious entity that magickians manipulate is not a disembodied spirit or abstract “energy”, it is their mind itself. In the psychological model, magick is seen as a means to alter our thoughts and behavior in a way that would help us bring about the desired result. It is also viewed as a way to uncover information hidden in our subconscious.
Someone who uses psychological model might work with spirits like gods, angels, and demons, but they view those spirits not as external entities but as archetypes or projections of one’s consciousness.
Information Model
This one is a bit weird. This model views the universe as a collection of data. Some forms of it incorporate energy as a means of transporting the information. In this model, magick is hacking and re-programming reality.
Mixed Model
This one is kind of self-explanatory and one that a lot of modern magickians subscribe to. Basically, it’s a custom model that consists of bits and pieces of other models. A lot of witches, for example, work with spirits, but also utilize their own or raised energy in their spells.
Parallel Dimension Shifting Model (no, not anime… 😑)
Of all the models of magick, this one is perhaps the most controversial. There is a bit of confusion between what I’m talking about here and the idea of “shifting” into fictional universes like those of anime or Harry Potter. That last one sounds more like astral projection or lucid dreaming. What I’m talking about here originates on the Dimensional Jumping subreddit (it’s now archived, for an active version see Dimension Jumping (without the “al”)).
The idea is this: there is an infinite number of parallel realities (dimensions) each slightly different than the next. Human consciousness is able to travel from one reality to the next. Your physical body stays, but your mind travels to a copy of your body in another dimension. Think Mandela Effect, but on purpose.
This doesn’t sound much like magick until you read some of the methods used to achieve this. For example the 2 cups method. It’s a magickal ritual or a spell, plain and simple. You have intent (what you want to manifest), symbolic objects (cups, water), and symbolic action (pouring of water from one cup to another). The person performing the ritual gets into a meditative state (altered consciousness) and performs the ritual action while in this state.
Interestingly enough, the people who prescribe to this model usually do not consider what they do “magick.”
To summarize: while other models claim to alter the reality the magickian is currently in, the Dimension Shifting model frames the phenomenon as the magickian jumping from one reality into another where their intent is manifested.
Articles of Interest
What is Magick? – Like, what are we even talking about here?
Sources
High Magick: Theory and Practice by Frater U.:D.:
Magic, Mystery Religions, and Psychology
In depth how to Dimension Jump using the 2 cups method and why
0 Comments