The Role Of Belief/Faith in Magic

[TheWhiteRabbit]

Hi guys, I thought you might enjoy this little tidbit. Some time ago I used to frequent the old "direct magic" board and might help give some people more perspective of the role of belief in magic.

This is a topic that has been revisited many times, and was a hurdle twords my understanding magic itself, in fact on the old board many would find themselves refered to a topic just like this one, though it no longer exists. But for everyone's reading enjoyment I have found the new forum, and found that the same topic as it has resurfaced again it seems.

 

Now after reading this you can truely say you know the role of faith in magic.

 

http://thelibraryofknowledge.freeforums.or...-magic-t28.html

[TheWhiteRabbit]

Wow I cant believe I didnt even get an off topic comment about this

 

[goldisheavy]

Great post by "Defender". Excellent!

 

We have to make a distinction between what we claim we believe and what we actually believe. Actual in-the-bones belief is rarely accompanied by claims. For example, how many people go around proclaiming that gravity affects them? No one right? People might want to calculate the effect of gravity but never want to calculate if it's real or not. That's true belief. It doesn't even occur to the person to question the existence of something. That's core belief in action.

 

When magic works, it works because your intention is coherent within your belief system. And by belief system I mean real core beliefs and not the claimed beliefs, which usually have more to do with "what I think I should believe if I were a good person" than with reality.

 

So if you hang around mages, what you learn is that most spells that work very well are the kinds that don't break our belief in physical laws and other such things. They work around those laws (if those laws pose limitations) or via those laws (if they do not pose as limitations), but never against. So in our current realm right here, there is very little magic involving fireballs or levitation. That doesn't mean it's not possible, just very improbable at the moment.

Edited April 22, 2009 by goldisheavy

[Fontana]

I read the post on the other forum, very interesting. So what do you guys think about working with belief or faith systems? How do you do it personally? I always find intent and faith sooooo tricky to know what to do with. (At the core level, as GIH says, which is getting to the real nitty gritty).

 

I came to a standstill in my taiji practice which I have never really recovered from. I always suspected that it was not the lack of 'progress' in the physical or chi body sense. You know, not just having a few energy blockages that more practice or meditation could resolve, although I tried. There was a 'loss of faith' (to use a religious term!) that became a big struggle.

 

Would be interested to hear more on what you think about these matters.

 

Cheers.

[TheWhiteRabbit]

Ah, The replies are the best to the post, and really hit the subject on the "head" also.

 

Many confuse taiji with qigong. But qigong itself is more efficient at helping dissolve blockages.

 

Generally the synopsis is that you can do things that dont require faith, in magic or in mysticism (qigong) one just needs to be able to "feel" the energies involved.