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On Archaic Wording

 

An Essay by Myrddin Arkayne Magii

            If you have ever combed through any portion of the vast amount of works on Magick, then I’m sure you’ve noticed a majority of them are unnecessarily archaically worded. This makes the study and practice of Magick inaccessible and undesirable to the general public. Though some would argue that this weeds out those not serious about Magick, It also tends to weed out those who are, but can't get past the wording.     Most people would probably read a page or two, get a headache, and never look at the text again.  Like an untrained person trying to read legal documents, medical journals, technical manuals, etc.

            For example, this text in the ‘Sepher Yetzirah’, from around c. 200 c.e, and translated from the Hebrew by Wm. Wynn Westcott is one of the oldest and most relied upon documents describing the depths of association and correspondence of the Hebrew Alphabet. I have highlighted a section that shows my point.

            This wording is utterly and completely pointless, and merely serves not to clarify the number of Sephiroth as it was originally intended, but instead simply makes it more tedious to read.

            Granted, in the very old texts, this is often acceptable, being a fairly common way of writing at that point in the history of the culture. So while most of the confusion, repetition, and garble within these older, more historical works can be forgiven and ignored based on cultural historical understanding and problems in translation between the various languages, and one can thus read the ‘intention’ behind it, as in the example above, we can simply ignore the red words and take the meaning of the statement as a whole.

            However, the more recent books and texts often do this for show, to make them sound mysterious, ancient, archaic and academic, but in reality this makes it nearly impossible to judge the original intent and meaning of the statement, thus rendering the entire text useless. One finds oneself quickly wading through the poorly written and grammatically butchered faux-Elizabethan English and ending up with nothing at all but a headache and confusion.

            For example, in Crowley’s books detailing the Thelemic teachings and traditions, one can often come across wording like this:

 

Text Box: 00. One is the Magus: twain His forces; four His weapons. These are the seven Spirits of Unrighteousness; seven vultures of evil. This is the art and craft of the Magus but glamour. How shall He destroy Himself? 0. Yet the Magus hath power upon the Mother both directly and through love. And the Magus is Love, and bindeth together That and This in His Conjuration. 1. In the beginning doth the Magus speak Truth, and send forth Illusion and Falsehood to enslave the soul. Yet therein is the Mystery of Redemption. 2. By his Wisdom made He the Worlds: the World that is God is none other than He.    

 

 

 

 

 

Liber B. Vel Magi sub Figura I, by Aleister Crowley

             This could be written in less than two or three sentences but is instead drawn out into several unnecessarily wordy phrases, some of which make no sense whatsoever. Even if one does manage to read the entire text presented in this writing style, one surely won’t come away with any sort of viable understanding of the subject being discussed.

             This type of wording often occurs in texts that are originally channeled, and in this case (as in the previous quotation) this is often perfectly acceptable. In the case of channeled messages, I would advise that after the channeling is received, it should be also described in a more modern and understandable language for clarification.

            Because of this often confusing language and wording, the magickal arts and sciences are kept from the general populous not by the keeping of any innate “secrets” or “mysteries” of magick, but simply from the tedium of trying to translate overly complicated writing into simpler meaningful statements.

            Another example of obnoxious Magickal writing, from Crowley’s “Magick in Theory and Practice” describing an astral projection (travel with the spirit body, which he refers to as the “Body of Light”)

 

Text Box: Now, however unsuccessful your getting out the body may apparently have been, it is most necessary to use every effort to bring it properly back. Make the Body of Light coincide in space with the physical body, assume the God-Form, and vibrate the name of Harpocrates with the utmost energy; then recover unity of consciousness. If you fail to do this properly you may find yourself in serious trouble. Your Body of Light may wander away uncontrolled, and be attacked and obsessed. You will become aware of this through the occurrence of headache, bad dreams, or even more serious signs such as hysteria, fainting fits, possibly madness or paralysis. Even the worst of these attacks will probably wear off, but it may leave you permanently damaged to a greater or less extent. {147} A great majority of "spiritualists", "occultists", "Toshosophists", are pitiable examples of repeated losses from this cause.  

 

 

 

 

 

             This makes no sense whatsoever, even if you read the references and explanations of “vibrating the name of Harpocrates with the utmost energy” it’s still overly complex and badly written, as well as being completely full of supposition. For example, he is saying here that the majority of those who astral project are terribly injured, or killed from their efforts. After all, if these claims were true, occultists and Shamans would be dropping like flies.

             Anyone who has ever picked up a good book describing the concepts of shamanic journeying, astral projection, or spirit travel, or who travel in spirit-body often know this to be completely absurd. There are a great many simple and easy techniques for reintegrating with the body after astral projection that are all perfectly effective. There are dangers in astral projection, yes, but not nearly so many or intense as this text would leave one to believe. So not only is the text written in an overly complex and obscure grammar and style that attempts to be proper and academic, it is also filled with inaccuracies which could very seriously mislead the average reader.

            And an example from Eliphas Levi himself, “Dogma et Rituel de la Haute Magie” (The doctrine of transcendental Magic) as translated by A.E. Waite:

Text Box: WHEN a philosopher adopted as the basis for a new apocalypse of human wisdom the axiom: “I think, therefore I am”, in a measure he altered unconsciously, from the standpoint of Christian Revelation, the old conception of the Supreme Being. I am that I am, said the Being of beings of Moses. I am he who thinks, says the man of Descartes, and to think being to speak inwardly, such a one may affirm, like the God of St. John the Evangelist: I am he in whom and by whom the word manifests – In principio eras verbum. Now, what is this principle? It is a groundwork of speech, it is a reason for the existence of the word. The essence of the word is in the principle; the principle is that which is; intelligence is a principle which speaks. What further is intellectual light? It is speech.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

             This is the very first paragraph of the first chapter after the introduction. It is tiring to try to pull out of it the actual message that the writer is trying to present.

            And of course, there are also many historical and modern texts that are completely ridiculous. Any book that would have you searching for "the intestines of a three legged sheep that was born at three o'clock in the morning on the full moon so that you can chant a bunch of unintelligible and obscure words while standing in a complicated circle of reeds in a desert when Orion is visible on the horizon in order to gain absolute power and control over some demonic entity with an unpronounceable name" or some other similar nonsense is not worth your time if you actually want to practice Magick. (Of course, if you want to go through all that and end up standing in the desert looking silly when the sun rises then by all means, don't let me stop you.) The same goes for any book claiming to give you spells to dominate someone else's will (such as a love spell) but that at least, should go without saying.

            If the subjects, philosophies, teachings, and techniques of Magick are to be understood by the general public, then it must be written in a way that is clear and understandable to everyone who might read it. It shouldn't be limited to a few academic types, or those with enough time and aspirin to wade through the current literature on the subject. We should strive to write in a way that is fluid, clear, and easy to read.

            If we do this, Magick can be respected as a legitimate spiritual, mystical, and religious practice, and the belief in Magick can -through the efforts of those who practice and teach it- be presented simply and accurately in its various forms. If we do this, in unity of purpose to this end, I see no reason why we can't easily weed out the charlatans and cons, and eliminate the aura of falsehood, fictitiousness and shame which currently surrounds the subject. In this way those who understand Magick and practice it now might make it a much more socially acceptable practice for those who come after us.

            If this does indeed become the current practice in writing and teaching these subjects, then perhaps in the near future, the words "I practice Magick" will be met with a reaction of earned respect, rather than suspicion.

         

 

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