Hermeticulture

Several months ago, Gizmodo reported that scientists have discovered what happens in the brain when people have out-of-body experiences .  In short, a pair of researchers used fMRI scanning to discern the changes in brain activity that occur when a particular test subject initiates an out-of-body experience, which she claims to be able to do at will. The application of brain imaging to religious experience is not new, and the neuroscientific study of religion is even older: scientists have been using fMRI technology to examine what occurs in the brain during "peak experiences" (to use Maslow's term) for at least 15 years, and were using EEGs to study the associated changes in brain waves since the middle of the 20th century.  In fact, around the turn of the millenium this topic seemed to have a brief moment of popular interest, with several books published on the subject that inevitably drew conclusions about the implications of our ability to observe the brain states

After all the heaviness of the last couple of posts, I figured you could use a unicorn chaser.  But I was all out of unicorns, so have a Grumpy Cat instead.  (If you know the source, fill me in so I can share!)

In part one of this article, I examined the difficulties inherent in defining magic, and asked whether we really need define it at all.  I then proceeded to evaluate the definitions of magic given by Aleister Crowley, Aaron Leitch, and Kathy McDonald, and pointed out the definitional challenges that were present in each of the three. While the preceding critique may be enlightening, however, it is ultimately worth relatively little unless it propels us toward a more helpful definition of magic.  It is easy to critique the work of others, but far more difficult to create a compelling offering of one’s own.  So in that spirit, I’ll go ahead and put myself on the chopping block as well.  As I mentioned in my last post, my own previous attempts to define magic have been just as problematic as others I’ve seen, and I expect that this attempt will be no different.  But I’m both stubborn and optimistic, so I’m going to try nonetheless. Laying the Foundation When I try to conceptualize

Recently on Aaron Leitch’s Solomonic group , there’s been an extremely active conversation about defining magic.  In fact, Aaron has himself recently chimed in on the subject with a guest post on the late Donald Michael Kraig’s Llewellyn blog.  It seems that this topic crops up time and time again on various forums, and that every book on the subject must necessarily begin by providing its own definition of terms.  Yet these definitions so often seem to circle around the subject without striking at the heart of it.  What is so difficult about defining magic, and why should it serve as such an ongoing source of consternation to those who study and practice it?