Lesson 21: Magick Part 2

The Act of Magick

These lessons are taken from the Gallery of Magic books by Damon Brand. To get the most out of our lessons you should also read his books starting with, Archangels of Magick. Our lessons will share with you the results of using the rituals in his books. We will tell you exactly what rituals we performed and the results we achieved.

The act of performing magick generates magickal power. The act of saying words, transmuting your feelings and using your imagination (no matter how poor your imagination may be) creates magickal energy. This is why so many people get results from books such as Words of Power without having to go into a trance or spend years being initiated into magick. Doing magick creates the energy of magick.

Although this is true, people often ask me how they can increase their magickal power. I have tried to simplify the magick in my books so that the rituals work without any great energy or ceremony. Even so, I understand that you may want to put extra magickal power into your work. When it comes to money magick, this is a wise approach.

This part of the book offers a technique that helps to build magickal energy that can be used in all occult workings. When used correctly this technique does not drain you but adds energy to your work without any strain on you, because you are drawing energy from the infinite.

In each ritual, there will come a point where you are told to create Light From The Dark, and that is the technique explored in this chapter. For the sake of clarification, it involves contemplating infinity and does not in any way refer to black magick.

You can, at this point, skip ahead and start on a ritual immediately if you want to – leaving out this step from each ritual – but you will probably want to come back to this section to Although the rituals will work without this additional technique, it does give the workings more power, so it is worth taking the time to get used to this practice.

If it’s so powerful, why is it optional? This technique is a little more advanced than some and requires a good degree of concentration, focus, and imagination. Although you may get it right straight away, it could take some time to develop it fully. You are free to start working on rituals, while you build up the ability to use this technique. That’s not to say that this is difficult, but some people find that it takes time to get it working as clearly as they want. Although I don’t believe in rushing into magick, I don’t think you should spend weeks practicing this energy-work when you could get straight into the magick. My advice is to attempt the following Light From The Dark technique. If it’s difficult, then keep practicing, but start on your first ritual as soon as you like, leaving this step out. If you find it easy, then you can start using it within a ritual as soon as you want. If you find it quite easy, but not extremely easy, spend a short while getting used to it, but feel free to perform some rituals in the meantime.

This technique took many years to develop. The original idea was passed down to Gordon Winterfield – one of the oldest members of The Gallery of Magick – and we set about making it more workable. We have now crafted something simple enough that we can share it with you.

The technique does require a degree of visualization, but don’t worry if you are not able to visualize clearly. Some people can only visualize hazy, faded images. Others can see everything in crystal clear 3D. Some people see no images at all. That is fine. If I tell you to imagine a ball of light, you can imagine a ball of light even without any visual imagination. You can simply know that it exists, or say the words, ‘There is a ball of light,’ in your head.

I mention this because I know that for some people visualization is as natural as memory, but for others, it seems like an impossible task. Whatever imagination you possess will be sufficient for this technique to work.

If you’ve read a few magickal texts, you will know that many authors talk about channeling energy through your body. There are hundreds of books exploring chakras and similar ideas, along with the famous Middle Pillar exercise, which involves a comparable process. In almost all of these workings, you are told to imagine light moving through your body while creating glowing spheres at various points inside your body. This technique works, but what I like about the Light From The Dark approach, is that you don’t try to imagine light. Instead, you contemplate darkness and discover the light that arises from infinite space.

This may sound quite esoteric, but it can quickly become a practical technique.

You can practice this technique outside of ritual, to become familiar with its workings. You may want to close your eyes, although some people find it easier to keep their eyes open. Experiment to see what works best for you. You can sit, stand or lie down. 

Take a moment to become aware of your body, and notice the sensations that you can feel.

Move your attention to the inside of your chest, but instead of picturing the organs and bones, imagine a vast empty space within you. It’s as though you are looking at an empty, black space the size of the universe. Do not put in too much effort or strain into picturing this. Allow your awareness of this dark emptiness to arise.

If you feel nothing or see nothing, simply pretend. This may sound ridiculous, but pretending is not all that different to visualizing, and if you pretend there’s an empty space inside you, it has the same effect. Magick is not meant to feel ordinary, and that means you may have to step outside of your mental comfort zone slightly.

An alternate approach – that some people use to great effect – is to  imagine the universe within your body. Picture a mass of galaxies and billions of stars, and then snuff the image out, leaving the vast emptiness within you.

Whatever approach you use, you may experience nothing, or you may sense a strange sensation of being within the darkness at the same time as observing it from outside. Whatever you experience is fine.

As you watch this enormous empty space within your body, allow light to arise within the space. This should not be a star of light or a pinprick, but a gradual lightening of the dark, as though an even, white haze is brightening the entire space. Allow this to brighten and brighten, until it is a glaring white light. 

In most cases, you will not need to pretend, imagine or force this to happen. When you contemplate the darkness within you, the light will gradually arise all by itself. It should take less than a minute, but you may find it takes up to five minutes. If you do not see the light arising spontaneously, then use your imagination to start this off. 

Remember that you aren’t just picturing this; you are picturing it happening in a vast space within your body. You may find that the light extends through your entire body, including your head, hands, and feet. Some people even find that it extends beyond their body. Again, whatever you experience is fine.

Once you have created the light, you can direct it into a ritual as follows. When you can see or feel the light within you, let it pour out of you into the sigil or talisman that’s being used in the ritual. You can allow the light to burst out of your chest, flow out of your fingertips, or beam from your eyes. Some people feel the light leave them in one rush, while others sense it seeping out slowly. It might emerge from your forehead, in a breath, or from every pore in your skin. There is no correct way to do this. You can choose a technique in advance, or just allow something to happen at this point, and discover how the light emerges from you. It may be different every time, but most people find that one method works best for them. Whatever method you use, this should be effortless. You allow the light to leave you and move into the talisman or sigil. You do not need to force it out of yourself. Instead, let it leave you, and know that it has energized the working. 

If you’re using a ritual that contains several sigils, ensure that you only use a small burst of light on each one, so that you have sufficient energy for all of them.

In each of the rituals, you will be shown exactly when to build up the Light From The Dark, and when to release it.

When you are practicing this technique, rather than using it within a ritual proper, you can simply let the light dissipate. Do not try to extinguish it, but allow it to spread out and fade away, like thinning fog. It may take a minute or so for the light to fade and for you to settle back into the real world fully.

It’s important to know that you are not using your own magickal energy when you create Light From The Dark. You are not forcing something into existence, so much as recognizing power and energy that is already present, focusing on it, and letting it flow into your magick.