Reading Jason Millers Blog this morning I couldn’t have said this any better. I suggest you subscribe to his blog here
http://strategicsorcery.blogspot.com
It is no secret that I am bothered by a particular approach to magick that is best encapsulated by a quote from Lon DuQuette. In fact, its one that he put on the front page of his website:
"I can only change one thing with magick - myself."
This bugs the shit out of me, and every now and than I go on a rant about how real event-changing magick exists and how this inner-psychological approach cheats the art of magick. Indeed the whole purpose behind me writing "The Sorcerer's Secrets" is to support those that actually want to get their hands dirty by changing themselves and the events and people around them.
But I am going to go one step further now.
If all you want from magick is inner change, than you are wasting your time in the wrong discipline. Thats right. If you are really just looking for inner change, magick is inefficient.
If you are looking for spiritual enlightenment, unity with god, non-dual awareness, or whathaveyou than meditation will get you there faster and better than magick will. Magick is like driving from NYC to San Fran. Meditation and mystecism are like taking a plane. If all you want is to get to San Fran, take the goddamn plane. If for some reason you need to know every inch of the terrain in order to play around with it than you need to drive it, or even walk.
If you are looking to improve your inner happiness and become a better lover, salesman, psychologist, chef or whatever, than walk away from the occult and new age section and get over t0 the self-help section. You will largely find more effective strategies for accomplishing all these things than you will out of magick.
If you are just looking to be mysterious and get involved in a cool subculture that has lots of intricate and exotic jewlery, books, wall hangings, and other associated knick nacks than you are probably in the right place but I really wish you would go elsewhere...
Magick is for those that want to not only find enlightenment, liberation, and get that gnostic look behind the curtain of reality to see what the backstage is like, but for those that want to use that knowlege and power to effect the world around them.
If you only want to change yourself than magick is a waste of time. If you only want to make outer change, magick is also a waste of time. Its the union of both of these that makes a magician.