Sadly, that prophecy has been fulfilled\u2026 though perhaps it\u2019s better to say it\u2019s being fulfilled. We\u2019re in a Long Descent<\/a> and we\u2019re nowhere near the bottom yet.<\/p>\n Those of us of a magical and spiritual persuasion can, I think, be forgiven for losing sight of the magical and spiritual aspects of Tower Time. Or at least I hope we can. When you\u2019re trying to stay alive in the worst pandemic in a century, deal with the worst inflation in 40 years, and fight to retain fundamental rights, it\u2019s easy to forget there are magical elements to this trend.<\/p>\n And some of those magical elements are being used against us.<\/p>\n I hadn\u2019t heard of Dave Troy until last week when Cat Heath<\/a> shared a couple of pieces by him on Twitter. Troy calls himself a \u201cResearcher, Technologist, and Investor\u201d who does a podcast and a newsletter. He\u2019s not a Pagan or a magician \u2013 he describes himself as \u201ca lapsed Catholic, regular guy who just studies how things work.\u201d<\/p>\n I encourage you to read his essay Going Dark: Why Nothing Makes Sense<\/a>. It\u2019s not easily summarized, but here\u2019s a key quote:<\/p>\n The \u201cnormal\u201d world that we\u2019ve inhabited since the end of World War II \u2014 one filled with institutions, the rule of law, compromise, business reality, elections and politics, fragile though it is \u2014 has been gradually and then suddenly supplanted by a world governed by the exercise of raw power.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n And also:<\/p>\n We need to understand why<\/em> things no longer make sense. It\u2019s because we\u2019re explicitly and increasingly leaving the realm of the sensible and rational and delving into a darker realm of raw power.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Then go read this Twitter roll-up<\/a> he wrote in response to some questions he received:<\/p>\n What we are really suffering is a deficit of imagination. The practices of esotericism tend to expand imagination, which create leverage over those with less of it. We need to invest here if we expect to fight back.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n If a lapsed Catholic with no interest in magic and the occult can see what\u2019s going on, it should be obvious to those of us with more experience in this area.<\/p>\n We ignore it at our peril \u2013 especially the \u201cdeficit of imagination.\u201d<\/p>\n I adopted a three-fold theory of magic<\/a> when I first got started and I\u2019ve kept it ever since, because I haven\u2019t found anything that does a better job of explaining how and why magic works. Magic is part intercession of Gods and spirits, part manipulation of unseen forces, and part psychological programming.<\/p>\n That third part \u2013 psychological programming \u2013 is entirely naturalistic. It requires no supernatural or Otherworldly influences in order to work. When I first realized this, a lot of things made sense \u2013 especially advertising. I\u2019ve sometimes referred to \u201cthe evil sorcerers of Madison Avenue\u201d \u2013 those who use the principles of psychology to manipulate people\u2019s thoughts and feelings to persuade them to buy what they\u2019re selling.<\/p>\n When I was very young (late elementary or early middle school) a cigarette ad in a magazine caught my attention. It showed a powerboat going across a beautiful lake, carrying four young, attractive people, who were all smiling and holding cigarettes. Something clicked in my mind: what the hell did anything in that ad have to do with cigarettes? Nothing. The purpose of the ad was to associate their brand of cigarettes with young, healthy, beautiful, rich people, sending the message \u201cbuy our cigarettes and you can be like this too!\u201d<\/p>\n We just finished the primary runoffs in Texas. Numerous Republicans ran TV ads calling their opponents \u201cliberals\u201d \u2013 as though there are any liberals in the Republican party (there aren\u2019t enough liberals in the Democratic party, but that\u2019s another rant for another time). That the accusation is untrue isn\u2019t important. Their goal is to associate their opponents with something Republican primary voters don\u2019t like, so they\u2019ll vote for the \u201ctrue conservatives.\u201d<\/p>\n You don\u2019t have to brew potions or draw and charge sigils to work magic.<\/p>\n Sometimes psychological programming blends into the manipulation of unseen forces. The \u201cpower of positive thinking\u201d of the last century is the \u201cmanifestation\u201d of this century. And while I frequently complain about people who use The Law of Attraction to victim-blame others or to short-circuit their own magic, the process of visualization and the technique of hypersigils<\/a> works.<\/p>\n A quote often attributed to Nazi Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels says that if you repeat a lie often enough and loudly enough, people begin to believe it\u2019s true. And if you believe it\u2019s true, then you start to act as though it\u2019s true. And if enough people act as though it\u2019s true, it becomes true \u2013 in effect if not in fact.<\/p>\n When people make blatantly false statements, whether about the 2020 election, or Replacement Theory<\/a>, or anything else, they\u2019re telling a story. They believe the theme of the story even if they know the facts of the story aren\u2019t true. If enough people resonate with the theme, they act as though it was true, whether it is or it isn\u2019t.<\/p>\n And before long you have people storming the Capitol.<\/p>\n Another part of Tower Time I haven\u2019t talked about much lately is an increase in what I call the currents of magic. Metaphorically, think of magic as a river. You can put a water wheel in the river and use the energy of the flow to turn a gristmill or generate electricity or do other work \u2013 you can tap the current. If the river is running low and slow, you can only do a little with it. But if it\u2019s running high and fast, you can do a lot more.<\/p>\n The currents of magic are running a lot faster these days. Beyond that, the Veil Between the Worlds is far thinner<\/a> than it was a decade ago (I know some of you don\u2019t like the concept of the Veil, but it\u2019s not a literal veil. \u201cThe Veil\u201d is a metaphor for the boundary between this world and the Otherworld). Otherworldly magic has an easier time getting\u00a0 through to this world.<\/p>\n I covered my thoughts on this in more detail in the Tower Time course, and while ultimately it\u2019s all speculation, it\u2019s informed speculation, and it matches the experience and the thinking of numerous other experienced magical practitioners.<\/p>\n The point is that this isn\u2019t just a matter of the political pendulum swinging the wrong way or the rise of some skilled propagandists. In addition to all of that, the magical environment is considerably stronger, meaning that average magic users can get above-average results, and skilled magic users can get amazing results.<\/p>\n Whether the magic user is working magic for good or for ill.<\/p>\n This is the world we live in. This is the environment in which we work. You don\u2019t have to like it. You just have to deal with it.<\/p>\n How are you going to deal with it?<\/p>\n Voting is necessary but not sufficient. If a handful of people hadn\u2019t insisted on keeping their hands clean and voted for Hillary instead, then Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett wouldn\u2019t be on the Supreme Court and reproductive rights would be safe. If people cared as much about who their State Representative is as they care about who the President is, we wouldn\u2019t have so many oppressive laws coming out of the states.<\/p>\n We need better political stories. I love good policy, but policy is for wonks. The vast majority of people don\u2019t vote based on who has the better policy \u2013 they vote for who has the better story.<\/p>\n Voting \u2013 particularly in any one election \u2013 only goes so far. We didn\u2019t get into this political situation in a year \u2013 or in four years \u2013 and we won\u2019t get out of it quickly either. Voting is necessary but not sufficient.<\/p>\n If the other side is using magic, and the currents of magic are getting stronger, why wouldn\u2019t we use magic too?<\/p>\n I hope people who accept the reality of magic are already working magic. But sometimes we get caught up in the mainstream world and we forget we have tools available to us that others don\u2019t. If you don\u2019t have a regular magical practice I suggest you start one now. I do something at every full moon \u2013 that helps keep my skills sharp for when I have a case that falls under \u201cwhenever you have need of anything.\u201d<\/p>\n In particular, I encourage you to work magic to protect yourself, your family (however you define it), and your community. In addition to generic shielding and warding, work magic to put you and yours in a situation (geographic, financial, physical, political, spiritual) where you can be safe and where you can prosper.<\/p>\n I strongly endorse the method taught by Jason Miller<\/a>: set a goal, create a plan that doesn\u2019t require magic to work, then use magic to enhance the odds that it will work.<\/p>\n That begins with setting a target for your magic. Honestly, working magic is easy \u2013 figuring out what to work magic for is hard. This post may help<\/a>.<\/p>\n Do we need large, coordinated magical workings? They can\u2019t hurt, but magic works best when it\u2019s very narrowly and specifically targeted, and that\u2019s hard to do with large numbers of people with differing ideas and priorities. I\u2019d rather see something like Operation Cone of Power<\/a>, with small groups doing their own things toward common goals.<\/p>\n Just use your magic.<\/p>\n Target setting is easier if you have a context for it \u2013 if you have a story.<\/p>\n What\u2019s your story? What role do you play in it? Perhaps most importantly, who\u2019s writing it?<\/p>\n It\u2019s very easy to get caught up in other people\u2019s stories and think we have no agency in our lives. The truth is that those with more money and power have an easier time controlling their own lives than those without it. But the rest of us are not powerless \u2013 particularly those of us who understand magic and how to use it.<\/p>\n Tell your own story. Don\u2019t let others define you \u2013 insist on defining yourself, and your goals, and the methods you\u2019ll use to reach them.<\/p>\n And then when you get to a better place, work to build a society that\u2019s more fair and just for everyone. Don\u2019t just tell your own personal story, tell better stories about society at large. Make good art<\/a>.<\/p>\n Ronald Reagan talked about \u201cmorning in America\u201d and made people feel good about themselves, and about him. That gave him the power to remake America in way that some liked but that was disastrous in the long term. Donald Trump said it was midnight in America and \u201conly I can save you.\u201d Enough people believed it to put him into power.<\/p>\n Tell better stories.<\/p>\n I\u2019m a Druid and a priest, not a political consultant. I don\u2019t know what stories we need to tell to help shift power to people who will support democracy and not fascist authoritarianism. I can only tell my story.<\/p>\n My story is the one that acknowledges that many different Gods call many different people to worship and work with Them in many different ways. And so we practice our own religion, respect other people\u2019s religions, and never try to force ours on others.<\/p>\n My story is the one that acknowledges that humans were not placed on the Earth, we grew out of the Earth. And so the Earth is our mother, and we must treat her and all her creatures with respect and reverence.<\/p>\n My story is the one that emphasizes the virtues of hospitality and reciprocity. And so we care for those in need, and we give as we receive.<\/p>\n There are many different ways to do these things. This is a story, not a policy proposal. We have to elect people who can turn stories into policy. But we\u2019ve tried selling policy and it doesn\u2019t work. We\u2019re getting beat by people who are selling stories about making America great again, and then trying to turn the clock back to 1950.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/243\/2022\/05\/leaves-05.21.22-01.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nSome magic requires nothing Otherworldly<\/h2>\n
Thoughts and words can become reality<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/243\/2022\/05\/leaves-05.21.22-02.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nThe currents of magic are growing stronger<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/243\/2022\/05\/Bald-River-Falls-330.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nVoting is necessary but not sufficient<\/h2>\n
Use your magic!<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/243\/2022\/05\/thistles-05.21.22-01.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nTell better stories<\/h2>\n
My story<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/243\/2022\/05\/plant-in-bricks.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n