Taking the Path of Least Resistance in Magic

If there is one challenge that magicians face when it comes to determining the effectiveness of magic, it is figuring out if the magic you performed aligned with your internal values. Sometimes, even if we think we want a particular result, we actually don’t want that result. Speaking from personal experience, I always found it odd when I would do a successful act of magic and get the result I desired, but then have the impact of that result not really count for handling my situation. It was only much later that I would recognize that the magic I did at that time was going counter to my internal values. I’ve also noted this type of occurrence with other magicians: they would get results, but when those results were not in alignment with their internal values an essential part of them rejected the results.

Recently I read a passage that I would like to share, which speaks to this issue, “Magick defines suffering as the result of straying from one’s natural path of ‘least resistance’” (Schueler 1988, p. 222). Suffering arises from straying from one’s natural path of least resistance. This is an interesting statement, because it speaks to several questions. Is a degree of suffering necessary, and if so, how much? When we are on our path of least resistance, which some might call true Will and others would name a calling, are we then aligned with our internal values?

Considering these questions is important when considering the effectiveness of magic, when magic should be employed, and more importantly why it should be employed. If a magician gets a result, but finds that the result is wasted, then the magical work has also been wasted. Internal work is needed to determine the problem in the process, and if the problem is a conflict with internal values, then the magician needs to determine if what s/he is doing is causing hir to deviate from the path of hir Will. If that’s the case, there’s still the consideration of suffering and how much is needed in order to learn from a situation.

While I don’t advocate suffering for its own sake, I do recognize that it has a valid place in the continuum of personal experience. I don’t subscribe to a karmic notion of it, but I do believe that a person will have the experiences s/he needs to have. Over time one can learn to realize hir will, calling, or internal values; this knowledge is necessary to engage in the path of least resistance. People, by nature, are usually not equipped with the skills to recognize what they truly want. Martha Beck explains this in terms of a conflict that is created by the social self focusing on cultural-social approval while ignoring the values of the essential self (2001). The social self is the aspect of your personality that wants to fit-in in every situation and have people like it. It’s concerned with external environment. The essential self is aspect of your identity connected to your internal values, to what you really want, as opposed to what your friends, family, and society think you should want. The social self can be so focused on what someone else believes that the magician should want that s/he forgets about what is truly desired, what truly aligns with hir internal values.

This happens with everyone, including magicians. Even if a magician is involved in a counterculture, there are still social expectations that determine expected behavior. Regardless of how you consider yourself socially, the social self is involved with allowing you to fit into those circumstances, even if they run counter to what your essential self wants. Consequently, the social self can put us into situations where we suffer. We end up in unsatisfying relationships, in jobs we hate, or in social situations where we don’t like the people. The suffering we encounter is not intrinsically due to the social self, but rather to the conflict between the essential self’s desires and the social self’s drive to ‘fit in’. The essential self will sabotage your social situation, in an effort to get you back on track with your internal values. I can personally point to this in my life; even though my social self said I should get a tenured position in a university because it’s as secure a job as you can get, my essential self found that to be unbearable and consequently derailed that effort. I looked back later, after I had left my Ph.D program, and could see how I had sabotaged myself because my essential self and my internal values were at odds with my social self and what I felt I should be doing.

In the present, I find that my life has gotten easier because I’m learning how to figure out what my internal values are. I still listen to the social self, but I balance it with an awareness of following my true calling. The amount of suffering in my life continues to decrease. This isn’t to say it’s automatically easy, but I can face challenges with mindful presence and awareness of my needs and internal desires. That makes a big difference when I choose to apply magic to a situation.

Magic is often treated as a quick way to deal with a situation, but rarely is it examined as a process for focused change. Used mindfully, with awareness of intent and impact, one can steer the direction of one’s life towards the path of least resistance. In my case that it is only in the last few years that I have begun to work magic as an ongoing process, as opposed to just getting results to quickly fix a situation. It has involved stepping back and examining the direction of my life and how magic can be applied to it. I’ve asked myself if I’m really listening to my internal values, true Will, or whatever term one chooses for being in touch with the essential self or Holy Guardian Angel. Magic, used as a process, has helped me ask if I need to use it in any particular situation or if I need to handle that situation differently. I’ve come to recognize the impact of my magical intent and used that to determine if the magical action I’ve taken is really in alignment with my internal values. If it isn’t, chances are the result will manifest, but the situation will still not be resolved in quite the way I wanted.

Taking the path of least resistance is learning to take the path where your internal values shine forth and guide you through the challenges you face. Magic, used mindfully, is a process and a tool that is helpful for directing you on your path. Listening to your essential self will let you know how and when to use magic so that you get more than just a momentary result.  You can manifest change that lasts a lifetime and helps you achieve your goals; working in alignment with your internal values will reveal your path of least resistance.

Taylor Ellwood

Bibliography

Beck, Martha. (2001). Finding your own north star: Claiming the life you were meant to live. New York: Three Rivers Press. ISBN: 978-0812932188.

Schueler, Gerald J. (1988). Enochian physics: The structure of the magical universe. St. Paul: Llewellyn Publications. ISBN: 978-0875427126.

Taylor Ellwood is the author of Pop Culture Magick, Space/Time Magic, Inner Alchemy, and Multi-Media Magic, and co-author of Kink Magic (With Lupa). He is also the managing Non-Fiction Editor of Immanion Press. More information about him can be found at http://www.thegreenwolf.com or http://magicalexperiments.wordpress.com and can be emailed at taylor@spiralnature.com