I recently had a private conversation who made me wonder. What kind of tools are an absolute necessity in your path/tradition/practice ? I m not talking about ingresients that can be exchanged with substitutes, or stuff that facilitate the practice but that you can do without. I m talking about the tools that, if you do not have them, you cannot perform any magic. For example the chalice, pentacle and athame in wicca, or the wand/stick in traditions who need to draw on the ground, this kind of things.
3 Likes
Oh and don t pay attention to the tag, there is a bug and i cannot remove it. If a mod could do it that would be cool
1 Like
All of this is subjective to each magician as to which hold weight to themselves. Tool less magick is a common thing and a believe we have a few practitioners here that may be able to chime in.
Things like working within the astral require no tools but while there you can do anything that would require a tool.
3 Likes
Tags look removed to me.
Yep apparently it was removed !
Yeah, nowadays i see more and more peoples doing everything without any tool.
Never was an astral visitor myself, so i have a hard time understanding what peoples do in it ^^’
2 Likes
I don’t need tools, but am fond of my wands. I prefer paper and a lancet for blood offerings, but I could just grab a leaf off the ground or not give any.
I do like my incense, too. But really, they’re nice to haves.
4 Likes
That s what i see the most nowadays. Either no tools or optionnal ones. This is such a weird thing to me lol
2 Likes
I play this game sometimes! Want something enough and just make it appear, fun times. Sometimes a bit more stress involved, other times I’m just chilling seeing what I can do from where I am.
3 Likes
My tools as a practicant can be resumed in anything that is involved in the maintenance of my body and mind, because I try to keep me as the most important part of performing any magick.
Good food, some water, a nice bed to rest/sleep properly in order to purify my mind, a space that is clean and organized (because if I’m paying too much attention to the disaster of my room my mind will lose a ton of energy that can used for others purposes), silence and experiences that can be optimal to mediate and train my animal brain…
And maybe some herbs, sage and laurel (don’t remember the name in english, sorry)
4 Likes
Its overlooked really often nowadays, but being healthy is probably the key component in staying safe and efficient during practice.
3 Likes
It is very important to have that. It also helps to keep you in a healthy mental state which is imperative to this. Otherwise you’ll just be out there larping.
1 Like
I love mirrors. (both black and normal) They are such versatile tools that are both portal and inconspicuous. They can be gateways, spell casting mediums, energy work devices, etc. They’re awesome if you practice with them.
3 Likes
Hell yeah, fantastic shit. But like ouija boards they get a bad reputation for some reason, so many peoples refuse to even approach anything using mirrors…
2 Likes
Some recent schools are pretty minimalist. Michael Kelly mentions group workings with NO implements. He relates that such succeeded well. They simply relied on focus and force of will. His “Grimoire of the Sevenfold Serpent” seems pretty austere. He mentions only a cup, and the needed two sigils. For the invoking and banishing pentagrams, he hints that a dagger, wand, or finger may all be used.
Personally, I am more and more minimalist myself. In addition to the above, I add a ring but dispense with much else. Probably this is because there is an inborn impetus to fetishism in me: earlier in life I too readily became very dependent on certain objects I was fond of. Which throws a wrench in the works when something breaks or even wears badly. So in my magick, as life generally, I go to the other extreme.
Bottom line: experiment and see what works for you. (Note: if you are working with material like the Lesser Key of Solomon, maybe be very conservative. Lon Milo Duquette seems to cut some corners with impunity. Other adepts strongly warn against this.)
1 Like
For me nothing, any tool is just an extra prop or bonus.
3 Likes
Can t agree more, i ve seen many peoples online going “you can change or ignore everything you want in a ritual” but while minor shtick can be done like that its just a safety hazard in some cases, solomonic stuff being the portrait child of “do not fuck with the pattern of rituals like this if you don t know and have perfectly mastered abd understood what you do”.
But yeah,nowadays most peoples go full naked on the principle that the magic come from the wizard and not from outside, and thus that magic can just be produced/channeled without any link to outside sources.
Magic doesn’t really come from anywhere i would say, it’s a practice and method. We certainly aren’t dealing with Psychodrama or anything like that, you’re definitely connecting to and working with something outside of yourself. But it’s something immaterial and beyond temporal needs. Tools can simply help us attune to that better, but as you get good at it you’re able to do it more on your own. Like offering food to a god is a great gesture but they don’t eat you know? That’s why the offerings would then be given back to priests and the people.
3 Likes
In my prayers, I generally use a tablecloth of an appropriate colour, candles, and appropriate incense, and I like to time my prayers generally to an astrologically apropriate time (With varying intensity/complexity).
Of course, it’s possible to go without “tools”. It’s not like I believe I need absolutely need these things.
But, tools are not useless.
Firstly, since I’m influenced by Platonism and my traditional astrological practice, I believe everything in this world is created by the Gods, and always linked to them in the Chain of Being.
My prayers to the Gods are influenced by my astrological practice, so I like to incorporate as many things that are part of their Chain of Being into my prayers, so that their presence is strongest in the room, or one can more powerfully attract the attention of their Daimons (Depending on how you view it).
If the common practice among modern magicians is to not use tools, then that how is to obtain common results.
2 Likes
This is relatively profound. Thanks for sharing!
1 Like
A functioning brain in my skull and a healthy body to house it. As long as I have that and the nutrients to take care of my body, I can pretty much work with little else. If I don’t…well, then I have bigger concerns lol.
Although having a means of fire is always nice as well. Not absolu tdd ely necessary, but it plays a big role as well as my own blood.
1 Like