[Main Blog Post] [Book] Spellcraft
Jan. 14th, 2024 10:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jprussellI took a bit of time off from The Seed of Yggdrasill before tackling the last, fairly long chapter in order to read a book I thought might help me in my Heathen Rosary project: Spellcraft by Robin Skelton.
Spellcraft
Date: 2024-01-15 07:34 pm (UTC)Thanks for the interesting review, Jeff.
"the belief that psychic phenomena of some kind or another might be real, and that they likely had some kind of physical explanation amenable to discovery by scientific experiment was one you could hold without being banished to the outer darkness."
I think Star Trek's original series is a great example of that.
"the spell itself (by which I mean the words spoken) is simply a tool for concentration and communication with the subconscious"
I'm reading Neville Goddard and Joseph Murphy lately, who I think both would agree with that. Once the subconscious is trained to believe and expect the specific outcome, the conscious part is done. It's holding the belief that I struggle with!
"you might be able to dispense with the ritual or alter the symbols once you get very good, but there's a reason they are as they are"
JMG also pointed out that following the path others have trod, connects one with egregores built over a long time.
Wikipedia shows Skelton was a prolific author. Looks like Spellcraft was his first book on magic, written at age 53. He later wrote more books on magic:
Magical Practice of Talismans (1985, US title: Talismanic Magic)
Practice of Witchcraft Today: An Introduction to Beliefs & Rituals of the Old Religion (1988)
A Gathering of Ghosts (1989, with Jean Kozocari)
A Witches' Book of Ghosts and Exorcism (1990, with Jean Kozocari)
Earth Air, Fire, Water : Pre-Christian and Pagan Elements in British Songs, Rhymes and Ballads (1990, with Margaret Blackwood)
Practice of Witchcraft Today: An Introduction To Beliefs and Rituals (1990)
Re: Spellcraft
Date: 2024-01-15 07:49 pm (UTC)Thanks for stopping by!
1) Yes, it was a pretty common thread in science fiction to have psychic characters and powers without considering them "unscientific," all the way through the early to mid 90s, at least (Star Trek: the Next Generation continued to have some psychic characters, like Deanna Troi the empath, and psychics were a major part of Babylon 5). What it looks like happened to me is that psychic phenomena went from something researchers could investigate right here and now, to something that sci-fi could talk about as far off and speculative, to being regarded as pure fantasy.
2) I haven't read their work, but that certainly sounds like much of what is going on in magic, though I suspect there are other factors (as you allude to in your next point).
3) Yes, exactly! I didn't get into egregores here, as it seemed like it might be too much of a tangent, but that is one of the things that contributes to my belief that ritual, symbolism, and language are not merely or wholly arbitrary. They might be largely arbitrary, but even if so, that doesn't automatically mean you shouldn't take them seriously.
4) Thanks for these! I had seen he had a few more books on magic, which doesn't exactly surprise me. Given some of what he says in Spellcraft, the titles of his later books, and the timing, it looks like he was an early adopter of the Wiccan/Neopagan alternative spirituality wave that JMG has described so well, since the usual "take off point" folks point to is the publication of Drawing Down the Moon and The Spiral Dance on Halloween, 1979, a year after Spellcraft came out. If I'm right that he's primarily operating in the Wiccan space, those books might be less interesting to me, but he's a good enough writer and interesting enough thinker that it might be worthwhile nonetheless.
Thanks again for your comment!
Jeff
Re: Spellcraft
Date: 2024-01-15 09:57 pm (UTC)# 4 From a quick look at some links from Wikipedia, it looks like Skelton had turned to Wicca maybe a decade before writing Spellcraft.
I forgot to mention on JMG's blog that I welcome your blessings!
Filling in # 2 for you.
Neville Goddard, 1905-1972. Born and raised in Barbados in a large white British family. Moved to New York City as a teenager, for a show biz career as a dancer. Considered graceful, charismatic, sociable for his whole life.
In late 20s he studied esoteric metaphysical psychological interpretation of the Bible with an Ethiopian rabbi in NYC, Abdullah, who taught him to visualize his desire as present tense, already achieved. Neville used these techniques for some extremely unlikely outcomes he desired.
Neville's family became rich, he said through his brother spontaneously finding these same techniques. Neville quit show biz, he studied esoteric things, wrote over a dozen books on these subjects from 1939 to 1966, and taught. He moved to California, was known by his first name. Many people made free recordings of his lectures with his permission.
His key point was the Law of Assumption. "By assuming the feeling that would be yours were you already in possession of your objective, the subconscious is moved to build the exact likeness of your assumption.
Your desires are not subconsciously accepted until you assume the feeling of their reality, for only through feeling is an idea subconsciously accepted and only through this subconscious acceptance is it ever expressed."
He described this using the Bible as metaphors, each character, place, or situation a symbol of a psychological state with no literal, historical truth. He also described this as higher dimensional physics, with the beliefs of the subconscious automatically guiding us into a parallel universe timeline in which the moments we desire already exist. Whether in religious, esoteric, or scientific language, he and his ideas were popular.
Later in life, Neville switched to mostly preach and write about what he called The Promise. This was a set of extremely obscure and difficult to understand personal miraculous religious experiences he reported having, which he said fulfilled Biblical prophecies in him. He said everyone would eventually have these experiences on the way to being reunited with God. Those who didn't have them in this life would reawaken in a world in which they were in their 20s, with no personal history and a fresh chance at spiritual growth until The Promise happened to them. This was all confusing and not very popular. Told nobody would show up for talks like this, he said then he would go and preach to the empty walls! A few people did show up. He said they were the right ones to have shown up.
In his 60s he said his spiritual purpose was fulfilled. He didn't make it to 70.
Joseph Murphy, 1898-1981. Born and raised in Ireland. Moved to New York City in his early 20s, worked as a pharmacist. Visited India to study spirituality. Often said to have also been a student of Abdullah but I've not been able to find a direct quote of him saying so. Very similar teachings to Neville's Law period but I've not been able to find direct quotes from them about each other.
Dr. Murphy was a Mason, and a New Thought minister in California after WWII. Prolific metaphysical teacher and writer. Half of his fifty books all restate the same thing: What your subconscious truly believes in, "according to your faith it is done to you." Focus was on short present tense verbal affirmation of blessing already received, to train the subconscious faith as desired. Generally more approachable teaching style than Neville.
Some early writing included discussion of the apparently miraculous, beyond healing. Later this was dropped, other than physical healing.
"All you have to do is unite mentally and emotionally with the good you wish to embody. The creative powers of your subconscious will respond accordingly. Begin now, today. Let wonders happen in your life! Keep on keeping on until the day breaks and the shadows flee away."
Both men said personal health and wealth and so on were only to provide a foundation for untroubled contemplation of deeper spiritual truths.
Something about California in general, Los Angeles in particular, seems to attract some notable religious and spiritual teachers and movements for a century now, for good or bad.
Re: Spellcraft
Date: 2024-01-19 05:21 pm (UTC)Re: Spellcraft
Date: 2024-01-22 04:39 pm (UTC)Cheers,
Jeff
Re: Spellcraft
Date: 2024-01-22 04:38 pm (UTC)And yes, it sure does seem like LA was a hot bed for all things esoteric for much of the 20th century, and might well still be.
Cheers,
Jeff