Stumbling into Magic

Hello wonderful people, I will be talking in more detail about “hexen” today. And, I want to warn you, that this is a topic I have never written about nor synthesized in any way - to do that is part of the project idea behind “healing, hexen, and hummingbirds”. That also means, though, that I am coming to this as a beginner (as I always should) and my thoughts and knowledge will be incomplete. I nonetheless hope it’s of value to you. If you are into this, please let me know where I am wrong. Also, if you are enjoying it and know someone who’d appreciate learning with me along the way, please forward this email.

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For many people, magic is an obscure concept, something we abandoned in favor of rational thought and the comprehension of science. Criticism by both religious and scientific bodies over centuries has relegated magic to esoteric (hidden) traditions rather than exoteric (open) practice. We don’t need magic when we can explain the world rationally. It’s for kids and weird people. Or so they say.

Yet, in many circles—I'm looking at you, my bubble—there's a revival of magic. Well, as Latour would say, we never have “been modern”. Yet, I think its resurgence comes from the realization that our mechanical worldview falls short in explaining our universe's functioning (another machine metaphor). More importantly, it leaves us empty and disenchanted; something the German sociologist and philosopher Max Weber defined as a key feature of modern Western society. Thus, the idea is to re-enchant the world, to reintroduce the mystery of being, the wonder of existence, and the embracement of the unknown.

“Magic is deeply rooted in our collective psyche. It’s not just Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings, stories of magic are found throughout the ages. That is not an accident, magic to this day is the language of the unconscious. Have you ever wondered why psychoanalysts are so obsessed with dreams and fairy tales? The magic of magic is changing the way we perceive reality, and therefore changing our reality.”  by

The Octopus

I want to share a few loose thoughts on magic that are not fully developed yet. The overarching goal of this is to explore the possible role of magic for ^ekophilosophical health. I sense that subjects such as magic, occultism, and witchcraft, although still niche interests, have become too significant to overlook. Unexamined, these topics might catapult us right back into uniformed dogmatism. Examined and rightly integrated, they might help us to become ^ekophilosophically healthy by offering different ways of knowing the world and thus getting us in better relation to reality.

Believing in Magic

During last year's Medicine Festival, I listened to a self-proclaimed witch who had a visceral reaction to an audience member's question about using a red candle for ancestral work. Her body started shaking, and she gulped heavily. Apparently red candles should be used very carefully, if ever (unfortunately I forgot why). Her physical reaction didn’t seem played or performed; it seemed genuine. I haven’t lit a red candle since. But that’s not the point. The point is that, although I didn’t talk to her in person, her ardent belief in the power and reality of witchcraft left an indelible impression on me.

The way I often have conceptualized magic in my mind was that magic might be real, but it’s more likely that science is just not there yet.

I recently came across Terrance McKenna's explanations for the prevalence of the many cross-cultural accounts of demons. I think the explanations hold true for our different accounts of magic as well: that we think

1. magic is real, just not properly categorized yet.

2. magic is an aspect of our psyche, free from the grasp of our egos.

3. magic is real and nonphysical.

4. magic isn't real, explainable through natural, scientifically understandable phenomena.

Most people lean towards the 2nd and 4th explanations.

I find the 3rd explanation the most interesting one. It’s also the only one I see as promising for re-enchanting the world, as it accepts unknown mysteries.

Or as Ronald Hutton put it:

“The first stage is when you totally believe in witchcraft. The second is when you realize that it’s a complete lot of rubbish. The third is when you realize that it’s a complete lot of rubbish; but somehow it also seems to work.”

I want this kind of sincere and yet ironic commitment to magic, acknowledging simultaneously its potential reality and possible nonsense. "Sincere irony", as I understand it, is a nuanced approach to irony that acknowledges both sincerity and self-awareness and embraces contradictory impulses or perspectives while maintaining an authentic engagement with the world. It involves recognizing the limitations of any single perspective or ideology while still committing to meaningful action and ethical principles. That’s how I would love to approach magic in its possible contribution to ^ekophilosophical health.

“You definitely don’t want to gulp down the new-age Crystal Kool-Aid unreflectively. On the other hand, you should also be skeptical about your skepticism - what if there is some merit to these views after all? The goal is to be able to take beliefs and worldviews as objects, taking these lenses on and off like sunglasses, depending on what seems more adaptive to the specific circumstances. There are several moves that allow us to get into the right both/and stance.“ The Octopus

Hexen as Method

Doing a project on “healing, hexen, and hummingbirds” can mean two things: It can either be an exploration of these three topics, or it can be a method. I want to explore it as the latter.

Using “healing, hexen, and hummingbirds” as a method means that I’ll use these topics as specific lenses through which to see and experience the world - a diffractive reading, as Karen Barad, a feminist physicist and philosopher, suggests.

She introduces the concept of diffractive reading as a way to understand how knowledge is produced through intra-actions between different perspectives, rather than simply reflecting or mirroring each other. Diffractive reading is inspired by the phenomenon of diffraction in physics, where waves interact with each other to create new patterns.

In her framework, diffractive reading is contrasted with reflective reading. Reflective reading mirrors something back, suggesting that one text reflects the ideas of another, without alteration. However, knowledge production is more complex and dynamic: When two or more texts or perspectives interact, they do not simply reflect each other, but rather diffract, creating new patterns and insights. A diffractive reading then acknowledges the inherent differences and entanglements between perspectives, and hopefully allows for the emergence of (for me) novel understandings and knowledge.

The perspective of hexen, or magic, is something I am particularly interested in at the moment. Mostly because, while I have wanted to for a long time, I never made the leap away from the literature about magic to actually engaging with it as a practice. I am particularly curious what role magic might play in ^ekophilosophical health and if it might be part of an ^ekophilosophically healthy society. For example, in “Chaos Protocols” Gordon White writes that

“the goal of the magician, particularly the chaos magician, is to position his or her life so that it responds positively to volatility rather than negatively. Volatility should make your life better, not worse.”

How then, can magic contribute to ^ekophilosophical health in times of the metacrisis, which is characterized - among other things - by volatility?

Gnosis

Another aspect I see as closely tied to magic is "gnosis", a deep intuitive knowledge transcending everyday senses and rational thought. Knowledge gained through gnosis is different from intellectual or rational knowing. It’s a type of deep intuition, a means of knowing that transcends the ordinary senses and rational thought, like knowing from the heart.

Practicing magic is often sought to access hidden or esoteric knowledge about the universe and the self. Similarly, gnosis has roots in various ancient philosophical and religious traditions, such as Gnosticism, where people sought direct experiential knowledge of the divine. The way I understand their similarity is that they both involve a pursuit of hidden truths or deeper understandings of reality beyond what we call “conventional knowledge”, and by conventional, I mean scientific knowledge.

Maybe gnosis is part of what we mean by trans- and interdisciplinary science nowadays.

That is not to say that magic and gnosis are the same or that magic is gnostic. I think magic typically involves a practical focus on working with natural energies, spirits, and the elements to manifest specific outcomes or address specific practical concerns using methods such as spellcasting, herbalism, and ritual practices centered around honoring nature and the cycles of life, especially what I have come to know as Green Witchcraft. Gnosis, in contrast, seems to prioritize spiritual enlightenment and inner transformation using methods such as contemplative practices, meditation, and mystical experiences aimed at attaining direct knowledge of cosmic truths. I wonder if taking psychedelics is a gnostic method?

I am more familiar with using “gnostic tools” as ways of knowing and am curious to explore how these might combine with magic as ways to practice ekoPhilosophy.

Relational Hexen

Magic, as I understand it, is a relational and ecological practice that was (and is) embedded in everyday life. As Scout from

The Oscillator's Stone

recently wrote,

“A lot of what we modern humans call ‘witchcraft’ and ‘shamanism’ are simply land-based, relational practices that were once embedded in the fabric of human life--and in many cultures, still are. They are simple acts of acknowledgment, mindfulness, emotional expression, coregulation, and complex imaginal experiencing of the world around us.”

I love to think of these practices as practicing magic (to improve my ^ekophilosophical health).

An everyday, mundane practice I have been following is naming and noticing the more-than-human world. As Alexis Shotwell points out, this

“might be a way to care humanly, but not instrumentally, to recognize and value the fact that the frogs and the toads and the lizards have their own life that we are just tuning into.”

Maybe what makes it magic is that it is a way to gain a deeper knowing without being able to measure a specific outcome. We don’t know if this changes anything, and yet we know. But more about that maybe another time.

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I'm curious to understand your level of interest in the topic. Please let me know in the comments if you'd like to hear more about it. Likewise, if you're not interested, feel free to share your thoughts.