I haven't had a lot of time to read and take notes, lately. However!!! What I can do is go over some basic info that I've mostly got pretty much memorized. I will, of course, link sources for further reading. It's always good to brush up on the fundamentals, even when you're several years in.
So I think a good place to start is: what the heck is magic? Like, how does it work?
Old meme is old but I needed to make it.
I guess nobody really knows, but we have ideas. Here are some of the possible...
Spirit Model This is the idea that magic is possible due to the intervention of spirits, gods, angels, etc. in our world. Basically, when you do magic, you are asking them for help. They are the ones who actually "do" the magic. This is likely the oldest model of magic.
Energy Model This is similar to the spirit model and some people would even say that they're just different ways of understanding the same thing. The energy model suggests that we are capable of manipulating unseen energies around us. For example, think of magnets or electricity. We can't see these energies, but we can see the effects they have and learn to use them to achieve our goals.
Psychological Model This model states that our subconscious is the one doing all the heavy lifting. Basically, we can set our intention and enter a trance state, then our subconscious does the rest. Sort of like hypnosis. This is also the model used as the basis in sigil magic.
Information Model This is an especially new model of magic which was originally developed in 1987. From what I can tell, it seems to be the idea that information has no mass or energy, and so it can travel in ways that mass and energy cannot. This allows a magician with low physical energy to sort of "copy and paste" their thoughts to achieve their goals.
Meta-Model The meta-model is basically the idea that all of the previous models (and maybe more) are true when they need to be true. Whatever model you need to use is the one that is true for you at that time. Not in a "I believe this is true" way, but in an "actually true" way. It's a bit hard to understand with the type of thinking that we normally employ in our everyday lives, but... well, that's chaos magic for you.
This is just a brief overview, but you can go to this link for more information.
That's it for this topic.
Stay safe!
- me
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