No Necromancer is an island, nor Chaote a small principality, and as such there will be

occasions when you come up against something or someone who, quite frankly, youd be
better off avoiding; like that red-headed goth girl with the hare lip and faint smell of
cabbage that was so desperate to date you in your last year at School that she flashed you
her already partially necrotic boobies from the back window of the bus. Life changing
stuff, I assure you. But anyway, all too ancient history aside, I thought it might prove
interesting in light of the numerous Hexing articles that I have recently posted here at
Rebel Without A Soul to go back to basics and provide a short article detailing the ways
in which an Occultist walking any of the numerous Paths can utilise their own energy
field as a tool of Psychic attack and defence, and nip such encounters in the blackened
bud before they turn into situations that call for a full on NecroHexing Apocalypse. Such
techniques work doubly well for those of the Undead bothering persuasion, as our
particularly morbid pastime ties us instinctively to the concept of both human and animal
Life Forces, albeit in a far more pragmatic and deadly way that your average Crystal
stroker or Reiki Healer, and as such the following techniques should come easier to those
who dabble in lifes not so little left overs.
In my quickly growing experience I have found that the Aura can be as passive or as
active as its owner desires in this regard, and if given the right training can turn into a
valuable tool for both dealing with the living world on a day to day basis and the Spirit
World should the worst happen on our sometimes ill advised little voyages into the
cobweb clad unknown. As someone who is naturally Empathic I find that the ability to
harden the aura to outside emotional and Energetic stimuli, and therefore block negative
emotions and Energy from entering my personal Vibrational Space, particularly useful. It
also serves to make the Mage seem a far less attractive meal for any wondering Entities
which might wish to attach themselves to the Practitioners Aura without the need for
Talismans, Trinkets or Defensive thought-forms, as fun and showy as those little purely
technical distractions tend to be. As the old saying goes, what you dont have you cant
lose, and the ability to put up a viable defence without outside help is vital if you find
yourself backed into a corner without the usual Sea Salt and Summoning Circle
methodology that some Practitioners seem to live and occasionally die by. The universe
around us is constantly evolving, and if we of the wider Occult Community refuse to
evolve our techniques along with it we will quickly find ourselves left by the wayside.
And Id wager, on the menu too.
The single most effective method of hardening the Aura that I have found is to simply
boost the Energy flowing around it, through either mental Will or mildly strenuous
physical exercise. This has the effect of increasing your own Energy Signature to such a
degree that the far weaker external sources cannot pierce it. While the mental version of
this is my altogether preferred methodology, and the utilisation of pure, unbridled Rage
my tool of choice for achieving it, the physical method is far easier to pull off for those
who do not have a high degree of control over their emotions. In this case a quick burst of
mildly strenuous exercise is enough to increase the Mages blood flow, and release
copious amounts of adrenalin, both of which, coupled with the rise in body temperature,
will help to energise their Aura. Be aware, however, that stepping yourself up a gear or
two in this way also makes you shine like that red-headed goth girls single bucktooth in

the horrifically illuminating moonlight, and as such boosting your Energy Signature
should be avoided when you wish to keep a low profile in either the Physical or Spiritual
Realms.
As far as attack goes, this is where the subtle arts of Visualisation come in, though the
exact methods differ depending upon whether the target is a Living, breathing Being or a
purely Energy based Entity. A living target can easily be rebuffed by a quick burst of
Negative Emotion channelled first into your Aura and then outward towards them
through the Astral, a technique that many accomplished Empaths seem to fall back on
almost instinctively when arguing with others, myself included. The only limitation of
this form of attack is the close proximity to the target that it requires, and the Emotional
strain involved in producing multiple bursts should the argument continue for a
prolonged period of time. Thats one of the reasons why Empaths seem so drained during
times of personal conflict, and their partners or family members complain about having
cold chills when the verbal push comes to Energetic shove. This technique borders on
Vampirism in many ways, and indeed it is a very bad idea to argue with an Empathic or
Energy Sensitive Necromancer while they are standing in a Graveyard, as it is all too
easy to shunt Death Energy into the Aura and fling it like crap in a catapult at your target.
Its not deadly, true, but all adds nicely to the Necromancers assumed air of horror and
cloak of fear.
If your target is an openly malevolent Energy Based Entity, such as a Shadow Person or
Lost Soul, your Visualisations will need to be of a far more outwardly violent and
destructive nature, limited only by both your conscience and ability to hold your
concentration whilst facing what can at times prove to be extremely menacing resistance.
And shame on you if you have a conscience; youre bothering the Dead for fun and profit
after all, and such mental prisons will only hold you back in the long run. Anyway, back
to class. If you prefer to allow the Entity to come to you, visualising your Aura as a razor
sharp nest of spikes or a wall of burning magma can prove a nasty little surprise should it
cross into your personal Vibrational Space, though those who prefer a more proactive
course of action might want to try one of my personal favourites, surrounding themselves
with a swirling mass of jet black, knife edged tentacles which can be used to attack at a
distance as well as defend for close in work. Far from subtle, but undeniably useful in the
right situation, as is everything else here at Rebel Without A Soul.

I had ____body armor on _______

Auric Magick is the term Pete Carroll (Carroll, 1992) has given to the loose
collection of traditions that work with the alleged 'magickal force' or 'magickal energy'
associated with the body. Within various magickal-mystical systems, this 'force' has been
conceptualized in many ways, with such names as Chi, Prana, Aura, Kundalini, etc. Each
of these conceptualizations predict different effects and origins of this force, both within
and without of the body. For example, the term Aura is considered by many traditions to
be a subtle form of magickal energy that is more widely diffused inside and around the
body (Powell, 1969). However the terms Chi, Prana, and Kundalini are said to be energy
forms that follow particular nadis or 'nerve pathways' whose structure and function has

been sketched out through generations of phenomenological exploration by masters of

the arts. In the case of Kundalini, the energy form is said to manifest though nadis
originating in the base of the spine. These nadis are conceived as spreading up through
the spine into the brain (through the nadi channels Ida, Pingala, and Shushumna) to
enervate the rest of the body in a nervous system of lesser nadis (Paulson, 1991).
Furthermore in some traditions Kundalini is seen as a particular case of Prana, while in
others it is considered a distinct concept.
Carroll criticizes the concept of a magickal force/energy on the grounds that the
concept necessitates one assume that the force/energy has properties relevant to the
production of such effects. However, the fact that there is little agreement among the
various traditions as towards the nature of the force leads him to suspect that something
quite different is going on. Carroll concludes that acts of Auric Magick are special cases
of enchantment and divination, and posits that Auric magick 'works by an exchange of
information (not energy) between the subconscious (not the body) and its environment,
which can include the body' (p. 102). Such a viewpoint heralds a growing consensus
among many magickians that all magick may be considered as special cases of
enchantment and divination. It is interesting to note that in the field of parapsychology,
psychic phenomena are generally categorized into two classes: psi phenomena (telepathy,
ESP, clairvoyance, precognition) and psychokinesis (Radin, 1997). These two notions are
very similar to divination and enchantment, respectively. They both suppose the reception
and/or projection of information from sender to receiver.
However a difficulty arises when one tries to visualize a mechanism by which this
is all supposed to work. While Carroll's quantum-mechanical metaphysics is a very
powerful paradigm to work within in a predictive sense, the present author has found it a
little conceptually unsatisfying as he has come to understand both the actual scientific
theory upon which it is based, and the attempts to apply the theory to understanding the
brain, mind, consciousness, and magick. This does not mean that one should throw out
the baby with the bathwater, as there are several key notions in the quantum approach
that are essential to a truly satisfactory understanding of the aforementioned phenomena.
These notions include the concept of dual-aspected information (the notion that
information has material and experiential components, a la the 'mana' concept) as a
fundamental building block behind manifestations of force and energy, the existence of
nonlocal and/or nonseparable connections between spatiotemporally separated
phenomenon, and an inherent indeterministic basis to all events. Furthermore there is a
necessity to assume a greater role to the individual and collective observer(s) with respect
to the dynamical unfolding of reality. However this discussion will not be centered on
the details of a general magickal paradigm; it instead will continue on the assumption that
Auric Magick comes down to instantiations of enchantment and divination, which in turn
are general cases of nonlocal information projection and reception. So how does one do
Auric Magick?
This discussion advocates the view that the procedures of Auric Magick consist of
empty-handed techniques whose magickal linkages are actions and visualizations that
have been strongly associated with a particular intent. Empty-handed techniques have

been well described by Hine (1995) "as acts of sorcery without use of any physical props
or formalized settings. Practice in visualization, a quiet confidence which falls just short
of arrogance, and the ability to free an established desire from the ties of the ego-complex
are requisite skills, all of which are developed through more formal sorcery practice. The
advanced sorcerer may only use a series of gestures, rely on visualization and makebelieve to create the space he requires for magickal action" (p.103). The performance of
these actions are privy to the usual constraints placed upon all magickal activity: highdegrees of gnosis, a satisfactory strong subconscious association between the links and
desired outcome, the need to hold the neither-neither attitude with respect to the
operation, and of course the elimination of conscious deliberation whilst actually
performing the act, and afterwards. The rest of this discussion will examine examples of
some of the powers sought after through Auric Magick and various empty-handed
techniques utilized in their manifestation. It is important to remember throughout the
discussion that results from working with these powers do not come easy. In a sense
success with Auric Magick asks one to overcome a lifetime of conditioning about what
reality is really like. To overcome such conditioning, one must "be prepared to devote
the rest of one's life to developing these powers" (Carroll, 1987, p.65).
The first power to be discussed is that of immobility. This term refers to the
ability to make one's body immobile to external forces acting upon it. This effect is often
cultivated among practitioners of the martial art of Aikido. The effect involves a
practitioner standing in particular position, working the relevant magick, and then
encouraging others to try and lift or move the practitioner from that spot. If the magick is
successful, the participants often find it virtually impossible to move the practitioner. The
particular empty-handed technique utilized involves the Aikido practitioner visualizing
universal energy entering the body via breath inhalation (and mantra "Ai"), mentally
transforming the energy (with mantra "Ki") at the power point near the solar plexus and
navel, and then extending the Ki from the body into the ground (with mantra "Do"),
down to the center of the earth, where it then anchors the persons body into place
(O'Leary, 1993). Generalizations of this technique allow the life energy to be extended to
other objects, with the intent of changing them in some way producing a change that
usually involves the breaking or deforming of the objects (for example, spoonbending).
Gnosis is attained through high-inhibitory concentration, and sometimes excitatory
techniques that in group contexts include the yelling of power words and mantras (spoon
ex: "bend!") (O'Leary, 1993). It can be argued that these techniques instantiate both
psychokinetic and telepathic abilities. While the case of breaking or deforming an object
seems to be a case of psychokinesis/enchantment, the case of immobility could just as
well be explained by telepathic information exchange occurring between the practitioner
and the participants. In such an exchange the shared information would consist of
subconscious overrides of the participant's musculature, resulting in an inability to lift the
Aikido practitioner.
The second power to be discussed is that of making the body impervious to
extreme heat or cold. The former is evidenced throughout the world in traditional
firewalking ceremonies, as well as Western motivational seminars. The latter is evidenced
in such practices as that of Tibetan practice of Tumo. Tumo is a psychic art developed in

Tibet in which naljorpas (mystic disciples) seek to keep themselves warm through
magickal means. The practitioners of Tumo often live high among the mountains of
Tibet, and once trained, many take an oath to live the rest of their lives naked among the
snow, or at best clothed in a single thin robe-like garment. An account is given in DavidNeel (1932) in which Tumo adepts engage in a competition to see who can dry the largest
number of soaking wet cloths (dipped in an icy lake) in a evening via body heat alone. In
Tumo, the relevant empty-handed techniques include deep controlled breathing and
intense visualization of fire energy pervading the body. These visualizations take variant
forms: from a general sense of the body being pervaded by fire to more ritualized
visualizations involving the activation of pranic nadis through which course the warming
pranic energy.
In the case of attaining imperviousness to extreme heat, such as firewalking, many
seminars rely on the 'power of belief to perform the feat. What this amounts to varies
from seminar to seminar, but it seems that the basic technique consists of whipping
oneself up into a gnostic frenzy coupled with some form of affirmation of the power of
the mind over the flames. Some traditional paradigmatic contexts instead utilize a
linkage similar to that of the Aikido example mentioned earlier, in which the body force
is visualized as being projected outwards to repel the flames (Carroll, 1987), while others
rely upon a bhakti yoga type of religious devotion to the pantheon of gods, such as Hindu
worshippers in Tamil, Sri Lanka who believe that their gods will protect them (Talbot,
1993). In any event, it can be argued that both the cases of Tumo and firewalking are
clear instantiations of psychokinesis/enchantment directed at the interface between the
body and the environmental processes the practitioner seeks to overcome.
The third power to be discussed is that of astral projection, also known as the outof-body-experience, rising on the planes, etc. There is a host of related phenomena that
goes along with astral travel, including telepathy, clairvoyance (both of which may
manifest through skrying), and to a lesser extent the ability to perceive auras (or what
Castaneda's Don Juan might call the ability to 'see' [Castaneda, 1971]). There is not
much to say in this discussion about the astral power, as there are already available
numerous catalogs of how to acquire these abilities (for example, see Ophiel, 1961;
Monroe, 1971). The power is included for the sake of thoroughness, and to make the
point that these abilities are empty-handed in that they often rely on internal multisensory visualization coupled with extreme gnosis. In addition, astral abilities appear to
be best conceptualized in terms of nonlocal information projection/reception manifest
through the consciousness of the magickian. Hence these abilities may be considered
acts of Auric magick.
The fourth power to discuss seems, like the astral power, to consist of a set of
similarly related phenomena. The terms 'hypnosis' or 'glamour' may loosely describe this
power in that the practitioner seeks to influence the perception and mental state of
another. Such practices often utilize manipulation of dress, speech, and behavior in
conjunction with psychic projection of intent into the psyche of the recipient of the
glamour. Projection of sexual and/or messianic charisma is often conferred by this
power. An example of this is Peter Carroll's Moon Glance, an empty-handed technique

that consists of a simple visualization of a silver moon over the forehead, 'energy'
projection from the eyes, and subtle behavioral cues like smiling (Carroll, 1992). The
power of glamour is also held to confer the ability to achieve subjective invisibility. One
invisibility technique is to quiet one's mind to the point that it no longer interacts in a
psychic manner with the minds of those surrounding the practitioner (Crowley, 1939). As
a consequence the practitioner is ignored and not attended to by others. Patanjali, in his
Yoga Sutras, describes a method in which the practitioner achieves one-pointed
concentration on the Tanmatras: symbolic representations of the fundamental building
blocks of space and time, where the subjective and the objective intertwine (Richards,
1982). Success in this endeavor is held to produce a subtle 'cloud of Akasa', (loosely
translated as space, but perhaps more similar to the notion of a nonlocalized information
field) around the magickian. Such a cloud is said to have the power to make things
visible and invisible. Success in this endeavor is also held to produce the ability to
achieve wish fulfillment by mere thought, indicating that the description of this method
may be a metaphor for enchantment.
Telepathic projection is another method through which to attain the power of
invisibility. In this method, the practitioner directly interferes with the cognitiveperceptual processes of an onlooker so as to render his/her image imperceptible.
Telepathic projection may also be used to create perceptions in another. Carroll (1987)
has suggested that it is possible to manifest a thoughtform so intensely that others may
see it through psychic vision. Such a method may also be behind the famous Indian Rope
Trick performed before live audiences in India in the early part of this century. In this
trick, a Hindu fakir appears to enable a boy apprentice to climb a levitating rope to the
point that the boy disappears. However primitive motion picture recordings of such a
performance showed a different story. Instead of recording the trick as described, the
camera showed the fakir and his assistant coming out on stage, throwing a rope into the
air, and then sitting down into deep meditative positions throughout the rest of the
performance (Puharich, 1962). Such evidence suggests that the rope trick is a case of a
glamour projected on to the audience by the performing fakir.
Telepathic projection may also be behind the ability to materialize objects and
substances. Evidence for this is given in O'Leary (1993), where the author claims to have
witnessed a Brazilian psychic materialize perfume out of thin air. Essentially the psychic
rolled up his sleeves, extended his bare arm and hand, and yelled the mantra 'HA'!
Suddenly everyone present perceived perfume emanating from the psychic's hand. The
perception was completely real in terms of vision, smell, and touch. O'Leary offers
pictures of the event as proof that the materialization actually occurred. However close
inspection of the pictures shows no evidence of perfume being materialized (eliminating
the hypothesis that it was a trick of prestidigitation). Instead, the pictures show the
author, the other witnesses, and the psychic appearing as if there was something
miraculous appearing before them, and behaving accordingly (one picture shows the
author emotionally reaching out his hand to 'catch' the materialized perfume). Such
anecdotes offer evidence for the claim that what may actually be occurring in at least
some cases of materialization is that telepathic projections are shared instead of the actual
physical creation of objects and substances.

The fifth and final power to be discussed is that of psychokinesis: the telekinetic
influence of objects outside of oneself (both on the large and small scale) and/or the
levitation of one's own body. This is perhaps one of the more spectacular powers claimed
by Auric Magick, and one that taps into many childhood fantasies as well. A substantial
investigation into the techniques claimed to produce telekinetic abilities yields two basic
methods. The first method involves the visualization of an appropriately encoded
symbolic linkage whilst under high levels of gnosis what has been called the
metaprogramming route (Talbot, 1993), but is essentially an extension of the standard
conception of ensigilization. Patanjali's approach to achieving invisibility (mentioned
earlier) is an example. The second method seeks to develop an expansion of direct and
immediate control over what may be called 'the reality-structurer' (Talbot, 1993): that
subconscious part of our perceptual-cognitive system that is responsible for producing the
reality of which we are consciously aware. This latter method seems to be analogous to
Pete Carroll's notion of will-perception (Carroll, 1995).
The metaprogramming method to telekinetic/levitation abilities is very old. A key
exemplar is a particular yogic method embedded within the paradigm tradition that began
with Patanjali's Yoga Sutras. In this method, the aspirant performs one-pointed
concentration upon the pranic nadi Udana, which is traditionally thought to originate in
the throat and extend to the forepart of the nose up to the top of the head. Thus Udana is
seen as serving as sort of an astral link between the three highest chakras: Visuddhi in the
throat, Ajna between the eyebrows (third eye), and Sahasrara at the top of the head. With
respect to the body, Udana is thought to be involved in digestion and sleep. However,
since its original description in Book 3, sutra 38 of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras in which it is
written "By mastery of the Udana, [the yogi acquires] ascension and non-contact with
water, thorns, and mire", Udana has been traditionally associated with levitation, the
ability to walk on water, and the ability to withstand the gravitational pull of the earth
(Richards, 1980). Hence total acceptance of this paradigm causes the Udana to act as a
magickal link with its symbolic meaning encoded into the subconscious. Thus all one
need do is to perform one-pointed concentration upon the nerve, so as to activate its
gravity-defying functions.
Another example of the metaprogramming approach is one practiced by the
present author. This method utilizes an abstract magickal link (based in the techniques of
Raja Yoga) in which the goal is to attain an experience of a union or merging with the
object of one's concentration. There is a documented story of a carnival fire-eater who
could run the flame of a blowtorch across his tongue without benefit of any protection
(Long, 1936). The fire-eater claimed to have once studied under a magician who had him
perform open-eyed object concentration on a sacred butter lamp for several hours a day.
Then one day while performing the exercise, the fire-eater perceived the flames of the
lamp to grow in stature, at which point they leapt out towards him and engulfed his body.
From that day forward the fire-eater felt at one with Fire, and under its protection. In
addition he found himself able to perform incredible feats, like the one described earlier.
What would happen if one performed this exercise on other forces of nature, such
as light, heat, electricity & magnetism, and most importantly, gravity? Perhaps one could

work under the paradigm that performing such an operation would enable the magickian
to become one with Gravity, be under its protection, and thus gain access to its powers.
However how would one perform object concentration upon a seemingly invisible force
such as gravity? At least fire you can stare at and have a clear visual image to wrap your
mind around and concentrate on. Perhaps the clue to obtaining a proper magickal link lies
in the fact that although gravity produces visual phenomenon in us when we see things
fall, our most immediate relationship with it is through vestibular body sense and body
position.
Our most immediate encounter with gravity is a feeling we experience in our
bodies. This is true of other 'inertial forces', such as the forces we experience in rapidly
accelerating vehicles or a spinning merry-go-round. This discussion advocates the view
that the proper magickal linkage for object concentration on gravity is not visual, but
bodily. Concentrate on the direct and associated sensations that gravitational and inertial
forces induce within your body experience and use this as a medium to make contact and
merge with them. To this end, the present author has carried out a program of becoming
more conscious of the effects of gravity on his body during everyday ordinary activities.
One exercise is to have a friend drive around hilly and mountainous roads while the
practitioner is strapped in the back of the vehicle with eyes closed, meditating on the
sensations induced by the various forces involved in the motion. Another exercise is to
rig up a situation in which one's body can safely fall short distances (such as jumping off
the high-dive of a swimming pool, jumping on a trampoline, or sky-diving), and then
again meditate upon the body sensations of the motion. A milder exercise is to simply
hold a small object in one's hand and then concentrate upon the force sensation that is
present due to the gravitational influence upon the object. One variant exercise
incorporates a visual linkage as well. Take any small object, hold it in one hand, and then
gently toss it up and down, all the while meditating on its visual motion. Meditate on the
temporal gaps between the sensations of the object being present/not-present in the hand,
as well as the sensation of impact as it falls into the hand and the resistance offered as one
throws it back up into the air.
The second method to telekinetic/levitation abilities mentioned earlier involves an
expansion of direct and immediate control over one's "will-perception" or what may be
called "the reality-structurer": that subconscious part of our perceptual-cognitive system
that is responsible for producing the reality of which we are consciously aware. This
method involves a strengthening of one's will-perception so as to be able to manifest the
desired experience thorough direct manipulation of the former. Direct manipulation of
will-perception is distinguished from the metaprogramming method in that the linkages
are no longer symbolic in nature (such as the Udana link), but instead are the presymbolic, raw sensations out of which our reality is constructed. The method generally
consists of deliberate sensation cultivation, in which the sensations that are cultivated are
those of "lines of force" that emanate from the body, and act as supporters of the body
(similar to the case of firewalking). Carroll (1987) describes one particular method in
which the aspirant levitator sits in a cross-legged position and attempts to jump like a
frog, with the lungs fully inflated; in time one may learn how to exert the "aetheric force"
against the ground. However what is actually involved in this learning remains unclear

from Carroll's description. I suggest that what is occurring is that the exercise in question
trains one's will-perception to create force-like sensations that if projected intensely
enough, begin to take on objectively real manifestations (analogous to the case of the
creation of Tibetan Tulpas).
The notion of 'lines of force' has also been seen in Carlos Castaneda's account of
his sorcery apprenticeship (Castaneda, 1971). Alexandra David-Neel mentions this
practice also in her classic book, Magic and Mystery in Tibet, as adjunct training to the
art of Lung-gom-pa, which seeks to cultivate excessive fleetness and lightness of foot,
and high-paced endurance running for exceptionally long periods. David-Neel relates an
interesting test of levitation ability in which a pit is dug in the ground with a depth equal
to the height of the practitioner, above which a small structure is built whose height is
also equal to the candidate. The structure encloses the pit entirely except for a small hole
in the ceiling. The practitioner is then lowered into the pit, and must levitate via the
leapfrog method described earlier. The test is passed if the practitioner can levitate up
through the small hole in the roof of the overarching structure. Those who pass this test
are considered to be proficient in the art.
It is unclear at this point if the will-perception method is the most profitable way
to go, at least as far as levitation is concerned. However experiments with this method in
attempts at telekinesis seem to show some promise, at least in terms of subjective
experience. These experiments involve exercises in which the sensation of touching an
object is deliberately created, even though one's hand is located a distance away. The
technique consists of first touching the object, removing one's hand, and then trying to
recreate the sensation of touching the object whilst performing a touching gesture from
afar. With practice, the hope is to cultivate one's perception into a sufficient force-like
quality similar in nature and effect as the lines of force concept described above. This
method is different from that described in (Carroll, 1992) which requires one to visualize
the motion of the object, associate the motion with a symbolic gesture and then perform
the gesture under gnosis with no conscious deliberation when actually doing the magick.
Some may find the former approach more preferable because it is easier to create the
necessary force-like sensations then to try and associate a gesture with imaginary visual
images of motion of an object, an act of imagination that severely conflicts with one's
initial perception of non-motion of the object.
One question remains with exercises like this: how real are they? Are the
experiences gained from success with levitation exercises objectively real, or do they
exist only within the mind of the observer? Even if multiple observers collectively claim
to witness the instantiation of a telekinetic/levitation phenomenon, the possibility remains
that it could be the case that the multiple observers have undergone a telepathic
interchange with the practitioner. The practitioner could have telepathically projected
his/her experience of the phenomenon into the minds of the other witnesses causing them
all to observe the same thing, i.e. a telekinetic/levitation phenomena. Crowley (1939)
seems to hold a similar attitude with regards to claims that he achieved levitation during
intense meditation periods. Crowley states that although he felt like he was levitating,
and others claimed to see him levitating, he " [did] not think it prove[d] anything" (p. 60-

61). It may be that in these cases, a so-called "objective" measuring apparatus, such as a
camera, would yield no evidence that such a situation has occurred (as in the
materialization example given earlier). Scientific tests of psychokinetic ability have
yielded strong evidence that the phenomenon does exist on a small scale (Radin, 1997).
The prevalence of "true" levitation, telekinetic, and related phenomena on the large scale
of everyday existence will remain unknown until individuals gifted enough to perform
reliably come forward to share their knowledge.

Coda: There is an afterthought to the ideas expressed in this discussion: why would
anyone want to devote their time towards developing abilities like this? Extreme
paranormal abilities ('siddhis') come in for a lot of criticism from both magickians and
mystics alike, as evidenced by the following story found in David-Neel (1932, p. 216):

"It is said that the Buddha was once journeying with some of his disciples
and met an emaciated Yogin, all alone in a hut in the middle of a forest.
The Buddha stopped and asked how long the man had been living there,
practicing austerities. 'Twenty five years', answered the Yogin. 'And what
power have you acquired by such long and arduous exertion?' asked the
Buddha. 'I am able to cross a river by walking on the water', the proudly
replied the anchorite.
'My poor fellow!' said the Buddha with
commiseration. ' Have you really wasted so many years for such a trifling
result? Why, the ferry man will take you to the opposite bank for a small
coin'."

Most mystics seem to consider the development of the siddhis as a distraction to the
ultimate goal of spiritual enlightenment. Many magickians tend to see siddhic
developments as a waste of time, preferring to concentrate on practical ends like personal
illumination and pragmatic spellcasting (Frater U.D., 1991).
The present author does not share these viewpoints. To the mystics it may be
argued that although it is correct that siddhic development is not contingent upon spiritual
evolution and vice-versa, spiritual evolution can be made manifest through siddhic
development. In a sense, spells of enchantment may be seen as milder instantiations of
siddhic abilities; yet as every magickian knows, spellcasting is an effective route towards
personal development. To the magickians the argument may be put forward that such
abilities may have practical value after all. Crowley (1939) relates a story where the use
of psychic invisibility enabled his escape from a mob of people out to get him. There is
also an argument for siddhic development that is based in aesthetic considerations: not all

magickal development need be practical. It may instead be undertaken for the sheer
challenge and beauty of the results. After all, what inherent practical value is there in art,
sports, or music, outside of aesthetic value such as entertainment and expressive
communication? A final argument for siddhic development lies in the fact that the
magickal quest is about knowledge, development, and power. The goal of the quest is to
achieve excellence in all three. What greater measure of magickal success is there than to
gain the ability to traffic in miracles?

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