MAGICK AND MARTIAL ARTS:

CULTURAL DEFINITION AND CORRELATION

SIMON BASTIAN

(This essay contains the theoretical aspects of a practical presentation for The
Occult Conference held in
Glastonbury, UK, March 21 2015. I have used the Wade-Giles system of
transliteration for Chinese
terms).

INTRODUCTION
In terms of esoteric history and tradition, form and function, cultural transaction and
synthesis, the
magical and the martial worldviews hold a distinct compatibility. Warfare is naturally
inseparable from
our experience of the world due to inherent human aggressiveness, the state of
primitive physical
survival responses which can ideally be used creatively as the drive to achieve
when separated from
violence. The perception of the Other, that which must be conquered,
unfortunately becomes
transferred via a mechanism of aberrant beliefs. Lack of empathy is a consequence
of obsession with
our evolving sense of self.
Magick, in contrast to the spelling magic referred as theatrical illusion (although
the additional K is
often thought an affectation of Crowleys, it can be traced to the Greek root as art
of a Magus), we can
consider here as equivalent to The Occult Philosophy or Hermeticism, studies
with a non-mainstream

view of the world, but as applied toward concrete aims aside from speculative ones.
Magick is
concerned with achieving physical results by abstruse means, and the notion of
personal power. It is
socially reactive, as alienation or as individual salvation through self-reliance, and as
a sub-culture has an
extremely long history, though derided at its worst as solipsist fantasy. Martial Art
subsumes too
elements of occult theory and mystique while at the same time researching the
most practical of
applications.
The term Martial Art refers obviously to a deity, Mars; thus, the Art of Mars, an
anodyne for the allying
of destructiveness and death with the notion of beauty and the aesthetic, detaching
us from the fact of
the purpose of causing harm to another person or persons, as might be more
pointedly expressed by the
phrase War Practice, or even The Science of Killing. But it also implies the use of
such study for rather
higher aims, as means to cultivate mind, body and spirit.
Martial art in its general sense includes warfare, strategy and tactics, and even
divination; the origin
of board games, as Joseph Needham has proposed, being in the divination methods
used for
determining the optimum strategies in battle.
On an individual level it is popularly associated with athletic displays of Kung Fu and
Asian styles
familiarly portrayed in film. (Kung Fu, gongfu or gung fu actually means effort, or
skill; the amount of
work you put into anything. Wushu is more properly the term for martial arts).

THE ADVOCACY OF VIOLENCE AS ART

The networking trend of the 1970s evolved through emerging communications
technology as a
determinant of global integration, Nixon visiting China in 1972 and bridging the
political gulf between
East and West. But the individual who truly represented the new entente was Bruce
Lee. As a
Chinese-American he even physically embodied the new era of openness. Martial
arts, Kung Fu,
became the medium for a popular translation of Chinese culture into Western
consciousness, reaching
beyond its boundaries. Lee died at 32, a charismatic-tragic figurehead for a modern
multiculturalism.
Chinese classics transferred into pop culture including The Water Margin and
Monkey. The TV show
Kung Fu had scenes of borderline magic, with the lead character Caine walking on
rice paper in the
opening credits without leaving a trace.
Magick and Martial Arts had the attraction of exoticism and of promising validation
to the sincere
seeker. Sometimes they ran parallel to each other or else appeared to overlap, as in
the case of the
quest for that mysterious elan vital, the Inner School alchemists elixir; Qi, the
internal energy.
The approaches to magick have classically been biased toward either pure intellect
(High Ritualism) or to
physical expression (Shamanic Dance). Both magick and martial art have inhabited
social custom, albeit
furtively. For example, dance forms such as Flamenco are imbued with elements of
fighting intent, while
circular patterns of movement within styles and within the dancer emulate and even
stimulate the

magical consciousness. In an Aeon of war, the Martial/Magickal synthesis indicates a

reawakening of the
body as instrument through which the sense of Presence is once more established.
What we will consider here is Magick as it is involved within Martial Arts, and not
Magick as a martial
art, which would include such exotic applications as exploding sigils, curses and
putting pins in wax dolls,
entertaining as these may be.

THE ROOTS OF THE WILL TO POWER

In The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness, Erich Fromm argued that warlikeness
grows in proportion
to civilization. Overcrowding, as the ubiquitous experiments with rats has shown,
tends to lead to some
reprehensible behaviour; subsequently, the need for lebensraum, for territory. But
civilization has also
increased our mental evolution, our communication with others. We may not inhabit
fellow-feeling too
comfortably perhaps, preferring to keep within our own little tribes, and individually
the requirement
for identity, to become known, or reside in self-absorption, tends to isolate us from
empathy.
Nature being indifferent to human comfort, some of the forces of the natural world
appeared blatantly
hostile. Magic evolved to aid humans in the quest for a better life, and as an
outcome of the need for
understanding existence and for taking charge. In its need for essential control over
chaotic elements it
shared a leaning toward aggression as the will to power with martial activity.
Martial arts that were designed for the battleground naturally had the ultimate
intention of killing the

opponent. Modern versions of these arts tend to take into account legality and the
strictures of
conscience, and are therefore termed self defense arts, having removed the
intention of killing in
favour of stopping an attacker without undue force. That is the idea; in reality it may
not be possible to
apply a compassionate response to a violent attack.
The keyword in both warfare and street level application it will be noted is intention.
In ancient China, as in other cultures, during long periods of continual war, sorcery
was combined with
martial technique. Charms and talismans were worn as means of protection, to add
to a warriors sense
of invulnerability and to increase strength in battle. Swords and armour were
reinforced with
enchantments, and tactics were influenced by divination methods, such as the I
Ching. Sorcerers, priests
and astrologers advised generals and kings on battle strategy. Religious belief, that
is belief in the
unseen or occult, and militarism have had a longstanding relationship.
In due course of story-telling, War as substance became stratified into mythical
being: the motif of
ethereal warfare is repeated in various cultures globally, a mirror to what is effected
on Earth. These
battles often represent a struggle against a ruling authority, the contest revolving
around an expression
of free will.

ESOTERIC REPRESENTATION AS IDENTITY

Magick and martial arts are a continuous currency as role playing narratives
inclusive of dissidence and
non-conformity, qualities essential to a cultures psychic health and informed by

characterisation
through the iconography of sorcerer and warrior.
The Magician and Martial Artist share a signification of occult power, of being
mythologised as more
than human, elevated to an iconic position of mysterium, or holding a countercultural value as
esoterically contracted purveyors of recondite knowledge. The need in general to
have idols, to imbue
the mortal with qualities beyond the norm, creates the form of deity. The Magician
figured as neither
trickster nor illusionist embodies our desire to transcend material limitation. The
Magickal and martial
arts are adopted in a figurative movement toward transcendence. The Martial Artist
studies the
negation of existence yearned for by war, and seeks to refine it, to weave meaning
through it. He/she is
not however a soldier (who deals in the reality of death), but trains instead in the
theory of violence in
order to avoid, modify or overcome it.
Not being recognised as professions as such, except tangentially (the magician as
hierophant or
psychopomp, the martial practitioner as instructor or expert witness), has meant a
certain isolation;
being set apart as outsider, or acting as radicalizing agent, setting a tone for
disorder and anarchy, the
declared martial artist may face physical challenge, the magician a challenge to his
ability in effecting
change.
The stature of the martial artist through history in different societies has therefore
tended to be
ambiguous; regarded either as of a distinctly uncultured caste or venerated as
masters and role models.

Similarly the Magus is treated with extreme respect or shunned. Both practices
induce a feeling of
unease in society, fear of the unknown, or a fear of implied power. An advancement
of human capability
that is promised by these attributions means the possibility of preying on gullibility
or facing outright
suspicion.
Hence the code of ethics that is insisted upon by both martial and magical orders as
their foundation
including loyalty, honour, patience and compassion as the commonly selected
virtues. Sorcerer and
martial practitioner must themselves recognise and discern the practical from the
decorative. Not all
martial theory is applicable in actual combat situations. Not all magical theory
produces results.
Magick as a hidden tradition has been concerned with unveiling the supernal world,
while our current
culture has an ulterior motive, the veiling of the real one. We may be engaged in
conflict with our own
creations against such loss.

MAGUS AND WARRIOR: THE GODS THEMSELVES

One of the Gnostic heresies was that human beings make gods, and worship their
creation (Gospel of
Philip), that Anthropos or humanity was the primal creator. Through history and
culture the godlike
character varies. We could say they are first things, originators, prime movers.
They envelop us, are the
source of some ultimate truth and sovereignty, or are adopted as templates for
identity, the Magus
becoming god-like in his control of nature, the Warrior in his authority over life and
death.

Myth and magick originate in the personification of phenomena by personal

consciousness, every object
or force being given animation.
With night and darkness associated with sleep/death, the dawn indicated a rebirth,
a return to life. The
Return became a foundation for religious belief. Duality also emerged, from the
observation of shadows,
echoes and reflections as a double existence, a world shadowing the physical. And
so images, copies in
the form of idols, statues and icons, were used as a focus for projection. Every force
of nature became a
deity through animism, the attributing of a conscious power.
Animals, plants, stones became worshipped or revered not for their own qualities as
much as being
representative of a being, or an image of a characteristic. The Animal Forms
familiar to many martial
styles are not emulations of physical zoologically classified creatures, but eidolons
informing the student
with an associated vitality.
An idol became the actual abode of a god through consecration. We are apt to
engage martially with our
own spiritual diversions, and as is contemporarily apparent, humanitys most
strident and active
creations are martial gods, vengeful, jealous, overly sensitive to insult and
demanding retribution.
Although gods are clearly and certainly not by any means paragons of virtue (look
at the Greek
pantheon; a collective of rapists and murderers), due to the essential dual nature of
human
conceptions, the demonic arose.

DEMONS AND THE DOUBLE

As the medium of expression for the focus or invocation of aggression in dissociated
form, occult
components of the psyche can be used deriving from the magickal idiom. Here we
will note some of the
more familiar personifications.
The original Greek word daimon was not a negative term but meant spirit, divine
power, and was used
by Plato to define Socrates inspiration. Eudaimonia means good-spiritedness.
A demon however came to be considered an unclean spirit when the pagan cult
statues inhabited by
their gods presence became seen as unwholesome. So the shift to malevolent
attribution, with the
Western medieval concept of the demonic derived from late Roman culture. In other
cultures too the
demonic had an association with dark forces.
The psychological interpretation sees demons as unresolved or emerging negative
aspects of the self,
which may be resolved or integrated back into the personality, sometimes with an
enhanced sense of
self-knowledge. A concept of the world as materially being subject to the demonic
has a Gnostic tone.
The Dweller on the Threshold, a term used in Edward Bulwer-Lyttons Zanoni,
represents the
creature Dante is confronted by in his Purgatorio, Una Lonza, a guardian between
the worlds. Another
example is Cerberus, the three-headed dog. Here we have an instance of the
Positive Demonic, an
entity that presents on the surface as evil but which in effect has a protective
function, to warn of
dangers. In this case, of tampering with the levels of altered consciousness without
due regard to being

fully prepared, especially psychologically. The Negative Demonic does not exhibit
that level of care; it is
single minded and simply wants to tear you apart, slowly and exquisitely if possible.
Further inhabitants of the human constitution seeking resolution include the inner
beast we could
define as separate from the Dweller, and the Double-goer or doppelganger as
aspect of the Shadow,
our dark passenger, each of which could be perceived as a remnant of an older
current of cerebral
development.
The projection of the astral body is a different concept, as the Astral can be seen as
the repository of our
imagining, a treasure house of images. These are forms that have been built up
and are pre-existent, as
the Collective Unconscious; forms we individually make; and ones existing not only
in the imaginary
sphere but also in reality.
The magical Astral form (e.g. Tulpas see David-Neel) which may be encountered
by others as if real is a
vehicle for the projected self, or an exteriorisation phenomenon, though it may not
contain the full
consciousness of the individual. The outward projection of an opposing form is
utilised in martial arts as
a point of focus; this is an example of internal applications of external arts such as
shadow boxing.
As a martial technique, contact with and employment of these aspects is recorded
in shamanic tales of
shape-shifting, such as the early Chinese shaman/chieftain Yu, who could transform
into a bear,
reminding us that the term for the wild Norse warriors, the Berserkers, comes from
bear-sark, or bear
shirt. The Filipino martial art of Kuntao also has a shape-shifting practice, as do the

training methods of
the Russian special forces Systema. The engagement of the oldest part of the brain,
the Reptilian, as a
fighting technique effecting a change in personality is considered to be a
component of martial styles
and posture. (Montaigue). The Dragon/Reptile is an archetype commonly invoked in
fighting.
All of these various imaginative beings, divisions of the self or entities, can be seen
as enfolded not
only in a Magickal paradigm of existence, but also within the Martial perception,
although this is a
feature rarely dealt with in your average village hall Karate evening class.
When deciding to study a martial art it is well to be aware of its native background,
and how it may be
informed by the beliefs of its original as well as current practitioners. In the case of
arts with a Taoist
origin, there are elements of shamanism to consider that are inherent if hidden
within the systems.

THE SPHERE OF CYBERNETIC EQUIVALENCE

The embracing of augmented reality subject to identity transference means the
overlay of digital
information on the corporeal world has extended parameters of personal influence,
realising the
empowerment of the individual, a role traditionally ascribed to the magician or
warrior.
Everyone online essentially now practices a magickal art, the use of the internet
being synonymous with
invocation/evocation, correspondence/connectivity (operations of sympathetic
magic), the sublimation
of power and the attainment of transcendence, journeying to the etheric /electronic
planes (astral

projection), conjuration or the achieving of instant gratification (wish fulfilment or

results magick) and a
new personal environment beyond the conditioned time/space framework (the
ability to walk through
walls).
Other magickal attributions relating to the tech platforms include the Double as
virtual version of the
individual, Gesture technology (as portrayed in Minority Report), and haptive
devices producing
physical sensations with no immediately apparent connective physical causation
(what would in
previous times be thought the activity of disembodied spirits). (Schmidt, Cohen).
Our self awareness as physical beings is increasingly modified, if not even lessened
by the images we
create in alternate space, and digitalised identities can be construed within the
cyberworld as magical
icons with quantifiable psyches constructed in electronic form.
Our intent is directed in a new way, as the physical becomes relatively devalued.
Progressing beyond the
terms Virtual Reality and even Real World, the digital environment informs our
perception of reality,
activities becoming increasingly translated from the physical into this alternate
realm. (Ostrowicki).
An act of rebellion as a magickal martial art is the re-establishing of embodiment, to
reassert the
physical, with some individuals coming offline having found the electronic world still
consisting of the
negative aspects of the real. In extremis, this is engaged in unconsciously by acts of
random violence, as
the perpetrator tries to regain a sense of feeling, with destruction of art and culture
and self-immolation
as negating activities, extinction and oblivion the converse states of being or an

ultimate protest against

loss of the sense of self.
Although we may be shifting to an orientation away from violence (Pinker), the
transposition of
aggression as cyber warfare produces a cybernetic equivalent of martial or
defensive art, the virtual
security protocol.

THE AEON OF WARFARE

It is therefore a truism, almost a tautology, to say that all magic is necessarily false
and barren; for were
it ever to become true and fruitful, it would no longer be magic but science. J. G.
Frazer, The Golden
Bough.
The inventor or prophet of the Aeon of Horus was Aleister Crowley (1875-1947).
Even he apparently did
not initially want anything to do with the idea, having kept the manuscript hidden in
his attic for several
years after it was written.
The Book of the Law was written in Cairo in 1904, between April 8 th to the 10th,
dictated allegedly by an
entity known as Aiwass. It heralds a coming age not of peace, but of discord, and in
this respect is
actually a most accurate assessment of the present times. The presiding deity for
this Crowleyan New
Age is Horus: Now let it first be understood that I am a god of War and of
Vengeance. (Section 3:3).
Some declarations could be straight from the training manuals of radical Islam:
Mercy let be off: damn
them who pity! Kill and torture; spare not; be upon them! (3:18). And there is a
chilling prophecy,

bearing in mind this was written in 1904; I am the warrior Lord of the Forties: the
Eighties cower before
me, & are abased. (3:46).
In his introduction, Crowley summarises history as basically consisting of ages
under the rulership of
Egyptian gods; Isis represents the Matriarchal government, Osiris the Patriarchal
and Horus controls the
present age which involves the recognition of the individual as the unit of society.
He describes the
conditions indicating how this 2,000 year period is now being established: the
prevalence of infantile
cults like Communism, Fascism, Pacifism, Health Crazes, Occultism in nearly all its
forms, religions
sentimentalised to the point of practical extinction. He makes the acute
observation of sport,
competitions and the cinema being devices to soothe fractious infants, no seed of
purpose in them.
We are children. And as at present, with Parisian satirists being murdered for
offending a faith, War
no longer kills soldiers; it kills all indiscriminately.
Crowleys Aeon is most definitely not the New Age, although it shares the same
prediction of a span of
2,000 years. It is essentially the time we live in now, and how it would evolve, for
better or worse, even
he could not predict. It is an age of war, represented and presided over by magickal
beings.
Just as Magickal Warfare was waged during the Second World War with groups led
by such notaries as
Dion Fortune concentrating their Will against Nazism, at present we are increasingly
wary of freedoms
being eroded in the course of Magickal Terrorism, or the use of acts of terror to
distract from what is

happening as a political sleight of hand.

According to the view of magick becoming indistinguishable from science we are
increasingly finding
ourselves in a magickal state of being, where it is part of the real and accepted,
even though so many
aspects of life now are either unreal or fit a new definition of reality. For example our
interactions on
social media, our constant viewing of the world through the lens of a cellphone or
whatever other
handheld device is currently released to an insatiable populace, the shifting of
consciousness into an
electronic realis, and subsequently a more fluid identity.

MAGICKAL AND MARTIAL REALITY

Given that the Magickal Reality, the world of our imagining which may by a subtle
process be translated
into real world effect, is unique for each of us, it may be traversed by employment
of the idealisation of
the Spiritual Warrior, the Grail Knight, which has been formulated over centuries.
The qualities of the
warrior, strength, courage, steadfastness, were invoked as essentials for inner
journeys.
The magical world entails a feeling, a sense of presence. We can add the word
divine to amplify this
sensation, defined by William James as not only the primal and enveloping and real
but also that which
is responded to with a solemnity and gravity. In the translating of mystical
experience by writing about it
we have to fall back on sensory analogue; touch, physical function such as the
Breath of God. As Kant
expressed it, although our concepts of God or the design of the universe are not
properly objects of

knowledge, being objects without a sense-content, we can act as if they are real. We
make real our
perceptions through the human quality of abstraction, a feeling for reality that goes
beyond
sense-content. The sense of reality has its counterpart in a sense of unreality, and
the entirety of our
mental life would be severely curtailed if we only insisted upon a rationalist
assessment of its
observations.
The commonplace view of magic as conjuring tricks, stage theatre and legerdemain
threads throughout
Magick reality, and was a curious instructive feature of such as Blavatsky, Gurdjieff
and Crowley. Illusion
is also treated within martial systems, with deception and distraction being used for
practical reasons in
fighting applications and as a test of students awareness and discernment. An
entertaining example is
the book Secret Fighting Arts of the World, where as a layer of illusion is peeled
away some genuine
foundation is revealed.
Having a keen sense of reality is vital for involvement in both magickal and martial
practice; otherwise
lies the pitfall of delusion as to the effectiveness of what is actually done. Therefore
the emphasis on
achieving psychological balance as an essential foundation for either study,
symbolised as Inner
Alchemy. As abstraction, representations of reality, both practices interpret the
world according to the
desire for absolute control over it.

COMPARATIVE METHOD

The methods of the discipline involved in traditional Western magick are also the
methods of martial
arts. At the very foundation of both are breath control and relaxation. We also have
the necessity of
training the Will, or Intention, which involves visualization practice, and the
performance of Ritual, or in
martial arts, the Form or Kata (a pattern of techniques practiced in sequence),
which embodies the
Content of the practitioners intention. The Sifu or Master acts to initiate the student
into arcane
wisdom as does the High Priest or Adept.
Bruce Lee was a counterpart in his own sphere of influence to Crowley; both highly
intelligent, with an
encyclopaedic knowledge of their subjects, and pioneers of syncretic method. In
Lees case he created a
style, Jeet Kune Do, that blended arts from a variety of sources, aiming at an
alternative to binding
tradition in favour of the recognition of the individual.
Form/Ritual leads to personal spontaneity and creativity, finding ones own rhythm
and way. The rites
are different from the attainment, and in either case we must be alert to the
necessity of utility, what is
right for the moment and most effective, rather than performing by rote or getting
stuck in tradition.
Martial Arts clubs operate similarly to magical orders. The student faces steady
progression through a
series of grades. Some styles of martial art even call their students disciples if they
reach a certain level
where they have a deep bond to the master, with the master presumably exhibiting
an advanced level
of adepthood. Such sifus can be expected to be healers or to demonstrate psychic
type abilities,

and hold the secrets of life and death. B. K. Frantzis writes about his teachers
display of the ability to
move him without physical contact, a phenomena similarly recorded for other sifus.
(The Power of
Internal Martial Arts, p. 241).
Because pushing the mind to extremes and encountering states of being that do not
conform to
consensual reality can be dangerous, in challenging sane perceptions, neophytes
guard against
possession/insanity by girding themselves metaphorically/psychically in armour (see
the Tarot card The
Chariot) and employing the Elemental Weapons. Magick as a battleground is a
paradigm that serves a
particular purpose so long as we recognise it as such and do not depend on the
vision as a reflection of
entire truth. The magician battling his/her own mind and belief, is as cogent as a
personification of
demons.
The Gnostic commending of self-knowledge, psychology as religion, is much the
same path utilised
today, expressed by Valentinus in terms of the four elements. An addition of Spirit
produces
diagrammatically the Pentagram, the five pointed star. Integrating the elements is a
well recognised
means of balancing the psyche, as used both in Western initiatory esotericism and
Traditional Chinese
Medicine. The theory in TCM is applied within the internal martial arts.
To remain unconscious is resistance to gnosis. It is explicitly stated that enlightened
consciousness, the
Kingdom, is not to be expected as an historical event:
When you make the two one, and when you make the inside like the outside and
the outside like the

inside, and the above like the below, and when you make the male and the female
one and the same
Then you will enter (the Kingdom). (Gospel of Thomas).
The Chinese internal styles of martial art also use the elements in a very subtle
way; because they
evolved from monasteries where the aim was the moral and ethical discipline of the
monks, part of the
training was cunningly effected through the physical work. The two melded
together. So the idea of yin
and yang, making the two one, found expression in the art of Tai Chi.
Challenges to the psyche are represented as meeting threatening entities on the
astral (or in mundane
terms, dreaming/nightmares). A question is the nature of response. Rather than
immediately going on
the threat-alert instinct, it could be more enlightening to disengage. A major idea
behind Taoist martial
arts, and as portrayed in The Art of War, the classic Taoist text, is avoidance of
conflict, yet still winning
the battle.

WEAPONRY
The use of weapons has been posited as a factor in evolution, with the suggestion
that mans discovery
of weapons led to a better coordination of hand and eye, so developing the brain.
(Ardrey, Lorenz).
David Carrier of the University of Utah has a theory that the ability to punch
downward as the optimum
striking direction assisted our evolving to walk upright. (See also: Human hand
evolved for punching, a
report on Professor Carriers research in The Salt Lake Tribune, Jan. 28, 2015).
Another reason for

standing upright was being able to develop the capacity to appreciate range and
thus cause harm at a
distance rather than the riskier prospect of dealing with it at closer quarters.
To our earliest basic tools, a rock, a stick (which when lit became a torch, the magic
wand) was added
that most versatile of implements, the knife. With the ambivalent cup or cauldron,
there is the
representation of the four magical weapons seen pictorially in the Tarot, a collection
of archetypal
images. Hence the weapons correspond to the four suits, Wands or Clubs, Swords,
Pentacles or Disks
(the Shield) and Cups. How is the cup a weapon? A clue is held in its association
with the Holy Grail, an
illusory icon that can lead dreamers to their deaths. And as illustrated in the
Aquarian Tarot, the cup
holds a fish, with Poison and Poisson being punningly close enough to hint at the
poisoned chalice;
the end of the Piscean Age.
The knife as primal weapon and magical tool, being both creative and destructive,
truly double edged,
can heal in surgery, cut rope, thread, and cloth, carve other tools such as pegs and
spears, and fashion
idols. With the knife we could incise symbols on bone and antler, creating a
rudimentary script. Such
carvings have been found that date from 200,00034,000 BC. In the matter of
taking life, whether
creatures to eat, or humans, killing is not always the absolute negative it is
assumed to be. There is
mercy killing, and the quickest most effective way of doing this was learnt; which
points to pierce and
arteries to cut.
In the lore of the Middle East, the fallen angels and their offspring, the Nephilim,

were responsible for

teaching humans the killing points of the body, a secret knowledge passed down by
demons.
In China, acupuncture was developed when it was observed that arrow wounds
sometimes had the
unusual effect of seeming to cure certain other ailments affecting the victim.
Therefore needles, first of
bamboo and later of metal, were used to pierce the points outlined as having been
affected by the
arrows, in a healing context. So too acupressure whereby the fingertips alone were
used for healing, or
for killing; the deadly art of Dim Mak, or meridian energy death point striking. This is
studied in other
cultures combative arts too, as for instance the Indian style of Kalarippayatu.
Healing and killing are
indubitably two sides of a coin.
The knife as ritual implement, the athame or air dagger, actually contains all the
elements metal from
Earth, being smelted in Fire intensified with Air, and cooled in Water. It might also
contain the Spirit of a
creature sacrificed, but that is more a form of black magic. To personalise it could be
done with life
force, blood, from the owner. With the formation of the sword, it has been said it
should not be
withdrawn from its sheath or scabbard unless tasting blood. Swords have in various
cultures been
represented as holding a life of their own, named and mythologised.
To more efficiently kill in great numbers the sword evolved as embellished (larger)
knife. The techniques
of use became formalised into training routines. Holding a knife or sword signifies to
the mind the
Direction of Energy or Intention. It is symbolically deeply associated with the mind

and mental
processes, and correspondingly with the element of Air. Therefore it became not just
a practical killing
tool but a significator of virtue; Confucian officials wore swords as symbols of
culture; the Jian or
Chinese straight sword was known as the Scholars sword.
Intense life or death environments lead to intense abilities. In the comparative
comfort of Western
society, we do not have a pressing need to cultivate the skills previous cultures
have. Nevertheless, the
martial forms could contain movements with a spiritual as well as lethal function. In
the Tai Chi straight
sword form, the free hand is formed into a mudra (in Chinese, chuang-tai), the
forefinger and middle
finger extended with the other two fingers curled into the palm and the thumb
folded over them. This is
called The Secret Sword Hand. Popularly used in benediction, it can also be seen in
the As above, so
below Hermetic symbolism (Number 23, the lower hand having three fingers
extended), and in the
sword form either merely represents an original intent of holding a dagger in that
hand, or is used to
direct energy. Some believe it is also used to strike Dim Mak points, but this may be
debatable.
Whatever way we represent the use, it is at a high level a magickal mode of martial
form.

INTERNAL/EXTERNAL
Broadly, fighting styles tend to be classed as External or Internal, although this
may be a loose
definition.

An external style is represented by Western type boxing, or judo, where each move
is quite blatantly
and simply how it is applied in a real situation; a punch is just a punch, a kick is just
a kick, as Lee put it.
In an Internal style, such as Tai Chi Chuan, the meaning of the moves may not be
apparent; the real
application may be hidden, perhaps originally due to the teacher not wanting to
give away his secrets.
Also, the training of the body involves an inner level, including methods of breath
control and the
application of that mysterious intrinsic energy, Chi or Qi. Internal forms are occult
in the sense that
their meaning is hidden.
The internal is reliant upon visualization techniques and engaging the brain
holistically to Ward Off (Tai
Chi technique) entities in whatever form. Between you and your objective is a space
to be traversed, this
is known as Bridging the Gap or Crossing the Void. Bridge methods are effected in
physical combat
and also as an essential magical principle, proceeding beyond the obvious barrier of
our commonplace
view of the world. The element of Time/Space is also under consideration by
practitioners of martial
studies. Physical distance and time scale have as it were been magically shortened
in the world at
large, through more efficient communications. Just as outwardly there has been the
creation of a new
geography by the new tech, so the individual spatial frames in which we operate
have been altered.
Correspondence as magical trope has been realised through The Age of Connexity
(Mulgan).
Getting to the root of magickal/martial power is not external but within the student.
The life force, the

soul, kia, consciousness, or qi are referenced in high grade arts.

Non-Contact Methods, or Harm at a Distance:
We find martial techniques which are on the border of psychic phenomena,
including use of the voice to
immobilize, such as the ki-ai or spirit shout in Karate. A sudden loud sound
demonstrably shocks.
The gaze can be used in a similar manner, almost as the legendary evil eye. A
direct unwavering stare
elicits a fear response, a signal of threat. According to the application of energetic
theory, as an occult
technique, it may be used to drain the bodys energy downward, possibly affecting
the Chong or
Thrusting meridian, the central channel running from the top of the head to the
perineum.
The animal side of ourselves responds with fight/flight instinct to a glare; Aggression
and Fear are once
more co-respondent.

TAO: CROSS, PENTAGRAM AND MAGIC CIRCLE

Given that there are a great variety of martial arts from different cultures with
magical and spiritual
elements, including such as Korokoro, a Nigerian ritual martial art intertwined with
the Korokoro dance,
Indonesian Silat within which you may find the use of talismans, Muay Thai, and so
forth, I will
concentrate upon the more widely familiar Chinese internal styles to provide an
insight into magical
thought within combative training.
The commonly known Chinese internal arts are Tai Chi Chuan, Hsing I and Pa Kua.
All three were linked
together by Sun Lutang (1860-1933), a renowned master of neijia (internal) martial
arts. They represent

different aspects of Taoist philosophy, and they also have legendary founders,
selected perhaps to give
the styles an aura of mystery and kudos.
The Western alphabetical representation of the Chinese character for Tao has in
each letter a
correspondence to the fundamental components of magical philosophy. Taoism is
quite effectively a
magickal system, and one of its magickal principles as example is that of Hsiang
Sheng, or Mutual
Arising.
This principle considers the rather unusual proposition that as we are attracted to
an objective, the
objective is also attracted to us, arising in due course through at times seemingly
random incidence, and
is demonstrated by such practice as Tai Chi Push Hands. Here you follow the
movement of the other
(your partner/opponent) while getting subtly to the point of achieving your goal.

Tai Chi was supposedly created by the alchemist Chang San-feng (10 th or 13th
Century C.E.) when he
observed a crane and a snake fighting, these two creatures representing Yin and
Yang. Tai Chi translates

as Supreme Ultimate, the Chuan part meaning fighting or fist.

The natural aspect of Tai Chi is its stalking energy, as noted by Larry Johnson; slow
steps as if moving
through a forest in the hunt for prey. Also the names of movements are a reference
to animals, such as
White Cranes Spreads Wings and Snake Spits Venom. The moves are not
necessarily an emulation of
the actual animal as an attempt to capture its essence. This referring to nature is a
part of the two other
arts as well.
From the original hermaphroditism or integrated bisexual nature of the Divine there
was a split, a
separation of male and female. In Chinese symbolism the Tai Chi Tu is a depiction
of the principle of Yin
and Yang, but the meaning is more subtle than a sharp delineation or division into
opposites; as a
harmoniously interacting blend, one form turning to the other endlessly,
complementing each other.
The Primal Spirit that moved across the Cosmos pervaded everything with its
essence. The gods were
androgynous, and so were their creations. Adam was a hermaphrodite: male and
female created He
them. It was later that the division occurred from Adams side.
In recognition of the need to restore harmonious polarity, cross-dressing became
accepted custom in
many rites and festivals. For example, attending the shrine of Venus in Cyprus, male
worshippers wore
female clothes while the women donned male garb. (Scott).
Tai Chi then is expressed in the Alchemy of Polarity; or to be basic, its all about Sex.
Hsing I interprets as Mind-Form, or body being led by intention. It utilises the idea
of the Five Elements,

also being known as Five Element Boxing, and its founder according to tradition
was General Yue Fei, a
legendary 12th C. Folk hero, who created it for his officers. (He also allegedly created
the Eagle Claw style
for his enlisted soldiers).
In the Five Element system, a Taoist magical viewpoint is the idea of deities
permeating the body and
residing in the major internal organs (Lungs, Heart, Kidneys, Liver, Stomach).

As the interpretation of Hsing I is given as Mind-Form, or physical action led by

Thought, the I or Yi of
Intention is a very important aspect, the focus of True Will in order to achieve an
objective. This is
reflected in Hsing Is no-holds-barred ruthlessness in application.
Pa Kua or Eight Trigrams is sometimes known as the Martial Art of the I Ching, as it
is based on the
trigrams of the divinatory system, but also uses a circle-walking technique that
derives from a very
ancient Taoist spiritual practice. Tung Hai Chuan, (1797 or 1813-1882), a member of
the Dragon Gate
sect of the Complete Reality school, is credited with being the founder of the
fighting style of
Pa Kua Chang or Eight Trigram Boxing, although he may have been only the first

identified transmitter of
the system. He integrated his knowledge of fighting skills with the circle walking
method he learnt as a
monk.

The walking pattern of the circle produces a reflection of the cosmos upon earth,
and the focus on the
centre invokes either the Double or an intention of some kind according to will.
(Magical stepping
patterns were used by shamans , such as copying the shape of the Big Dipper, or
Plough, the seven
brightest stars of the constellation Ursa Major). Another pattern is to walk two
circles continuously in a
figure 8, with this facilitating (imaginatively) the psychological-magical effect of

meeting oneself, again

as Double.
A further way of circle walking is holding forms figuring animal archetypes and
representing different
energies, such as the Dragon or Phoenix, each one allied to the eight trigrams. And
as a form of
Evocation, there is a saying that When you walk the circle for a time, the Hsien
become present,
credited to the Tao-shih, or Dignitaries of the Tao, the Hsien being the Chinese
Immortals. This brings us
to a conclusion, the circle representing the ineffable, union with which is the aim of
both the magickal
and martial paradigms.

And how then...shall I reconcile this Art Magick with that Way of the Tao which
achieveth all Things by
doing Nothing? But this have I already declared to thee in Part, shewing that thou
canst do no magick
save it be thy Nature to do Magick, and so the true Nothing for thee. (Crowley, On
the Necessity of
the Will, Liber Aleph).

THE OCCULT CONFERENCE, GLASTONBURY, U.K. MARCH 21 2015

WORKSHOP OUTLINE: MAGICK AND MARTIAL ARTS
I.THEORY:
DEFINITION
HISTORY
CORRELATION
SPECIFICATION

II.PRACTICE:
TAI CHI WU CHI EXERCISE
STEPPING PATTERNS
PA KUA CIRCLE WALK AS EVOCATION (CHUAN TIEN TSUN)
HSIANG SHENG PRINCIPLE:
YANG STYLE TAI CHI PUSH HANDS
ROU SHOU (PA KUA CIRCLE PUSH HANDS)
CULTIVATING THE VOID (LIEN-HSU-HO-TAO)

Internet Reference
The several Radical Christian articles and sites giving their perspective on the
Martial Arts tend to be
formed on the basis that other belief systems are false and therefore demonic.
They are therefore particularly worth reading:
Man 25 Years Old (Delivered from Occult Spirits of Karate). Mind Control Booklet No.
12 by Pastor Win
Worley, Hegewisch Baptist Church, 1983.
The Martial Arts and The Occult a cure is out there.
The Spiritual Danger of the Martial Arts. Faithfulword.com
Martial Arts Distraction of many Christians. Blessedquietness.com
Martial Arts Rooted in the Occult. Farsinet.com
Secretdangersofmartialarts.wordpress.com
(In reality there are many martial artists and teachers who are devout Christians
and find no tension
between their faith and their martial practice).
Other observations can be found at:
Boretz, Avron A. Martial Gods and Magic Swords: Identity, Myth and Violence in
Chinese Popular

Religion. The Journal of Popular Culture, 5/3/2004.

Boretz, Avron A. Gods, Ghosts and Gangsters: Ritual Violence, Martial Arts and
Masculinity on the
Margins of Chinese Society. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2011.
Clements, John. Fighting Skeptic Of Martial Arts and Magic Arts. 2010.
Dojo Rat: The Occult Nature of Martial Arts. 2007.
Judkins, Ben. From Battle Magic to Self-Actualization: Understanding the Traditional
Chinese Martial
Arts. Chinesemartialstudies.com, 2014.
Leirpoll, Jarle. Magic as a Martial Art. 2009.
Ostrowicki, Michel. The Metaphysics of Electronic Being. CLCWeb: Comparative
Literature and Culture,
12.3 (2010).
Supernatural Martial Arts Television Tropes and Idioms.
Swiss, Tom. The Zen Pagan: Martial Arts as Magical Practice. 2014.

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