Mysticism

The Sage Trap

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Ever see someone who wrote a great book of wisdom and gave a few good speeches change into something not them?  Maybe they become some ranting crank, maybe they’re churning out shit, but they’re not the person you thought they were.  I mean sure maybe they were always an asshole, but not every wise person you admire can be a horrible twit.

What the hell happens to these truly people that make their fifth book so full of bullshit, egotism, crank rants, or all three?  Let me propose that in too many cases the issue is they keep going.

Some people have one to a few good books in them and that’s fine.  I mean no one is angry that Lao-Tzu wrote one (OK, maybe two) books.   I’ve seen many authors who do one or two books of advice and happily go back to whatever they do or write something different.

But we all know many an writer that keeps going. It seems that timeless wisdom becomes less wise and more time consuming as more and more books come out.

In our world, being a truly wise person, being a person of insight, means you will get exploited and be encouraged to exploit yourself.  It can be overwhelming enough that an asshole will go for it, and a truly insightful person may not be insightful enough to fall into the trap.

Our capitalist economy is based on finding what makes money and squeezing the hell out of it.  You’ll get book deals and opportunities, speaking engagements and convention schedules.  Why it might even let you quit that job and be a wise person full time – and then you’re trapped as all you can do is keep doing more stuff even if there’s nothing more to say.

You might even say I’m not doing it for the money.  But you may well bloody be doing it for the praise, the adoration, and the confirmation.  You have confirmation people want you, which can boost your ego or worse make you think you can keep helping people by doing the same thing.  Meanwhile the publishers and marketers will be fine to add to their bank accounts thanks to you.

People don’t want you to go anyway!  You wrote one good book that changed their lives, so keep changing it!  Our culture doesn’t emphasize reading and rereading classics, it pushes the new, the latest, the better-than-last.

What our society does not do is say “you left us some truly great wisdom with this book or two, thank you” and move on – and lets the writer move on.  We damn well know one person can change the world with a book or two, but our culture and economy doesn’t let that happen.

Being someone with real wisdom to share can be a trap.

Again I’m not decrying writing a lot of stuff.  I myself write here and under other names on many subjects because its my hobby – though I did have to learn when to stop.  Other people have a lot to say about subjects – something I also do (and also had to learn when to stop).  Yet others savor the challenge of covering a new topic each book, as a friend of mine does.   What I am saying is it’s best to be aware that our culture and economy will wring every dollar out of you, lock you into doing the same thing, and you may well fall for it.

You can be good enough that you eventually end up not good at all.

I start appreciating many a mystic, monk, and weirdo who wrote a book or two, blew people’s minds, then headed into the mountains or started a band or retired to smoke weed.  Sometimes the greatest gift is to shut up and do something else and let people appreciate your brilliance.

– Xenofact

Magical Experiment: The Spirit of Bookstores

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Having decided to share some of my esoteric experiments, I wanted to share a fun and practical one – contacting the spirit of bookstores.

Let me reiterate my previous statements about gods, spirits, and the like.  They are a useful concept that lets us interact with the universe by acknowledging its complexity, living nature, and complex systems.  I do believe there is “something there” but know that like any relationship some of it is what I bring to the situation.

Now with that said, let me move on to my experiment!

I love bookstores and especially love used bookstores.  Many is the time I’ve found some life-changing book or wondrous weird tome that sent my life in better and more interesting directions.  Most bookstores have a kind of magic, anyway, so why not work some real magic with them?

Inspired by Patrick Dunn’s “Divine Magic” and previous experience, I decided to form relationships with spirits of bookstores I was fond of.  They had provided me useful books, so why not reach out to them in a more personal way and form a relationship!

The path I followed was simple:

  1. Take a coin as a gift.  I prefer quarters.
  2. Enter the store and wander around.  Speak to the store mentally, thanking it, acknowledging it, and saying you want to develop your relationship.  You may also acknowledge relevant literature/writing gods.
  3. Leave the coin in some out of the way place.  I slipped it behind some books or down a shelf.  Note this gift and state your goal to build and grow a friendship.
  4. Visit the store when you can and simply talk to it.  Tell it’s what up, ask how it’s doing.  Bookstores are rife with synchronicity potential, and you may find answers appearing in covers, displays, and more.  Speak to the store and see what happens to come up or catch your eye.
  5. Support the store when you can.  Buy something, sell your books there, clean up a disordered shelf.  This is a relationship.
  6. See what happens at the store, what books you find, and what messages seem to appear.

So what happened in my experiments!

Bookstore One – A used bookstore I’m fond of.  After the invocation I’ve had several interesting synchronicities/communications but also found some very rare books.  We’re talking books I’ve never seen sold off, one of them extremely rare.  The store has been a great source of books for other projects and for walking around having “conversations via synchronicities.”

Bookstore Two – A used bookstore I like, but I never felt we “clicked.”  I decided to visit and walk around, chatting with the store’s spirit and hoping to connect.  I stepped outside a bit, and suddenly saw a poster for a book that fit one of my other projects.  Dashing inside I discovered not just the book but a load of other relevant material I hadn’t appreciated.  Since then we’ve just “felt” more connected.  The store has it’s own focus, it seems.

Bookstore Three – Yet another used bookstore that I had some great findings at.  This relationship feels pretty chill, and it’s a great place to walk around, have a mental conversation, and ride synchronicities.  This store seems to be good at “ask what you what, you can find something.”

Bookstore Four – A corporate bookstore.  When I did the ritual it felt very confined, afraid, restrained.  I walked around during the ritual chatting with it – and ended up with a shelf staring at a book I’d been wanting to get (and not a common one).  I had the sensation of someone glad for the attention.

Now of course some of what went on was clearly my interpretation – as in any relationship.  The unusual books I found were very appropriate to my works and in most cases, very rare and unlikely.  The synchronistic “conversations” were usually insightful.  My take is “something was definitely up.”

If you try this experiment – and I hope you do, bookstores are wondrous – some advice:

Do not force conversations.  Talk to the spirit of the store and see what response comes up in synchronicities, books you find, or those moments something “happens.”

Be a friend and partner.  Respect the store, buy from it, sell books at it, etc.  It’s a relationship.

I hope you do decide to try these experiments.  Let me know – who knows what we might try in the future?

The Challenge of Sharing the Mystical

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I’ve written here about my thoughts and opinions on the mystical – religion, magick, and the like.  What I haven’t done is share experiences I’ve had.  As you can surmise, I’ve had them, and had ones that stood up after examination – I just don’t like sharing them.

I wanted to explore why, and the hope that it provokes dialogue, dear reader – with you and with myself.

First, such mystic experiences are to an extent personal. They’re intimate things involving gods, personal motivations, and personal insights.  Sharing such things feels, to be honest, rather cringe as people younger than I say.  It’s like blogging about your marriage or when your friend confided their insecurities.

Second, I dislike the idea of sharing mystical experiences as it sounds like bragging – and the esoteric community has no shortage of annoying braggarts and grifters.  I don’t want to show off, I want to share and learn and have a few laughs.

Third, I fear being misinterpreted.  The realm of the mystical is not easy to communicate, and the bullshit out there makes it even more of a challenge.  I’d rather not accidentally lead someone down a painful path, and I’ve made my own mistakes.  Let’s just say I take Quigong much more seriously after what we shall call “an incident.”

Fourth, I sometimes wonder if I can explain mystical things properly.  I have notes on my experiments going back  about 25 years.  But I have to translate them from “me” to “other people and sometimes I’m not sure what I wrote down.

Fifth, let’s face it, all experience is incomplete.  My mystical experiences, even well-explained, might not actually be useful.  That might lead to people misinterpreting as well.

And, finally, I’ve seen plenty of drama among communities of magicians and mystics, and I want no part of it.  This also means I’m pretty bad at finding fellow practitioners, something I hope to remediate – but I don’t blame myself.

So that’s it.  Still, I think I should start sharing some of what I’ve done, and I am seeking appropriate ways to do so.  I will doubtlessly do some here.

Maybe I’ll share some of what happens here – but in a non-cringe way, of course.  I hope.

– Xenofact