I. VAMA MARGA Foundations Of The Left-Hand Path - staticfly.net

and "magician" derive most recently from their Latin forms magicus and
magus, which in turn were derived by the Romans from the Greek magikos.
The ancient Greeks commonly referred to magic as magike tekhne, literally
"the in of the Magi." The modem magician does well to remember the
ancient concept of magic as in art, noticing as well that tekhne is the root
word for "technology". Approaching magical praxis as a delicate balance of
intuitive and aesthetic art form and logical and rational technology – at once
an esoteric science and a Black Art – can allow for a more exacting
approach to the development of this skill.
The Greek concept of magike tekhne was decisively influenced by
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the Iranian Magi, known in the ancient Persian tongue as the Magoi. The
Magi were the Medean priestly caste of Persia, respected throughout the
ancient world for their wizardry. Perhaps the best-known account of the
Magoi is found in the Biblical myth of the three Magi who travel to
Bethlehem from distant kingdom to bring symbolic gifts to the infant Jesus
upon his birth, clearly acknowledging the birth of one of their own, a fellow
magician.
The Persian word magoi is, in turn, connected to the Sanskrit word
Maya, which we have already described as the veil that obscures the illusive
nature of reality from human eyes. Maya is also the very substance from
which the Indian gods form reality, and the divine beings are known in this
context as mayin, or magicians. An understanding of Maya, as the root of the
word magic, commands our especial attention, as it is maya which the lefthand.
path magician primarily works with. By viewing the roots of the word
"magic" through the differing lenses of the ancient Greek, Persian and
Sanskrit definitions of the word, it may he that the modern magician can
attain a more complete understanding of what it really means to be a
magician. For while the definitions of magic have altered dramatically in the
intervening centuries, certain core principles remain timeless and
unchanging.
Now, various authors of many magical traditions have offered their
"definitive" interpretation of magic. As long as one recognizes that every
author (including the authors of this book) necessarily describe what is a
deeply subjective experience when they attempt to define magic, the
magician will avoid being confined by the personal restrictions of any
particular magical theorist (again, including the authors of this book).
However, when one removes the doss or idiosyncrasies of this or that
cultural/personal perspective, certain key components can be observed in all
definitions of magic. Basically, magic is any activity that seems to create
change in the natural universe that apparently defies strictly scientific
understanding of the principle of cause and effect. These changes, which
may manifest subtly or dramatically in tangible reality, or in the psyche of
the individual performing the magical operation, are usually engineered by
the manipulation of any number of symbolic systems that communicate a
magician's will to either an internal or external agency. For the sex
magician, that symbolic system is primarily the human body itself,
especially its erotic energies and ecstasies. Magic always seeks to exercise a
certain measure of control over what can be very loosely termed as "natural"
or "supernatural" forces, according to the vantage point of the magical
tradition within which the sorcerer/initiate operates. It is this aspect of
personal control over universal properties that some scholars of religion
have used to differentiate between religious activity, which is usually based
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on an acceptance of the way things are, and an attempt to harmonize
humanity with this natural external order, and magical activity; which is
usually based on the attempt of the individual to determine his or her own
power in the worlds. Beyond the observation of such generalities, it is very