Magic and the Supernatural - Lancaster University

Brian Feltham
__________________________________________________________________
on a flavour of profundity from their association with the transcendent experience
itself.
These experiences of spiritual evil and good may expand the range of our sense
of meaningfulness in various ways. First, by leading to beliefs in the existence of
God or supernatural power. The experience may have been understood as being
‘of’ the supernatural; or else being put in touch with the transcendent may open us
to accepting what might seem incredible. Second, the experience - and perhaps the
possibility of repeating it - may give meaning and purpose to our practices. The
experience may be a large part of the point of magical practices. Where the
spiritual experience is intimately bound up with a magical practice it imbues that
practice with spiritual significance. Third, while we may not be able to retain a
perfect recollection of the spiritual experience, to access it as we wish through
memory, nevertheless it can certainly leave an enduring effect. Our way of seeing
the world, of understanding the scope of possibility, of measuring human
achievements, can all be altered by a sense of there being something more lying
just beyond the more mundane, everyday life. In the case of spiritual evil, this
greater meaningfulness may, of course, be far from welcome; but this hardly
lessens its significance. A significance which may be so great as to be described as
‘cyclopean’.
Notes
1 The issues dealt with in this chapter are explored in much greater depth in B.
Feltham, ‘Magic and Practical Agency’, Rational Magic, S.E. Hendrix and B.
Feltham (eds), Inter-Disciplinary Press, Oxford, 2011.
2 This adapts an idea from J. Raz, Engaging Reason, Oxford University Press,
Oxford, 1999, p. 64.
3 J.D. Hawkins, Understanding Chaos Magic, Capall Bann Publishing, Chieveley,
Berks., 1996, pp. 70-72.
4 Genesis 22:1-19. S. Kierkegaard, ‘Fear and Trembling’, Kierkegaard’s Writings,
Vol. VI, H.V. Hong and E.H. Hong (eds), Princeton University Press, Princeton,
New Jersey, 1983.
5 A. Machen ‘The White People’, The White People and Other Stories, S.T. Joshi
(ed), Chaosium, Haywood, California, 2003, p. 63.
6 A. Crowley, Diary of a Drug Fiend, Weiser Books, San Francisco, California,
1979, Book I, Ch. 2, p. 24.
7 Pseudo-Dionysius, Pseudo-Dionysius: The Complete Works, C. Luibheid (ed),
Paulist Press International, Mahwah, New Jersey, 1993.
8 ‘By their fruits you shall know them.’ Matthew 7:16.
7