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Karl Hans Welz:
Magic of the Future©

The human characteristic to abstract, to order and to generalize led to the establishment of magical hierarchies.

Good examples are the many mythologies. Each god has a specific function.

The god may be contacted with specific dances, sigils, colors, ceremonials, etc., then the god will do the bidding of the magician.

Medieval grimoires are condensed mythologies that have had the purpose to provide the magician with those things that the magical practices of organized religion could not deliver.

Each one of the entities in such a grimoire has its symbol and often a set of barbarisms (sounds that are not language) to call them.

In more advanced cultures the mythologies connect with the astrological system.

In this case happened a shift of correlations:
from correlating with natural phenomena in the direct environments the gods shifted into correlating with the powers of the planets that generate trends.

Another development is the establishing of alphabets.

Each of the letters is assigned a specific meaning.
Primitive logic plus tuning into metaphysical reality brought forth several sets of equivalent structures that we can regard as being true symbolisms.

In these sets the position of each of its elements in relation to all other elements is of crucial significance.

In all cases where such an alphabetic set connects with the astrological system we find a basis for a true symbolism.

Such sets of equivalent structures usually relate to many different methods to establish the specific structures as described above.

Of a god you have a sigil, a name, a mantra to chant, a color, a metal, a planet, a letter, etc.

A good magical hierarchy is all encompassing.

By this we mean that a good magical hierarchy should have the flexibility to connect with any trend that we intend to generate.

The elements that we may read into the cosmic radionic device (the astrological zodiac) represent a natural hierarchy.

The ten Sephiroth of the tree of life represent a system of abstractions that have a similar flexibility.

The Eighteen Sacred Futhork Runes that connect with the periodic system of elements relate to a system of creative energies.

Most religious and mythological systems fulfill these criteria.
It has proven to be an advantage on magical work when the sets of equivalent structures of a magical system correlate with basic human experiences.

These are patterns of sensory experience, established methods of thinking and communicating such as spoken language and body language, psychological structures, socially established patterns of interaction within groups and with the environment, primary abstractions, etc.

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© Copyright 1986 by Karl Hans Welz.
This course may not be reproduced in whole or in part by any means without prior permission in writing from the author.