Subverting Reality

              Consensual reality, in most cases, is acutely opposed to the practice of real magick. Practitioners come to find that their entire lives are a constant struggle against the forces of doubt, persecution, and the devaluing of their chosen path in life. Our society, government, and educations are all in conflict with what we as magi know to be true, magick works. Because of this indoctrination and conditioning practitioners are always having relapses into doubt, questioning their sanity, and becoming conflicted with what their famililial, professional, and educational influences would have them believe. While this is an almost unavoidable lifelong struggle, there are ways to temporarily bypass this wall of denial and create effective magical manifestations. The most potent of these will be discussed here, which is in essence ‘playing reality’s game’.
              Consensual reality, while not at all concrete, can be made to work for the warlock instead of against him. Within consensual reality there are many superstitions, cultural attachments, and associations that can be used to empower an act of magick that is done ‘according to the rules’. While indeed a mage is a dynamic force of change, sometimes it is less difficult and more effective to operate within the boundaries of established reality. For example, as with the ouija board mentioned above, most people generally believe (when they don’t think anyone is looking) that ‘black magick’ done to the photograph of a person will work. Even if they say they don’t, even the most atheistic person will get at least a little unnerved if they were to discover that someone had taken a picture of them and stabbed it full of holes.

The point is, if a magus works magick within these ‘boundaries’ of consensual reality, it will actually help to support the actions taken by the magus. This is where the benefits of Aleister Crowley’s “Live like a Magician” philosophy become much more apparent. Its risky admittedly, but if one were to adopt the ‘style’ of what consensual reality erroneously believes to be how a mage is supposed to be, then magick within those boundaries becomes much easier to manifest. For example, consensual reality rejects the existence of a man in a three-piece suit standing on top of a sigil holding a dead chicken and a rain stick. However, consensual reality does seem to allow for the possibility that a Hopi shaman could speak with the spirits of the land through a vision quest. Similarly, consensual reality rejects the idea that a exorcism could be performed by a goth witch on a possessed child using a teddy bear to bind the malignant spirit. Though that same reality allows for the possibility that a Catholic priest could accomplish the same task with the Lord’s prayer and a bible. It’s a question of style and perception.
While this may not work for some practitioners, those who find themselves in need of a break from the constant struggle with consensual reality may find that by playing the ‘part of the magus’ may actually provide some relief and yield useful magical results. In this case, conformity may be the backdoor you have been looking for. Simply identify those elements of magick that seem to be a part of culture, social association, or superstition and exploit them. Who knows, maybe the more magick we incorporate into our personal style and daily lives the more consensual reality will adapt.