White is the color of purity because you cannot mix any other color with white and still have white. Purity is simply unmixed. Only the pure and wholy may be mages. As a human symbol, it refers to motives. The hand holding the white flower is turned palm upwards, offering it to the heavens, to whatever is highest, to the Self, to the All. Magic is prayer, couched in the language of the Self. Only that which is offered to the on-high and done in a sacred manner may be done by the Art of the Mage. That is why there is no such thing as black magic, any more than there is black prayer. Within this limit, anything may be done by magic. Yet, whatever is done is done in the normal way. It is all done through human action. Mostly the Changer changes himself. The Self arranges those "coincidences" and "chance" meetings in life which provide the lessons and the challenges. That is what we call luck. The Art of the Mage can influence luck. A flower builds upon the energy captured by the economy of the leaf, and provides the cross-pollination and stimulation to start the growth of the fruit. The art of the mage is the flower, hard work is the leaf, a new age is the fruit. The symbol of the flower implies the beauty and fragrance of the fine arts. The Art of the Mage is simply art... painting, music, architecture, drama, dance, literature. Any ritual surrounding the art is just to create the proper mood. Mage-art is intrinsically holistic, quaternal and complete. That is the description of a mandala. "Mandala" is a Sanskrit word meaning centered circle, and Jung finds them in the sacred arts of all cultures, and in the symbolic dreams of children and uneducated people as well as those who have actually seen oriental mandalas. It is a universal symbol of completeness and wholeness of Self. Doing mandalas is the essence of Mage-Art. A mandala creates itself, but it still must be interpreted. Anyone aspiring to be a Mage must master the intuitive art of symbol interpretation. And that requires a holist, one familiar with all phases of human existence, and master of the essential ideas in every cultural form. That may be one reason it is a lost art. All creation has symbolic meaning, i.e., intuitive and emotional associations and overtones. All art is symbolic. All human creations are symbolic. The difference is that the Mage understands the meaning of his creations, and has some control over those meanings. Magic is a mighty power available to all yet known to few, since only those who master the language of symbols can do it. That is why you must study and work hard, learning to interpret dreams, tarot layouts, and mandalas. The world is ripe for new art forms. The "modern" movement is dead; indeed, no really persuasive art form has appeared in western culture since the Baroque. The Art of the Mage can fill this vacuum. The Changer shall transform the world by new art forms. The public will not usually be aware that these new forms express magical purposes and help to bring them about. Even if they recognized the intent, they would not believe in the possibility. You will not believe it either unless you are familiar with the tarot. It doesn"t matter which tarot, get one and learn to do readings. Keep journals, and try to see whether your readings are accurate. lf they are truthful, ask yourself how this can be. There is nothing psychic involved. The pattern is set by the "random" shuffling of the cards. The only "explanation" is that words like "random", or "chance" are just words for higher order patterns the conscious mind does not understand. Remember, there is only the Self. Once you see a pattern in "chance" events, then you can begin to see how magic works. It is just a matter of shifting the probabilities a little here and a little there. The Self can do anything. "Fairy frost at the windows betoken good fortune. Magic are the times now, magickal are the happenings. The Doer has been activated." |