5 Lessons I've learned about evolving magical systems
A deep dive into the evolution of your magical system
I started experimenting with Pop Culture Magic in the mid 1990’s. I’d been practicing magic for a few years at that point and being the geek that I am even, I always found it fascinating how fantasy books, anime shows, video games and other forms of pop culture depicted magic. It also sparked a question:
Was it possible to take magic in pop culture and turn it into a viable technique?
It turned out it was possible. It also turned that when I shared what I was doing with some of the other magicians I knew, they weren’t exactly fans. I was stuffily told by one magician that what I was doing wasn’t real magic.
Yet I was getting results.
I realized that the real problem wasn’t whether or not pop culture magic was viable. It was and is viable. The real problem was the lack of creative innovation on the part of other magicians.
That was the first lesson I learned about how to evolve a magical system. In this article I’m going to share 5 lessons I’ve learned in my magical journey, so that you can benefit from my experience.
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Lesson 1: Don’t let other people tell you what magic is or isn’t
You’re on a journey. You’ll encounter many people who will try to tell you what you should or shouldn’t believe, or what is or isn’t magic. They may have good intentions. They may mean well.
But question everything and find the answer for yourself. And yep, that includes me and Sheena. Just because we’re writing books on magic and teaching classes doesn’t mean that we’re the final authorities on magic.
You’re the final authority on your journey and part of your journey involves asking questions and finding your own answers.
Ultimately, you’ll develop your own systems of magic. You may draw from specific lineages and have specific teachers who guide you, but the journey is still your own. Respect that journey and the twists and turns that will inevitably come as you create your own magical system from what you’ve learned.
Lesson 2: Have a solid foundation in existing magical practices
Lesson 2 almost sounds like a contradiction to lesson 1, but if you want to create your own system of magic, you do need to learn the fundamentals of how magic works. Before I developed any of the systems of magic I’ve created, I had already been practicing magic for a few years and learned the basics of:
Protection magic
Banishings
Purification
Spirit work
Inner Work
All of these foundational skills have continued to be play a significant role in my magical work. I’ve been practicing for over 30 years and I couldn’t have done everything I’ve done without diligently learning and practicing the skills I’ve mentioned above.
Before you get into intermediate or advanced magical practices, learn the fundamentals. It will help you create your own system of magic from a place of informed awareness and experiences.
Are your struggling with learning magic. Comment below and share your questions.
Lesson 3: Don’t try to replicate what you see/read in pop culture
When I started adapting pop culture to magical practices, I didn’t try to replicate what I saw on TV shows or video games or what I read about in books. While I’ll admit it would be cool if I could do a Kamehameha blast, like in DragonBall Z, it’s never been important to me to have special effects magic (as I call it).
When I developed my system of pop culture magic, I was curious about how I could adapt pop culture to magic to get better results. I would ask myself the following questions:
Is there anything applicable in this pop culture I could apply to magic?
Is there a a way for me to create a technique from this pop culture that could be magically viable?
Is there a connection with the pop culture spirit that could allow me to develop a relationship with it?
Asking questions like this helped me to qualify what was viable about the pop culture I was interested, while also allowing me to put aside the elements that were more fantasy than reality.
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Lesson 4: When you come up with a potential magical working, do it and learn from the experience
Sometimes I’ll have people contact me and ask if the potential magical working they’ve come up with is viable.
While I appreciate they want a second opinion, the answer I’ll always give them is that the best way to determine if a magical working is viable is to do the magical working and find out for themselves!
I’m happy to provide my perspective, but magic is personal and a lot of what is shared is based on personal variables that are highly significant to the magical working your are developing.
For example, I’ve had people approach me about their specific pop culture flavor of magic. I’m not necessarily into that pop culture or all that conversant with it. It’s hard to weigh in on the viability when some factors are going to be specific to each person.
There’s also a real thrill in finding out for yourself if something you’ve developed will work. It may not work and that’s an opportunity to get curious and figure out why.
Of course, Sheena and I are always available if you want to run something by us and we do provide magic consults and spirit coaching.
Lesson 5: You don’t need dogma with magic or pop culture
When you develop a magical system, whether it’s a pop culture magic system or something like else space/time magic, don’t subscribe to dogma or canon.
Yes, there are people who have come before you and shared their own works on these topics. Give them the respect they are due, do your research and learn from them, and challenge what they know so you can discover what you can learn.
I never get too caught up in dogma or canon because a lot of times it is suspect. When you come up with your own magical working or system, you need to be willing to step away from the well trod path and find your own answers.
You might note that this has been a theme through the lessons I’ve shared. It’s a theme because it’s not said enough in the magical community, or really by society in general.
The truth is you step into adepthood when you make what your practicing your own system.
I created my system of space/time magic drawing on principles of physics, some pop culture presentations on space/time magic, architectural design and anthropological studies. I also drew on some of the prevalent occult thought and theory on space/time magic that other magicians had shared. But what really made it my own was asking the question: How can I take everything I’ve learned and create a viable system of practice that works for me?
Conclusion
Creating a magical system of your own is a journey. And practicing magic, in general is a journey. I drew on my experiences with pop culture magic because that was the first system of magic I developed. If you’re curious about pop culture magic I’ve included a few resources below.
And we’re going to continue exploring magical systems in August, so if you haven’t done it already:
Additional Resources
If you’re new to pop culture magic or you have some experience but want some additional resources we’ve got you covered.
Check out our Ultimate Guide to Pop Culture Magic and learn even more about how pop culture and magic work together.
Pick up the Pop Culture Magic series, written by Taylor. He goes in depth into how pop culture magic works and how you can get results.
Pop Culture Magic - The original book for magical geeks. Learn the foundational principles of how pop culture magic works. Available in e-book and paperback.
Pop Culture Magic 2.0 - Learn advanced pop culture magic techniques and processes that you level up your pop culture magic. Available in e-book and paperback.
Pop Culture Magic Systems - Create your very own system of pop culture magic in this step by step guide. Available in e-book and paperback.