The three laws of magic
Everything has some level of order.
Including magic.
According to French occultist, Eliphas Levi…
There are three basic “laws” of magic.
This is what he had to say about them…
The three laws are:
1. Human Willpower
2. Law of Astral Light
3. The Law of Correspondence
Quick note before diving into them.
These passages are direct excerpts from the book…
The Essential Golden Dawn.
Now on to the three laws.
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1️⃣ HUMAN WILLPOWER
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Human willpower is not some abstract idea, but a real force that is capable of being trained.
A trained human will is capable of causing change and producing physical effects.
“Nothing can resist the will of man when he knows what is true and wills what is good… Learn how to will. How can one learn to will? This is the first Acanum of magical initiation.”
-Levi
If there were a fourth theory of magic, it would be that willpower must be combined with human imagination. Imagination is what directs and guides willpower.
Imagination must precede the will in order to produce the greatest possible effect.
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2️⃣ LAW OF ASTRAL LIGHT
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This is the invisible spiritual substance that penetrates everything in the universe.
This astral light can be used by magicians to cause change at any distance in space.
There exists a force in nature which is far more powerful than steam, by which a single man, who can master it and knows how to direct it might throw the world into confusion and transform its face.
It is diffused through infinity, it is the substance of heaven and earth, for it is either fixed or volatile according to it’s degrees of polarization.
When it produces radiance it is called light.
It is the substance and motion at the same time.
It is the substance which God created when he said let there be light”
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3️⃣ THE LAW OF CORRESPONDENCE
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Everything in the greater universe has a corresponding part in the lesser universe.
Man, the microcosm, is a smaller reflection and extension of the greater universe, the macrocosm.
To effect a change in one is to effect a change in the other.
The universe we live in is not a mixture of chance factors and events, but an ordered system of correspondences.
There is only one dogma in magic, and it is this:
The visible is the manifestation of the invisible.
This includes the idea that certain objects, symbols or substances are connected to different energies through vibration, color or character.
By using certain…
➥ Substances
➥ Gemstones
➥ Incenses
➥ Metals
➥ Colors
➥ Herbs
The magician is choosing things that will help him concentrate and focus his willpower.