- A Wizard takes responsibility and credit for their actions.
- Reputation is power.
- With great responsibility comes great power, and with great power comes great responsibility.
To become a master wizard, the candidate starts at the first stage – “They don’t know that they don’t know.” Then the apprentice wizard continues on to “They know they don’t know.” At the next stage, the journeyman “knows what they know.” Finally at the mastery stage, the wizard “just does it.” Abrielle Jones in “The Time Workshops,” categorized the stages as “unconsciously incompetent,” “consciously incompetent,” “consciously competent,” and finally “unconsciously competent.” In moving through the stages, the wizard learns to take responsibility and credit for what they do. Their reputation grows with their power and maturity.
Jones continues, “to deny that we are creating our own future is not to take responsibility for our own energy.” The wizard creates their future in the present, for they are not a passenger but a sailor on the seas of fate. Taylor Ellison, noted magician, says that of of the most magical acts that a person can do is knowing who they are. By being proactive, the wizard changes as the magic changes their future.
In “Mystical Words of Power,” Damon Brand emphasizes “you are a part of the fluidity of your life, with the choice to shape your fate rather than have it happen to you, and no matter how magick helps, your freedom to interact with life means your responses affect your reality.” He continues, “every time something happens, you react, respond, feel something or do something, and you cause change.” The wizard brings change to a situation simply by using magic, When they undertake a magical working the prudent wizard notes the waves of synchronicity. As their reputation grows, so does their power.
The Spiritualist Michelle Leath in “Psychic Integrity,” examines how to determine a reputable reader (medium). Their reputation is built on how well the reader understands the complexity of the spiritual ecosystem. Does the reader maintain their own power, or do they take more from others? Also, do they continue to learn and study? Since a reader mediates between the living and spirits, are they well-versed in the art of diplomacy?
The process of understanding magic entails having a good foundation of how it works. The point of magic is to manifest a particular possibility. The magician’s altar and tools are a means to do that. To have consistent magical practice means daily work at the altar. While there, the wizard notes how the space of the altar is being used, and how time flows through it. The model of magic that the wizard follows – psychological, spiritual, or resonance – will determine how and what tools they will employ in their magic.
Magician Taylor Ellison in “Walking with the Elemental Spirits,” says that “magic only evolves if we take risks and make change to what is known to discover the unknown.” As the wizard puts more of themselves into their work, they change in positive ways. Since the Cosmos is an ecosystem of interconnectedness, their relations move beyond the physical to the metaphysical. By being a diplomat, the wizard’s power increases as their responsibility grows.
Magic entails knowing who you are. One aspect for me is understanding which model of magic that I use. Since I am spiritual in nature, my altar and tools reflect that. Through daily practice, I use tact in the presence of the Gods and Others.
As I move through the stages of wizardry, I become more “unconsciously competent.” What I learned as a wizard is that magic changes you. If you understand the waves of synchronicity, you can make effective changes in your life. I cease to be a by-stander, and become instead an active participant. In being active, I build my reputation from being responsible and receiving entrusted power.
Works Used:
Brand, Damon, “Magickal Protection.” Columbia (SC): The Gallery of Magick. 2015.
—-, “Mystical Works of Power.” Columbia (SC): The Gallery of Magick. 2019.
Ellwood, Taylor, “The Process of Magic.” Willamette (Oregon): Magical Experiments Publication. 2018.
—, “Walking with Elemental Spirits.” Willamette (Oregon): Magical Experiments Publication. 2022.
Jones, Abrielle, “The Time Workshops.” U.K.: Timeslip Books. 2007.
Leath, Melissa, “Psychic Integrity.” Bloomington (IN): Hay House. 2011.
Zell-Ravenheart, Oberon, “Grimoire for the Apprentice Wizard.” New Page Books: Franklin Lakes (NJ). 2004.
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