Magickal Link
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Greetings,
I have been thinking much about the Magickal Link lately and would love to hear the views of others. One of my main questions is: Is a physical medium REQUIRED for the link to take place. Is it a link between the Astral plane and the material world? Can it be a link from Briah (directly) to the material, or does it have to come through Yetzirah to the Material?
I can see the link in obvious things like a talisman, or eucharist, but are such things needed? Say for example you wanted to affect an event on the other side of the planet where you had no physical presence, and no opportunity to create a physical item (I think Crowley gave an example of a newspaper being a link). Where is the link in a case like this? Is focused will and intention enough to create an "invisible" magickal link?
And to start us off, I found this in Thelemapedia:
The Magical Link is the connection made in a magical operation between the Will of the magician and the desired object to be affected. The Link can take almost any form, but is commonly described in terms of a talisman (e.g. "To impose one's Will on a nation, for instance, one's talisman may be a newspaper, one's triangle a church, or one's circle a Club."—Magick, Ch 14).
Aleister Crowley divided it into three main categories: (1) one plane and one person, (2) one plane and two or more persons, and (3) two planes. In the first case, the Link is between the self and something about the self to be changed, such as learning a skill or ridding one's self of a habit. In the second, it is between the magician and objects outside his immediate control, such as gaining information or seducing someone. In the third case, the Link is between the magician and something that is independent of or indifferent to mankind, such as the weather.
Crowley believed the proper formation of the Magical Link to be so important, in Magick Without Tears he wrote:
"You must lay to heart Magick Chapter XIV ["The Magical Link"] and never forget one detail. More failure comes from neglect of this than from all other causes put together. Most of the qualities that you need are inborn; all the material is to your hand; and to develop them is a natural process, equally your birthright. But the making of the Link is an intellectual, even mechanical, task; success depends on purely objective considerations." (Ch.LXIV "Magical Power")www.thelemapedia.org/index.php/Magical_Link
LLLL,
David -
@DavidH said
"Is a physical medium REQUIRED for the link to take place."
A material link is only required for material-plane phenomena. However, material links are often the surest (or at least, easiest to use and confirm) links for non-material links. (Consider the "voodoo doll" type link in order to produce purely psychological effects.)
"Is it a link between the Astral plane and the material world? Can it be a link from Briah (directly) to the material, or does it have to come through Yetzirah to the Material?"
Briah's link to Assiah is through Yetzirah so, yes, there would have to be a Yetziratic bridge.
"I can see the link in obvious things like a talisman, or eucharist, but are such things needed?"
No. There are other ways. One large category of ritual includes those where a change is sought in the magician, or where the magician is expected to be the agent of execution. In that case, you already have your link, because there is inherent linkage between the four worlds within your own being.
"Say for example you wanted to affect an event on the other side of the planet where you had no physical presence, and no opportunity to create a physical item (I think Crowley gave an example of a newspaper being a link). Where is the link in a case like this? Is focused will and intention enough to create an "invisible" magical link?
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It depends on what effect you want to produce. What plane is it on? What's the nature of the event? In some cases you may have to "roll up a plane" before it rolls back down: The newspaper example is one of producing an effect in Yetzirah (a change in someone's mind) intended to trigger them to produce an effect in Assiah (take action). When you do this, you introduce more variables and give up fine-grain control because there is a lower certainty of (for example) whether the person will take the specific action you want in response to the psychological stimulus you apply. -
Thank you Jim, that clarifies much. I still am having trouble understanding the link mechanics in certain situations.
I understand for example the newspaper because the newspaper itself is a link from your magickal act to the target (reader). I understand that a desired change in yourself needs no such device since as you say, you are the bridge. But what about when the subject of the Ritual is not connected. Take your Voodoo doll example. Your Ritual has the doll as a link from the Yetziratic to Assiah correct? But the subject itself, the person, never has touched or seen, or even knows of this voodoo doll which holds the link? So I get how it gets from Y (yetzirah) to A (assiah), but how does it get from A to the ultimate subject? In the newspaper example it goes from Y to A, and then A to the subject.
Or does it work simply because the subject is part of Assiah so therefore any link to Assiah can affect anything within Assiah?
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@DavidH said
"But what about when the subject of the Ritual is not connected. Take your Voodoo doll example. Your Ritual has the doll as a link from the Yetziratic to Assiah correct? But the subject itself, the person, never has touched or seen, or even knows of this voodoo doll which holds the link? So I get how it gets from Y (yetzirah) to A (assiah), but how does it get from A to the ultimate subject? In the newspaper example it goes from Y to A, and then A to the subject."
To make a proper voodoo doll, you have to have something from the person it targets - such as a lock of hair etc. Otherwise, you can't link it up (at least, not in the classical sense). The doll therefore is a direct physical link to the person, which, therefore, through his or her body can affect his or her mind.