Grimoire for the Apprentice Wizard

Course One: Wizardry 17

Quest: Listening Like a Wizard

A major wizardly skill is mastering stillness and be-

coming aware of the subtle sound clues that the natu-

ral world provides us. Wizardly hearing attunes you

to the magickal world. Wizards listen, not just with

our ears, but with all our senses, making ourselves

aware of many things that are invisible to others. There

are many layers of sound all around us, even when it

seems to be silent. Feeding all these layers of sound

and the information the sounds contain to your con-

scious mind increases your power and gives your

spellwork a richer, more robust texture.

Try this right now: Relax your mind and listen.

What do you hear first? Next? What else? How are

the sounds inter-related? As you listen, your mind will

begin to tune into many sounds and impressions that

usually go unnoticed. The more you practice this, the

more it will become natural for you to absorb the subtle

sounds and energies all around. You will tune into the

feeling of a breeze on your skin and other tactile sen-

sations, as your sense of touch learns to listen. Even

in a city, the sounds of Nature are everywhere, mingled

with the sounds of civilization. Listen with your

senses, your intuition, and your wizardly curiosity.

Later, try taking a little “Listen Quest” in Nature.

This could be your own backyard, by the sea, or in

the woods — some place that is very familiar or be-

loved. Listen until a plant or a tree, an aspect of Na-

ture, or an animal appears or otherwise makes itself

known, perhaps only in your thoughts. Listen until

the spirit of that animal, plant, or thing (it could be a

rock or a waterfall) has called to you. Once you “hear”

this message, then leave an offering of thanks—corn-

meal, a shell, some fruit, a song, or a prayer.

Lesson 3: Magick Is Always

Power and Change

Magick is what we call various ways of making

changes in ourselves and the world by means that

cannot be explained by currently accepted theories

and understandings of science and society. Of course,

many technologies that we now take for granted—

such as television, cell phones, microwaves, comput-

ers, the Internet, video games, holograms, X-rays,

sonograms, MRI (magnetic resonance imaging),

etc.—would have totally seemed like magick only 100

years ago! As far as most people are concerned, they

still are magick, because their actual workings are in-

comprehensible to most users.

And, ironically enough, many things that are now

widely considered to be in the realm of “magick”—

such as telepathy, astral projection, mediumship, and

other psychic phenomena—were considered to be

“scientific” (as in “The Psychic Sciences”) only a hun-

dred years ago. Some of the greatest founding fathers

of the Scientific Revolution were also alchemists, as-

trologers, and magicians. There has always been a con-

tinual reshuffling back and forth between the realms

of science and magick as theories and fashions change.

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