Theory of Magic two:
Sympathetic Magic
Sympathetic magic is based on the metaphysical
belief that like
affects like. It is the basis for most types of
divination, and many
magical practices.
There are commonly accepted to be two major
subsections under
Sympathetic magic: one is the law of similarity,
ie that which
resemble each other can be used to affect one
another. And the Law
of Contagion,: ie things that have been in
contact with each other
retain the imprint of one another, even when
actual contact between
them is severed.
The idea of sympathetic magic is as old as man
itself and is found in
every culture from Asia to Europe and in every
time period. In many
ways it is easy to imagine that Sympathetic magic
is the earliest
idea of magic, the idea that if something looks
like or calls to mind
a certain set of properties; a certain item or
person; or a
particular effect, then that object can be used
to affect those
properties, influence that person or produce that
effect.
Agrippa gave examples in his seminal work"Three
Books of Occult
Philosophy" of ancient beliefs of
sympathetic magic: especially the
belief that if one took part of an animal thought
to represent that
animal's intrinsic qualities, one could transfer
those qualities to a
human. e.g. the heart of a lion gives courage etc
etc.
In its simplest form, sympathetic magic works on
the principle that
if one makes an image of the person who is the
subject of your spell,
then what is done to the image is done to the
person.
One can then expand this to include the concept
that any resemblence
between two objects means they are magically
linked and can be used
one to influence the other. e.g. in healing it
was long believed
that if a root resembled a certain part of the
body it could be used
to heal that part of the body.
All this can be called the Law of Similarity. ie"like
produces like,"
or that" an effect resembles its cause."
Homeopathic medicine is
based on the same concept as sympathetic medicine...a
trace of a
plant which has certain properties, no matter how
diluted, can be
used to effect the cure.
Examples of Sympathetic Magic, under the Law of
Similarity:
In divination, throwing or casting runes, twigs,
dirt, the lines on a
palm or the use of a pendulum are all offshoots
of sympathetic magic:
even the tarot relies on the idea that the image
drawn thereon imbues
the card with power and with meaning. One good
simple example of the
link between divination and sympathetic magic is
in Palmistry: the
longer the life line, the longer the life.
In magic the trite example but one extremely easy
to remember and
which easily explains the concept, is the (much
misused) idea of
sticking pins in a doll or poppett. Obviously the
idea is that the
pins and needles represent the pain and suffering
you hope to inflict
on a victim! Conversely if you create a poppett
of someone and stuff
it with healing hearbs and work over it, you are
trying to infuse
that person with the healing properties of the
herbs,
sympathetically.
Thus remote healing is usually an offshoot of
sympathetic magic.
Graphology (the study of handwriting) works on
the idea that the
traits of one's character are reflected in the
lines and slopes of
ones handwriting.
Law of Contagion
The idea is that an object once belonging to and
worn by a subject,
retains the psychic impression of that person,
and their aura, even
when no longer in their possession.Psychics often
ask to be given an
item of clothing or personal item of a person,
which they touch in
order to forge a connection with the owner of
said item. This too is
sympathetic magic.
This form of sympathetic magic can be called the
Law of Contagion ie
that things having been in contact with each
other continue to react
upon one and another at a distant even after
contact has been severed
or disconnected. For this reason one uses the
nailparings or hair of
subject when trying to cast a spell over them.
Healing work is
greatly ehanced by having some personal object of
the subject to work
over, again, actual body parts such as hair and
nails work best.
Again the use of Voodoo dolls or poppetts can be
used: the dolls
should be adorned with something once worn by the
subject: the
contagion of these objects enables you to effct a
spell on their
owner.
In an advanced form, herbs taken from a piece of
earth belonging to a
person, retain some influence over that person. A
person born on a
certain day under a certain sign, can be
influenced by herbs and
stones also connected with that sign. animals can
carry influences
too, and a favorite old charm was to take some
hairs from an animal,
eg from a fox, and add to a spell to give the
subject cunning.
In broad terms then these are the differences
between SImilarity and
Contagion but as can be seen the lines are
blurred and there are
large areas of crossover. The important thing is
to understand
overall the idea of sympathetic magic, it is the
cornerstone of Magic
and Spell casting, one of the oldest expressioins
of man's belief in
the Occult.
Summary
From the Law of Similarity the magician infers
that he can produce
any effect that he desires just by imitating it.
And, from the Law of
Contact, or Contagion, the magician infers that
whatever he does to
a material object will equally effect the person
who once had contact
with or possessed the object.
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