The Mystery of the Connection Between Art and Magic
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What is the connection between art and magic? Are artists more likely to be mystics? Is there something magical about artistic creativity? Art, magic, and mysticism are all interconnected. They seem to occupy the zones of human thought and activity that don’t quite belong in the rational, linear world as we know it.
Perhaps there really is a secret marriage between Art and Magic, grounded in the hidden connections between perception, imagination, consciousness, and reality Itself. Let’s take a closer look at the relationship between art, magic and mystics.
Magic
Magic (or magick) is the art of changing consciousness at will. It’s a set of techniques for exploring the mind, exploring the psyche, exploring one’s own internal reality, exploring one’s own potential. It’s a set of techniques for altering the quality of one’s own consciousness and thereby altering the quality of one’s own experience of the world.
If we think of consciousness as a fluid substance that flows through us and through all things, then magic is a way of manipulating that substance, of changing its flow, of shaping it, of turning it this way or that — of, in short, shaping our own experience of being alive.
Art
Art is the effort of human beings to bring something into being that did not exist before. It’s the effort of human beings to take raw materials — words, sounds, images, textures, materials of various kinds — and to transform those materials into something that did not exist before. Something that did not and could not exist before, because it’s something that’s beyond the range of the senses.
Art, then, is the bringing into being of something that did not exist before. It’s a way of taking raw materials and shaping them and giving them a new shape and a new existence. As such, much like magic, art is a way of shaping the human experience of being alive and shaping the human experience of the world.
Art is a way of bringing something new into being that didn’t exist before. It’s a way of changing the world.
Mysticism
The word “mysticism” refers to the direct experience of Reality — the direct experience of the ultimate ground and source of all things. It’s the direct experience of the source of human life and human consciousness.
The mystic does not merely think about this source or talk about this source; the mystic does not merely read about this source or learn about this source from others; the mystic does not merely believe in this source or use this source as a premise in an argument. No. A mystic experiences this source directly, immediately, and completely.
A mystic sees this source with the fullness of one’s own eyes. A mystic feels this source with the fullness of one’s own heart. A mystic knows this source with the fullness of one’s own mind. The mystic is rooted in this source and knows this source as root.
The Connection Between Art, Magic and Mysticism
It seems as if these three things — art, magic, and mysticism — are drawn to each other. It seems as if these three things belong together. It seems as if these three things are related (if not the same). Let’s dig a little deeper and try to understand why.
Let’s start with Magic. Magic is a set of techniques for changing consciousness at will. But it’s also an attempt to directly experience the ultimate ground and source of all things. It’s also an attempt to see Reality with one’s own eyes and feel Reality with one’s own heart. So magic is a set of techniques for changing consciousness and an attempt to directly experience the ultimate source of being.
Now, let’s turn to Art. Art is a way of taking raw materials and shaping them and giving them a new shape and a new existence. But it’s also an attempt to shape the human experience of being alive and shaping the human experience of the world. So art is a way of taking raw materials and shaping them and giving them a new shape and also an attempt to shape the human experience of being alive and the human experience of the world.
Finally, let’s turn to Mysticism. Mysticism is the direct experience of Reality — the direct experience of the ultimate ground and source of all things. But it’s also an attempt to shape the human experience of being alive and the human experience of the world. So mysticism is the direct experience of the ultimate source of being and an attempt to shape the human experience of being alive and the human experience of the world.
Why Is There A Connection Between Art, Magic and Mysticism?
What do these three things have in common? What draws them to each other? What brings art, magic, and mysticism together? The answer is this. These three things share a common root. They share a common source. They are related because they are each attempts to shape human experience of Reality — the ultimate source of being. They are related because they are each attempts to shape the human experience of being alive and allow for the feeling of human experience of the world. They are related because they are each shapes the human experience of Reality.
Art, magic and mystics all have an essence rooted in creativity. The power to conjure something from the imagination, or call the unseen to emerge. Art is magic and magic is art. We are all a part of something much bigger when we take a moment to go a little deeper and create a new a more magical existence.