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RE: Does Magick Work If You Don't Believe In It?
But you would agree that "belief" is one of the ingredients, if not the active ingredient, correct?
When you mention "arousal," it's difficult for me to not think about sexual arousal. However, I assume you mean any kind of inspiration or provocation... something that will get you going, momentarily heightening your senses.
Would you also consider this part of Awakening?
I'd say that belief is reality, and that magick is an excellent tool for hacking reality. Saying that belief is an ingredient of magick is like saying that wrenches are made of bolts. But in a very technical sense, that's true. Magick is a model and thus ultimately composed of beliefs. It's just not a wrench commonly used on itself.
I wouldn't consider arousal by itself, as an unmixed ingredient, as a part of awakening.
I mean arousal as opposed to hedonic tone. Arousal is like the activity of a car engine. The more you push down on the gas pedal, the more "revved" it becomes. But arousal doesn't do anything on it's own just like revving an engine doesn't mean the car is going forwards or backwards, it could be in neutral. Hedonic tone relates to the what the power of the engine does when it's thrown in gear.
If you're in the telic (goal-oriented) state then arousal will have the hedonic tone of fear as the tension towards the "home" telic tone, comfort. Keeping your head on while you're afraid is part of awakening, not the arousal in of itself. If you were to shift suddenly into the paratelic state, the arousal would remain the same, but the hedonic tone would be transmuted instantly into exhilaration. "Damn the torpedos, full speed ahead!" works . :)
Added for completeness: lack of or relatively low arousal works the same way.. If you're comfortable/ relaxed while telic and shift to paratelic, you become bored which, precisely counter to fear, acts as the tension towards the "home" tone of the paratelic state -- excitement.
I agree that raw ingredients do nothing by themselves. That's why Awakening is so difficult. The ingredients have to be mixed together in the right way for anything special to happen.
Hmmm. Seems legit. :)