User:Charlie/Protocols for Magic
✧ Protocols for Magic ✧
Description
It positions Magic and Art as concepts in flux, inherently personal, yet always shaped by the larger systems they exist in. Whether implicit or explicit. As such, Art as the conduit to Magic, "magical Art", is always subjective but never neutral. In other words, my thesis does not aim to find a pseudo-universal framework for the interpretation of Magic, but rather, investigate varying possibilities for practicing art-based Magic through personal creative expression. Leaving the necessary space to incorporate personal belief and symbolic systems when engaging with Magic.
Current points of research
✧ Creative/artistic expression as a personal conduit to Magic ✧
✧ Active protocols - Learning through making ✧
✧ Doing Magic through artistic/design approach ✧
✧ Comparing different definitions and understandings of Magic ✧
Workshop ✧ Prototyping class ✧ 03/11/25
Workshop Goals
The main goal of this workshop is to investigate how to introduce people to different Magic practices/concept through descriptions, examples, analogies and most importantly: Active protocols for individual and collective experimentation. This workshop therefore includes a variety of prototypes ideas for Magic protocols.
Introduction
Before proceeding, here's a question to the group:
And how would you define it in your own terms?
Existing definitions...
① Dictionary definitions usually describe Magic as a force, or the employing of a force outside of the bounds of current scientific understanding or measurable natural laws, able to affect reality, attributes of reality or someone's perception there of. With the "force", i.e. the (supernatural) source of magic depending on cultural, historical and religious context and believes. (position: neutral to skeptic)
② The academic approach to defining Magic tends to frame Magic as a “mode-of-thinking”, the lens through which one may perceive, makes sense of and engage with the world. Through this view, the idea of Magic (as described in ❶) becomes an analytical framework, a human phenomenon based in Magical Thinking. (position: skeptic)
③ A third but less common approach (including academic sources) may attempt to form a synthesis of the two former perspectives. Magic both as a mode-of-thinking and a force. In this view, the force is conceptualized as the relational connection of the human and the material world/the universe/reality. In this view, Magic lays in the understanding that the human (in body and consciousness) is part of a greater system. And can therefore be influenced by and effect influence on "it". Magic is enacted through the seeking of knowledge, observation and engaging with the world with intention and purpose. (position: agnostic)
Part One ✧ Materials..
For every definition and theory on Magic exist even more ways in which different forms of Magic (practices) may be categorized.
A common yet maybe outdated perspective, is the use of terms such as white vs. black Magic, also referred to as benign vs. malign Magic (Gosden), which usually refers to the moral intent ascribed to certain forms of Magic (i.e. healing spells are seen as benevolent and good, whereas curses are often seen as harmful and bad). Propagated by religion (i.e. Christianity and Islam) and popularized through media, this binary categorization has been used and abused to target and persecute minority groups and cultural practices, throughout history.
Looking at other examples, ancient and contemporary societies that practice Magic (i.e. as an integral part of their culture and religion) may make the distinction between high and low Magic (in varying terms). This distinction usually denotes the forms of Magic and their practitioners' position and function within a societal structure. "High" forms of Magic may be practiced by priests/priestesses, shamans, oracles or others in elite positions. This may include ceremonial and ritual magic, complex divination methods and other more "scholarly"/learned forms of Magic. "Low" magic, also referred to as folk-magic or natural Magic, usually includes Magic employed by the commoners within a society. These "more accessible" forms of Magic can be simpler divination methods, charms and spells and/or other folkloric practices and traditions.
There exist many more ways with which to categorize Magic practices.
However, the categorization we will be using today will incorporate aspects of folk magic and elements of Sympathetic Magic, more specifically, the "Law of Similarity" within Sympathetic Magic.
Sympathetic Magic is an umbrella-term that is sometimes used to categorize magical believes (ranging from primitive, ancient to contemporary examples) which are based on the concept of "like produces like, or that an effect resembles its cause"[1] — The Law of Similarity. In other words, the belief that one may effect Magic onto an object, person or state by invoking its resemblance through imitation (visual/aesthetic representation) or correspondence (symbolic representation/association).
Today's Protocols for Magic:
❶ Spells: Verbalizing an intention
❷ Sigils: Interpreting through abstraction
❸ Correspondences: Creating collective associations
❹ Talismans: Crafting with visual symbols
Spells
A spell is a set of words or formulaic sentence(s) believed to hold magical power and/or be used to verbalize an intent with which to enact Magic. It can either be expressed orally through speech, song or chant, or sometimes work in written form on a amulet, talisman or other magical objects. Spells, also referred to as incantation or charm, can be an integral part of many different forms of Magic, such as rituals and prayers. The ways in which to compose/construct a spell can vary drastically. I.e. How concise or elaborate, simple or rhyming, direct or metaphorical a spell is and how it is performed may depend on context and purpose, or the preference of individual practitioners. In written form, spells may take on an additional visual aspect. The text may form a specific shape or compositional structure.
Example: One of the most well known magical spells is "Abracadabra". Although its exact origin is unknown and it is mostly known as a gibberish word spoken by stage magicians, today, archeological finds date it back to Roman times as an incantation written on amulets and talismans. Many different theories on its meaning exist, including that it was believed to have healing/medical powers if worn on the body.
The power of spells lay in the almost universal believe that language holds power itself (spoken, written and signed, magical or otherwise). Words carry meaning as the basis for connecting with each other, verbalize ideas, emotions and values.
Analogies..
The easiest analogy for spells and charms can be found in everyday language and forms of speech. Whose origins often lay in the folkloric traditions of wishing someone good fortune through common greetings, expression and song:
"Good morning"
"Good luck"
"Knock on wood"
"Happy Birthday to you, happy birthday to you.."
✧ Protocol for Spell-Writing ✧
① In one short sentence:
Write a spell reflecting an intention/wish/hope for this coming graduation year.
② Time: < 5min
Sigils
Sigils are pictorial images/drawings used to visually represent ideas and intentions for magical use. Sigils range from simple symbols to elaborately composed signs. They may be constructed following strict codes and logic (formulas) or be drawn intuitively, depending on the Magical practice. Sigils are used in ritual magic to invoke spirits or entities, are put on all kinds of objects as symbols of protection or enchantment, or can follow other uses. Sigils can also be used as the pictorial/visual representation of a spell or used as the symbolic representation of magical components/materials/ideas.
The Magic of sigils as a (creative) tool lays in its abstraction, and subsequent obstruction of the magical intent. The process of abstraction can force the maker/practitioner to deconstruct and reinterpret an idea through a simplified visual code. Breaking down ideas into its most crucial components. The element of obstruction sigils add can be two-fold. Working with secret/abstract symbols may enable someone to hide meaning/intention/magic from an onlooker, which can have its advantages. It can also be an exercise in visual communication. How can I formulate a specific idea through symbolic composition? The intention may dictate someone's personal approach to sigil Magic.
Examples..
Goetia, sigils of demons and angels
Sigils for love magic talismans
"Snake of the East" by Gemma Gary
Sigils representing wiccan/neo-pagan holidays
Are there demons trapped beneath the hull?
Alchemical symbols/sigils
Analogies..
We interact and use simplified signs and symbols to convey and invoke ideas, emotions and underlying messages, everyday.
Punctuation in the alphabet
! -> exclamation mark -> draw attention, mark importance, covey concern, etc
? -> question mark -> state uncertainty, confusion, etc
... -> triple dots -> unstated information, something is left unsaid, etc
❤️🔥🍀✨🌀💯👀🙏💀🎯✊💦⛓️💥💸 ->Some modern Magic practitioners may use emojis
as a digital equivalent to sigil-magic.
Graphs and charts
Sigils (in its more elaborate forms) could also be compared as the magical equivalent to graphs and charts. A compact visual aid to conveying information, structures, connections etc.
✧ Protocol for Pictorial Interpretation ✧
⚠ Feel free to use the given symbols as a template, as well as incorporate your own symbols, merge symbols, elaborate on them or create compositions, etc. Just make sure to choose at least 3 to 6 "symbolic terms" to interpret your spell, as they will become relevant later.
② Time: < 5min
Correspondences
In magical terms, correspondences is used to mean the symbolic associations we give to particular objects or ideas. Magic that aims to target, speak or invoke aspects of a certain object, person or state may use the given correspondences of a target, when constructing a Magic ritual, spell or artifact. It's concept lays in the basic idea of "like-is-like", creating a "magical link" with an object by employing its representative form (like in the Law of Similarity of Sympathetic Magic). This can be done through the more direct visual representation, or attributes of a thing (likeness, shape, color, material, etc). Or more abstract representations (i.e. ideas, symbols and metaphors, like emotions, plants, animals, etc).
Example: The sun may be visually represented through the color yellow or white, a round shape or a visual depiction of sun rays. It may also be associated with more abstract symbolic interpretations, such as the passing of time, giver of life, the lion or gods/God.
The concept of correspondences has its origins in many ancient cultures and practices. Some archeologist believe ancient cave paintings may depict primitive forms of correspondence magic. Invoking animal spirits for a successful hunt by painting them.
One of the most well-known and popular forms of correspondence magic may be found in Astrology, where each zodiac sign has its associated planet, color, number, stone and more. Similarly, tarot cards (and other forms of divination) also use correspondences. (See picture)
Its important to keep in mind that correspondences/symbolic associations are not universal, but are ever-evolving signifiers that reflect the cultural, religious, material and historical contexts in which they emerge and exist in.
Many belief systems and practices may incorporate and work with a defined set of symbolic associations. However, correspondences can also be personal and informed by an individuals, or group’s lived experiences, believes and own symbolic associations.
Analogies..
To make a simple contemporary analogy for correspondences as symbolic associations;
In marketing and design, certain colors may be used to signify and convey underlying ideas based on people's/society's preconceived associations:
Red -> passionate, sensual, aggressive..
Orange -> warm, fun, utilitarian..
Yellow -> soft, light, friendly..
Green -> natural, organic, healthy..
Blue -> medical, clean, official..
Purple -> mystical, luxurious, emotional..
Pink -> bodily, feminine, playful..
✧ Protocol for Collective Correspondences ✧
① Together create an archive of collective color correspondences.
By assigning each symbol on the table to a spot on the color spectrum:
② Time: < 10min
Part Two ✧ Crafting with Magic!
After having looked at different Magic concepts and practices, we will be incorporating all these components into the crafting of a Magic Artifact — A Talisman.
Talismans
Talismans are one of the most ancient and cross-cultural example of magical artifacts. Either worn on the body as jewelry, a brooch or pendant, or placed in a space as an object, statue or wall-hanging, for example — Talismans are usually characterized as small(ish) material objects made for the purpose of casting Magic on a person or surrounding. Although talismans are sometimes referred to as amulets or charms (object) interchangeably, the latter two are usually objects used for the purpose of general protection or good luck magic. Talismans may incorporate more specific/elaborate magical purposes (including protection and luck). Like the protection from specific influences, good fortune in a specific field or as the surface material to inscribe specific spells and incantations.
Talismans can be made of all kinds of materials: Stone, clay, paper, wood, glass, metal, plastic, textile and more. Or a combination there of. And they usually represent or bear their magical intention/purpose through visual and material symbols, text (spells, prayers, sigils..) or other forms of magical and folkloric associations.
Examples..
Ancient Byzantin talisman
Freiskette: " (..) or convulsion chain combining amuletic beads and other items of religious and folk medicine origin, a tradition dating from the 18th and 19th century." [1] (Origin: Austria-Bavaria)
Cimaruta: "(..) Worn around the neck or hung above an infant's bed to ward off the evil eye. (..) supposed to represent a branch of rue—the flowering medicinal herb."[2] From Italian cima di ruta meaning "sprig of rue". (Origin: Southern Italy, neo-pagan practice)
Fulu: "(..)asemic Taoist magic symbols and incantations, translatable into English as 'talismanic script', which are written or painted on talismans by Taoist practitioners."[3] (Origin: China, Taoism)
Kurdish Jewish talisman/amulet
Hamsa: "(..)used as a sign of protection in many times throughout history, the hamsa is believed to provide defense against the evil eye." [4] (Origin: North-Africa, Middle East, Mediterranean, Mespotemia. Islam, Judaism and other religions)
✧ Protocol for Talismans ✧
① Create a talisman Using the previously crafted sigil(s) and correspondences, and by incorporating your found materials.
As you craft, you may think of each component as representing a different aspect to your Magic:
- Found object -> Past/Offering
- Correspondences -> Present/Collective
- Spell/Sigil -> Future/Intention
③ Present it to the group & hang it on the talisman tree
② Time: < 30min
✧ Post-Workshop ✧
✧ The Talismans! ✧
Feedback & Reflection
See: GRS Process Log & Feedback PAD
Prototypes ✧ Try-Out Night ✧ 01/12/25
Goals
My primary goal for the Try-Out Night was to present and test an updated version of my first Protocol for Magic Circles, by combining it with the Sigil protocol of the prototyping workshop. I also wanted to create a variety of new Protocols for Magic that people could engage with individually and as a small group. Unfortunately, I was only able to present one more protocol, due to time constraints.
However, it was a good opportunity to experiment with the printed design and visual presentation of the protocols!
Protocols for Magic Circles 2.0.
Magic Circles
The term Magic Circle may mean different things depending on context. At its most basic, it denotes a circle (or other shape) in which Magic is enacted.
In its first meaning, a Magic Circle may refer to a demarcated physical space in which one performs a ritual or casts some form of Magic. This may be a visual boundary created by either drawing a circle on the ground (popularly with chalk, salt or other material) or the physical forming of a circle of people. It may also be a symbolic space formed through an imagined boundary or ritual. This form of Magic circle can also be performed in combination with the latter form.
A second meaning may refer to Magic Circles as a pictorial form of Magic. Meaning, a drawn or crafted composition/image that is used to cast a spell, invoke an entity, or visually represent some other form of magical intent and purpose. In this context, Magic Circles work alike, or similarly to sigils. They are a form of magical pictograph or visual spell, a method of "casting" Magic through symbolic abstraction and forms.
✧ Protocol ✧
Individually:
① Draw one of the Spell cards to see which spell you will work with.
② Transcribe your spell by interpreting it through the terms represented in the Table of Symbols.
③ Create a Magic Circle/ sigilic composition based on your previous symbolic interpretation.
Components
Table of Symbols
Spells
~ derived from song lyrics ~
✧ Born of one emotion, our devotion's deepest ocean ✧ Dream Sweet in Sea Major - Miracle Musical
✧ Disguised hides the face of the snake awaiting your disgrace ✧ Black Hole Sun - Soundgarden
✧ Going in the wind is a piece of the truth and it is naked ✧ Verbatim - Mother Mother
✧ A room full of witnesses yet no one ever sees nothing ✧ Sinking Boat - Infinity Song
✧ Who will mend this broken star is whom's strength I will sleep on ✧ Ritual Spirit- Massive Attack
✧ Across the world and the seven seas, the sweet pursuit never ceases ✧ Sweet Dreams - Eurythmics
✧ Spinning and weaving around each new experience, my body feels eternal ✧ Parabola - TOOL
✧Break the silence to damn the dark and damn the light ✧ The Chain - Fleetwood Mac
✧ All we know shall grow from the dirt until it punctures the sky ✧ Tree of Life - Little Fools
✧ For the love of your ghost, I reanimate your bones with my belief ✧ True Believer -Hailey Williams
Protocols for Altarcation
An altar is a centralized space in which one places items of worship and offerings, and/or performs prayers, spells or other ritual actions. It most often exists in the form of a raised platform, table or flat surface of many kinds.
An altar can be a permanent or temporary structure, it may be a shared or one's individual space of worship, and it can serve one specific or many versatile functions.
How exactly an altar is used, crafted and arranged varies across religions, belief systems and traditions. It most commonly functions as a space to honor and connect with a god/gods, deities, ancestors, spirits, other entities, or symbolic figuration.
In any case, each object placed upon, or action performed on an altar serve a specific purpose, reflecting the intention and symbolic values connected to an altar's function.
✧ Protocol ✧
In a group of two to three:
① Each person take a devotion card and read your prompt without revealing it to each other!
② Together, choose a blank paper altar
③ Together, create one altar that (secretly) fulfills both your prompts, by cutting-out, arranging, drawing, collaging with the available material.
④ Once done, reveal your secret prompts to each other and give your collective altar a new title!
✧ Post-Event ✧
(...)
☆✎ Results ✄⚘
Protocol for Magic Circles 2.0.
Key observations:
- People needed/wanted visual examples in addition to the written protocol
- People looked quite focused on the task and all took longer than expected
- Half of the people thought the spell printed paper strips were stickers and were trying to remove a foil. (Design issue)
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Feedback summary:
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Reflection & future plans:
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Protocol for Altarcation
Key observations:
- Everyone appreciated the collage material
- Each group seemed to automatically divide the altars into separate sides, instead of creating a merged composition
- At the end, each group spend a long time trying to guess each others prompt cards, as if that was part of the procotol -> May be an issue of phrasing -> Or, a fun part to incorporate into a second version
Feedback summary:
- (...)
- (...)
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Reflection & future plans:
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Feedback Form Questions ✍
① Did you find the explanation of the topics/concepts sufficient and understandable?
② Did the given information help you engage with the protocol(s)?
③ How did you feel the protocol(s) related to the presented topic/concept?
④ Have you engaged with any of the concepts prior? (Y/N)
⑤ How did the protocol(s) relate to your personal opinion/experience of the topic?
⑥ Did the protocols offer you a creative method of engaging with the topic? How or how not?
⑦ Other feedback you may want to give? Share your opinions, suggestions, etc..
✧ Prototypes ✧
Goals
(...)
Protocols for ...
Title
(...)
✧ Protocol ✧
① ...
② ...
③ ...
Results
(...)
Protocols for Counter-Hexing
Hexing
Hexing usually refers to the casting of a spell on a person or thing, with the intention of causing misfortune or harm to the target.
A hex is similar to a curse (and may be used synonymously). However, whereas a curse is intended to be long-lasting/permanent, a hex is usually denotes magic with a short-term or one-time effect.
Counter-hexing
Counter-hexing refers to the casting of a spell with the intend to "break" a hex/spell/curse cast onto you or someone else. To "break a spell" may include performing some sort of protective spell or ritual magic that aims to annul, free or cleanse someone from a magical effect. A counter-hex may also mean the redirecting of a hex back to-, or the casting of a new hex with similar/equal effect towards the person who cast it originally.
In some situations, one may first need to identify the origin, method or specificity of a hex in order to know how to counter it.
✧ Protocol ✧
Imagine:
⓪ As you realize your misfortune, you recount your day and its strange occurrences. By filling out the cloze text, you attempt to collect clues and figure out how to craft a counter-spell from your findings.
(...)
Results
(...)
Workshop ✧ Zine Fair ✧ 31/01/26
Protocols for Spells'n'Crafts - hosted by Charlie
Workshop Structure & Goals
- Welcome & Introduction
- Quick question to the group
- The Protocol
- Crafting time!
- (..)
This workshop is part of Protocols for Magic — A graduation project placed at the intersection of Magic and Art, wondering how exercises, tools and games inspired by methodologies and mediums in the field of art, crafts and design can encourage the development of novel and idiosyncratic modes for the practicing of Magic, through creative expression..
This workshops explores a new prototype within my project research, two fun and experimental decks of cards that encourages a more personal and creative approach to spell casting crafting.
Project introduction
Protocols for Magic aims to explore novel and idiosyncratic modes of practicing Magic through Art. It bases itself on the definition that Magic exists through connection..
The project prototypes, in the form of protocols, are applied as frameworks to engage with a multitude of preexisting Magical concepts through creative play and arts-and-crafts based mediums.
While each protocol tries to offer concise and useful insight on the Magic practices the project takes from, the protocols are designed to encourage a more intuitive and personal exploration of Magic. (...)
The project encompasses the understanding that intuition is both innate and actively shaped by our experiences and biases. Therefore, it may itself act as a device to..
Interlude question:
Have you ever practiced Magic before? Tell us about it..
Protocol for 𝓢𝚙𝕖𝕝𝑙𝘴﹛𝑛﹜𝑪r𝚊𝕗𝘵𝓈
The following protocol introduces Animism, applied as an alternative mode to practicing a more embodied and relational form of Magic through arts, crafts and material.
Thoughts on animism..
We tend to think of animism as being primitive. Some archaic world view reserved for indigenous cultures at the outskirts of "the modern world". But humans naturally engage in animistic behavior, all the time.
⚘ The wind howls at us. Our scarf refuses to stay tucked. The grey clouds loom on the horizon. ⚘
What we perceive animates our senses and emotions, and in turn, we animate the world around us. Allowing us to form reciprocal relations with the entities we engage with.
⚘ We feel grateful for the sun as it warms our skin on a cold and cloudy day. ⚘
⚘ We curse the cracks in the pavement as we nearly trip rushing down the street. ⚘
⚘ We mourn the umbrella we must have forgotten on the bus this morning. ⚘
As you read this, it may be easy to feel the urge to think of these examples in a metaphoric sense.
Especially when it comes to the idea of a soul — A thing which, even if metaphorically, we tend to reserve for humans, or at most, fellow living things — Although often reduced to the ones we can easily anthropomorphize without too many metaphoric hurdles.
Try to resist that urge!
Metaphors offer a layer of abstraction that keeps truth at an arm's length. Just as our perception offers us an approximation of reality.
⚘ We perceive the mouse in our kitchen for what it symbolizes; A pest. ⚘
⚘ But the fearful mouse perceives us for what we truly are; Human. ⚘
To surrender the metaphor is to accept that the crack in the pavement perceives you, too. It rejoices, as the tip of your shoe hits the fissure in the side-walk. Its body growing as tiny bits of stones are loosened by the impact, spreading across the road and getting stuck in your sole. It sees you angrily step away, as it sends its dust after you and into your lungs. You cough. It breathes back in. You continue on. Forgetting about it shortly after. What's one crack in a life full of smooth steps? But the crack remembers. Such is its nature. Forever holding the memories of all its encounters.
⚘ Perception is not a one-way street, it is a cross-road full of cracks. ⚘
The practice of Animism
She also maintains: Once the act of writing concludes, to reveal static words on paper, its animistic essence is lost. By "severing the experience of reading from that of writing", what animates the spirit of writing is negated by our compulsion to assign a definite meaning to the written word. Confounding understanding, meaning the relating of text to what one already knows, with the embodied experience of forming new ideas.
I agree with Stengers, in so far that animism (no matter the form) should be viewed as a practice, rather than a belief. It is something experienced, not projected. As David Abram writes in Animism, Perception, and Earthly Craft of the Magician: "Perception itself is an inherently relational, participatory event"; Implying that it is an active process, not a passive contemplation. It also means that perception is based in a mutual exchange. One is both the perceiver and the perceived. We do not exist apart and untouched by the world around us. And, we do not merely live within it, we are active participants of the big collaborative effort that makes up the "it".
Within the context Stengers provides, the relation we join in, whilst writing, is one with words. Or, "in other words", language. Just as we shape our language(s), language shapes us. And, just like our perception approximates but just one piece of the bigger picture (that is, existence), we approximate thought (that is, perception) through language. Creating from it, ideas. Reciprocally perceiving and reshaping a world full of ideas — One approximation at a time.
Where my approach to Animism differs from that of Stengers, is in the premise that writing is what "gave birth" to ideas. Animism, as an umbrella term, is considered the world's oldest form of religion, and has existed long before any system of writing. Certainly, the spoken word may equally fit the text's proposition. Then, without negating oral cultures' ability to produce ideas, "writing" may be expanded to mean language as a whole.
Yet even so, I would argue that confining the idea of ideas to the exclusive realm of language, ignores the possibility for other kinds of formulation. Different modes with which to transform and express thought. Methods that do not require words all-together. And may even offer a whole other kind of ideas, based on other forms of perception..
The protocol's intent
Animate the spirit of ideas, approximated as written spells, through the process of creation. Engage in Craft Animism, without using text-based (re)formulation or interpretation. Instead, try to construct and express the spell as a participatory relation, a reciprocal task, you are entering with your given material (craft).
✧ Protocol ✧
① Pick one card from the spell deck.
② Spend some time contemplating the ideas the given spell conjures within you. - Without writing it down or taking notes! -
③ Pick one card from the craft deck.
④ Formulate your spell through your given craft. - Negotiating the shape of its spirit with the material! -
⑤ Do not be afraid of making multiple attempts.
⚘ It takes time, effort and dedication to get to know a craft. ⚘
☆✎ Results ✄⚘ w/ XPUB2
☆✎ Results ✄⚘ at ZineFair
Workshop ⚘ at the ZineFair
RESEARCH IMPASSE
Interlude ✧ Research Impasse
Despite the numerous "Protocols for Magic" (tested on various occasions and settings with participants/test subjects), and the numerous different topics and methods they have included ( not entirely as many as I'd hoped at this point), I have yet to feel like this research has been leading to much needed insights.
What I mean is that I have not yet found the "spark" (the moment of Magic) that I am used to come across during a project, that indicates I have been on the right path; A moment of realization able to break some of the tension that usually comes along with a multi-layered project development. More specifically, artistic projects. Especially the kind that takes a lot of menial decision-making and an even larger amount of unknown results.
After reevaluating my process and reflecting on the core objectives and motivation for this project, I came to a grueling realization; A anti-spark.
I have been ignoring a large discrepancy in the ways in which I have conducted and structured my research methods and the key aims stated in my project proposal and research question:
All of my protocols so far have been focused on offering quick and simple one-topic-and-one-task sort of exercises for participants to try-out, in brief workshop setting, or the like.
While this structure has enable me to host initial test rounds for the protocols, they have ignored a crucial component to my research goal and overall motivation for this project. And that is; The development of a Magic practice. Not merely creating fun diversions that lets one dabble into some vague magical concept, but methods and tools that can aid a sustained and evolving exploration of Magic as a personal practice.
Not only have the protocols ignored this objective, but also, the sort of feedback questions I asked the participants afterwards.
This all feels like a major blind-sight throughout my research, that I wonder if I can come back from at this point in the process, with the thesis deadline approaching. Especially since it feels like it could have somehow been avoided, or realized sooner, if I had kept the initial aim and focus of the project in mind.
In any case, I don't believe my work and experiments so far have been in vain, at all. As mentioned, they have been useful as preliminary test rounds for ideas. But I will have to change and redirect my methodology, as fast as possible, in order to avoid having to retroactively restructure my project goals and research question, instead.
References
- Abram, D. (2005). Animism, Perception, and Earthly Craft of the Magician. The Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature, Taylor and Kaplan, ed. Continuum. London, UK.
- Stengers, I. (2012). Reclaiming Animism. Extract found in: Magic (Sutcliffe, ed., 2021). Originally published: e-flux journal, no.36. 2012.
- ↑ Sympathetic magic (2025) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sympathetic_magic (Accessed: 01 November 2025).