Perception is they way we see our lives how we sum up a situation what we think of ourselves and others. It is how we see the state of the world and the people who occupy it. It is the everyday thoughts and feelings of what life should be in our own minds. But believe it or not it is not always what we think that it is good for us which dominates these thoughts and beliefs. Humans by nature are negative beings. We tend to focus on what is bad or negative about ourselves and others before we commend ourselves and others of our good points.

It is this Perception which brings about the circumstances of our lives.

Perception differs greatly from person to person. My perception of reality or life may be drastically different from yours. No two peoples perceptions are the same. Unfortunately changing our perception from the natural negative to the positive is not easy. It stems back to our childhood who we were treated by our parents, siblings, grandparents, friends and schoolmates. It is what we were taught by these same people. It is what your teacher taught you at school it was what the Priest told you in church on Sunday. It has taken me many years to break out of the negative feelings, thoughts and emotions that I learnt as a child. And I am still working on it! And I believe I will for the rest of my life. Perception is also related to your self esteem. I know when my self esteem is low my perception on reality is negative. 

You will have heard similar things to this from your counsellor, parents or friends. This is what most people will call Positive Thinking. And I must be honest with you I hate the term "Positive Thinking" There is nothing worse than someone... who is well meaning (which is appreciated but not needed) telling you "Think positive, it will be alright". This actually is useless advice. There is more to creating positive change than thinking positively. Anyone can think positively but how many can use their mind and create positive change. This is what the Magical Mind (see The Magical Mind) can teach us. A better term people could use when giving advice is Positive Perception.    

You may be thinking what has Perception got to do with magic? Well my answer is EVERYTHING!
Magic is Perception!  

I will be honest with you and tell you that I have not cast a spell for over six months or maybe longer. I have no need. I live my life in a way that is of the Magical Mind. My perception on life is "If I really want something I can get it" I believe in myself, I have strong enough willpower that I will get the thing I want. And you or anybody else is not going to tell me I can't have it. Again it comes down to the four basic rules of magic. Thought, Desire, Willpower and Physical Actions. My Thoughts, Desires and Willpower are my wands, chalices, and daggers. No need for formal ritual or gathering expensive ingredients.

Take some of these examples: If I view the world as a violent and dangerous place I will most likely attract violent and dangerous situations. If I perceive people to be hurtful and unloving then my world will most likely reflect this. If I perceive myself to be poor and I believe that I will never have any money most likely I will never attract any prosperity. If I think I will never find my soul mate I never will.

Or alternatively: I believe I can get the things I want out of life. The world is not a violent place there is just some violent people in it my perception allows me to avoid them. People are mainly loving and caring I deserve love like everyone else. If I work at it I can achieve prosperity like the Jones' next door. I believe I have a soul mate I just haven't found him or her yet.

Once you start to change your perception will find that that things may start happening for you. A fantastic way to start is by learning practical magic. Do some spells. Do some rituals. These practices are simply ways of making the mental and physical connection. The true magician is one who does not need to pick up his wand. His perception is his wand. As I have said before practicing magic opens up parts of the mind that are usually not used. Meditation, Practicing magic and changing your Perceptions can open up the Magical Mind.

Meditation is also a useful tool in creating positive perception. The goal of many eastern philosophies is to use meditation to tear down the walls of illusion to perceive reality as it truly is. The human mind as I stated above is programmed naturally to be negative. Negative thoughts and feelings create stress chemicals in the brain which only reinforce the vicious cycle of negative perception. Regular meditation removes these false thoughts and emotions for you to perceive reality without the worries, concerns  and opinions and that your mind creates. These worries and concerns are illusions. What I mean by illusions is that they are not real, it is not the future that you are seeing or predicting it is a false situation created by your mind. 

For example: How many times in you life have you had to do a stressful thing? i.e. An exam or a medical procedure? You worry yourself sick about the possible outcome e.g. Thoughts like "I not going to do so well in the exam." or "What if they find cancer." etc. You do the exam or take the medical test and the results are positively excellent. Your mind created a false situation which only stressed you out and made you sick with worry. All for nothing! This is the result of negative perception. I am sure we can all live without these illusions our mind creates for us.

Another thing to consider along with Positive Perception is the Laws of Karma. As I have stated before I do not believe in the law of three. But I do believe in the Law of Karma. The Magical Mind believes in the Law of Karma. It teaches us that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. It also teaches us "What comes around goes around". This applies to magic, thoughts, actions, emotions and Perception.

Positive perception is not an easy concept to grasp. It takes years of  practice and constant reminding of ones self to perceive in a positive way, particularly if you had a negative upbringing by parents who had parents who had a negative upbringing. But thankfully with the study of magic, practicing spell casting, meditation and ritual. Hopefully you can begin to positively perceive the world you live in with the Magical Mind! (see The Magical Mind)

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Murray Byfield © 2000-2001