It is pretentious, yes! Good question! We’re all pretenders and I’m pretending out loud, like a flamboyant Gay Pride float dancer. Look at me, I used fancy sounding Greek words to make a neologism! Why? Because it’s fun, it sounds and looks cool, oh and there’s also this really well thought out concept behind it but never mind that. Isn’t this word just the epitome of pseudo-intellectual glitter and fun?
“I object, sir! *I* am not a pretender!”
Aw, cute.
For the record, no one has asked me if the title of my newsletter is pretentious, but the part of my brain that is always trying to model other people’s reactions to things I do and say (which can be exhausting) definitely thinks people are thinking it. While the theory of mind my brain operates on could be an avenue for some classic projection, I’m taking this opportunity to explore and explain why I picked “Metamageia” as the title of my blogletter, or newsblog, thing.
From the Greek meta, meaning “beyond,” or “transcending” and mageia, “magic,” you might guess that I mean “beyond magic.” This is partially true. Or in the more contemporary usage of the word meta, you might guess that I mean “magic about magic” or “magic that explains magic itself.” This is also partially true.
First we need some definitions. What do I mean by magic? Am I, Michael, saying that Harry Potter magic, literal fantasy magicky magic, is real and operates in the physical world?! Do I need psychiatric help?
Magic is real. It is everywhere. It exists in the particle-wave duality of quantum physics. It exists in the placebo effect. It exists in the neurochemicals that we release just by thinking about something, or by breathing, or by smiling. It exists in the bare fact of consciousness itself. It exists because we don’t exist in the physical world. The physical world exists in us.
It doesn’t mean you can say a magical word and defy the laws of thermodynamics. (At least, not necessarily. Hehe.) ((My theory of mind is currently theorizing that you might be thinking, yes, he does need psychiatric help.)) But I’m not here to convince you of any of that.
Magic is mind, and it is the power of the mind to create changes in the world, because the world is mind, and mind is the world. If you’re a skeptic, I don’t expect my little tautology there to actually change your position. I don’t expect that magic to work. But writing this post is an exercise in magic, because through the strange alchemy of mind and matter, these words are exiting my consciousness, transiting through the physical substrate into your device, and then altering your brain chemistry, and thereby (or therefrom, depending how you look at it) altering your mind. Even if that alteration is only limited to the fact that your brain is processing the words, even if your brain completely disagrees with the meaning. It is nonetheless a tiny, delicate, small-scale expression of how mind influences mind.
So that’s the magic. What about the “meta”? Well, there are two relevant threads there. The first is that I have a long term goal of recontextualizing “magical thinking” from its pejorative sense to an elevated understanding that it is natural and in fact essential to human experience, and that we ignore its power at our own peril. So in accomplishing this goal, I want to use my power of mind to make other people reflect on their own power of mind. This is magic that creates and realizes magic itself.
The second thread is the hidden pun with the Buddhist Pali term metta, or loving kindness. Within the esoteric worlds within worlds, there are many pathways to accomplishing magical workings. But if the goal is to make the material world a better place for more than just your own circle, the path of loving kindness is the one that makes the most sense. So in a sense, I also mean “metta mageia” or, the magic of loving kindness.
As an aside, I would like to (lovingly) distance this metta concept from the New Age-y cults of positivity, which are generally well-intentioned and lovely on the surface, but which result in a lot of toxicity. Without going too much into it, there are two things I want to say about that observation. First: not everything is, can be, or should be positive, or viewed positively. What to do when faced with this? Inauthentically positivize the negative thing? Or love and accept the negative thing for what it is, and feel that negative shitty feeling without judging it? Second: an analogy. Water is inarguably one of the most “good” things that exist. But drinking too much water will literally kill you. Not even drowning, just drinking too much of it. On the other hand, small amounts of poisonous “bad” substances are really good and beneficial for us (carbon dioxide, for example).
So, through loving kindness, and an exploration of how our minds work and interact with the world, I want to make more magic. To help other people see the magic of the world. That’s what I want this newsletter to do, and all the other writing I do. It is about being human and trying to deeply and honestly understand exactly how that works. It’s about stories and hyperstition, about unlearning and relearning, about spreading love and joy.
Disclaimer though, I don’t have the answers. I will sometimes say things as though I do. Most people do this. I’m just trying to figure things out for myself, and why not do that publicly? It is pretentious and somewhat deceptive for me to make these declarative ontological statements, because my ontology is actually that reality is stories, and this is just a story about how stories work. But it’s all pretend, and in that way, it can always be fun. And my understanding that reality is stories is also just a story. Is there even a base level of reality that can be known? Maybe. Or maybe it’s turtles all the way down.
Love,
Michael
Love your magic! I've subscribed. Keep it coming ;)