Forward

By Taylor Ellwood

The book you hold in your hands is a book where the authors have chosen to push forward, to experiment, to be innovative, and not settle for the answers or techniques of others. It is a book that is much needed in the occult community because it shows other magicians how to take memetics, semiotics, writing, and other related pursuits and adapt them to magical practices, while also pushing those magical practices into new directions. Magic is no longer restricted to ceremonial tools and garb. Magic is something more. Magic, in this book, is about taking the cultural forces around us and using them to shape reality.

That's pretty powerful. In fact, it's a recognition that if magic is to continue to evolve; it has to evolve with the technology of the time, while also using that technology in ways that most people will probably never think of. The magician is a person who fits into any time, any space, and does so by choosing to take on the available tools and cultural mindsets and use them to achieve what s/he desires.

What's really important though is that Wes and Edward recognize that the stories we tell about ourselves have magic, and all we need are the right tools to let that magic come forth and manifest into our lives. We can choose to tell our stories, or we can choose to manifest them. We can choose to create and work with characters who can help us achieve our goals, or we can continue to be at the mercy of other people's memes. I prefer a proactive approach and that is exactly what Wes and Edward are offering in this book.

Taking a proactive approach to magic necessarily involves experimentation and innovation and you will find a lot of that in this book. Take your time, try out what the authors suggest, and let it soak into you. Let the memetic wizardry they create show you the potential at your fingertips, as well as continue to pave a path toward the future of magical practice.

On a personal note, I'll admit to being very pleased to see how Wes and Edward have taken some of my own theories and practices and derived their own variations and concepts from that work. It's an inspiration for me to keep experimenting and learning and creating. It provides me further incentive because it shows me other people are on a similar path to my own. That's something which is really needed, because we are entering into new territory when it comes to magical practice. Having people to journey with, to share ideas with, and to experiment with when you are in uncharted territory, makes what you do a bit less daunting, and also makes for some very intriguing discussions, as I discovered at Esozone when I was able to chat with both Edward and Wes for the first time in person. I still have hopes of getting some more time with them at some point, because there is so much I want to ask! That's always the way of the experimenter. When you find others doing similar work, you suddenly feel as if a whole new horizon had appeared. Or at least, that's how I feel after talking with both of them and reading their work.

I hope their work will be as inspiring to you as it has been for me, and that it will fire within some of you a desire to write your own stories, develop your own practices, and share them with other magicians, and fellow travelers. We need all the innovation we can get, especially given the times we live in. This book is another step in the right direction for magical practice. It challenges us to evolve and grow and stop settling for less.

With that said, it's time for me to depart and let Wes and Edward take the stage. Happy reading and happy adventuring to all of you!

 

Taylor Ellwood

Portland, OR

January 2008