Chapter Prologue : Introduction

Introduction

To begin with, I’d like to explain why I felt a need to write Handbook of the Order Mage in the first place. There are already plenty of “Organize your Time and your Life” books on the shelves. What I hope is relatively unique and novel about this book is its incorporation of the element of magic into the theme. By magic I am not referring to birthday party entertainment nor psychic phenomena (although I am not discounting them either). There is a magic in our lives that incorporates awe, spirituality, intuition, joy, purpose, values, empathy and compassion. Also on a plane with magic, in terms of human experience are religion, faith, spirituality and cosmology. While the “Organize your Time and your Life” books can be of great value, they rarely incorporate the magic of human experience and purpose into their lessons. One of the principal tenets of this book is that without magic in one’s life, it will always lack a crucial human element. It can be very beneficial to live a life that is organized and well-balanced. When that lifestyle dovetails with spiritual beliefs, personal philosophy and a mystical outlook, doing so is much better and more fun! Whether the supernatural is “real” or not, our genes and our brains seem to be wired for a degree of faith and intuition and it seems our lives are not fully human without it.[1]

There is another sense in which I use the term magic. As much as I like to believe in clairvoyance, clairaudience, telepathy, astral projection, psychokinesis and all the other categories of parapsychology, the goal of every spell is usually the results that are intended. Our ability to achieve goals and hopefully help others through the use of special knowledge, skills, talents, intuitive insight, empathy and technology are all completely analogous to the magic of folklore and classic literature. I happily admit that I have experimented with psychic phenomena at various points in my life, but with only rare occasions of seeming success. I have concluded as I aged, that serving others and protecting the Earth through more conventional means has been much nobler than trying to expand my mind gratuitously. I still think of myself as a “wizard,” relying on information, intuition and inspiration rather than classical magic. On the one hand, I do practice and encourage meditation and communing with the Universal Order. I find that this grounds me and gives me a sense of transcendence. On the other hand, I do not know any “spells” that will mediate supernatural energy and this book will not teach any. There may be one exception here. In one of the appendices of this book there is a healing ritual that I have designed to help deal with self-esteem issues. On the whole, though, the “spells” that I will teach are basic organizational and financial skills that can provide you with a great sense of power and control in your life.

To use myself as an example, polishing my reputedly dull accounting career with magic has transformed it into a wizardly adventure involving gazing into the past via financial reporting and gazing into the future via cash flow forecasting. If this book can teach you how to organize your life for better finances, more time on your hands, less stress and greater satisfaction, while imbuing it with a sense of magic at the same time, I think you won’t want to miss it!

Another expected question I would like to answer before you decide to read on is this: how is it that I am qualified to write this book? It could be argued that since I do not possess a postgraduate degree, am not a minister nor mental health professional and do not have any measurable magical abilities then my musings are not meaningful on the matter (hey, alliteration, anyone?). To respond to this, let me first emphasize that I am not claiming to be authoritative. My writing is intended to inspire those who seek inspiration, and I happily encourage my readers to do as urged by the personal growth groups I have participated in and “take what works for you and ignore the rest.”

That being said, it is nonetheless true that I have had a breadth of both education and experiences which have aided me greatly in putting this accumulation of insights into writing. My formal education includes degrees or certificates in Social Work, Accounting, Legal Studies as well as a minor in Philosophy and some coursework in Psychology. These various fields mesh very well in consideration of how balanced and orderly living contribute to human well-being, and how the human mind functions in an orderly environment. During my thirty plus years working in the field of Accounting, I was immersed in order. Cultivating and maintaining order was my job. Furthermore, my years of service in the context of religious and charismatic circles have provided me with an intuitive and spiritual grasp of moral and supernatural elements. In a way, I see the writing of this book as a sort of culmination of my life and educational experiences, and although it would be perhaps absurd of me to think of this as a sort of Master’s Thesis, I admit I do anyway.

In addition to my academic and life experiences, I can honestly say that I have done significant research in the fields I address in this book. I wanted to avoid the malaise that is too common in New Age writing, that of saying blithely whatever the target audience wishes to hear. This is not to say that I have attempted to write an article fit for a research journal. I expect that professional psychologists and sociologists will find that this book lacks a certain sufficiency of scientific rigor. My goal here is to have written a layperson’s handbook, one of reasonable credibility, not such a true academic treatise as would bore the average reader to tears.

There are also a few logistical points I wish to provide before you begin. I use the word “mage,” and on occasion “wizard,” as if they were completely gender-neutral. I believe that some women prefer the terms maga or witch. I intend no sleight nor disrespect. Also, my footnotes are, in most cases, simply the addresses of websites which I have quoted to support my points. I hope the webpages referenced are still available when this is read. If not, I hope that you will find surfing the Web for confirmation to be easy enough. Also, aside from specific quoted lines, all the writings in this book are mine. I made no use of artificial intelligence when wording my paragraphs; I did it the old-fashioned (read: time-consuming) way. I like to think this adds value to the work, but that is perhaps for you to decide.