NLP does contain techniques for change (to get the aspirant to their goal), like magic does, but it also has much more. It has techniques that generate techniques (modelling) and relies on a mindset that is open to finding new and better ways. What I mean is that if you approach NLP as just a set of techniques you are accidentally 'editting out' the most powerful and profound part of NLP.
Where do I get this definition of NLP from? Well firstly this is where NLP started from. Most (if not all) of the techniques, or 'NLP Patterns', were developed through the modelling of other people. The idea of NLP being about an attitude of curiosity about how people excel at things is derived from things that Bandler has said in interviews. Apparently John Grinder has voiced disappointment that there is very little innovation going on in the field of NLP: it is mostly the reuse of existing patterns rather than the creation of entirely new techniques. From this I deduce that the 'spirit of NLP' is more to do with the adaptation or creation of techniques than it is to do with just using the NLP Patterns as-is, or 'out of the box'.
I should mention how Chaos Magic fits in here.
The general idea with Chaos Magic is that there is a part of your mind that is critical to performing successful magic. I'm not saying that this part necessarily actually 'does the magic' itself but it certainly facilitates the process and if it is not onboard with what you are attempting then your magic doesn't work.
Chaos Magic is about getting this part of your mind to work with you as quickly and easily as possible, with the minimum of unnecessary embellishments. It is about finding the critical path for successful magic - in much the same way as NLP Modelling is about finding the critical path for a given skill.
Chaos Magic is an approach, a mindset that can lead to the generation of new magical theories and techniques.
Now check out this quote from Trance-formations, in which they're talking about faith healing but the idea goes far beyond just that:
"There is some mechanism within people that is capable of doing these things, but it needs to be convinced, it needs to be motivated, it needs to be communicated with, and provided with a context in which to respond."
So whether you are a Magician standing at the Crossroads of the Universe commanding the Spirits of Creation, a Wiccan calling upon the Lord and Lady or a Shaman going on a vision quest with your power animals - this all comes together to provide your mind 'with a context in which to respond' - an experience that makes sense to your mind, and in which the logical response is to do whatever it can to make it seem as if your paradigm of 'casting spells to change reality' actually works.
Then you have your statement of intent, visualisations and/or ritual objects from your tables of correspondences. You have some method of getting into an appropriate and resourceful mental-emotional state. And hey presto your 'magic' will work.
So in Chaos Magic much of the regalia of traditional magic is revealed as potentially being mostly just for the benefit of constructing this appropriate context - and potentially they can be removed to stream-line the entire process.
As you say many people prefer to retain embellishments that Chaos Magic might call unnecessary both out of personal choice and also because the context in which magic is performed defines how the 'changework' will manifest. If you perform magic from a mindset that the universe is basically pro-humanity then your results will reflect that. In my experience a 'loose' but positively focussed context is better than using some kind of entirely freestyle magical method. But to each their own.
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Source: Email |
Intercepted: Friday, 17th of February |
Mr Reynolds
Yes I can confirm that I have released the following personnel from active
work duties:
Austin Stoddard
Spencer Hudson
Sylvie Guerin
Boris Torban
James White
If their condition does not improve I will be considering them
for home leave.
You may also be interested to know that my staff and I have treated an
astonishing 36 (!) other people - also for stress-related symptoms
(insomnia, anxiety, depression, etc)
in the last week alone.
Somewhat ironic for a department that professes to
study mental excellence and potential don't you think, Mr Reynolds?
I will leave the matter in your ever-capable hands.
Dr D Beauchamp
Phobos Infirmary
x92570
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Source: Phobos Lab 3 Document |
Intercepted: Monday, 20th of February |
It has been demonstrated that magic operates by the paradigm of the magician, is it not then unreasonable to suggest that our abilities as human beings are being limited by the paradigm of being a magician?
It is my belief that there is a part of our mind that somehow is able to make profound and astonishing changes to what we might otherwise consider to be a stable, ordered and essentially causative universe. This 'part' is not a magician, and it is not using magic.
'Being a magician' and 'casting spells' is simply one way to communicate with this part of our minds. Being a magician can be an empowering belief system, allowing you to 'think outside the box' and ask 'If I had magical powers, what would I do?' This is an extremely enabling question to ask, but the danger is that the model ('being a magician') does not necessarily totally match the reality.
Imagine a group of people suddenly brought through time from 500 AD to the present day. They point towards a truck and ask what it is, and you might reply that it's like a horse and cart. Then when you come back after an hour or so you might be puzzled to find them arguing over where best to feed straw to the truck: the grill, exhaust, or maybe the small hole in its side. They were using their mental model of a horse and cart to understand what the truck was, and while to a certain extent this model holds true (they're both modes of transport and a means of conveying goods from one place to another) it's clear that after a certain point the comparison is no longer valid: the model breaks down.
Using our mental model of a magician, what he does and what he's capable of we can thus gain access to parts of our ability to create changes in the universe. However, we must first be aware that much of the 'belief system' of being a magician could be irrelevant for the purposes of creating changes in your reality and lead to behaviour that some objective observer might see as being just as bizarre as feeding straw to a truck.
Secondly, and more importantly, we must be aware that the model of being a magician may exclude us from parts of our potential power, much like the truck can do many more things than the horse and cart. Maybe when those people from 500 AD eventually start driving that truck around, they don't realise that they can go out of first gear, or that there are brakes and any number of innovations for safety and comfort. Maybe they don't even realise that the back of the truck opens up, and instead they load the cargo onto the roof!
What part of our 'potential' exists outside of our models?
