On Finding And Choosing A Magickal Teacher

Although many magicians have learned magick almost entirely alone, many people like to have someone to advise them and to monitor their progress. I ran into the person who ended up becoming my teacher in an entirely unlikely manner, but many people live in places where such chance meetings are not so likely to occur, so it is recommended that they seek out a mentor.

It isn't a good idea to go for the first person who answers your appeal for a teacher on alt.magick or whatever. You should get to know a potential teacher. You can learn just by hanging around with magicians, on the internet or otherwise, and you will probably end up with a few friends who will be happy to help you as much as they can.

In my opinion, magick is not really something that can be taught as such, as it is extremely personal and individualistic. However I have found that it is often helpful to have someone to guide you through learning new magickal techniques, even if all they do is help you analyse your activities and offer the occasional suggestion.

I consider myself to be eminently unsuitable as a 'teacher' or 'mentor', being pretentious, egotistical, and just plain nasty, but even I have managed to help a few people through the awkward learning stages of magick.

Taking into account my own experiences and biases here is a quick check list on acquiring a magickal teacher.

1) Make sure the teacher is involved in the path you want to learn about. It is rarely much good going to a Satanist to learn about wicca, and a druid would probably not be able to be of much help with chaos magick. Although it is often valuable to learn many paths and perspectives, it is useful to learn them from someone who practices them.

2) Beware of people who want to use you as part of their ego trip. Although most magicians are egotistical to a certain degree, there are many people who would just like to be able to say that they have students, or who would like an audience to talk at. Also beware of any cult-mentailty in your teachers.... I doubt that many would-be magicians really want to end up in some fetishist's Satanic Sex Cult... as a way of learning magick, that is.

3) Know thy mentor. Can you relate to this person? Do you have mutual respect? The best teachers are often also best friends. You are probably going to have to put up with this person for quite a while, and a magickal relationship is usually extremely intimate (not in that sense, you bloody pervert.... yes I KNOW that I've had sex with a couple of my teachers, but that's not the point in question.... )

4) Be aware of your teacher's biases and opinions. We all have our pet likes and hates, so don't expect your guru to be any different. Magicians tend to be extremely biased, so be prepared to live with this, and, if necessary, to take some of your teacher's opinions with a pinch of salt. Just because your traditional witch mentor tells you that all Thelemites are evil, twisted, uncaring bastards, it DOES NOT mean that this is necessarily true. These are opinions that you will have to form for yourself.

5) Don't expect to be handed the keys to the universe. If someone has them, its doubtful whether they'd want to share them. You should expect to find a friend you can trust who will support and guide you, and hopefully open you mind to new ideas and help you learn. Remember that your mentor is also learning as, in magick more than in many fields, the learning process never ends.

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