During a recent stay at an AirBnB, I was in a house with an extensive collection of books - including this one that caught my eye. I was so fascinated that I ordered the book from Amazon within minutes. This book isn't about magic as you normally think of it. But it is about magic, the magic called religion. It is about Paganism, about wizards and about witches. This book was my first insight into Paganism. And, my attraction was due to the fact that the book could very well be describing Hinduism. The sections are: 1) The arts of the ritual, 2) By the light of the Sun, Moon and Stars, 3) The Symbolic Tools, 4) Marking the Cycle of the year, and 5) Developing super senses.
Given that Hinduism and Paganism as so close to each other, that it would not be inappropriate to classify the two together.
Like Hinduism, there is emphasis on rituals, and on nature around us - positions of stars, planets and moon, time of the year, "elements" like fire. And on gemstones and chanting. And on meditation.
There are differences too. Most practitioners of Hinduism believe in its magic, yet, will bristle if you use the term magic. Paganism calls itself magic.
Pagan magic is done through rituals. In my brief introduction through this book, I see that most Pagan rituals are mindful activities - each ritual has a specific meaning that the performer needs to pay attention to. On the other side, most Hindu rituals (not all, mind you) that I have had the chance to experience have been done mindlessly - you do what the priest or the text tells you to do without knowing anything about the why of it.
It is time we tried to understand Hindu rituals - by asking questions before doing them. They all have deep meaning - it is just that the meaning is lost. Lost because priests performing them either did not want the masses to know, or they themselves did not know. I suspect it is the first one that led to the second one. That is what makes it magic. And we need to make it practical magic rather than blind one.
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