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    How to be a Wizard: How life is magical, and we are too
    How to be a Wizard: How life is magical, and we are too
    How to be a Wizard: How life is magical, and we are too
    Ebook81 pages40 minutes

    How to be a Wizard: How life is magical, and we are too

    By Peter Harris

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    About this ebook

    This short book is not focused on the trappings of wizardry, fun though these may be, nor is it a guide to gaining power over anyone but oneself. It is not about 'pointy hats', though Gandalf's looks very good on him.
    Instead, it outlines the foundational thoughts of the True West (as I see it), and in the 'Emerald Tablet' section lists the 'Wizard's Desiderata' - the kind of life which is truly powerful, truly magical, truly mythical, and truly possible. It always has been possible to be a 'wizard' of one's life, though never perhaps with as little danger of being burned at the stake.

    'How to be a Wizard' is the fruit of a very long journey by one misfit christian turned process philosopher turned 'wizard' and fantasy epic writer, who ended up building a magical or at least idealistic and romantic place called Cafe Eutopia (a 'temple' to Love, Beauty, Truth and Freedom) in a little town in New Zealand, besides many other adventures of the mind and spirit. I offer it in the hope that it will spark a burning desire to truly be the wizard of your own life, and then of your community, and ultimately, no matter how imperceptibly perhaps, to help the whole world.

    I value the true tradition of the West, to which I belong. Yes, I know it has gone horribly wrong in so many ways that many think it (and/or the planet) is doomed. But I believe that its problems can all be solved by a return to the 'True' West - the ideals of Love, Beauty, Truth and Freedom which have inspired its best, and kept some check on its worst. Also a return to seeing the world as organism, not a soulless machine, as has been the dominant model since Descartes.

    My vision is that more and more 'Wizards of the True West' will arise in answer to the challenge of the times, and like Gandalf will help to turn the tide. But we desperately need not only the goodwill, the desire to see good things happen, but also the philosophical foundations on which to build. These have been undermined by many enemies, most of them the very ones we look to to hold them fast and keep them strong - our philosophers, in particular, and academics in general. Relativism, 'postmodernism' and nihilism, not to mention PC nonsense of many shades, have been actively promoted by many of them, so that now these ideas have become the norm, and what I write in this book may seem incredible to you at first. So, read it as an interesting fantasy, and if it seems like a pleasant alternative to the 'real' world of our postmodern, materialistic madness, try some of it out. You may be surprised to find that it actually works, actually rings true. Then - spread the word!

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPeter Harris
    Release dateSep 17, 2012
    ISBN9781301545841
    How to be a Wizard: How life is magical, and we are too
    Author

    Peter Harris

    I joined GRID-Arendal as Managing Director in 2014. I am a native of the USA, citizen of Australia and resident of Norway; I describe myself as a “professional foreigner”. I am a graduate of the University of Washington (Seattle USA), completed a PhD at the University of Wales (Swansea UK), married an Australian and have 3 children. I have worked in the field of marine geology and science management for over 30 years and published over 100 scientific papers. I taught marine geology at the University of Sydney and conducted research on UK estuaries, the Great Barrier Reef, the Fly River Delta (Papua New Guinea) and Antarctica. I worked for 20 years for Australia’s national geoscience agency as a scientist and manager. In 2009 I was appointed a member of the group of experts for the United Nations World Ocean Assessment. Apart from managing all of GRID-Arendal’s amazing activities, my interests include new methods for the conduct of environmental assessments (the expert elicitation method) and the use of multivariate statistics and geomorphology to provide tools to manage the global ocean environment. I also enjoy sailing and playing the bagpipes.

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      Book preview

      How to be a Wizard - Peter Harris

      How to be a

      Wizard

      How Life is magical and we are too

      Peter Harris

      ‘The Wizard of Eutopia’

      To the [.] and the True West

      ‘The first time, dear pilgrim, I heard

      You laugh,

      I knew it would not take me long

      To turn you back into

      God.

      Hafiz, c.1320-1389, from

      The subject tonight is Love

      translated by Daniel Ladinsky.

      Illustrations, text copyright © Peter Harris 2012

      Box 37 Kaiwaka, Northland, New Zealand

      Ph 09 4312 178

      cell 022 332 6568

      Email wizardofeutopia@gmail.com

      www.wizardofeutopia.com

      www.howtobeawizard.com

      SMASHWORDS EDITION

      Published by Eutopia Press

      How to read this book: It is laid out in ‘process rainbow’ order (more on that later). So, if you like background and want to know who and what I am, go for the Blue squares first. If you just want the big picture first, go for the Green. If logic and argumentation and you want to see if I make any sense, go for the Yellow. If you are an action person and want to see if I have any practical plans at all, go to the Red. If quite relaxed and want an entertaining read, start at the beginning.

      (Or just hop around at will, you contrary thing!)

      Contents

      Preface On naming and ‘wizards’

      A bit about Peter

      Prologue

      The Problem of the Beginning

      On the Path of life

      CHAPTER ONE

      How to be a Wizard. The ‘Emerald Tablet’ or ‘Wizard’s Desiderata’.

      CHAPTER TWO

      The First Axiom of Wizardry: There is a Transcendental Order

      Thesis One: These are part of that order: Logic and Ethics (or value truths)

      Thesis Two we need to seek mentors and wise men and women

      CHAPTER THREE

      The Second Axiom of Wizardry: ‘All things flow’.

      Everything is in process, is process

      Thesis Three: Process has universal repeating phases

      Thesis Four: Process is fractal and has four (repeating) stages.

      Thesis Five: The Levels of life, listed

      Thesis Six Humans are a ‘bridge’ between all the levels

      Thesis Seven: this human bridge is like a wizard’s staff or (Jacob’s) ladder, and the seven chakras

      CHAPTER FOUR

      The Third Axiom of wizardry: All things unfold meaningfully and mythically

      Thesis Eight. The World as Organism, an interconnected Unfolding which can be (is) influenced by us

      Thesis Nine. Suffering is at least partly intrinsic to life

      Conclusion

      Appendix. Calling all wizards: It is NOT too late to defend the True West!

      Resources of a Eutopian wizardly nature and how to find the Wizard of Eutopia and his works

      About the author

      (adapted from my Amazon author page, September 2012).

      I am often known (by those who approve of wizards) as The Wizard of Eutopia. I live in The Story Ark, a relocated army barracks on the main road of Kaiwaka, 'The Little Town of Lights' - blink and you miss it, only at night you can't because it has fairy lights everywhere. For twelve years (intermittently) I've been building, also on the main road (well, a little to one side of it), a sculptured ferrocement folly called Café Eutopia.

      What is Eutopia and why should you care? Well, it's an organic café, a temple to Love, Beauty, Truth and Freedom, and a bookshop - not necessarily

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