The Internet & Astral

The astral plain is something that I couldn’t quite understand when I became a new witch. I didn’t get the everywhere/imposed over this world thing. I didn’t understand time happening all at once with past and present existing together. Shouldn’t a thing be over and done with after it happens? If the past is occurring right now then how did we get to right now? The more I tried to think about it, the more confused I got.


Then I read a book wherein the author likened the Internet to the astral plain. A light bulb went on. The Internet is everywhere and nowhere. We all use it. We can’t touch it. And what happens on the Internet can have a direct result on the real world, whether it is true or not. Some examples would be viruses, Internet scams, breaking news stories, and seeing something you don’t like on a Facebook page.

I don’t have the book anymore and sorry, I don’t remember the title. I remember it was Astral something and the author was J.H. Brennan. I read it in the 90’s just as the Internet was starting to take off. I remember the book because I was fascinated by the possibilities it proposed. I got rid of it because I felt like those possibilities were beyond my magical capabilities. Maybe if I were reading the book now when people carry the Internet everywhere they go via smart phones things would be different. Now the Internet isn’t a bunch of computers linked together, it’s a realm in its own right.

There’s even technological witchcraft. Not only can witches all over the world exchange ideas, they can perform spells together without worrying about everyone in the coven being in the same physical location. High magicians once met on the astral plain to perform secret rites. Now they can agree to log on at a certain time in a chat room, perform the ritual in an exact sequence, see what each other did, and not have to worry about being unable to project, travel time, transporting ritual supplies, or being caught by the local authorities in the woods on private property. (There’s never a good explanation for carrying a sword on a cold dark night.) We witches say that when we are in the circle we are between the worlds but of course it doesn’t look that way to your brain. Your eyes see the living room coffee table. You can pretend all you want, but you’ll still feel the carpet under your feet and hear the neighbor’s dog bark.

The Internet solves that problem. I might be sitting at my desk with a candle burning, but my words appear in another country. My presence is recognized half way around the world without me leaving my house. I’m here and there at the same time without actually going anywhere. I can connect with witches I’ve never even met and we can do full moon spells without standing under the light of the full moon.

Technological witchcraft goes by the names of Computer Pagans/Witches, Techno Witchery, Computer Magic, and Virtual Magic. A lot of people laugh at it. Don’t. Magic is not lessened by a new format. What makes spells work is the spell caster’s intent, will, and focus. How those three things take form are irrelevant. We think nothing of using a photograph as a way to direct Magick toward a person. But did we feel that way when photography was first invented? How long does something need to be a part of a culture before it is considered valid?

There’s much debate on what the astral plain is, whether it’s a complete world, several worlds, all of time and space existing at once, or simply the sum of the collective human unconscious. I don’t know what the astral is, but I do know what the Internet has become- a more tangible astral plain.

We need the astral plain. This is where our dreams are born. This is where we can be ourselves. This is where we can think and invent. Unfortunately, we were losing our magic. We were losing our connection to our true selves. We did not know how to articulate this, but on some level we knew we had to get it back.

The Internet started off as a data exchange. Now it’s a source of information. It’s entertainment and socializing. It’s art. It’s science. It’s the latest and newest while preserving our past. I can research my family tree online. The Internet can show me who I am by showing me where I came from. This is the other side of the Akashic Records coin, that great hall on the astral plain which shows me my past lives.

We can’t resist the astral. We go there every time we dream and if we stop dreaming we begin to feel lost and disorientated. We cannot ignore the lure of the Internet and that’s why we have email, twitter, and blogs. We’ve got to stay connected. A lot of people say the Internet is nothing more than a toy. The same can be said of the astral. You can do some pointless things on the astral plain. But it’s the witches who use both the astral and the Internet with focused intent to achieve goals in the real world.

Today's card is mouse. Mouse has been showing up a lot lately. I heard a mouse Saturday and last night when Kevin and I came home we saw a fox. Kevin said, 'he's hunting mice' When both the prey and the predator come together balance has been achieved.