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Extending the metaphor, some of the older Mesoamerican religions are imperative, in that they involve a lot of telling people what to do. Contrariwise, hermetic magic is purely functional, in that the practitioner expresses a series of state transformations with no side effects.

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Could you elaborate on the idea that hermetic magic is purely functional? How does a practitioner make a state transformation in oneself?

It's a joke, the meat of which is that hermetic magic involves complex series of esoteric invocations that consume time and effort to no meaningful result.

I didn't work it out very well, though, and it didn't land. So it goes. The next one will be better.

lol, thanks for the clarification.

One example might be that spirits are said to be bound by arbitrary functions (bizarre ritual ingredients being a famous example). That they respond to and recognize cues.

Another aspect of spirit lore is that the more central or higher in the hierarchy, the less different "pointers" or cues may be required for evocation, and stronger expression of those fewer cues may result. The lower/more numerous spirits might require more specificity or larger seed.

Transformations at a minimum: by inducing a receptive trance state, then by self-suggestion.

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