The Neuromagick Initiative first went up nearly 10 years ago. I was one year out of graduate school with a Ph.D. in Psychology with a concentration in Cognitive Neuroscience. The original intent of the site was to be a platform for developing ideas that bridge magic and science. My underlying personal goal was to develop theories to explain the nature of magic in ways that scientists could appreciate. While I still enjoy theorizing about magic, and value the contributions ongoing science makes to my practice, I’ve evolved. The neuromagick reboot was overdue.
At some point along the way, life happened, the site went unattended for long periods… When I came back to it to update some of my old documents to better reflect how I’ve grown and changed over the years since the last round of revisions. I realized how disorganized and unattractive the site was. Editing a few documents wasn’t going to do it. So I downloaded everything and started over. I have a better organization mapped out now. The process of reviewing and editing the content is ongoing, but a couple of technique papers have been revised and are back up with more to follow in the coming days and weeks.
New Features
A few new features are up now, with more to come. This blog is new, for example. I’m not completely sure how I’ll use it going forward. For now, this is how I’m using it, to announce the neuromagick reboot. Other decisions about the blog will come later. I’m interested in feedback on the technical papers. I’d like users to share anecdotes about their experience with the techniques. The blog might be a place for that. I’m also considering comments on the content pages and a discussion board.
A Contemporary Paganism section has been added. There are no content pages up yet, but I have a good deal of past material to work with, mostly discussion forum posts stretching back to the Golden Age of Usenet. Heh. My Pagan literature needs substantial revision now. I expect some pages to be added to the section within a few weeks.
One other new feature to disclose here is product offerings. The neuromagick site content has always been ad free, in that we’ve never charged for access to the document or had paid advertising on the site. That’s still true and always will be. But my wife and I have developed a couple of businesses over the last few years, including a funky little gift shop on the beautiful Oregon Coast. We sell everything from vintage tea cups and old wedding dresses to new and used guitars. We also have tarot cards and other mystico-magical wares, including things we make ourselves.
In the past I’ve taken voluntary donations and thank you one and all who have donated over the years. We have a better option now. If a site user likes what they find here and would support the effort if they could, they’ll be able to buy something they’d want anyway. Products that naturally fit with the site content will be made available for purchase in various places on the site, and more general merchandise will be added to the Store area in time. For now, we have a pen, ink, and journal set on the Sigils and Seals document.
In general, I hope you find things you like here: instruction, theory, products…
Welcome to the neuromagick reboot if you just found it. Welcome back if you’ve visited before. You’re always welcome here.
R. Eugene Laughlin