For a long time when I was much younger, I took a great interest in Crowley and Thelemic principles. But I found its basis within tradition to be far too restrictive.
I enjoyed the methodology of his meditations, but couldn't quite seem to grasp his practices, nor feel comfortable with them.
For a time, I read of iconology, symbology and power names, initially those of various Angels and Demons, but felt there was little to be gained from referencing others' perceptions of these 'labels'.
As a result, I wandered through discordianism for a time, with an eventual liking for Spare's 'Chaos Magick', but again, I felt he drove too hard in one direction- that of experiencing sexual exhaustion in order to 'power' his Magicks.
His understanding of symbolism was second to none however, in my opinion. This has helped me move to a more fluid form, which takes the existant opportunity of the moment, utilising whichever tools are available at the time and determining my own significance upon thoughts/words/objects.
Whilst this takes something away from the mysticism of it all, perhaps even being seen as denigrating the idea of 'Ritual', it is equally as effective, in my experience.
I have found that my non-concious mind drives many of my actions nowadays and am careful to avoid becoming trapped into my own predetermined path, preferring instead to seek the 'Golden Path' of Frank Herbert's dune series.
As an aside, I have been intrigued by the concept of Psionics, but these are largely indescribable, without corrupting the core concept with language and really, as a topic, it counts as a seperate study.
Shamanism has always held some pull for me, but I'm yet to investigate it deeply, nor Wicca, though I understand the ideas of both, since they appear largely interlinked.
Herbalism, a derivation of the two above, is essentially a science study to me, along the lines of Medicine, so as a 'Magic', I cannot see that it's appropriate to be called such.
