I began software development when I started the web development track of Bloc at the end of June. I’d never done any sort of coding before but I was really excited to start. Like many, I dreamed of quitting my job and starting a software company. Bloc seemed like a perfect place to get the skills I’d need to build the vision in my mind.

One wouldn’t normally make an association between the magickal practice and software development. After all, they’re vastly different fields. In the former you have candles, rituals, invocations, and tarot cards, while the latter is mathematical and systematic in nature. To start to bridge this gap, we turn to the esoteric writer and philosopher, Robert Anton Wilson. Wilson employs the metaphor of a computer to describe human experience, with the hardware being our physical bodies and brains, with the software being our belief systems, ideas, and models which determine how we define ourselves and see the world. While our hardware sets limitations on our basic processing power and how we operate, software defines how we interpret the information we take in, how we solve problems, and the solutions we come to.

As I’ve progressed into programming, I’ve noticed that what I care the most about is developing my own abilities. Since I started with the goal of starting my own company, much of my goals are related to that. But already, I’ve come away with a fascination for the discipline and the desire to expand my capabilities as much as I can.