Magick: Mysteriously enchanting, skillful, or effective. Enchanting: Delightful, charming, captivating.
About the Word MagickThe word magick harkens back to the three Magi, the wisemen who followed the Star of Bethlehem to pay homage to the baby Jesus.
Concepts in Magick and Spellcasting
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Magick resides with you."Casting magick" requires no tools, no ingredients, no specific words. However, these things may be used. When they are, we generally refer to this as spellcasting. Spells, like sacramentals, assist us. They are means of expression, reminders, and aids to our facilities. Like all artifacts, they can convey a sense of history and purpose. Nonetheless, they do not make things happen in and of themselves. To treat spells (or sacramentals) as if they do, is superstition. An incantation is a but a poem; the only force it has is what you bring to it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Magick only achieves what is possible in the natural world.No pumpkins become carriages with magick. Magick is natural and bound by natural law. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Magick only works in conjunction with natural, ordinary effort.The difference between will and wish is an action. For something to happen, one must let it happen. Magick does not bring results with no outlet. There are three basic steps to working magick:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Magick is unpredictable.Unless you are very specific as to how a spell should take effect, magick can and will use any opportunity that comes its way. It is impossible to account for all possibilities, thus magick is unpredictable. Magick is also unpredictable because it is predicated upon the will. You must know your own true will to perform magick consciously and successfully, and this is not always simple to determine. The inevitable surprise can be more or less pleasing, depending. Magick is far from a cure-all. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Magick requires emotional will -- i.e., conviction.As alluded to above, magick requires a certain and steadfast will, one that can sustain the effort needed and one that can mean what it says. This means it demands a depth of emotional will that is rooted in one's being. It requires conviction. Feelings, in the sense of reactive sensation and sensibility, are inadequate. Feelings are too variable and short-lived to produce a solid, lasting result -- if any. They change with both relevant and irrelevant input. For example, a long day's work and a missed meal, producing crankiness, can make the difference between delight and annoyance at a phone call. A will based in feelings is easily undermined. The will of the "cognizant, reasoning mind" is also insufficient. It is slow -- too slow for many things. Driving is a good example. When driving, one must be able to react with the quickness of instinct when confronted by a hazard. Cars would be unworkable, not to mention far too dangerous, if one had to reason out the coordination of eye, hand, and foot for each maneuver. The reasoning mind is easily confounded by detail. It is also easily confused by its logic, abstract logical truth not being equitable with truth in reality. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lasting magick depends upon equilibrium.Magick requires you to think carefully about how you apply yourself -- your energies, your attention. This is, perhaps, one of the most valuable lessons magick teaches. The concept of equilibrium in magick is more like that of ecosystems than a scale. A scale is a thing of static duality, which you must take care not to tip to one side or the other. An excess of weight in one pan, and the scale simply remains lopsided. Equilibrium in an ecosystem, on the other hand, depends on many variables and is no more than a sustainable point of dynamic balance between numerous forces -- which may or may not operate at equal levels. The ecosystem always moves towards such a point, but the actual point of equilibrium can shift. The desirability of any equilibrium state, of course, varies. A non-operative system may be disastrous for its inhabitants, but it still has an equilibrium point -- one at zero activity. And so it is with magick. When performing an act of magick, you are trying to change the dynamic of a "metaphysical system" and shift the equilibrium point. To accomplish a lasting act of magick, the goal is not to find equal balance between opposing factors. Instead, it is to find an acceptable balance amongst coinciding factors. If you use magick to attempt something not wholly supported by divine and natural order and your own true will -- there are three possible results:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The paradox of free will and importance of yielding to divine will.If the need to apply yourself carefully is one of the most important lessons magick can teach, the most important may be this: You need to yield your will to the divine in order to find your will. The strength of your will and the viability of your magick -- in fact, your whole vitality -- depend upon this. Ostensibly, this is a
paradox. If you give up your will, then it would be logical to conclude
you have no will -- and you certainly don't have free will. But here is
an example of where logic fails. This is not the paradox that it seems. The most one can do to change something so essential is to stifle it. Philosophical free will is not an offer of omnipotence. Your potential, your power, these are the things laid before you and with which you come into the world. You can choose to own and fulfill your potential or not. This is the choice presented with philosophical free will. |
