WHAT IS MAGICK?

Fundamentals, definitions, explanations and theory.

Ah yes...the reason you are here. You want to know all about magick! I'm not going to waste your time and mine by telling you that magick is the wonder that is the birth of a baby, the wind gently blowing through the trees or the stars in the sky. Okay, all of that stuff is beautiful and worthy of wonder but it is not what I call magickal. All of that is science. Truth be told, magick is a science as well but I am unable to find anyone who is studying magick from a scientific standpoint and that's probably not why you're here anyway.

So what is magick and why is it spelled with that pesky 'k' anyway? I've adopted the definition put forth by Aleister Crowley because it encompasses what I believe to be a working definition of magick: 'The science and art of causing change to occur in conformity with will.' That's nice, isn't it? But what does it actually mean? I'm big on the how and the why so expect a lot of that here. I hope you weren't expecting some fly-by-night page on fluff.

So let's move on to analyzing this definition. I'll put the words we'll talk about in bold for easier identification. "The science and art of causing change to occur in conformity with will."

Science: Systematized knowledge as an object of study
Art: Skill acquired by experience, study, or observation
Causing Change: Being the reason something will undergo transformation, transition, or substitution
Conformity: Action in accordance with some specified standard or authority
Will: The power of control over one's own actions or emotions

Basically, magick is using knowledge and skill to cause a transformation in our reality in accordance with our wishes and desires. Doesn't sound particularly mystical, does it? Well, it's not. I guess it's all in how you look at it. And as for the 'k' used in this spelling....it's simply to separate this form from the illusions performed by the Davids. (Copperfield and Blaine)

Magick happens at different times, in different ways and for different reasons, specific to the individual. I believe magick happens anytime we cause a change in the energy within us or around us. This can happen when we meditate, praise in ritual, offer our respect to Nature growing or harvesting herbs/vegetables/flowers or focusing our energies casting the ever popular magick spells. Magick happens when we utilize the tecniques of divination, cleanse an object of unwelcome energy or charge an object with the intent of protection. Simply put, magick happens whenever we fully and completely focus our will.

I don't believe in inherent good and evil. I believe in intent. That being said, it is a very real possibility that whenever you do magick the consequences could end up being something you weren't expecting. Things can, and do, go wrong. More often than not, things go wrong because we are not clear in our intent, consciously or unconsciously. Before performing any magick designed to cause change in circumstance, it is essential that a meditation is used to determine pure intentions and cleanse the mind's energy.

Above all else, 'Know Thyself.'