Sunday, July 22, 2012

What is Magick?

British occultist Aleister Crowley defined magick as ""the Science and Art of causing Change to occur in conformity with Will". He related this to will in the mundane as well as ritual magick, and chose to spell it with a "k" at the end to differentiate it from stage magic.

Most witches and wiccans today prefer to use the "magick" spelling when talking about their workings.

I believe that it's important to understand why we are where we are at any given time in our lives. Why do some things happen to us, or others? The answer is very simple, but oh-so-complex for many to comprehend.

We as individuals are responsible for where we are and why some things happen. No one else. Not your neighbor, not your co-worker, not your mother-in-law, not the mailman. The choices we make each and every day carve out the life we live in at this very moment in time.

Yes, Really.

In order to begin to follow this train of thought, you must understand the concept of Free Will.  The dictionary defines Free Will as:
"The power of acting without the constraint of necessity or fate; the ability to act at one's own discretion."
So many times we allow others to influence our actions and/or choices. We allow concepts or thought processes that have been ground into our heads to dictate our decisions. We may have a religious belief system that tells us we "shouldn't" or "can't" do this or that, so we make choices outside of what our heart tells us is right.

Many people have issues with self-esteem. Low self-esteem is the number one magick killer, in my opinion. If you do not BELIEVE, you cannot ACHIEVE. That's all there is to it.

Do we always know that a choice we make will turn out for the good, or not so good?  No.  Do we sometimes have a feeling that it's a bad choice, but we do it anyway?  Yes.  Free Will does not mean that we will always choose wisely, or end up where we wanted to be.

Part of the power of Free Will, and of Magick, is that we have the ability to state EXACTLY what it is that we want, what outcome we want to see in any given situation.

When deciding to perform ANY magick, keep this one crucial thought in mind:

Be careful what you wish for.

Know this:  the Universe does not read your mind. It only hears the words you speak, and will reflect back to you those things that you concentrate on.


Once you have a firm grip on what it is that you want to change in your life, the next step is to see it already in place, already in existence.  In Wicca, we believe in the concept of "As Above, So Below". Meaning, we create our realities based on our thoughts, actions, and reactions.

Here is another very important component of magick:  NEVER focus on the "how", just focus on the RESULT you DESIRE.

Magick = DESIRE
Magick = FOCUS
Magick = WILL
Once we determine that there is a change that needs to occur in our lives, we begin the DESIRE. It should be a burning desire. Something that you truly want to occur, or change that you want to bring about.

Next, we FOCUS. Our goal should become the vision we go to sleep with, the vision we wake up with, and the outcome we envision throughout the day.

The use of Positive Thinking is another crucial component of magick. Think and speak as though the change has already occurred. Instead of saying "I want to... (insert desire here)", say "I AM... (insert desire here)".
 
We then choose the tools to use in our magickal rite to help with the process of focus. Once we have made a decision and firmly cemented not only the change we want in our heads, but have truly focused deeply on it, we perform the ritual of magick.

Choosing the correct timing for magick is your best course of action. Take into consideration the moon phase, astrological phase, day of the week, etc. The more thought you put into preparing for doing the magick, the more you are FOCUSED. ;-) It may seem like a daunting task at first, but what you are doing is training your mind to think and act in accordance with your desire.

So... HOW do we perform the magick?
 
I have written a simple article about candle magick. Candle magick is one of the easiest and simplest forms of magick there is. Choose the candle color according to the chart that best associates with the desired outcome. There is a color chart here for you.

Other tools we have at our disposal are various herbs, gemstones, sigils, divination, and incense. It can be quite overwhelming to the beginner, but don't let it be! Start out small, make it simple. Let the magick happen, and if it doesn't happen right away, don't get discouraged! It does not mean you're a failure, it simply means that either you need to put more FOCUS, DESIRE, and WILL into the change you want to bring about, or the Universe is still working on it. Sometimes PATIENCE is what's needed. 

Next time, we will go more in-depth at the art of magick.  For now, practice focusing on what you wish to achieve.