I’ve learned not to go too far into a discussion about the Craft without delving into the topic of conversation that people tend to want to hear about most.  That topic would be magick.  With a K.

Ask any practitioner of the Craft or other magickally inclined path what magick is and you will get a solid handful of stock answers (one of which will nearly always be either Aleister Crowley’s or Dion Fortune’s definition).  You will also get a wide range of answers from people who have veered from the stock replies and found their own definition through practice.  I’m going to focus on the definition of magick by using both Uncle Al’s and Auntie Dion’s definitions and applying them to the two kinds of magick you can work:  THEURGY and THAUMATURGY.  Good Witches (and I mean that in both the “skill” good and the “ethical” good) excel at both.

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THEURGY

Theurgy is magick that is done to effect change and transformation within the practitioner, to deepen spiritual practice, to evolve and grow spiritually.  A theurgist approaches magick to delve into and discover the greater symbolisms around him and to apply those insights to himself in order to transform the “lead to gold”, so to speak.   I’m starting with Theurgy because I see the Craft as a faith, a spiritual foundation and path first and foremost.  The Wiccan plate isn’t a heap of spells and trinkets with faith like an anti-acid in case your spell don’t go down right.  It’s a hearty meal of faith and spiritual growth with the tools of magick as implements to enjoying the meal and the skills of magick as garnishes and sides to make life more enjoyable, better, and helpful for all.

I’m pointing this out because one of the predominant trailheads leading to this path is people thinking spells are cool.  You know what?  You’re right… they are.  They get you things you want and need for yourself and others on the material plane and make life comfy, safe, and more enjoyable.  But I’m asking you to get out of the consumer mindset for a minute and realize that life extends beyond your birth and your death and how cushy the ride was between the time you popped out of Mom and the time you’re going “home to Momma”.

Theurgy takes the long view.  Theurgy doesn’t care so much about the package but what’s inside.  Theurgy isn’t into “win friends and influence people and pull rabbits out of hats for fun and profit”.  Theurgy is about looking in that mirror, really seeing yourself, healing the things that stand between you and understanding/embracing your Divine nature so you can put all that force for Good to work in the world to help others cross that same bridge.  You can disagree with me if you like, but that kicks Thaumaturgy’s butt any day of the damn week (except when you need to affect change on the material plane so you can stick it out here a little longer to get more Theurgy work done).  That said…

Magick is the Art of changing Consciousness at Will. This is Dion Fortune’s definition, and I find it a seamless dovetail with the understanding of Theurgy.  I happen to like this definition because of the word “consciousness”.  It’s especially appropriate with the current movement of certain New Age thoughts being brought into the mainstream — for example, the Secret (aka Law of Attraction), the power of positive thinking, the Power of Now.  Each of these wildly popular ideas/publications is based in what I call consciousness shift.

Consciousness shift does create incredible results.  One might even say magickal results.  A shift in perspective can open up new alternatives.  A shift in self-talk can give us wings to rise above old habits.  A shift in empathy can help us deliver more appropriate action to a delicate situation and preserve the feelings and dignity of those around us.  Oh yes, changing consciousness means changing the entire playing field.  However, changing consciousness at will takes a bloody hell of a lot of practice.  This basically says that the ability to do magick lies in your strength to be aware and present so you can monitor and guide your conscious state to deliver the results you want.  It’s all on you.  And it’s not easy.

I’m not talking about the easier little magicks of holding your tongue when someone pisses you off or expanding your field of awareness to be able to tell what’s in the mailbox before you open it.  Nah, those are simple.  Would you like examples of heavy magick?  I’ve seen some!  You have, too, come to think of it.

Ever seen someone quit smoking?  Lose a lot of weight?  Stop drinking?  Undergo cognitive therapy to correct a mental imbalance?  Attend counseling to save a marriage?  Recover from attempted suicide?  Bulemia/anorexia?  Leave an abusive marriage?  Raise a child as a single parent on a low income?  Rehabilitate from an amputation or other major injury?  Heavy magick there, folks.  Heavy.  Every single one of these situations requires a complete act of Will on all levels — spiritual, mental, emotional, physical — to take a goal from a want into a manifested reality.  Heavy magick isn’t just one choice, easily made, easily completed.  Heavy magick is about transformation through consistent application of will to every thought, every desire that rises from every thought, every action that proceeds either checked or unchecked from that desire.

When working heavy magick, you come to understand the meaning of the phrase “a time that is not a time, a place that is not a place”.  Whenever a person is working these deep magicks, the moment of choice is a moment in ritual.  In that ritual moment, the choice is but an opportunity to focus again on the desired outcome.  For a recovering drug user, the temptation of cocaine is just another moment where he must overwrite his current consciousness of being a drug user with the desired outcome of being drug-free.  Each time he makes that choice, he reinforces that Willed reality.  He makes magick happen because he transformed his own consciousness and moved into a different future than the one presented to him on his old path of “drug user”.  There is no difference between the Future and the Now — the Future manifests instantly when we choose to create/observe it.  The moment the drug-user chose to stop using drugs, the Future was made manifest instantly in the Now by his Choice, by his Will.  At the next moment of temptation, he could always choose to manifest a different future, go back to doing lines of coke, and then that Future becomes the Now — again, instantly.  Or he can choose to reinforce the “recovering drug-user” reality he chose last time.  Anyone who has ever faced these kinds of demons knows that, while I might explain this in simple terms, doing is FAR from easy.

So, here’s your first few bubbles of magick-magnificence popped:

(1) Magick is as easily performed by Witches/Pagans as anyone else working with Will… people just might not call it Magick, but damn, it looks pretty awe-inspiring to me, regardless.  If you want to see what a powerful circle looks like, attend an AA or NA meeting.  You’ll be surrounded by people working Will the way a blacksmith works iron.  It’s humbling to see men and women standing firm against a truly soul-sucking force… blows most basic candle spells out of the water.

(2)  Magick is bloody hard work and anyone trying to tell you it’s not has no clue.  You do get better at it, but before you diss me and say I’m wrong, I challenge you to break your worst habit.  If you’ve already broken all of them and think you’re all that, then I challenge you to break the habit of your ego.  That should keep you occupied for a while.  I seriously think the ego is the Goddess’ version of ultimate busy-work, because, seriously, dealing with my inner Paris Hilton is just NEVER done.  *smile*

(3)  Magick is about transformation.  Look at the species in the world that naturally transform their shapes — butterflies, frogs, snakes shedding their skins, deer shedding their antlers — and tell me what is required to do those things.  The answer:  either surrender to the process or generate friction of some kind.  In one, you have to let go and trust.  For people who like control and order and not being disempowered, letting go and surrendering is an exercise in trying not to chew your nails down to the quick.  In the other, you have to deliberately create friction, rubbing against rough objects and working hard until you shed those old parts of yourself.  And that doesn’t feel so good either.  But it’s part of the process.

People don’t usually come to the Craft saying “Please, I want to wrestle my demons and kick my own butt and make something of myself.”  But if you have a good Teacher, or good spiritual Guides, and are a quick study of the natural order of the Universe, you eventually figure out that this is exactly what it’s all about.  And once that happens, you either put it in reverse rather quickly, decide to focus on the material Thaumaturgical stuff (and wonder why things don’t really ever get any better), or you get off your ass and get to work.

I hate to be the voice of disenchantment, but there it is.  If you’re only here to make someone fall in love with you, win the lottery, exact revenge, or be a bad-ass, then please come back when you are a little more mature and not thinking like a two-year-old believing the world revolves around you.  Because, truth is, the world DOES revolve around you.  And any Craft leader worth their salt isn’t going to put an unlocked remote control to your own YouTube in your hands if all you’re going to do is screw around and serve your own selfish desires.  That’s not Wicca, that’s not the Craft, that’s not the Great Work, but hey — some branches of the Satanic philosophy may suit you nicely.

Now that we have that out of the way, we’ll move on to…

THAUMATURGY

As I’ve hinted at earlier on, Thaumaturgy is about effecting changes on the material plane, usually for mundane reasons.  Spells to get a job, find a lover or mate, attract prosperity, protect your home or family, heal a pet… these are all Thaumaturgical aims.  Thaumaturgical is often referred to as “low” magick as the material plane is the “dross” of existence.  It has its value, however, it is not the ultimate aim.  In fact, as I mentioned above, Thaumaturgical magick can play directly in to assisting with Theurgical work.  By healing your body, you can stay on in your physical incarnation and therefore, have more opportunity to do Theurgical work.  By gaining a job, you can maintain a level of comfort and stability which frees you to enjoy pursuits you might not enjoy if stressed out due to homelessness or hunger.  By attracting a mate and creating a family, you create an environment of mirrors to help you grow and thus, again, pursue your Theurgical work.

So, yes.  Thaumaturgy does have its uses.  There are a number of texts/websites that divide Witches from Ceremonial Magicians along this line of Theurgy and Thaumaturgy, stating that Witches work this “low magick” (aka “folk magick”) while Ceremonialist do Theurgy, looking down with scorn on the worth of lower magick.  Is this the fenceline?  I don’t believe so.

Looking to the foundations of the modern Neo-pagan religion known as Wicca, the first thing we have to acknowledge is that Wicca is a spiritual Franken-baby, bolts and all.  Gardner took folk tradition and married it to ceremonial ritual.  He reached up and grabbed the shirt-tail of “As Above” Theurgy and reached down and hooked the collar of “So Below” Thaumaturgy and sat them on the laboratory table side by side.  You may not agree with me, but I personally think it was bloody brilliant.  After all, spiritual paths mean nothing if they don’t fully allow us to engage in a mundane and physical existence.  And all the mundane connections in the world avail us not if they don’t answer the burning questions and mysteries that lie beyond eat, sleep, make love, work, doing it all over again.

The Thaumaturgy and folk aspects of magick help us with our daily lives, allow us to contribute in tangible ways when others need assistance.  In truth, assistance in a Thaumaturgical/mundane manner is often the only help we can actually give another because the Theurgical work is completely on the individual.  We can’t help with that… we can only Guide, but even that is solely at the discretion of the person Following.  Thaumaturgy is a vital Craft practice, and I embrace it.  It is also an immense amount of enjoyment — it turns life into something of a living laboratory for those who choose to Dare enough to experiment with spells and conjurations.

The Theurgical and soul-evolution aspects of magick are really completely in our own hands, done in our own time, using our own power, manifesting at our own speed.  The crux with Theurgical magick is that it cannot work at cross-purposes with Thaumaturgical magick.  In other words, cursing another person (a definite Thaumaturgical act) will not go hand in hand with refining one’s spiritual state.  Just as the “Below” must lie under the “Above”, Thaumaturgical magick must lie “under” Theurgical magick, in support of one’s own growth.  Thus, Theurgy can be  suitably yoked to Thaumaturgy.  My most successful spells on a physical level have been those that directly supported my work on a spiritual level.  Likewise, if I’ve done magick for another, I have had incidences where my Thaumaturgic efforts on their behalf did not have the right “harmonic” with the Theurgical work that lay ahead for them.  I could see down the road where, if my spell had worked precisely as I’d planned, that person would have missed out on an experience that transformed them forever.

Aleister Crowley’s definition (ironically, to me) explains Thaumaturgy quite neatly:  Magick is the Science and Art of causing Change in conformity with Will. I will point out that Thaumaturgical magick is, indeed, quite the science.  To get it right, you need to learn symbols and correspondences, astrological timing, and mental focus.  As I said, it’s a grand laboratory and you need to know how to mix items A, B, and X to get Z.  However, it is also an art.  So much of learning how to be an effective Thaumaturgist is intuition, just knowing.  The goal is to cause change, to stir something up.  In short, Thaumaturgy breaks inertia, gets things moving again (which is why it is such an excellent helpmeet in Theurgical efforts).  But it’s not just any change we’re looking for… it’s the change in accordance with Will.

Here’s the stumbling block:  will does not mean want.  And frankly, a good percentage of the time that people participate in Thaumaturgical spellwork, it’s because they WANT something — a lover, money, power, job, sex, fame, fertility, material things.  There’s nothing wrong with that, okay?  That’s being human — we’re talking about the Craft here, so you can put the shame and guilt bricks back down.  But WILL is a different thing.  WILL has to do with higher purpose, the work you are here to do, the part you are meant to contribute.  If you want a million dollars but your higher Will requires you to live a life of more meager means in order to develop certain traits or pursue certain goals, then your Thaumaturgy efforts are likely to fall flat.  Your mundane magick has to actually SUPPORT that higher level — for you, for others, for the world.

This is one of the reasons we have the big no-no’s of working magick on others without their permission.  Let’s say you want someone to fall in love with you.  Alright, I think we’ve all felt that way a time or two.  Tell me this:  do you know what their path is and why they were born and what they are meant to learn in life?  I guarantee you that you don’t.  When you deliberately throw energy out there against another’s true Will, you are effectively attempting to change their life course, and for what?  Because you — no greater or less than them in the grand scheme of things — wanted it.  You decided that getting your own way was more important than that person’s entire reason for existence and the work they were sent here to do.  That’s pretty selfish.

Let’s say you decide to do the spell anyway and you put that energetic force out there that says “Come to Me!”  Not everyone is born listening, ears wide open, to their true Will.  It’s a hard process just to get that communication to come through clearly and without static.  So now you’ve put all your Lust into this working, and believe me, Lust is one of the most powerful forces there is.  It starts that whole Law of Attraction thing.  If that person you’re doing the spell on isn’t strong in their higher Will, you’ve got a chance of swaying them, of pulling them off their Divine course in life.  Of course, you can always feel less guilty and say that they wanted it, too… that they went along with it.  Personally, I couldn’t sleep at night if I knew that I’d cast a spell on someone, luring them deliberately over to my house, and because they were influenced by me, they made a choice to miss out on an important moment or opportunity.  I know that’s an extreme example, but it’s a valid one.

Thaumaturgical magick is an incredibly powerful tool.  It can assist you in reaching your Theurgical goals more easily and with greater enjoyment and fulfillment.  It can also be used in a base and unethical manner.  The choice of how you’ll use it is up to you.  It is because of this danger of misuse that I do not teach any Thaumaturgy at all until a Seeker has completed their ethics work and has shown some obvious internalization that this path isn’t here for blatant and noxious self-service.  Again, I’ve not presented the bright and flashy side of magick you might have been seeking when you came to the Craft, but this is how it is on the path I walk.

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Do I believe in magick?  Absolutely.  Magick has helped me transcend a childhood filled with emotional and physical abuse and psychological abandonment.  Magick has helped me restore a sense of healthy sexuality after being molested.  Magick has helped me find my own voice, reclaim my own power, gain confidence in the work I do both great and small.  Magick has supported me through difficult mundane times, always delivering exactly what I needed.  Magick has allowed me to help others in ways that kept them on their paths, healed them, renewed them, and delivered them from demons new and ancient.

Magick works.  And magick is work.  And when it works — when it takes your breath away, brings you to your knees in awe and humility, answers your needs and raises you up higher than you thought you could go — you understand why no word could ever describe it except MAGICK.

Next article in New to Wicca? — More Like Guidelines Than Actual Rules

Published in two parts July 19, 2009 (Part 1) and July 26, 2009 (Part 2) — Witchvox Featured Article.

Photo by Eddi 07 (via Flickr).