Definition of Magick

I think that this topic will raise some important issues that will be worthwhile for all of us to think through.

The topic is this: Define the word “magick” as YOU use this term. Please try to anticipate objections that others might have, and include that into your post as well as your response.

I am most interested in hearing a back-and-forth dialogue between the basic groups: Strict atheist magicians and extreme theist magicians. But please try to keep things civil.

Magick is a series of rule of thumb techniques designed to create change in the internal or external environment. - Issac Bonewits; Real Magick.

Magic is the enigmatic" Step 2" of the Underwear Gnomes’ modus operandi from South Park.

Step 1: Steal Underwear
Step 2: ???
Step 3: Profit!

Anything done through ritual, concentration, or meditation that affects you or the world around you.

“The Science and Art of causing Change to occur in conformity with Will”- Aleister Crowley

One of the most common and the most accurate description of magick was written by Aleister Crowley in context of Thelema (a religion based on a philosophical law by the name of Thelema). In this short description we can dismiss many of the misconceptions around what magick is. Magick isn’t mystical, or exclusive. It is not a skill you can achieve or an ability you can acquire. Magick is built into your very essence. Simply put, magick is the mind. It is one of the underlying mechanics of life itself and even the most mundane of things are indeed “magickal” by this definition. In Crowley’s description he suggests that magick is “action”, and while this is true it is not the whole truth. Magick is in thought, emotion and action, bleeding into everything that we do. Everyone is performing magick and on a continuous basis. You do not have to be aware of it, nor does it need to be purely intentional. The difference between the magician and everyone else, is that the magician is aware of, involved with, and in control of his or her own magick. All magick is psychological in nature. Extensive rituals, magical tools and exaggerated drama does have its place however it is not essential. A great magician can use magick anytime and anywhere within his own mind. Every magician no matter how advanced is using their own mind, psychologically to manifest results and change. The deeper you look into your own mind, its responsibility, its impact on your life and how it affects your living conditions, the more this becomes apparent.

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Driving a nail with a hammer would fit into Crowley’s definition. His understanding seems overly vague to be applied to what we do.

That is exactly the point Jboy, magick isn’t this mystical power it is the fabric of the universe itself. Magick is mundane.

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Making your internal subjective desires, images, or other goals, become external objective reality.

(The crossover that you can sometimes accomplish this by applying hammer to nail is not, in fact, an accident - everything begins with an act of will, and all that matters are results.)

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Magick is the process of directing forces that cannot be measured by classical Newtonian physics, such as will, in order to create noticeable change within the mind, or within the physical world.

Asbjborntorvol-In principle I agree. But surely you would agree that an element of the definition must include the recognition that “magick” is rejected by any and every branch of mainstream science. I prefer Rahnoren’s definition.

Actually I disagree completely. Science does not reject magick. The word magick yes sure but the actual concept of what magick is and how it works (by my own definition) and it is based in science. Magick is the mind as I said in my article.

Mainstream science does not believe that our magickal accomplishments are possible. They label us nuts, regardless of how “science minded” we claim to be.

For me Magick is the Art and Science of using the Forces of Nature(called Supernatural because they are not yet “proved” by science) to cause change in accordance with the will in the subjective universe of the Magician, and then to make this subjective reality the objective reality.

Magic is a very strict science as it deals directly with energy, ask a physician in quantum physics what everything boils down to and he will say energy, ask an accomplished occultist what he deals with and he will say, energy…energy my friend.

Magic also has a fine delicate view of how we perceive and sense its nature and activity, which is totally unique and individual to the magician, hence it is an pure art form.

Energy is one of the foundation stones to magical manifestations; belief is another for without it, the energy will not behave. Likewise, the imagination is how we can control this energy and shape it with our belief and will to make our internal perception change, which will then allow the natural world (spirit) to mirror this and alter reality accordingly around us in alignment with our intentions.

So…

Magic is the pure art & science of manipulating energy with your intentions to shape your reality accordingly. It is spelled how it’s spoken, for there is no need to segregate it with a ‘K’ as anything else is just an illusion, or a dishonour to its true form.

It is pretty much a mash of these posts. Magic is an art, yes, it is also a science, true, however Crowley’s definition is simply inadequate. Hitting a nail with a hammer isn’t magic, unless it is ritually charged to do so.

Crowley lacked vision. He had the tools to receive it, yet his body was too dull. Tools mean nothing if the sorcerer wielding them doesn’t have his shit together, in body, mind, and spirit.

It can be argued that all of definitions are useless, as attempting to define a universal unique force is like counting the planets in said universe. Virtually impossible without agreed-upon metrics and in magic there is nothing that is an “agreed-upon” metric uniformly throughout, except for the presence of spirits and energy.

The long story short, and the true definition of magic, is that magic is energy. Whether you use that energy to change yourself, your reality, or your progress, it is up to you to decide.

See I wouldn’t call it “mundane” in any form of the sense.

Sure, magic is prevalent and is found all over this universe, however, the specific word implies that sorcery is somehow uninteresting or dull, the same for everyone.

Which isn’t correct. Every man is slightly different in how he is made, energetically, and has different responses and interactions with their universe. Magic is highly personal. The only “science” it is a form of, is that of the self, as nothing can be completely passed down, even through lineages. Experience is their own.

This is a world of endless possibilities and ever-growing permutations of men. Should each become a sorcerer, they would all find themselves at slightly different ends of the same paths.

Magic isn’t mundane, it’s always deeper than the surface upon which it is learned, and it is always capable of surprising you.

“Magick is a tool and lens that allows one to become more than a passive observer of the illusive physical constructs of the universe but instead an active participant who sees the fluidity of reality.” – Donald J Trump

Manipulating energy in order to create change.

The new Avatar is fucking brilliant!

Mr. Crowley explained Magick as a function of Will and resulting Change. This simple formula gives us freedom to attribute any willed change to magick. As was mentioned before, it takes the mysterious and unmeasurable and turns it into mundane easy to understand terms.

Mr. Crowley’s “formula” is a rationalized core foundation formula.

Standing on the shoulders of this great and often misunderstood correspondence, I can also say, “Magick is what you make of it.”

It is an equally deceptively vague statement that omits scientific jargon yet implies, by virtue of our modern educations, manipulation of reality at a quantum level.

To the uninitiated, the definition of magick by Crowley is the ultimate blind.

Magic - Good when its good…!