| What is Magick? |
| Many beginners will ask what is the difference between magic and magick. Well there is a difference. Magic is what a magician does, optical illusions. Magick is what a Witch does when he/she manipulates the energy surrounding them to cause things to happen that may or may not have happened had the magickal act occured. Basically, it is bending the reality of your world according to your will. Many times, a Witch will do magick to cause a change in the way their life is going at the current moment. The type of magick depends on the need at hand or what the person is wanting to change. There are different types of magick. Black Magick, White Magick, Green Magick, Red Magick, etc. There is also light and dark magick, high and low magick, sympathetic, folk and candle magick, as well as sex and ceremonial magick. This page will talk about the differences of each type of magick that one can do. |
| Lets start with Ceremonial Magick. Ceremonial magick which can be confused with High Magick is a very disciplined form of magick. It comes from the belief that doing things with exact movements and enunciation lends power. Ceremonial magick can be very interesting if you are scientific. Ceremonial Magick has had a large part in Modern Wicca. Gerald Gardner studied Ceremonial Magick and when he formed his ideas about Wicca he incorporated many of those elements into the craft. The Lessor Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram, for instance, strongly influenced the circle castings that we do. If you are interested in understanding Ceremonial Magick the Lessor Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram is an excellent place to start. The LBRP is listed below: Face East and visualize a ball of light in the distance, have it grow slowly as it moves toward you until it is right in front of you: say "ATOH" (Ah Tay), while touching third eye "MALKUTH" (MAl Kooth), while tracing a line down to your belly. "VE GEBURAH" (Vee Go Rah), tracing up to your left shoulder. "VE GEDULAH" (Vee Go Lah), tracing across to your right shoulder. "LE OLAM" (LAY OHLAM), while bringing hands together as if in prayer, fingers extended away from you. "AMEN" (Ah Men), raising your fingers up (the ball of light should be at your finger tips now, bring it inside your belly). Turn and face East, Sketch a pentagram in air before you with your index finger then place your fingers to your head (like horns) and thrust them through the pentagram and intone "YOD HEH VAHV HEH" (Yud Hey Vahu Ey). Turn and face South, Sketch a pentagram in air before you with your index finger then place your fingers to your head (like horns) and thrust them through the pentagram and intone "ADONAI" (Ah Doh Ni). Turn and face West, Sketch a pentagram in air before you with your index finger then place your fingers to your head (like horns) and thrust them through the pentagram and intone "EH HEH YEH" (Ee Hey Yeh). Turn and face North, Sketch a pentagram in air before you with your index finger then place your fingers to your head (like horns) and thrust them through the pentagram and intone "AGLA" (Ah Glah). Return to the East and assume the God position (like the mummies with arms crossed) and say: "Before me Gabriel (Gay Bree El), behind me Uriel (Your I El) , to my right side Michael (Me Chi El), and to my left side Azrael (As Ray El). About me flames the pentagram and within me shines the six pointed star." Allow the ball of light to emerge from your stomach and encompass you. Once again invoke the quarters: Sketch a pentagram in air before you with your index finger then place your fingers to your head (like horns) and thrust them through the pentagram and intone "YOD HEH VAHV HEH" (Yud Hey Vahu Ey). Turn and face South, Sketch a pentagram in air before you with your index finger then place your fingers to your head (like horns) and thrust them through the pentagram and intone "ADONAI" (Ah Doh Ni). Turn and face West, Sketch a pentagram in air before you with your index finger then place your fingers to your head (like horns) and thrust them through the pentagram and intone "EH HEH YEH" (Ee Hey Yeh). Turn and face North, Sketch a pentagram in air before you with your index finger then place your fingers to your head (like horns) and thrust them through the pentagram and intone "AGLA" (Ah Glah). Say "Amen" (Ah Men). |
| Next we are going to discuss High Magick, since Ceremonial Magick is often confused with High Magick. High Magick is magick for spiritual growth and development, rather than material or earthly matters such as love, money, power, or happiness. High Magick is generally long term goals that can span several lifetimes and can help us to learn lessons so we can reincarnate in the next life and in a new form to learn different lessons. Magick concerned with material and earthly matters is often referred to as "Low" magick. It is important to note that although I said High Magick is not concerned with mundane things that is not entirely true. High Magick is about intent. If you wished to gain financial independence so you could focus yourself more completely on Spiritual Growth it could be argued that this was High Magick. Using these arguments it is easy to see how people could get Ceremonial Magick confused with High Magick. |
| Now we shall discuss Sympathetic Magick. Sympathetic Magick is a fancy way of saying "using like to attract like". It is considered to be the oldest form of magick. Magick such as binding a doll in ribbons, hunters attacking an image of their prey, visualizing yourself getting the job that you want, using taglocks from a house that you want in order to obtain the house are all examples of Sympathetic Magick. A lot of spells can be part of more than one school of Magick. In each of the examples used above Sympathetic Magick is being used. Using a representation of our goal or doing magick on the item we are using is Sympathetic Magick. In other forms of Magick one might substitute a candle or a chant for our goal, these are abstractions of our goal. In Sympathetic Magick we use an actual representation of the goal. In some ways this can make the Magick stronger. In psychology this technique has been combined with creative visualization to help people achieve their goals. To create a Sympathetic Magick spell, start by thinking about what you want. Find or create a representation of the thing and do to it what you wish to do to the real thing. To make us better hunters we could take an image or effigy of an animal and attack it with spears. To make an abusive ex leave you alone you could take an image of the person and bind them physically by wrapping a ribbon around the image. And if you can't get a true physical representation of the item you can always use meditation. What makes this technique Magick is the focusing of intent to bring about the change or the realization of your goal and following up by acting in kind. So, if we are making ourselves better hunters we would need to believe that attacking the image of the animal will improve our ability to kill our real quarry, then raise energy by chanting and dancing when we do this, and finally, actually going out and doing some hunting when we were done. The energy and intent is just as important as the representation of the goal. A lot of Magickal work can use Sympathetic Magick as just one part or component of a spell. |
| Candle Magick, by far is my favorite type of Magick. Partially because I am a fire sign. Another part is because candle magick is very simple, yet very powerful. Candle magick is working magick by repositioning, lighting, extinguishing and carving things into candles. To attract money you could carve symbols for money and prosperity into two candles (green) and during your ritual you could move the candles closer together to symbolize drawing money closer to yourself. By combining a few simple elements you can create complex rituals and enact magick for any need at a moments notice. Let's take a look at these elements: moving candles closer together signifies drawing something to you moving candles apart signifies getting rid of things in your life lighting a candle releases the magickal energies in a spell carving symbols into a candle based on whatever the symbols mean letting a candle burn all the way down can symbolize finality candle color based on color correspondences In order to do candle magick you first gather all of your materials together. Then you will need to bless and consecrate your candles. Next, charge the candles with the intent that you are working on. To do this, you simply hold them in both hands, and focus on your personal energy and the goal that you wish to obtain, and feel and see the energy going into the candle. Then you do your magickal working. Candle Spell for Health You will need: 1. 1 white candle 2. 3 red candles Set the 3 red candles around the white candle in a triangular shape. On a waxing moon, light the white candle and say: This candle is lit for me to see, the health and strength that comes to me. Light the red candle and say: Here is health and strength by three and this drawn to my body Health and strength now come to me as I do wish, so mote it be. Move the red candles a little closer to the white candle and visualize how you will look, how you will feel, and what you will do when you have regained your health and vitality. Extinguish the candles (DO NOT BLOW THEM OUT, SNUFF THEM OUT) after approximately 13 minutes and repeat this process each day for 7 days. The red candles should be touching the white candle on the 7th day. |
| Folk magick is a term used to describe the magick of the people. Over the centuries the workers of magick would use a little of this and a little of that going with what felt right. There was no set recipe for anything. Kitchen magick is the natural outgrowth of Folk magick, where Folk magick is based on tradition kitchen Witches. Kitchen Witches are making thier own traditions by continuing to experiment with magick and work their spells. Folk magick overlaps with a lot of other types of magick due to its exploratory nature. Folk magick can incorporate elements of herbalism, creating talismans or charms, spell working, forms of divination and can even influence the way you decorate your house (feng-shui). There are many different types of folk magick including gypsy, dutch, australian and the commoers practices of duplicating many more formal magick methods such as voodoo. If you are interested in folk magick it is best to pick a group that interests you and then research as many of the old folk stories and talk to as many people as you can. You may be surprised at what you can learn. |
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