Spiritual Magic vs. Magical Spirit

Newcomers to the various Pagan/Earth Centered movements are usually somewhat confused about what it is that we believe in. This isn't surprising since in any gathering of Pagans, large or small, there always seems to be more opinions than there are people. It's probably impossible to find even two Pagans that agree on everything. And it's equally difficult to find even one thing that all of us agree upon. We'd like to think that we all can agree to disagree, but even that ideal of civility is too often broken. However, there is a common thread that runs throughout most Pagan faiths.

It's called magic. Sometimes, in order to differentiate it from regular stage magic, it is spelled with an added 'k' on the end – 'magick'. No matter the spelling, it has the same meaning in the context of the faith group currently called Pagan. It is a belief that small amounts of energy, placed and timed in a specific and astute way, will produce amazing changes. It is not a belief that we have supernatural powers or, more properly, UN-natural powers. It is the belief that we can learn techniques and hone our abilities in such a way as to utilize the forces and processes of nature to get done what we want to get done. This, of course, isn't significantly different from the premise upon which most of the sciences are structured. And many Pagans are amateur scientists or at least extremely interested in the sciences. Our embrace of science, however, is often tempered with a dose of skepticism concerning how scientific knowledge is applied. Many of us think technology and the economics of knowledge too often are at odds with the overall 'goodness' of the world. We respect the sciences and appreciate much of the technology that exists; we just would like to be sure it isn't going to kill us or the environment that supports all the rest of the life forms on our planet.

Magic, no matter what system you may learn, is based on one overriding premise: Everything is connected. Everything. In the Pagan religions, magic is taught in many ways but mostly through the lens of spirituality. We employ magic for our religious purposes and we use religion for our magical works. It's a symbiotic relationship that works well for us. But it isn't the only way to learn and use magic. There are schools of magic that not only are devoid of any sort of connection to spirituality but caution the practitioner away from using any sort of spiritual practices when doing magic. Such systems of magic are usually called ceremonial magic while the other is called ritual magic. There is a third system, shamanistic magic, which is kind of a marriage between ritual and ceremonial magic.

Ceremonial magic is usually taught through long and rigorous training of the student in mental disciplines that perfect the ability to focus and control various areas of the mind and will of the practitioner. Depending on the system, the student's natural abilities, and the skills of the teacher(s), this training can generally last from five to twenty years. The ceremonial magician's training never actually stops. Once he or she reaches a certain level, they are allowed to continue on their own but usually with a semi-permanent connection to others within their system. Of particular interest to Pagans is the insistence of the ceremonialists to reduce or eliminate the emotional aspects of magical practices. To them, such energy only detracts from the magician's ability to produce and control the magical energies in their practices.

While this isn't 100% true for all ceremonial systems, it's generally true and stems from the belief that emotional energies are nearly impossible to control. Therefore, the practitioner can't accurately predict the outcome of their work, which can be highly dangerous at times. In their view, delving into one's own mind can produce energies that should not be left uncontrolled. There is a great deal of evidence to support that warning.

For many, however, a world without emotion is the antithesis of what magic is all about. It is our emotions that give meaning to our world and without them, why do anything? This is the usual stance of Pagans of all stripes. We too recognize the inherent dangers of deep mental self-inspection and know that our mind can jump its tracks if not dealt with carefully. But we believe that our spirituality is a mediating factor in such matters. For us, a system of religious beliefs and practices is a safeguard against the unconscious and often uncontrolled mind – emotions and all – going wild and causing havoc. Our beliefs, traditions, and rituals are all designed to bring us closer to the Divine and in harmony with the nature of the universe. While this works neither perfectly nor 100% of the time, no other strategy appears to be doing any better.

But is there any reason for us to choose a system that marries spirituality and magic? How are they linked? What common ground do they share that allows this relationship to work? And perhaps most importantly: what justification can we offer for believing that our spiritual practices offer any protection against going nuts when practicing magic?

I believe to answer these questions, we need to understand some very important aspects of our spirituality. It is much more than a set of beliefs, both shared and personal. It is a method for us to know spirit (why else would we call it 'spirituality'?). Perhaps it would be more correct to capitalize it and say it is a way to know Spirit. However, this would give the reader the notion that we are saying we wish to know the gods. This is not the connotation here. What is meant is that everything in the universe has a specific set of qualities, a unique formula or code that makes it what it is. That quality is its spirit; that which causes that object to be what it is. And, skipping over a lot of philosophical junk, no spirit exists without being connected to everything else. Ultimately, all spirits can be collectively referred to as Spirit, what we think of as the gods.

Remember the most fundamental 'law' of magic: everything is connected. If that weren't true, all the laws of physics would also be false. If spirit is the information code, the set of qualities necessary for a thing to exist, then we can look at spirit as being the purest essence of a thing. And, once again… all spirits are connected! This is the junction point of spirit and magic.

One of the things often talked about in nearly every system of magic is what Wiccans call 'words of power'. Dianne Duane has written a children's series called the 'So You Want to be a Wizard' books – very cute, very wonderful, and VERY TRUE in certain ways. In them, she teaches that magic can be performed only by knowing the true names and words that each object has. This, of course, is the same thing that is meant by 'words of power'. And it is very much like saying that if you understand the real spirit of something, you will be able to influence it with your own spirit. If you study other religions, they will tell you (in their own way) essentially the same thing. Real spiritual knowledge allows us to be not only in touch with the gods, but gives us all the blessings and powers we are meant to have.

Of course, since we're limited in our understanding of the universe, our magic is also constrained. Even though our species has accomplished many things and had some pretty amazing thoughts, we still pale in comparison to those entities we refer to as the gods. No matter how hard we try, we will never create a universe or devise a reality as diverse and coordinated as the one in which we exist as individuals. But we still have a deep desire to merge with whatever has done these cosmic pieces of magic. We invent a million different ways to reach out and touch the hand of the Divine and even though we always do so imperfectly, we will keep trying. Our most powerful drive is neither for survival nor for power; it is for the wonder of creation. All of our works throughout history are a form of worship to Creation. All of our religions tell us that the gods have this ability and we should accept those creations as sacred and, in a real sense, miracles. They tell us that we might share some of this ability but that it is only the tiniest of a fraction of a teeny, weenie bit of the abilities of the gods. And yet we live every moment with this fervent drive to create.

It is our spirituality that gives form to this drive. It provides a model by which we are partly able to understand it and to give it meaning. As our spirituality grows, so grows our ability to insure the goodness of our magic. Religion by itself does not make us better individuals, but it does give us knowledge about how we can make ourselves into beings in greater harmony with the Divine. It offers no protection other than enhanced vision of what is right and what is wrong. It gives comfort when the darkness of our own ignorance threatens to overwhelm us and when our vulnerability to unknown forces causes us pain.

Each of us chooses our own spiritual path, but we all seek that comfort and its encouragement to create in spite of the odds against us. The gods work through us in ways that we see only in a limited fashion, but we know their presence with every breath we take. Every act of love is an act of worship for the Divine. And every goodness we perform is a masterpiece of the gods' artfulness.

When we do magic as part of our spirituality, it is in celebration of this Divine Art of which we are but a small part. And when we do our sacred rituals, it is in worship of the magic of Creation to which we aspire.

author: Blacksun