"Disbelief in magick can force a poor soul into believing in government and business"
Tom Robbins
What is Magick
I was taking a Wicca 101 test (just to judge my own progress) when I came across a question asking me to explain what "magick" was. I came up with a quick snappy response in my head and continued upon my way. Few minutes later, I was re-reading the question and realized that there was no easy answer to give and I bet most people will give different answers. This question turned out to be the hardest one of all!
 Soooo, just what is magick? If you watch TV and the Hollywood movies (anyone see "The Craft" or "Bewitched"???), magick lets you clean your house, fly on a broom and meet exciting people from the past. Get real. If I could fly on a broom...would I be making car payments?? And the only magick involved in cleaning my house is the "hairy eyeball" whenever someone leaves dirty stuff around the house! "Fake magick" is what TV panders. Real magick is much more subtle and powerful.
Soooooo, just what is magick? (No, I am not dodging the question) Is is what makes the seed grow? The sky blue? Traffic lights green and up-front parking spaces appear? Maybe. Biology explains the seeds, Physics explains the sky and the lights and parking spaces come around by knowing patterns and when everybody leaves. Or is it more subtle than that? We still don't know what causes the DNA to form life, and no two people see the sky the same shade of blue, and what about finding the perfect spot in a filled lot? Is "that" magick? maybe...
I like the saying "Magick is science explained" or maybe the other way around. Both versions work just fine. Just think, 1000 years ago we thought it was magick that made the sky blue. Now we know it is the interaction of water molecules and sunlight that makes the beautiful blue sky. We also know that one can pray to the Gods to get better but we make sure to take our antibiotics as well. Science and magick together. Is it possible?
And why not! I think magick and science can dovetail nicely together. Scientists take the magick and make it real! All the ancient herbalists? Now we have aspirin (from the willow) and antibiotics (from herbs and plants...can't remember which ones off-hand), let alone massage and vapor baths. I figure modern scientists are the skeptics that make the magick work.
Sooooo. What is Magick? Is it the frame of mind that lets the child believe in the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus? Or do they only believe because we adults have not told them the truth yet? Well, if that was so, why do so many of us embrace what it means to be a child? Is THAT the magick? Maybe/Maybe not.
Can magick affect our day to day life? Sure, why not! Who has not prayed for their bills to get where they need to go on time, or that their old car won't quit in the middle of nowhere? Is that magick? Can we use our minds to change our lives?
Now we are starting to get somewhere...namely what I think magick is. I think magick is the ability of the mind to re-direct the Universe's neutral energies into ways and means to enrich our daily lives.
But the most wonderful aspect of magick? Is that your version is different from mine, but works just as well.
To flip through the pages of my BOS faster...
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Brightest of Blessings