Light & Shadows of Chalandor

Magick
Magick: Short for �?magic art,�?from Greek nagein the science and religion of the priests of Zoroaster; or, according to Skeat, from Greek megas, great, thus signifies the “great �?science.
Theories of the Origin of Magic—Many theories have been advanced regarding the origin of magic—some authorities believing that it commenced with the idea of personal superiority; others through animistic beliefs and still others through such ideas as that physical pain, for which the savage could not account, were supposed to be inflicted by invisible weapons. This last theory is, of course, in itself, merely animistic. It does not seem, however, that writers on the subject have given sufficient attention to the great influence exerted on the mind of man by odd or peculiar occurrences. We do not for a moment desire to advance the hypothesis that magic entirely originated from such a source, but we believe that it was a powerful factor in the growth of magical belief. To which, too, animism and taboo contributed their quota. To cult of the dead too and their worship would soon become fused with magical practice, and a complete demonology would thus speedily
Arise.
Scientific Theories regarding the Nature of Magic. �?General agreement as to the proper definition of magic is wanting, as it depends upon the view taken of religious belief. According to Frazer, magic and religion are one and the same thing, or are so closely allied as to be almost identical. This may be true of peoples in a savage or barbarian condition of society, but can scarcely apply to magic and religion as fully-fledged, as for example in medieval times, however fundamental may be their original unity. The objective theory of magic would regard it as entirely distinct from religion, possessed of certain well-marked attributes, and traceable to mental processes differing from those from which the religious idea springs. Here and there the two have become fused by the super-imposition of religious upon magical practice. The objective idea of magic, in short, rests on the belief that it is based on magical laws which are supposed to operate with the regularity of
Those of natural science. The subjective view, on the other hand, is that many practices seemingly magical are in reality religious, and that no rite can be called magical which is not so designated by its celebrant or agent. It has been said that religion consists of an appeal to the gods, whereas magic is the attempt to force their compliance. Messrs. Hubert and Mauss believe that magic is essentially traditional. Holding as they do that the primitive mind is markedly unoriginal, they have satisfied themselves that magic is therefore an art, which does not exhibit any frequent changes amongst primitive folk, and is fixed by its laws. Religion, they say, is official and organized, magic prohibited and secret. Magical power appears to them to be determined by the contiguity, similarity and contrast of the object of the act, and the object to be effected. Mr. Frazer believes all magic to be based on the law of sympathy, that is the assumption that things act on one
Another at a distance because of their being secretly. Linked together by invisible bonds. He divides sympathetic magic into homeopathic magic and contagious magic. The first is imitative or mimetic, and may be practiced by itself; but the latter usually necessitates the application of the imitative principle. Well-known instances of mimetic magic are the forming of wax figures in the likeness of an enemy, which are destroyed in the hope that he will perish. Contagious magic may be instanced by the savage anointing the weapon, which caused a wound instead of the wound itself, in the belief that the blood on the weapon continues to feel with the blood on the body. Mr. L. Marillier divides magic into three classes: the magic of the word or act; the magic of the human being independent of rite or formula; and the magic which demands a human being of special powers and the use of ritual. Mr. A. Lehmann believes magic to be a practice of superstition, and founds it in
Illusion. The fault of all these theories is that they strive after too great an exactness, and that they do not allow sufficiently for the feeling of wonder and awe, which is native to the human mind. Indeed they designate this �?strained attention.�?We may grant that the attention of savages to a magical rite is�?strained,�?so strained is it in some cases that it terrifies them into insanity; and it would seem therefore as if the limits of�?attention�?were over passed, and as if it shaded into something very much deeper. Moreover it is just possible that in future it may be granted that so-called sympathetic magic does not partake of the nature of magic at all, but has greater affinities (owing to its strictly natural and non-supernatural character) with pseudoscience.
The Dynamics of Magic —Magical practice is governed by well-marked laws limited in number. It possesses many classes of practitioner; as, for example, the diviner or augur, whose duties are entirely different from those of the witch doctor. Chief among these laws, as has been already hinted, is that of sympathy, which, as has been said, must inevitably be sub-divided into the laws of similarity, contiguity and antipathy. The law of similarity and homeopathy is again divisible into two sections:
(1)—the assumption that like produces like an illustration of which is the destruction of a model in the form of an enemy; and (2) the idea that like cures like for instance, that the stone called the bloodstone can staunch the flow of bleeding. The law dealing with antipathy rests on the assumption that the application of a certain object or drug expels its contrary. There remains contiguity, which is based on the concept that whatever has once formed part of an object continues to form part of it. Thus if a magician can obtain a portion of a person’s hair, he can work woe upon him through the invisible bonds which are supposed to extend between him and the hair in the sorcerer’s possession. It is well known that if the animal familiar of a witch be wounded, that the wound will react in a sympathetic manner on the witch herself. This is called �?repercussion.�?BR>Another widespread belief is that if the magician procures the name of a person that he can gain magical dominion over him. This, of course, arose from the idea that the name of an individual was identical with himself. The doctrine of the Incommunicable Name, the hidden name of the god or ‘magician, is well instanced by many legends in Egyptian history, the deity usually taking extraordinary care to keep his name secret, in order that no one might gain power over him. The spell or incantation is connected with this concept, and with these, to a lesser degree, may be associated magical gesture, which is usually introduced for the purpose of accentuating the spoken word. Gesture is often symbolic or sympathetic; it is sometimes the reversal of a religious rite, such as marching against the sun, which is known as walking “widdershins.�?The method of pronouncing rites is, too, one of great importance. Archaic or foreign expressions are usually found in spells
ancient and modern; and the tone in which the incantation is spoken, no less than its exactness, is also important. To secure exactness rhythm was often employed, which had the effect of aiding memory
Ancient magic
Magic is recognized by many savage peoples as a force rather than an art, —a thing, which impinges upon the thought of man from outside. It would appear that many barbarian tribes believe in what would seem to be a great reservoir of magical power, the exact nature of which they are not prepared to specify. Thus amongst certain American-Indian tribes we find a force called Orenda or spirit-force. Amongst the ancient Peruvians, everything sacred was huaca and possessed of magical power. In Melanesia, we find a force spoken of called mana, transmissible and contagious, which may be seen in the form of flames or even heard. The Malays use the word kramai to signify the same thing; and the Malagasy the term hasma. Some of the tribes round Lake Tanganyika believes in such a force, which they call ngai, and Australian tribes have many similar terms, such as churinga and boolya. To hark back to America, we find in Mexico the strange creed named nagualism, which partakes of
the same conception—every&shy;thing nagual is magical or possesses an inherent spiritual force of its own.
The Magician—in early society, the magician, which term includes the shaman, medicine-man, piagé, witch-doctor, et cetera, may hold his position by hereditary right; by an accident of birth, as being the seventh son of a seventh son; to revelation from the gods; or through mere mastery of ritual. In savage life we find the shaman a good deal of a medium, for instead of summoning the powers of the air at his bidding as did the magicians of medieval days, he seems to find it necessary to throw himself into a state of trance and seek them in their own sphere. The magician is also often regarded as possessed by an animal or supernatural being. The duties of the priest and magician are often combined in primitive society, but it cannot be too strongly asserted that where a religion has been superseded, the priests of the old cult are, for those who have taken their places, nothing but magicians. We do not hear much of beneficent magic among savage peoples, and it is only
in Europe that White Magic may be said to have gained any hold.
Medieval Definition of Magic. —The definitions of magic vouchsafed by the great magicians of medieval and modern times naturally differ greatly from those of anthropologists.
For example Eliphas Levi says in his History of Magic: “Magic combines in a single science that which is most certain in philosophy with that which is eternal and infallible in religion. It reconciles perfectly and incontestably those two terms so opposed on the first view—faith and reason, science and belief, authority and liberty. It furnishes the human mind with an instrument of philosophical and religious certainty, as exact as mathematics, and even accounting for the infallibility of mathematics themselves There is an incontestable truth, and there is an infallible method of knowing that truth; while those who attain this knowledge and adopt it as a rule of life, can endow their life with a sovereign power, which can make them masters of all inferior things, of wandering spirits, or in other words, arbiters and kings of the world.�?Paracelsus says regarding magic: “The magical is a great hidden wisdom, and reason is a great open folly. No Armor
shields against magic for it strikes at the inward spirit of life. Of this we may rest assured, that through full and powerful imagination only can we bring the spirit of any man into an image. No conjuration, no rites are needful; circle making and the scattering of incense are mere humbug and jugglery. The human spirit is so great a thing that no man can express it; eternal and unchangeable as God Himself is the mind of man; and could we rightly comprehend the mind of man, nothing would be impossible to us upon the earth. Through faith the imagination is invigorated and completed, for it really happens that every doubt mars its perfection. Faith must strengthen imagination, for faith establishes the will. Because man did not perfectly believe and imagine, the result is that arts are uncertain when they might be wholly certain.�?Agrippa also regarded magic as the true road to communion with God—thus linking it with mysticism.
Modern Magic
Modern Magic: With the death of Agrippa in 1535 the old school of magicians may be said to have ended. But that is not to say that the traditions of magic were not handed on to others who were equally capable of preserving them. We must carefully discriminate at this juncture between those practitioners of magic whose minds were illuminated by a high mystical ideal, and persons of doubtful occult position, like the Comte de Saint-Germain and others. At the beginning of the seventeenth century we find many great alchemists in practice, who were also devoted to the researches of transcendental magic, which they carefully and successfully concealed under the veil of hermetic experiment. These were Michael Meyer, Campe, Robert Flood, Cosmopolite, D’Espagnet, Samuel Norton, Baron de Beausoleil, and Van Helmont; another illustrious name is also that of Philalethes. The eighteenth century was rich in occult personalities, as for example the alchemist Lascaris Martines de
Pasqually, and Louis de Saint-Martin who founded the Martinist school, which still exists under the grand mastership of Papus. After this magic merges for the moment into mesmerism, and many of the secret magical societies which abounded in Europe about this period practiced animal magnetism as well as astrology, Kabalism and ceremonial magic. Indeed mesmerism powerfully influenced mystic life in the time of its chief protagonist, and the mesmerists of the first era are in direct line with the Martinist and the mystical magicians of the late eighteenth century. Indeed mysticism and magnetism are one and the same thing, in the persons of some of these occultists the most celebrated of which were Cazotte, Ganneau, Comte, Wronski, Du Potet, Hennequin, Comte dOurches, and Baron de Guldenstubbé, and last of the initiates known to us, Eliphas Levi (all of which see).
That Black Magic and sorcery are still practiced is a well-known fact, which requires no amplification in this place: but what of that higher magic which has, at least in modern times, attracted so many gifted minds? We cannot say that the true line of magical adepts ended with Levi, as at no time in the world’s history are these known to the vulgar; but we may be certain that the great art is practiced in secret as sedulously as ever in the past, and that men of temperament as exalted as in the�?case of the magicians of older days still privately pursue that art, which, like its sister religion, is none the less celestial because it has been evolved from lowly origins in the mind of man, whose spirit with the match of time reflects ever more strongly the light of heaven, as the sea at first dimly reddened by the dawn, at length mirrors the whole splendor of day.
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History—The earliest traces of magical practice are found in the European caves of the middle Paleolithic Age. These belong to the last interglacial period of the Pleistocene period, which has been named the Aurignacian, after the cave-dwellers of Aurignac, whose skeletons, artifacts and drawings link them with the Bushmen of South Africa. In the cave of Gargas, near Bagnéres de Lanchon, occur, in addition to spirited and realistic drawings of animals, numerous imprints of human hands in various stages of mutilation. Some hands had been first smeared with a sticky substance and then pressed on the rock; others had been held in position to be dusted round with red ochre, or black pigment. Most of the imprinted hands have mutilated fingers; in some cases the first and second joints of one or more fingers are wanting; in others the stumps only of all fingers remain. A close study of the hand imprints makes it evident that they are not to be regarded as those of
lepers. There can be little doubt that the joints were removed for a specific purpose, and on this point there is general agreement among anthropologists. A clue to the mystery is obtained by the magical custom among the Bushmen of similarly removing finger joints. Mr. G. W. Stow in his The Native Races of South Africa makes reference to this strange form of sacrifice. He once came into contact with a number of Bushmen who “had all lost the first joint of the little finger�?which had been removed with a �?stone knife�?with purpose to ensure a safe journey to the spirit world. Another writer tells of an old Bushman woman, whose little fingers of both hands had been mutilated, three joints in all having been removed. She explained that each joint had been sacrificed as a daughter died to express her sorrow. No doubt, however, there was a deeper meaning in the custom than she cared to confess. F. Boas in his Report on the N. W. Tribes of Canada gives evidence of the
custom among these peoples. When frequent deaths resulted from disease, the Canadian Indians were wont to sacrifice the joints of their little fingers so as, they explained, “to cut off the deaths.�?Among the Indian Madigas (Telugu Pariahs) the evil eye is averted by sacrificers who dip their hands in the blood of goats or sheep and impress them on either side of a house door. This custom is not unknown even to Brahmans. Impressions of hands are also occasionally seen on the walls of Indian Mohammedan mosques. As among the N.W. Canadian tribes, the hand ceremony is most frequently practiced in India when epidemics make a heavy toll of lives. The Bushmen also remove finger joints when stricken with sickness. In Australia, where during initiation ceremonies the young men have teeth knocked out and bodies scarred, the women of some tribes mutilate the little fingers of daughters with purpose to influence their future careers. Apparently the finger chopping customs of
Paleolithic times had a magical significance. On some of the paintings in the Aurignacian caves appear symbols, which suggest the slaying with spears and cutting up of animals. Enigmatical signs are another feature. Of special interest are the figures of animal-headed demons, some with hands upraised in the Egyptian attitude of adoration, and others apparently dancing like the animal-headed dancing gods of the Bushmen. In the Maioonlas Paleolithic cave there are semi-human faces of angry demons with staring eyes and monstrous noses. In the Spanish Cave at Cogul several figures of women wearing half-length skirts and shoulder shawls, are represented dancing round a nude male. So closely do these females resemble such as usually appear in Bushmen paintings that they might well, but for their location, be credited to this interesting people. Religious dances among the Bushman tribes are associated with marriage, birth and burial ceremonies they are also performed to exorcise
demons in cases of sickness. �?Dances are to us what prayers are to you,�?an elderly Bushman once informed a European. Whether the cave drawings and wood, bone and ivory carryings of the Magdalenian, or late Paleolithic period at the close of the last ice epoch, are of magical significance is a problem on which there is no general agreement. It is significant to find, however, that several carved ornaments bearing animal figures or enigmatical signs are perforated as if worn as charms. On a piece of horn found at Lorthet, Hautes Pyrhnhes, are beautiful incised drawings of reindeer and salmon, above which appear mystical symbols. An ape-like demon carved on bone was found at Mas d’Azil: on a reindeer horn from Laugerie Basse a prostrate man with a tail is creeping up on all fours towards a grazing bison. These are some of the instances which lend color to the view that late Paleolithic art had its origin in magical beliefs and practices that hunters carved on the handles of
weapons and, implements, or scratched on cave walls, the images of the animals they desired to capture sometimes with the secured co-operation of demons, and sometimes with the aid of magical spells.
Coming to historic times we know that the ancient Egyptians possessed a highly developed magical system, as did the Babylonians, and other pristine civilizations. Indeed from these the medieval European system of magic was finally evolved. Greece and Rome (both of which see) also possessed distinct national systems, which in some measure were branches of their religions; and thus like the Egyptian and Babylonian were preserves of the priesthood.

Ok, so just what is Magick?
Magick is something that people have done for thousands of years, a natural use of those senses we have in addition to the 5 physical ones that we all posses. Magick is the actual direction and application of energy using psychic forces, willpower, positive reinforcement (the power of positive thinking) to bring about change in a specified manner. Some will think it akin to 'headologies' that are used nowadays (positive thinking and reinforcement, chanting, etc, some of which are used in Magick), which in some ways it does resemble, but it goes much further than that. It is acknowledging that through more than just physical acts to bring about change we can influence events and actions to create the outcome that we wish. Its a form of mental discipline that allows us to grow, that compliments the actions we take in every day life to bring about the desired outcome.
Magick (unfortunately) isn't twitching your nose and having the housework done, neither is it turning your boss / ex / whatever into a frog! It is not meant as a 'cure-all' or panacea for all that ails your life, but is meant to work in compliment with your usual mundane actions (really you need to try all approaches before turning to Magickal means to solve the problem). It involves planning just what it is you want to achieve, looking at what impact your actions will have upon others (remember the Rede and Three-fold Law), researching just what items (Correspondances) you will need to perform the spell, writing it in a way that is going to be easy for you to use (which is why most spells rhyme, cos it's easier to remember that way!) and then performing the actual Spell.
Why do You spell Magick like that?
To differentiate between what we know as Magick (that of using our powers to cause an effect in the physical realm) and what the general public consider is Magic (that of the Stage Magician who performs pure illusion for entertainment only).
Why do You Use Magick?
Why not? Magick can sometimes be the final recourse that we have to sort out a problem. Once all 'rational' avenues are exhausted then even the most sceptical amongst us will often turn in desperation to other less scientific means. Be it Faith Healing, Magick or whatever, some can't accept that all these have their place, thinking that everything MUST have a rational explanation, but there are times when all of us have experienced things to which we cannot explain rationally! How these actually work (through just the belief in them or through actual Magick) doesn't really matter, and is something that can be debated all year long, what matters is the results!
There are many Wiccans and Pagans that do not choose to practice actual Spellcraft, but using Spells is only one part of our Magickal repertoire! If you've ever made a special meal for an ill relative, said a little chant to prevent the traffic lights changing, or for you to find a parking space, then you have used a form of energy transfer engaging your free will to effect a change! That is a form of Magick!
Other forms of Magick can include using guided meditations and visualizations to find your sanctuary and meet your Spirit Guides, Astrally travelling, using Crystals to heal, herbalism, alternative medicines and lots more besides!
Being Wiccan and not choosing to perform Magick (in whatever form) is to our minds akin to being a pilot, and choosing not to use your parachute when the plane catches fire! This is definitely only our own personal opinion, and we do both understand that many don't feel confident enough to try Magick, or feel foolish at trying to do something that they have preconceptions about, but in the last analysis, it matters only what you actually choose to believe, not what you have previously learnt from other sources. Give it a go, you may well be very surprised at what you are able to achieve! (I know I was, being a very sceptical person - an open-minded sceptic though, by which I mean that I need to feel / taste / see / touch something to really believe in it - but when I had a friend use a wand upon me to sense chakra blockages (without touching me at all) and he was able to cause very strong sensations in my body, well, you can see what I mean! I am able nowadays to
Actually cause sensations in another without actually touching them, a fact that Spiritwolf knows only too well, being able to tickle him without touching him!)
How do You Use Magick?
How long have you got? Nah seriously, Magick is a natural force, and obeys several 'laws', and as long as you follow these laws, and think upon what it is you want to achieve, taking heed of the Rede and Three-fold Law, then there are numerous ways that you can actually practice Magick! Every different Witch will have their own idiosyncrasies when performing Magick, using things that mean something personal to themselves, or that they have found (sometimes by accident!) work for them.
Magick can be used for any purpose, it is up to the practitioner to decide just what they wish to use it for, it is a tool, and as such can be used for good or ill, for it is neither in itself, but depends upon the person that is wielding and controlling it for its attributes. Most Wiccans will agree that it should only be used for Good purposes (so called 'White Magick' or 'Right Hand Path'), but as we can never be sure exactly what the outcome of a spell is going to be others consider that any use of Magick is in fact 'Grey Magick' (the use of Magick for good, but with possible ill consequences that may not be knowable when performing the actual Magick). Some Pagans do practice the Black Arts (the 'Left Hand Path' or 'Black Magick'), but as this is Magick for personal gains at any cost, and can result in ill results for others Wiccans will always stay clear of this type of Magick.
Most Spells are Cast within a Magickal or Sacred Circle, to provide protection and prevent the spell from backfiring, but some (especially the emergency type - bending time aka Silver Ravenwolf - or sympathetic Magick - candle or Poppet magick) can be performed anywhere, it's really down to what you feel is right for yourself!
The actual focusing of Power, how it is wielded and the use of Spells is covered in the Spellcraft page, with other forms of Magick being contained in the pages that follow on from there.
Does Magick Work?
Yes, of course it does! Although there's not usually a blinding flash and your hearts desire then Magickally appears, presented to you, rather it's a subtle thing, that is fulfilled over time as the spell comes to fruition. It depends upon your own beliefs, and whether you have worked as hard as you are able to make it happen!
For instance, you may do a spell to help you get more money (one that I'd personally be very careful about casting, for unless you are very specific about where you want the money to come from you may find that although your spell works, the money comes to you by way of an inheritance from a relative that has suddenly died, not something that you'd want on your conscience!), but unless you do the work in the mundane world to find the new job, or attain the promotion, then it wont just appear, and the spell will invariably fail.
Not all spells work, some misfire, causing unexpected results, some don't have enough energy to succeed against insurmountable odds, but if the spell is performed correctly and with honesty, then you will find quite a high success rate. It is a good idea to keep notes of any spells you attempt, writing up what you did into your Book of Shadows, and noting any results you achieved, that way you will be able to see whether you are achieving anything, or whether you need to re-visit your Spellcrafting technique to try and gain better results in future!
Can anyone use Magick?
Everyone has the ability to use Magick, whether they actually choose to research their own talents, suspend their own scepticism and disbelief and then practice and learn how to wield them is another thing! Remember the Witches Creed, 'To Know, To Dare, To Be, To Do!' Tis really up to you whether you choose to accept the challenge and attempt to grow in this field. Bear in mind though that you and you alone are responsible for your actions, and you alone will bear the fruits and pitfalls of your actions, so unless you are certain of your motives then I'd advise you to think long and hard before attempting to practice any Magick.
A simple bit of Magick is that of forming an Energy Ball, a palpable ball of energy created and moulded with your hands, that can easily be passed from one to another, with tangible physical sensations accompanying it's presence (I've even seen them hurled at cats, with the result of the cat reacting to it's impact by running off! Not something I'd recommend to do to our four legged friend, but illustrates the point nicely! They can also be used for raising and focusing energy, especially when needing to empower an object or potion, and also for grounding, with the excess energy being formed into an Energy Ball and then 'pushed' back into the ground!). The following comes from an email I once received, and is by far the best description of forming Energy Balls that I've yet found.

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