Science assumes that early man invented magic to explain his surroundings, as well as gods, demons, angels, and other spiritual beings. For me, however, I would like to think that man was the first to record his knowledge about magick in ways his early mind could comprehend. After all, we often define magic in ways we understand, and the more we understand the less we have to categorize something as "magic" BUT that still doesn't eliminate the existence of magick per se.
What: What is magick?
As I said, magick - as opposed to illusionist and scapegoat magic - is the unifying force that binds our universe together: life. It may not be in the form we associate life with, but it's still life nevertheles; after all, even though in the strictest sense we don't see Earth as breathing, reproducing, eating, sleeping, or having emotions, but many of us do consider Earth as alive... so what's stopping other planets and heavenly bodies from not being alive in *any* sense?
When: When did magick begin?
Magick in this universe began with its birth. The steps to evolution to life as we know and believe to understand it may have been billions of years after the Big Bang - if the theory is to be established as a fact rather than as a theory - but the universe itself I consider as alive in that it's teeming with the energies both materialized and in forms that previously (and perhaps, for some, to this date) haven't been detected and fully understood, and it's still growing and maturing, so to speak.
Where: Where can magick be found?
Magick is pretty much everywhere, even in the various planes of existence that science would likely brush off as non-existent because they aren't able to go beyond this physical realm.
Why: Why has magick been considered as fake or unreal?
Aside from the fact that the power of magick has already been blown out of proportion (to a certain degree) by the power of imagination, science is primarily a study of the empirical, something that can be studied, observed, rationalized, formulated, and if possible experimented upon. These things you could do with magick, but considering that science is designed in either the physical or social aspects of the universe, anything that isn't either is considered fake or can be explained in the down-to-earth scientific method.
How: How do you determine if magick really is magick?
It lies mainly upon intent, really. If it's to impress or deceive the mind then it's likely more illusion magic than actual magick. If it's to have something actually happen however, there's a small chance magick is involved, in varying degrees; faith healers would use the power of their god to remove illnesses, exorcists would use the power of their god to remove demons, witches would use the power of nature to cure ailments or cause the land to be a reflection of her fury, etc.
[ Personally I consider every single person a potential bearer of magick, with the power to change one's self and others in spite of how the natural world has programmed him/her ]
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Who: Who can teach us magick?
Assuming now that you believe in the existence of magick, various beliefs and people do often resort to mysticism and teach magick (within their accepted doctrine, mind you). With each school/religion/faith/belief system comes the rituals, potions, magicks that you can use with varying degrees of success. Some may have psychological benefits, while others are spiritual in boon, while still others may actually have a physical effect on you or your surroundings - the last one may be rather difficult to pull off since trying to affect others, particularly other living beings, isn't just a matter of "I want it to happen and so it will happen" (that is the talk of arrogance more than anything); you have to consider the strengths and weaknesses and willingness [or lack thereof] of whoever or whatever you're intending to affect.
Aside from those mentioned, spiritual beings may also help with the study of magick. The easiest to approach would be demons of course, but they are all too willing to trade their knowledge and power for your soul, and thus it is highly discouraged to do ANY deal with them. Natural beings - tree spirits, mountain guardians, creatures visible only to those perceptive enough who are of natural or elemental origin especially - may give you the insight and knowledge needed for magick, but they are fickle and untrusting at first, so care and friendship is pretty much a must for most people (there are exceptions to this rule of course). The best way to go about magick is of course with the help of the Divine One(s), although frankly it's easier and better that you become a saint, rather than trying to have them teach you about magick.
The hardest way is to do self-study, because you can't exactly study what you can't see, and studying magical tomes/books without any initial know-how can be dangerous, as it opens risks to possession, miscasts, and worst, death of varying levels (absolute worst is complete destruction of your soul and spiritual form).
What: What are the principles of magick?
Magick itself has no "beliefs" in the sense that it is amoral and it follows its own path independent of time and space; in fact, were it not for its influence on the various planes of existence it could work completely separate and independent of everything. Regarding the principles of the study of magick, however, there are only two things that all practitioners regardless of origin might agree on:
- Always strive to improve on your discipline
- Always be prepared for any and all possibilities
Be it for the betterment of others or self, or to harm others, or to purely study how magick works, those two will always apply.
When: When is the best time to learn magick?
Magick can be learned any time, any place, by anyone. The fact that such potent knowledge can be accessed by anyone made early magicians fear that they would be rendered useless; a fear that, although has some merit, still is rather superfluous because it always helped if more people found more uses for it and more ways to manipulate such force. So the early magicians kept the knowledge to themselves, insisting that only the elite in society have the priveledge to study magick for their own benefit (but that's another tale for another time).
Essentially, the earlier the better, but there is no strict across-the-boarder ruling anywhere about any aspect of magick, so as long as your heart, mind and soul is open to magick, you can start learning about it, and maybe making it work to help improve your own life.
Where: Where is magick strongest?
There are three places where magick is at its strongest:
- Where the forces of life are most concentrated and in harmony. Jungles, forests and even in and under certain bodies of water fit here.
- Where the negative forces of life are at its most concentrated. Places where a lot of hatred, death, hunger, lament, and despair has been funneled into fit here (thus the "heavy feeling" when in said places).
- Within the person himself. We have the power to affect others - some people moreso than others - and whether or not you believe in the term "aura", you've got to admit that some people always seem to have a certain... power... with them.
Why: Why use magick?
If it feels right for you, then why not? But for the most part, with the way this world works, there is little that magick can do that science can't do as well or even better. For things that go beyond the explanations and reach of science, however, unless it's banned by your religious order I see no reason why not to use magick.
How: How does casting magick work?
As mentioned in various references, magick - at its most basic - is a matter of Will (Intent) and Creativity (Imagination). No matter what ritual or mystic language you use, or even if you just spontaneously cast magick, it's always a matter of what you want and how you want it. And of course it's more than just words, it's a matter of emotions and body "vibrations" as well, so when you want something done - let's say, you want your homework to "magically" disappear - there's the intent, but there is no imagination on how that would happen, so it's unlikely it'll happen. If you have the intent and the imagination - like your homework disappearing from a bear jumping out from the sky and trashing your roof with the sole purpose of destroying your homework - while there is a tiny, tiny chance it'd happen, it's still not going to happen since you first have to make your intent and imagination as realistic as it can be, so while it may be possible to alter weather - with enough training of course - causing a meteor to crash into your annoying neighbor's car is probably stretching a bit (although you *could* still trash it in other ways...).
But if it's all in intent + imagination, why should rituals be of any use? Well, rituals for one help focus your intent and imprint on your mind the method you have imagined the magick to occur. The more focus, the better the chances of it working. Of course the flip side of this is that the more intensive the ritual, the more likely you'll end up goofing it up in one part or another, causing the spell to go haywire (if anything happens at all).
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