The Fundamentals of Magic

Magic is the Art and Science of causing change to occur
in consciousness in conformity with will.

Love shall be the whole of the law. Love under will.

Personal will is the beginning and end of magic. When we invoke the elements we’re not passively uttering some kind of catechism, we’re calling to creatures that we know will hear us, who desire us as much as we desire them. When we cast a circle, our will creates that semi-permeable membrane through which energies that we want may pass, and energies that we don’t want may not, and it is our will which maintains the integrity of the circle.

Paganism is built on the strong wills of men like Gerald Gardner and Socrates, women like Dion Fortune and Hypatia of Alexandria, who possess desire and determination. Beyond magical paraphernalia and the right phase of the moon lies personal will. It is entirely possible to perform ritual in a hospital bed without any tools at all, but we need to know what we’re doing and why we’re doing it.

There are three types of ritual:

1. Celebrating seasonal ritual
2. Celebrating rites of passage
3. Causing change.

All rituals use symbols to communicate with our unconscious minds. The pentagram, the athame, the wand and chalice represent deeper, abstract notions. Candles represent the presence of Beings that we cannot fully comprehend. Our robes or our nakedness represent a change in our way of thinking and behaving. It’s easy to confuse the symbol with that which is being symbolised, so that we feel helpless when we find we can’t light candles, chant or use an athame on the wards.

For many of us, being allowed to use religious ritual items puts us on a par with members of other religions; we feel – rightly – that we should be afforded the same respect that is given to Jews, Muslims and Buddhists. But these non-Christian people had to endure years of being treated as a curiosity and a problem and in many places still are. We have the comfort of not immediately standing out as Other, of not automatically being perceived as exotic. There’s a lot to be said for being ordinary.

When we feel powerless, however, we can make demands that force people in power to take note of us and religious culture has become an easy way of achieving that. Paganism is a religion of freedom yet sometimes we present ourselves as slaves to crystals, tarot cards and frippery. Sometimes we use these items to make other people uncomfortable and to make ourselves feel powerful. This is using power to dominate and control.

The partner of the concept of will as a tool for causing change is an equally important understanding: the Will of the Higher Self, beyond corporeal need and desire, the desires of our divine self. Both are lifelong journeys sometimes leading in opposite directions, and both can help us when we’re unwell. Listening for the voice of the Will of the Higher Self, we know that our robes and wands are toys, as are the censer and the crucifix, the kara and the veil. Our way of being with other people speaks more about the maturity and value of our religions than any object we demand we must have.