I’ve been meaning to write this post for a while now, however I found that I needed to sort through my own thoughts and definitions regarding magic before I attempted to explain them to others.

Initially it was posted by Nettle over at her blog and the post really resonated with me. Not because she has the same definition of magic as I do, because our definitions are in fact quite different, but because the post lead me to reflect and ponder my own definition of magic. I encourage my readers to think about your own definitions of magic (if you put faith in that kind of thing). I definitely found it valuable verbalizing my thoughts around magic, spells and the Goddess and the God. If you enjoyed Nettle’s initial post you might also want to check out her follow-up post where she answers a series of questions put forth to her.

My definition of magic is similar to that of Aleister Crowley, “The Art of Bringing about Changes in accordance with the Will. “

Basically what I mean is that to me magic comes from within each individual. When you perform magic you harness your inner will, your energy or power or intent. That part of you that perseveres regardless of the obstacles. You take this energy and you give it direction and intent. I imagine that you turn it into a pointed spear and then send it out into the universe. This concentrated force will cause ripples in the fabric of the universe and if the ripples are large enough your magic will work.

The obvious follow-up question here is of course; “How do you get your ripples large enough? How do you ensure that your magic will work?”. For me this is where the Goddess and the God, any magical correspondences and any beings of energy (fairies, dragons, sylphs etc.) come into the picture. The magic comes from within you, but by aligning your intention and energy up with entities that are sympathetic to your cause you can increase your energy, your magical intent. I think of it akin to the constructive interference of waves; if the waves correspond in phase (in energy if you like) then they can combine and form larger, more powerful waves. If, however, they are out of phase they can cancel each other out.

Now I just want to say straight away that I do not think it is the purpose of entities such as the elements or fairies or God(dess) to aid us in magical workings, however I do believe that if they are so inclined (and you ask nicely) they will often help you out. Just make sure you know what you are asking for as sometimes what you think you want is most definitely not what you actually want.

Anyways, that’s my 2 cents worth. I don’t necissarily think my definition of magic is correct, however it is correct for me. Feel free to disagree with me and come up with your own definition. I encourage you to write it down as well as I find that putting things into writing often allows for a clearer perspective and better thought out ideas.