While witchcraft seems to be the default religion for New Age spiritualists the source of much of the operational mechanics used by modern witches, Hermetic Magick, remains obscure to many and the practices of Ceremonial Magicians are little understood and often misconstrued even by those people that should have the greatest affinity with the discipline. Recently, I have become more involved with the eclectic witchcraft movement here in the United States where it has developed into a diverse and amorphous collection of spiritual practices that fall under the general Pagan umbrella because of a number of commonly held beliefs and practices. In fact, it is just these few things that are held in common that binds this loose community together as their individual practices vary so widely that they quite often only resemble another on the most superficial levels.
Apart from a commonly held reverence for the Earth and a very common practice of observing the eight Wiccan Sabbats that mark the turning of the Wheel of the Year, modern witches have very little common dogma or praxis. While not all witches are practitioners of the magick arts there are many that are and, especially amongst the eclectric witches, the types of magick that they choose to do connects them to their Hermetic roots more than the traditional Wiccan practices followed by Alexandrian or Gardnerian covens ever did. Even so, their understanding of the origins of many of the magickal practices, even the structure that is employed in their rituals, remains surprisingly obscure to them.
One of the things that I have been asked most often in my conversations with the many witches that I have met recently is: what is the difference between a witch and a magician? The short answer is, is that Witchcraft is a religions and Hermetic Magick is a spiritual, mental, and physical discipline. Whereas a witch is an end in itself, being a ceremonial magician is a means to an end. There are other superficial differences; magicians generally don't use the spells that witches rely so heavily upon while the invocations made by the magician tend to be long; ponderous and hypnotic orisons designed specifically to test the endurance of concentration, to stretch the will of the magician and to focus the entire spiritual force of the performance inward to make the magician become all that can be and, if performed correctly, more.
While the object of the central practices of Witchcraft is to celebrate the rhythms and cycles of life; the magician seeks by his means to transcend them; where witches seek to become one with the world they live in, the magician seeks to become one with the ultimate source of it's creation, to destroy the world of matter and to remake it in his own image by the power of his word. A big part of the differences lies in the intent that is behind the practices and performances. Even the most basic arrangements like the magick circle are constructed with intentions that are almost polar opposites. Witches view the magick circle as a sacred place between the worlds where they can meet with the essence of their gods in celebration of the spiral dance of life. Their circle is intended to be a container for the spiritual force that is invoked by their circumlocutory dance and chanting invocations. A magician's circle on the other hand is to keep everything out, to form an impenetrable barrier between himself and everything else, to sweep the space clean of anything that is not purely himself so as to reveal his purest will.
But rather than focus on the differences between witches and magicians it is far more interesting and productive to examine what they hold in common and the things that the two practices can share with one another. No self respecting Ceremonial Magician should pass up the chance to borrow the Horned God or the White Goddess to use in their ceremonies if they fulfill the needs of the moment. The intricate elemental correspondences that Witches use for herbs and stones can also be profitable appended to any working magician's qabalah. And witches would benefit from a structure of comparison between their eclectric collections of practices which would give each piece a greater meaning in relation to the whole.
The strict discipline of the ceremonial performances with a precise regimen of gestures and consistent formula for the construction of working operations would also be of value to the largely solidarity working eclectric witch whore isolation means that they often have only a rudimentary understanding of the theory of ceremonial performance. It would seem that the eclectric nature of both practices gives modern Witchcraft and Hermetic Magick more of a common ground than is usually found between many of the practices that fall under the category of Paganism.
This is a great post, it certainly does get a bit muddy in these territories!
It seems that in these realms we largely follow our intuition - relying on whatever structure we have access to, or whatever structure works. I feel a connection to both the witch and magician as you've described them. Probably more the magician - with its emphasis on transcending our bounds, and examining the power of naming life in particular ways.
This is a really interesting discussion on Paganism. I've found that labels can really get in the way of things... I first stumbled into Wiccan as a teenager but didn't appreciate the rules and cermonial procedures. I remain open to all paths now but still remain with my pagan roots. I work with the Earth, to be One with Her, yet I've also begun to struggle with even more grander thoughts on the forces beyond even this Universe. It's all about being open and learning from every journey you take.
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