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Aleister Crowley came up with the spelling Magick in order to differentiate his system of "scientific illuminism" from stage conjure.
I use the spelling Magic to the blur the lines between what I do and stage conjure. I think they are closer to one another in nature than the prejudices of the Victorian era would have you believe. Stage magic is ostensibly about conjuring a sense of wonder and making people believe for an instant that the world is a stranger and more mysterious place than they thought it was. If someone performs a really brilliant magic trick in front of your eyes, it creates a moment of "free space" where, for a brief instant, you doubt your closely held assumptions about "the way the world works". I think there are more than a few parallels and overlaps there with certain aspects of occultism.
In the earliest Tarot decks, the Magus card was called the Juggler and showed a street conjuror working his sleight of hand. I think that perhaps there are mysteries embedded in that image that the attribution of the extra "k" distracts us from. Interestingly, most stage conjurers are a lot more rabid about enforcing the division between stage magic and occultism than occultists are. I think both parties are missing a trick, as it were. The smoke and mirrors thread is the place for this discussion though.
So I use the spelling Magic, unless I am specifically talking about Aleister Crowley's Magick - which is really quite a different prospect. Admittedly "Magick is the science and art of causing change to occur in accordance with Will" is quite a broad and all encompasing definition, but I tend to use that spelling if I'm referring directly to Thelema. If I'm talking about things like discovering the True Will, obtaining knowledge and conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel, working the initiatory grades that relate to Sephiroth on the Tree of Life, crossing the Abyss, or any of the western practices such as the LBRP, Middle Pillar, hexagram rites, and especially the rituals of Crowley's devising such as Liber Resh, the Star Ruby, or anything pertaining to the Book of the Law - then I'm more than happy to adopt the extra "k". I see "Magick" as a specific system in itself, and the extra "k" helps to place it in some sort of historical context.
There's perhaps a cultural appropriation issue with the broad adoption of the term "Magick" to refer to all systems of magic throughout the world, as it could be seen as the linguistic equivalent of trying to shoehorn all other systems into the framework of Quabala. However, if you adopt the spelling "Magick" when you are specifically talking about Alester Crowley's work and ideas, it provides a bit of perspective for looking at those ideas within a broader global and historical context. Crowley's Magick was developed in the 20s and 30s, it's a product of the Modernist era, and I think its really best understood in that context and not in isolation from the other things that were going on in the world at that time, in terms of art, literature, music and world affairs. The spelling Magick is a handy way of being clear about what you are discussing - or at least it would be if millions of people didn't just use it for no reason other than because it, arguably, looks cool. |
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