Magic or Magick? Which is Witch?

Let’s get this over with, otherwise it will just get confusing for some folks later on.

First, what is NOT a witch…

David Copperfield is not a witch, he is a magician. His art is illusion and he is a Master of Illusion and good entertainment. No magic here.

The cast of Harry Potter are not witches and do not do magic. It is fantasy. It is great fantasy with fabulous special effects. Not a documentary, not witches, not magic.
Same for Charmed, Mists of Avalon, Lord of the Rings and assorted other fantasies about magic.

The people you see around who spend way too many hours dressed up like Harry Potter, or a character from Lord of the Rings are not witches and do not do magic. They are people who got into a fantasy, decided it was more fun than their real life and may have read a book or a blog somewhere and know a few phrases that they can use to tell people how magical they are. Not.

So what is magic/magick, in the context of Wicca?
Magick (Many writers including myself use the affectation of ‘magick’ to keep separate from ‘magic’ or pulling rabbits out of hats.) is the harnessing of energy to make changes. Everything is energy. We are all made up of these little fast moving bits of energy. It composes us, surrounds us, affects us.
With concentration, visualization and the help of ritual and the deities, it is sometimes possible to briefly control a bit of energy to make changes in our lives. It is possible to work magick outside of religion, but since Wicca is a religion and magick is used within the bounds of that religion to make positive change and that is what this blog is about….we will not get into other forms of magick.

There are some guidelines followed by most Wiccans such as, power comes thru the Goddess, God and Elements and as such, must be treated with respect. Rituals, tools and spells are just tools to help focus and concentration. Some Wiccans do not use tools. Tools and rituals do not create power or energy, they just help us with our (often wandering) focus.
Positive change in your own life should be the express purpose. Messing around in someone else’s life is not a good idea, even if you think you are doing good. Not your call to make. Loves spells, nasty little spells to get even with someone will come back to revisit you in the most unpleasant way. Concentrate on your own life and purpose.
That's a very brief explanation, hope it covered the basics.

Coming up next…the Corn Moon on the 16th of this month.