Meditation is a skill, not a belief system. It is necessary to operate in a belief system that uses magick. Flying at spells or rituals without knowing how to meditate result in spells and rituals that either don't work effectively or that go awry. Operations go awry from poor meditation skills mostly because the person performing the operation does not know how to concentrate. Meditation requires relaxed concentration, and relaxed concentration induces the mental state that seperates a being from the plane where the laws of physics apply to the plane where the laws of magick apply.
Meditation creates the key to get from the mundae world to the magickal world.
As a simile that might help, think of Piers Anthony's Xanth. In order to reach Xanth, to approach the magickal world, you need either a bizarre serendipity or a password. Xanth is located in a deep recess of your brain. The password to reach Xanth is just the right alpha state, gained only through meditation. Xanth is the place where the magick happens, where all the wondrous energy of the universe is available for your easy access.