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This page is a resource of information on Paganism and the Kaleidoscopic Path in general.

## Use of the word Magus or Magecraft

There are many pages on this wiki where the word Witch or Witchcraft is replaced with Magus or Magecraft. This is because of the history and ideas that are associated with witchcraft.

Even though the opinion of witches and witchcraft have improved over the years there are still many people who associate these words with the stereotypical portrayals of witchcraft in media. Many people have grown up seeing witches portrayed as malevolent women who ride on brooms and though efforts have been made to change this image it still persists.

I use the word Magus and Magecraft to provide a term for those who practice the craft but don't want to deal with the associations that come with being called a witch or with witchcraft but still want to develop their spirituality or explore the craft. The terms Magecraft/Magus and Witchcraft/Witch are used interchangeably throughout the wiki.

Magecraft and Magus also can apply to people who practice magic in different cultures where the idea of witches aren't as prevalent such as India, China, Japan and Egypt to name a few. By using the term Magecraft it can cover many different practices from various cultures.

## An Introduction to Magick

Magick is the most vital force in our lives. It gives us personal mastery over our destiny so we are no longer victims of fate. To study magick is to study life, and to understand the concept of controlled coincidence. Things do not happen randomly, but rather in conjunction or answer to a previously set up condition. The past is what controls the present, and the present is what creates the future.

In essence, magick, is the rediscovery of your basic ability to create. What you create or make happen today, is going to reflect on how you are able to deal with tomorrow. If you were to get that much-needed pay raise today, you could pay your bills tomorrow, and even plan for something special in the future.

Learning to do magick is like learning to drive—you learn by doing. You take a little time each day to practice, and pretty soon you have it mastered. By learning to drive, you increase your mobility and thus your realm of opportunities. You can suddenly go places and do things you weren’t able to do before. Each time you use magick, your ability to control your life increases, and the better your chances are of getting what you want.

The word ‘Witch’ derives from the Anglo-Saxon wicca “a magickian who weakens the power of evil, or one who is able to bend reality using natural forces.” Generally, Magecraft employs the powers of nature to create a charm, philtre, potion or spell to bring about the desired change. The physical object then becomes the catalyst or focal point of the magickal operation.

You decide what it is you want, and then you create a spell or magickal rite to get it. You are in control at all times, and the outcome depends on your focused will. The only limitations on magick, are those you place upon it. Spells are one of the most popular and delightful ways to approach magick. Since they do not require any specific amount of room, elaborate equipment, or special training, anyone can do them. The only thing you really need to make a spell work is, a strong desire to have something or someone.

## What is Magecraft

Magecraft is the set of beliefs and practices employed by Mages in ritual and spellwork. Often, magical work is incorporated into the Shabbat and Esbat celebrations observed by covens and solitary Mages, though spellwork may be employed on its own on other occasions. In fact, many Mages consider themselves to be constantly “practising” their Craft in their daily lives through the use of meditation, magically charged meals and beverages, colour choices in clothing and jewellery, nightly candle rituals, and other seemingly“small” enactments of magic. The more one is in tune with the rhythms and energies of the natural world, the more “magical” one’s life will seem and feel, and this relationship with the cycles of life is deepened throughout one’s life through study and practice. “Magic” is a word used for the phenomena that occur when people consciously participate in the co-creative forces of the Universe, by using the subtle energies of nature to cause the desired change in their reality.

People may use magic, or “the Craft” as it is often called, for many purposes. This often includes spells, charms, and other workings for what could be called “personal gain,” such as a new job or improvements in a love relationship. However, the Craft is also used to work for benefits to one’s family, community, or even to people across the globe. For example, a coven may use an Esbat ritual as an opportunity to send beneficial healing light to victims of a natural disaster. What the Craft is definitely not used for is anything that would cause harm to another person or other living being, even unintentionally. Our wishes can often be manipulative when it comes to how they affect other people, even when we don’t realize it. Therefore, ritual and spellwork often include safeguards against accidental misuse of magical energy, such as the phrases “for the good of all” and “harm to none”—taken from the Wiccan Rede. Keeping this idea in the forefront of one’s mind is important, particularly in light of another basic tenet of Magecraft: the Threefold Law. Also known as “The Rule of Three” and “The Law of Return,” this principle states that whatever Mages send out into the Universe as intent, whether positive or negative, will come back to them three times as great. While some Mages don’t subscribe to this particular belief, it is often invoked as a reminder that magical power should be used only for good, and never in the spirit of harm or manipulation

## The Basis of Power

The basis of magic is power. Though magicians have used it for thousands of years, we still don’t know exactly what “power” is. But we do know how to work with it.

Magic is the movement of natural but subtle energies to manifest needed change. These energies exist within ourselves, within our world, and within all-natural objects on it. These energies, whether in avocados or in our own bodies, share a common source, even if their specific manifestations are quite different. Three types of energy are used in magic. These are personal power, the energy that our bodies possess; earth power, that which resides within our planet and within plants, stones, water, fire, the atmosphere, and animals; and divine power, which has not yet been brought to Earth in specific forms.

Magic always utilizes personal power. In folk magic, Earth power is used as well: the magician arouses (or awakens) her or his own power through visualization or physical exertion. Then Earth power (the energy that resides within natural objects) is awakened through visualization. Visualization (the process of creating images in the mind) fine-tunes these energies, altering them in order to make them useful for a specific purpose. Once this has been accomplished, and it is easily done, the magician blends the two types of energies. This is usually done through visualization, but there are other techniques available. Food magic is unique in offering a very natural method of uniting these two energies.

## You are what you believe

Ideas are powerful. What you believe about yourself and your world determines to a large extent the kinds of experiences you will have and how you will interpret them. The ideas you accept as true are your beliefs. Beliefs act like a filter through which information passes before it reaches you. The belief filter acts so strongly that it usually allows in only information you already believe to be true. Contradictory information is either ignored, explained away, or rejected. What you decide to accept or reject as your beliefs will literally create your world. If you believe you cannot be a certain kind of person, then you won’t. If you believe you must have only certain types of relationships, then you will never experience others. If you think you can’t go to college or learn a skill, then you never will. If you believe that God is one way, then you will never experience God any other way. If you think that certain topics and questions are forbidden, then you will never explore them. One of our favourite sayings about beliefs comes from Henry Ford, who said, “Whether you think you can, or whether you think you can’t, you’re right!”Power such as this is awesome. It mobilizes nations, creates religions, begins and ends wars, and defines new civilizations.

On a more mundane level, it can even influence the kind of toothpaste you buy! Advertisers understand the power of getting you to believe what they want you to believe. So do politicians, governments, and religious leaders. Beliefs set a vision around which people take action. What is your vision? What kind of life do you want to live? What kind of world do you want to create? What beliefs are best going to get you there? These questions are not annoyances to rush through so you can start “being a Pagan.”These questions are the heart of the matter.

They are so central, in fact, that the first principle of Paganism addresses the issue of beliefs. This principle states, “You are responsible for the beliefs you choose to adopt.” Because beliefs set a vision around which people act, the second principle flows directly from the first states that, “You are responsible for your actions and your spiritual and personal development.”These two principles, then, are a beginning point for spiritual and personal growth. They address the two fundamental issues of responsibility and empowerment. Your empowerment begins with an acknowledgement that you are able to choose those very templates, or beliefs, around which you build your world, starting with your self-image and moving on to your relationships, the culture, politics, and religion. Without a sense that you are in control of choosing those ideas you adopt as your own, or that choice is even possible, you may not begin to move forward in your development. You may believe you are stuck or trapped in the way things are, or in the way you have always been. You may believe you are not capable of growing or changing. You may believe growth is possible but is dependent on something outside yourself, such as a holy text, a spiritual practice, or a teacher. We suggest that the journey of self-discovery and development as a Pagan begins by becoming aware of the power of belief, by acknowledging your power to choose the ideas you will accept as true, by accepting your responsibility for that choice, and by taking responsibility for how you act on your beliefs.

## Deities and the Divine

Seeking and attaining a spiritual relationship with the Triple Goddess or Cernunnos or Diana or any other number of deities from around the ancient world can be a very effective way into the Craft, and many people find their experience to be deepened and sharpened through the practice of more traditional, structured forms of Wicca. But some newcomers to Wicca and Magecraft are unsure about the notion of “worshipping” deities and may feel strange about searching for one or more specific gods or goddesses to form relationships or alignments with. Borrowing from older traditions in this respect may not quite feel like an authentic approach to a spiritual search. It’s true that it takes time to find and cultivate an interest in and a relationship with a deity you weren’t aware of until recently, and people who were raised in monotheistic religions can struggle even more with integrating the concept of polytheism. But it’s also true that you don’t absolutely have to incorporate a belief in or a relationship with any specific form of the divine. You might just work with the idea of a Goddess and a God, or even less definitively identified energies of the Universe. Faith and belief are far more often developed and cultivated over time than immediately attained. Make effort to study and seek yours, but go at your own pace, and trust your intuition. No one can tell you you’re not a true Wiccan or Mage because your relationship with the divine doesn’t match their experience. (Well, some might, but in a religion with so many variations, it’s only natural that some will quibble about the details.) There’s no intermediary between you and the Universe, and there are as many paths to the Divine as there are people who seek it. If you do see connecting with deities as a possible part of your path, start doing some research. Read about them—in Wiccan books, in ancient myths, in poetry, in history books. (Watch out for bias in the history books, however—in the Judeo-Christian world, the deities of polytheism often get negatively and erroneously portrayed.) You may discover, as some Mages do, that a deity will actually find you, through images, dreams, seemingly “random” events or coincidences, or in other ways.