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Definition of Magic for debate

The Kilted Heathen

Crow FreyjasmaðR
If it is just a craps shoot, how is it magic?
It's more than "craps shoot", it's basically ritualized intent. When I grasp my runes and toss them into my money bag, I don't do so with the mindset of "Gee, hope this works!" I do it with the intent and mindset that I will receive a good day in tips. And if I don't, that doesn't mean that my actions weren't magic, that I was gambling with fate; it simply means that my fate for that day was greater than my will to change it.
 

Unveiled Artist

Veteran Member
It isn't. I'm not sure why you would think I was suggesting otherwise.

The question of how *we* figure out whether a thing exists, though, is very much a matter of what we can detect and test.

If you said otherwise then magic can exist beyond our detection. It it does not exist, it sounds like limiting "supernatural" in the world we can only detect and test.

If you believe in the X factor, whats the difference if its called godx vishnu, supernatural, or magic? That goez back to why is the X factor a placebo if you acknowledge more than what we can test and detect.
 

9-10ths_Penguin

1/10 Subway Stalinist
Premium Member
If you said otherwise then magic can exist beyond our detection. It it does not exist, it sounds like limiting "supernatural" in the world we can only detect and test.
The sort of magic that nobody knows about is not the sort of "magic" that anyone is referring to when they say "magic".

If you believe in the X factor, whats the difference if its called godx vishnu, supernatural, or magic? That goez back to why is the X factor a placebo if you acknowledge more than what we can test and detect.
I have no idea what you mean by "the X factor".
 

Quintessence

Consults with Trees
Staff member
Premium Member
What magic is done if it doesn't work? The magic of failure?

If it is just a craps shoot, how is it magic?

To make a potentially helpful comment about these sorts of questions - a major reason why I use the term "spellcraft" rather than "magic" for the practice is because it makes it clearer that it is a practice. It helps avoid this sort of linguistic confusion. Spellcraft is an art, like writing, like painting. You can produce a crap poem, but you've still engaged in the practice of writing. Similarly, you can produce a crap spell, but you've still engaged in the practice of spellcraft.

It may also be worth noting that in no way do I agree with how the OP is defining spellcraft (aka, the practice of magic).
 
If it is just a craps shoot, how is it magic?
Magic, as I understand it from an occult perspective is a sort of psychodrama and misdirection, done with intent. The goal in each case will be to manipulate the thinking patterns of yourself or others(categorized by some as greater and lesser magic, respectively).

The trappings involved(IE robes, chanting, props, ceremony) are merely tools to heighten ones emotional response, like grease to a wheel. It's more akin to Dr. Albert Ellis than to Harry Potter.

Of course, many people do not understand this, and go on full bore mistaking the form for the essence.
 

Willamena

Just me
Premium Member
To make a potentially helpful comment about these sorts of questions - a major reason why I use the term "spellcraft" rather than "magic" for the practice is because it makes it clearer that it is a practice. It helps avoid this sort of linguistic confusion. Spellcraft is an art, like writing, like painting. You can produce a crap poem, but you've still engaged in the practice of writing. Similarly, you can produce a crap spell, but you've still engaged in the practice of spellcraft.

It may also be worth noting that in no way do I agree with how the OP is defining spellcraft (aka, the practice of magic).
I think of it like baseball. If I'm practicing baseball, I am engaging in the game: throwing and catching balls, batting, running bases, scoring points. Even if I miss a ball, I'm doing baseball in the practice of it. Practicing baseball isn't the attempt to practice: like Yoda said, do or do not. There is no try.
 
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