What is magic

What is Magic? How does it work?

The definition of magic is the power of apparently influencing the course of events by using mysterious or supernatural forces.

But the definition falls way short sometimes of what Magic really is sometimes. There is Magic in smiles and laughter. There is magic in things that randomly come into your life and become unimaginably invaluable later on. So what is Magic? Let’s see if it is answered in answering the second question...

How does Magic work is a much easier question to answer.  Very simply magic works based off of nature and its desire to create equilibrium, but is forever either over correcting or under correcting. A person who uses magic uses nature to effect changes in their lives and consequently those around them too.

There are two sliding scales on which magic can be categorized; projective to subtractive and sympathetic to contagious. Projective Magic is any time energy is raised and sent out no matter the reason. Subtractive Magic is when something is taken away. Sympathetic magic is also referred to as imitative magic. Contagious magic is based on the principle that things or persons once in contact can afterward influence each other.

I use an “x” and “y” axis in a ball to visualize this concept, but for the sake of working 2 dimensional document the following picture has been created.

Magic can be any combination of the 4 directions. The more toward one side or the other the more dramatic the results, but also more is needed to create the change or in the case of negative consequences the more negative they are.

But let us back up a bit and cover the different types a bit more.

Projective Magic involves the raising of energy and sending it out into the world. Most of the books on Magic you can find cover this form of magic. You gather items to raise the energy that you want for your spell, ritual, etc. Reiki is a good example as it works on this principle; while the practitioner is more of a channel they are still projecting the energy outwards from themselves.

Subtractive Magic is used when you draw toward yourself what is desired or removing undesirable things. Often though when using Subtractive Magic you have to do both the drawing and removing at the same time for this type of magic to work. The removing of a negative influence is a good example for you not only do you have to distance yourself from the influence you also have to fill the void by putting what you want into it.

Sympathetic Magic works on the principle that if I make something look like I want it to then so it shall be. Ceremonial hunting prior to the hunt are a form of Sympathetic Magic. In these ceremonies hunters act out the hunt with a successful ending hoping that the spirits of the animals in question are drawn to them when actually hunting.

Contagious Magic works on the principle that if an item of a certain type is touched by another the energy will transfer. Superstitious sports players and followers practice this type of magic when then always have to have a particular item prior to a game. The belief being that said item increases the chances of winning.

So why the cross hairs for these different Magics? Why use sliding scales for each polarity? Each sliding scale is a polarity and as such creates an imbalance of predictable type. By aligning the two sliding scales over each other you create another polarity. More importantly a spell, ritual, etc. balanced along both scales now is powered by the differences in the scales because the scales play off each other the spell will take on a life of its own. You start using nature’s need to balance and its tendency to over/under correct to your benefit now.

As the Subtractive Magic removes and adds based on Sympathetic Magic it becomes Contagious and Projective by affecting the rest of your life. The spell, ritual, etc. now has taken on a life of its own and as a result is fueled by its own success. Because in order to continue to work it has to remove and add more based on the Sympathetic mold it was created in thus it reaches further and further out from its start.