Description
This article is from the Spell/Hex
FAQ, by cat cat@luckymojo.com with numerous contributions by
others.
22C How are magic and religion/mysticism related or different?
There have been a number of different discussions on these
subjects. One extremely popular hypothesis is the
magic/individual : religion/group model. This notion holds
that magical practices that do not involve a congregation
and a worship service are not religious. (An example of this
would be a woman casting a love spell with oils and a candle
to attract a man.) Likewise, according to this viewpoint,
magical practices that involve a congregation and worship
ARE religious.
Some folks hold the oinion that religious practices cannot,
by definition, be magical. Others contend that religious
services that invoke the aid of spirits or unknown forces
to effect a change in the world are magical. (An example
of this would be a Christian prayer meeting for healing
a member of the congregation.)
Some religions openly include and acknowledge magical
practices. Some emphasize this aspect more than others.
Here are three examples, selected more or less at random:
Fundamentalist Christians tend to downplay magic, but
Catholic Christians often practice it openly, especially in
more rural cultures than the United States. For example, it
is common in Mexico to invoke the financial aid of Saint
Martin Caballero (a religious act) by means of a magical
phrase ("citrum neuvo"), a thread-wrapped horseshoe, and
a cloth bag filled with grains of wheat (a magical act).
Santeria and Vodoun, two Afro-Caribbean religions with
strong magical components, are sometimes wrongfully
characterized by outsiders as a form of magic, although they
are both actually religions. The use of ritual baths and
trance-possession seem to strike Euro-Americans as
"magical" acts, rather than "religious" ones, despite the
fact that both religions have priestly hierarchs who conduct
ceremonies for the congregation
Hinduism has an entire sacred book (one of the Vedas)
devoted to magical formulas and spells -- and this is in
addition to the more cosmlogical and worship-oriented Vedic
texts.
Child of Fire (mailto:ladythella@juno.com) framed the
question of how magic relates to relgion in terms of its
"fit" with goddess-worshipping Wicca, when she asked:
"I am not Wiccan (though two of my best friends are)
but I do find the magics interesting. I enjoy and
practice candle magic and herb magic... however,
[...] one of the main reasons I'm NOT wiccan is that
I can't honestly say that I believe in a goddess.
The other reason [is] that I am quite impulsive,
so that I tend to act BEFORE I think and when you
throw in the Three-Fold Law [of Return; a Wiccan
dogma], I find myself headed for a lot of trouble,
ya know? Any help would be much appreciated."
This question is probably more religious than magical.
While many Wiccans do practice magic, they certainly did
not invent it or have an exclusive handle on it. In fact,
magical practices -- especially those using simple objects
from nature such as herbs and minerals -- are to be found
in virtually every human culture, regardless of the type
of deity worshipped. Furthermore, even people who worship
NO deity may practice magic. As for opinions about the
universality of the Three-Fold Law of Return (or lack
thereof), see the next two questions.
It's always good to ask these questions -- many people don't,
and thus make erroneous assumoptions about other people's
practices -- but if you wish to discuss mysticism or
religion, consult a newsgroup devoted to that topic. For
more reading on the subject, follow links from the MaGI's
Gehennom GOO at
http://www.luckymojo.com/magi/goo.html!
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