THE
ARCANE
ARCHIVE
a cache of usenet and other text files pertaining
to occult, mystical, and spiritual subjects.


TOP | OCCULTISM | MAGIC

Religion and Magick

To: alt.magick
From: The Amazing Renfield 
Subject: Re: Religion and Magick
Date: Wed, 28 May 1997 14:19:45 -0700

Deid sang the Song of Solomon:
> 
> I've got a question concerning religion and magick. When doing spells of
> a particular system, does one have also believe in the religion that
> it's associated with (Ex: Kabbalah with Judaism)?

No.  But I suggest you research more into what 'belief' is.


> I read somewhere once
> that magick and religion should go hand in hand but then in another book
> I read that religion and magick are two totally different things. Magick
> was said to be more of a practice and that something like Witchcraft is
> more of a religion. Any thoughts?

Magick is usually an extrapolation of the religion going on at the time.
It takes a healthy dose of postmodernism (which is not limited to this
era, BTW), to blend different styles or invent one's personal own.  
Magick based on religion is often considered subversive or heretical by
the lay people, or contains ideas misunderstood.

But then, I'm often misunderstood...

Religion usually contains large amounts of people who need the minimum
recommended dosage of metaphysics to keep their souls alive.  Members of
a religion are often uninterested in expanding their paradigm.

Magick could be considered a religion of one.  One's personal
beliefs/ideas/visions/theories take precedence over the herd's. 
Expanding one's limits usually enables one to perform feats that are
considered improbable.  A mage may belong to an organization, or many,
but ultimately s/he's doing magick for him/herself.

'Witchcraft' is a broad/big term of many organizations and individuals.
Not currently practicing witchcraft, I will not comment on any
specifics.  However, I will say that any organization that tells you
that it can bring you to the zenith of your potential is lying to you. 
People may read T.S. Eliot's poem "The Hippopatamus" to catch my drift,
or Herman Hesse's _Siddartha_.


			-Renfield

The Arcane Archive is copyright by the authors cited.
Send comments to the Arcane Archivist: tyaginator@arcane-archive.org.

Did you like what you read here? Find it useful?
Then please click on the Paypal Secure Server logo and make a small
donation to the site maintainer for the creation and upkeep of this site.

The ARCANE ARCHIVE is a large domain,
organized into a number of sub-directories,
each dealing with a different branch of
religion, mysticism, occultism, or esoteric knowledge.
Here are the major ARCANE ARCHIVE directories you can visit:
interdisciplinary: geometry, natural proportion, ratio, archaeoastronomy
mysticism: enlightenment, self-realization, trance, meditation, consciousness
occultism: divination, hermeticism, amulets, sigils, magick, witchcraft, spells
religion: buddhism, christianity, hinduism, islam, judaism, taoism, wicca, voodoo
societies and fraternal orders: freemasonry, golden dawn, rosicrucians, etc.

SEARCH THE ARCANE ARCHIVE

There are thousands of web pages at the ARCANE ARCHIVE. You can use ATOMZ.COM
to search for a single word (like witchcraft, hoodoo, pagan, or magic) or an
exact phrase (like Kwan Yin, golden ratio, or book of shadows):

Search For:
Match:  Any word All words Exact phrase

OTHER ESOTERIC AND OCCULT SITES OF INTEREST

Southern Spirits: 19th and 20th century accounts of hoodoo, including slave narratives & interviews
Hoodoo in Theory and Practice by cat yronwode: an introduction to African-American rootwork
Lucky W Amulet Archive by cat yronwode: an online museum of worldwide talismans and charms
Sacred Sex: essays and articles on tantra yoga, neo-tantra, karezza, sex magic, and sex worship
Sacred Landscape: essays and articles on archaeoastronomy, sacred architecture, and sacred geometry
Lucky Mojo Forum: practitioners answer queries on conjure; sponsored by the Lucky Mojo Curio Co.
Herb Magic: illustrated descriptions of magic herbs with free spells, recipes, and an ordering option
Association of Independent Readers and Rootworkers: ethical diviners and hoodoo spell-casters
Freemasonry for Women by cat yronwode: a history of mixed-gender Freemasonic lodges
Missionary Independent Spiritual Church: spirit-led, inter-faith, the Smallest Church in the World
Satan Service Org: an archive presenting the theory, practice, and history of Satanism and Satanists
Gospel of Satan: the story of Jesus and the angels, from the perspective of the God of this World
Lucky Mojo Usenet FAQ Archive: FAQs and REFs for occult and magical usenet newsgroups
Candles and Curios: essays and articles on traditional African American conjure and folk magic
Aleister Crowley Text Archive: a multitude of texts by an early 20th century ceremonial occultist
Spiritual Spells: lessons in folk magic and spell casting from an eclectic Wiccan perspective
The Mystic Tea Room: divination by reading tea-leaves, with a museum of antique fortune telling cups
Yronwode Institution for the Preservation and Popularization of Indigenous Ethnomagicology
Yronwode Home: personal pages of catherine yronwode and nagasiva yronwode, magical archivists
Lucky Mojo Magic Spells Archives: love spells, money spells, luck spells, protection spells, etc.
      Free Love Spell Archive: love spells, attraction spells, sex magick, romance spells, and lust spells
      Free Money Spell Archive: money spells, prosperity spells, and wealth spells for job and business
      Free Protection Spell Archive: protection spells against witchcraft, jinxes, hexes, and the evil eye
      Free Gambling Luck Spell Archive: lucky gambling spells for the lottery, casinos, and races