Is Magic(k) the Same As Enlightenment?

[Mindmaster]

I know it is certainly the case that some people use magick as a way of avoiding problems and covering up areas in their lives that are severely lacking but it's really not subject to simply just magick: religion itself is often used the same way, like alcohol is and drugs, so are relationships, sex, money, buying compulsions. These things in themselves aren't inherently bad (except buying compulsions) alone but it is the act which shapes the thought; If these things are being used to fill gaps of insecurities and are used as a crutch, it's clear that their place in that person's life will become toxic. It is easy to abuse something, especially with disingenuous intentions.

It's very easy to get into this god complex with the thing too, where everything will be solved by dancing around some candles and pointing a finger. That really makes the process of introspection which leads to illumination short circuit, because seldom will such a person feel that it's necessary to self-scrutinize their actions. Other arguments will also be made like, "I need to protect myself from X" or whatever to keep tapping into the confirmation bias they've bought into. If you are centered in the first place, you are an immovable object - these concerns are invalid. If you know what your mental map is in the first place, no outside force can lead you off the road.

You will find addictions and psychiatric problems common in various magick practitioners/occultists as well. (Generally, the treatable kind... not things like schizophrenia, etc...) They'll tell you because they're spooky and weird, but really they have problems that a doctor could diagnose. Magick is easier than admitting you have a problem you can't fix, isn't it? Unfortunately, I feel this is the worst of it - watching people in my close acquaintance repeatedly crash and burn. I have to just step back and tell myself, "It's their life, and they have to live it... even when they fall and bloody their knees."

 

[Fool]

It was suggested in another thread that 'magic(k)' is a personal transformation and realization and is an aesthetic and word that means the same thing as 'enlightenment.'

Agree? Disagree? Why?

Edited for omission of the word 'and' between 'aesthetic' and 'word.'

miracle comes from the word to smile, laugh.

 

[Stanyon]

I may as well throw my two cents in at this point...
I voted no.
My personal definitions of the terms have evolved over time through new understanding, but below are my most current ones.

• Magic(k): the act of working with intent through mental or physical processes to bring about desired change.
• Enlightenment: realization(s) through individual experience(s) of the true nature of existence.

Personal definitions aside, what it boils down to is: magic(k) describes action through intent; enlightenment describes realization through experience.

I voted no as well and pretty much for exactly the same reasons so I won't be redundant and say the same thing.

I think where some of the confusion comes from is that for quite a while new age kooks tried to equate Magic(k) with some type of internal evolution instead of attempting to refine processes and formulaes that allow werkings to manifest the will of the Magian into the real world and I think there are a number of reasons for this, the first of them being it is easier to write mountains of books selling nothing instead of something. One example I always like to give is the attempted change of the meaning and processes of alchemy, there seemed to be a push for quite a while that alchemy was a personal evolution, the lead being the spirit and the gold was the enlightened soul, Godhead, or what not. Traditionally it wasn't about personal evolution or enlightenment but about a far more practical purpose and that was to literally change lead into gold. Since anyone that had the knowledge to turn lead into gold would be a complete fool to let everyone else in on it why would one waste the time and effort to write an instruction manual for anyone to read besides obviously having piles of gold to boot? But then again, a successful writer of complete (to use the British word) bollocks regarding alchemy does in a way turn lead into gold through profit for little to nothing, the proverbial s**t and shinola routine.

This is something I like to throw in for laughs when talking about the occult especially to people new to it but the wisdom of it still holds true:

Spoiler

 

[Quintessence]

I can't say the idea has crossed my mind that the two would be comparable, much less synonymous. Truthfully, this is symptomatic of the word "enlightenment" basically being absent from my vocabulary. But thinking about it for a moment, if anything I'd frame them as opposites.

Enlightenment is something only an elite few ever obtain. It has a very holier-than-thou feel to it, and is disconnected from the apparent world and day-to-day concerns.

Spellcraft is something anybody can practice and learn with relative ease. It has a very down-to-earth feel to it, and is bound up with the apparent world and day-to-day concerns.

Yup. I'd say they're kind of opposites.

 

[Grandliseur]

It was suggested in another thread that 'magic(k)' is a personal transformation and realization and is an aesthetic and word that means the same thing as 'enlightenment.'

Agree? Disagree? Why?

Edited for omission of the word 'and' between 'aesthetic' and 'word.'

May I in my ignorance ask why you have a 'k' following the magic? Are you just including alternate spellings? Or, is there something deeper going on?

 

[SalixIncendium]

May I in my ignorance ask why you have a 'k' following the magic? Are you just including alternate spellings? Or, is there something deeper going on?

Aleister Crowley, in his Thelema tradition, began spelling 'magic' with a 'k' to differentiate performance (stage) magic from "the Science and Art of causing Change to occur in conformity with Will."

Magick (Thelema) - Wikipedia

 

[Grandliseur]

Aleister Crowley, in his Thelema tradition, began spelling 'magic' with a 'k' to differentiate performance (stage) magic from "the Science and Art of causing Change to occur in conformity with Will."

Magick (Thelema) - Wikipedia

So stage magic is this word without a 'k'?

 

[SalixIncendium]

So stage magic is this word without a 'k'?

For Thelemites, at least. There are others who use the spelling with the 'k' as well, such as the HOGD (Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn - Wikipedia), ceremonial mages, and members of some contemporary pagan traditions.

I personally don't spell the two concepts differently.