I think it's also because of so many different "kinds" of magic that draw different people, both how complicated some things can be and the kind of "magical elitism" that the thread talks about, as well. Some people find value in quests to make or find things, and put much more of themselves into the search, thus putting more of themselves into the working. My mother's things were very much like that, as Romani magic tends to be, because for them, life is all about the journey and the energy of it. Hers could be terribly specific, cutting this under the full moon, or ground ivy that grew outside the gates of the cemetery, that kind of thing. My Da on the other hand, is very much of the KISS method. Matches from above the sink, water from the tap, make your rosewater in the same pot you used to cook corn last night.
I think magic fits different niches in different peoples lives. There are people who come to find it because they want to be one of the elite, to have power, to feel important, and ceremonial magic can fill that need. Unfortunately, this means that they have a tendency to look down on people who don't approach it the same way.
At the opposite end of the extreme, you have the people who believe magic can't be controlled, that just thinking something n a general direction with intent is magic, and that anyone with any kind of physical ritual or recipe is deluding themselves, I've run into both.
I try not to fall into either. I do magic the way I know, the way that I'm comfy with but still challenges me, and I work on constantly trying to understand as many branches as I can. Weirdly enough, for me, Agrippa's Three Books of Occult Philosophy was easier to get through than a lot of the "basic" books I've seen on the market.That tended to be because I'd get frustrated and toss them against a wall, but...still. I don't think one way is necessarily better than another.
