Black & White – Magickally Speaking

I am no stranger to magick or paganism, and I practice, and study, full time.  I have been a magickal practitioner for over 15 years.  I started out, as many of us do, with Wicca, and grew from there.  My practice and belief system have undergone so many overhauls that it would take a short novel to describe it all.  Let it suffice to say that I have experience in evocation, the Goetia and various grimoires, Ceremonial magick, Chaos magick, Natural magick, Green magick, Wiccan magick, Divination, Demonology, Necromancy and more, and have been walking the path of a priestess in Palo Mayombe for some time now.

After a lot of thought on what my first blog topic should be, I decided to go with a discussion on a very basic and very common debate amongst the magickal community — does magick have a “color” (ie – black or white)?   

One of the reasons I decided to go with this particular topic is that I have grown weary of such claims as, “I’m a thirteenth generation Wiccan White Witch, who practices only pure white magick”.  My reply to such a claim is simply this, “No, you are not.  Now please, go be silly somewhere else.”   

And since that statement has essentially two claims, I shall address the first claim… well, first.  

Now, before you go all “how dare you” on me, let me state that Wicca is a very honorable religion, and I have nothing against it.  But please keep in mind that Wicca has only really been around since the 1940s, when it was founded by Gerald Gardner after his claimed “initiation” into a group he called the New Forest Coven by one Dorothy Clutterbuck.  To this day, it is uncertain whether Ms. Clutterbuck ever actually influenced his magickal practices, but it is relatively sure that Edith Grimes, a woman he referred to as “Dafo”, did.  After Gardner’s publication of Witchcraft Today in 1949, Wicca became increasingly fashionable in England in the 1950s, until it exploded in popularity, thereby making its way across the globe.  

Yes, Gardner based his “Wica” (spelled with one “c”, not two) on Celtic paganism, but it was only a very small part of his creation.  He freely admitted that what he learned of the rituals were fragmentary in nature, and  so, as a member of the OTO and a Mason, he used his knowledge of ceremonial magick and Eastern philosophies, along with information he garnered on the Golden Dawn from his brief friendship with Aleister Crowley, to fill in the remainder.  

Therefore, with such a short history, it is impossible for anyone to be a sixth generation Wiccan, let alone a thirteenth generation one. 

Does this make Wicca valueless and fake?  Absolutely not.  It simply means that the basis for the belief system lies somewhere else, instead of where you may have originally thought it to be.   The Golden Dawn system, for example, founded in the 1880s, is a very real and viable system, and since Wicca can claim part of its origin from there, Wicca cannot be considered fake or made-up. 

 

BLACK VS. WHITE MAGICK 

Now, on to the idea of “pure white magick.”  I have to laugh every time I see someone use this phrase, because it really speaks of a lack of experience, or at the very least, a lack of research or real, solid magickal study.  Magick, in and of itself, really has no “color.”  You cannot even genuinely assign magick a color based on “intent.” 

I’ve seen far too many “fluffy bunnies” (ie – white-lighters, brand-spanking-new-out-of-the-box Wiccans, etc.) bandy the term “white magick” about as if it was some ethereal badge of honor.  They look down on anyone who practices any form of magick other than their own, and are appalled when someone does not agree with them.  They often brandish against those who walk a path free of ideals such as the “threefold law” and “karma,” branding them as “evil” or “wrong”, often seeing their own path as the “only way”. 

To give an example, a very close friend of mine, Jane, is a Voodou practitioner.  She in turn has a friend, Judith, who is an initiate in a Gardnerian Wiccan coven. Like myself, Jane has experience in Goetic evocation, and on occasion, will perform such an evocation to achieve whatever end she has in mind.  Judith, being inquisitive and relatively open-minded, has asked questions both on Voodou and evocation, because she is fascinated by the alternate belief system, and is slowly beginning to realize that what she once thought of as wrong was not so “evil” after all.  Upon speaking with her coven leader about the form of magick Jane uses, however, Judith was told to stay away from Jane, because “Jane is evil and uses a form of evil black magick.” 

I was utterly incredulous when I heard this.  Without knowing anything about Jane or what she  really practices, knowing only that she “evokes demons”, this coven leader had the audacity to attempt to break up a long standing friendship based upon her own ignorance and fear.  It is from this ignorance that the separation between white magick and black magick is born.  

Now, that being said, I myself am guilty of using those terms to quickly categorize a spell or ritual that I need to perform.  I have even, at one point or another, called myself a “black magickian” for the sake of explaining to someone what it is that I do, in order to get them to understand the difference between someone who believes all magick should be done for the greater good – without attempting harm, or even influencing someone else’s will – and someone like me, who believes magick should also benefit the practitioner or his/her client.   

Perhaps I take far too anthropological a view when it comes to black vs. white magick.  For example, I firmly believe that one cannot label a society who practices human sacrifice as “evil” because morals and rules are only valid within the society that creates them.  For such a culture, human sacrifice may be considered an honor; the most precious gift one can give to the gods.  As outsiders to such a society, we can disagree with it, we can simply not understand it, but we cannot designate that culture as “evil” because their practices and beliefs differ from our own culturally created moral values.  And the key term here is “culturally created”.   

Many practitioners who consider themselves on the “Right Hand Path” automatically label traditions such as Voodoo, Santeria, Palo, Demonology, and even certain forms of Ceremonial magick as “black magick” — something to be avoided at all costs.  But once again, this categorization is false.  Just because a tradition includes and does not forbid hexing or laying tricks does not make that tradition “evil.”  A person who does not believe in the “threefold law” is not automatically wrong — and indeed, the “threefold law” is NOT a universal principle, contrary to popular belief.  Many traditions do not include or ascribe to such an ideal. 

Many ceremonial magickians practice demonology — demonology here meaning the evocation and summoning of “daemons” listed in medieval grimoires such as the Goetia and the Grimorium Verum.  Such evocation is considered by some to be “black magick.” However, it is well known that many of the entities listed in those books are not “demons,” but are in reality old pagan gods!  Wiccans and other pagans will worship and acknowledge the fertility goddess Astarte, never once stopping to consider that the “evil” ceremonial magickian who calls on the demon Astaroth is working with the exact same entity.      

INTENT 

The same principle applies to the “intent” of magick and using that to determine whether it falls under the black or white category. Intent also is not a valid way of measuring “good” or “bad.”  Let me give you two scenarios here to explain what I mean. 

Scenario 1: 

Lily is looking for a new job.  She does the research, finds three employment prospects, and applies for them all, even though she is not quite qualified for all of them.  The following week, she’s called in for an interview for one of the positions that she didn’t have all the qualifications for.  Afterwards, she returns home, enthusiastic and hopeful, but thinking that a little magick might be good to help her chances of being hired.  Therefore, to help her land the job, she performs a 7-day employment spell designed to make her interview and application more attractive to the employer than any of the other candidates.  A few days later, she gets the happy news — she’s hired! 

Scenario 2: 

John’s ex-girlfriend has just broken up with him.  She’s not seeing anyone else at the moment, but she’s made it pretty clear it wasn’t working out between the two of them, and she was through.  John decides he’s going to use a love and lust spell to bring her back to him.  He performs the two spells simultaneously for 9 days.  Near the end of the 9 days, his ex-girlfriend returns, declares her love for him, and they begin dating again.  John is once again a happy man! 

Now, how would you categorize these two scenarios? 

Most people would say Scenario 1 was an example of white magick.  Lily’s intention was simply to get the job.  Her magick hurt no one, right?  She wasn’t trying to coerce anyone like John, who performed a black magick spell to get his ex-girlfriend.  Right?   

Perhaps.  Let’s look at that again, though.  Lily’s spell was (as are all employment spells) designed with a form of coercive intent.  Lily may not have realized it – most people don’t -  but she was performing a form of domination spell whose purpose was to influence her prospective boss’s decision.  How is that any different from John’s purpose?  

And was no one really hurt by Lily’s spell?  What about the other applicants who were more qualified but were overlooked due to Lily’s spell?  What if they were in dire need of employment because they were facing foreclosure on their home, and it was only Lily’s spell, not her personality or job experience, that knocked them out of the running?   

As you can see, intent is in no way relevant to the “color” of magick either.   

Superficially speaking, yes, coercive spells, hexes, necromantic or demonic ritual, etc., can be generically categorized as “black magick”, while healing spells, luck spells, love spells (that don’t target a specific person), etc., can be placed under the title “white magick”.  But these categories are generic.  They in no way are truly indicative of “good”, “evil”, “right” or “wrong” outside of personal opinion.  

Now the argument may turn to the fact that what if John now experiences repercussions of his magick?  What if he finds himself miserable with the return of his ex, and because of his magick, he can’t seem to get rid of her again?  Well, this is true, it can happen.  But what of Lily?  What if she finds herself in a position where her lack of qualifications leads her to being fired or having to quit because she cannot do the job?   

CONCLUSION 

In the end, magick is indeed truly colorless.  “Black magick” and “white magick” are nothing more than highly subjective terms that are only meaningful to the one using them.  Magick is not black, white or grey.  The intent of the magickian is also irrelevant, as intent is also substantially relative to opinion and belief system.