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If anybody has read any of the discworld books by Terry Pratchett about the Witches in Lancre they should be familiar with the fact that words can be magic. Completely normal words. I actually believe that, you just look at what is accomplished with words that goes beyond normal communication. If you say the rights things you can get people to believe/do things. And I'm not talking about simply convincing people to do something. It's very hard to explain, and I'm just gonna create more confusion than I already have by trying more...

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Take a paper plate and push a thumb tack through it in the center, so that the sharp part is sticking up through the center. Next, fold a small square peice of paper in half, then fold it in half again. You should now have a folded up square in the shape of a square. Unfold and it should be creased to a point in the middle of the original square. Set the point on top of the tack(if it is big enough to hit the plate, cut out a smaller square and fold again). Place a glass over the tack, making sure it is not actually touching the paper. Place your hands close to the sides of the glass, and concentrate on moving the paper in a clockwise motion. Feel the energy flowing from your hands around the paper. See the energy do what you want it to do. Depending on how fast you learn, this could happen on the first try, or it could take weeks of practice. I compare learning to manipulate energy to learning to use a muscle. Think about how you learned to walk; it didn't just happen the first day you saw someone else do it.

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It will be obvious, then, that by magic we are not considering a theatrical craft or jugglery--and certainly not that mediaeval superstition which was the child of ignorance begotten by fear and terror. These definitions should be expunged from our thinking. For centuries magic has been quite erroneously associated with such pathologies as sourcery and demonolatry due to the duplicity of charlatans and the reticence of its own so-called authorities. Even today, the custodians of this knowledge, harassed by personal problems and their own power complex are still adamant in their refusal to ciculate a more accurate description of magic. Possibly even they have lost all understanding of its principles.

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"Magic is the art of causing transformation of the manifest (explicate) universe through the universal medium of the Unmanifest (implicate)." ~Don Tyson "New Millenum Magic" 1988

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Magick is the act of orienting your life towards a specific desired goal. The act of ritual can and does engrain into the mind the 'purpose of the goal' so that the ego goes about producing the desired effect. The act of Magick is the act of turning your /life/ into prayer, where every footstep and breath is aligned with a desired outcome. The act of utilizing ritual is to communicate with the depths of the mind that are obscured and hidden behind ego by evoking /belief/ (in the act of ritual and the focus of the ritual, wether it be divine, planar or mental). It is important to acknowledge that prayer and ritual are the same thing. The Judeo-Christian idea of prayer is surrounded by as many rituals as the Wiccan idea of it: Kneel, press your hands together, bow your head, preferably all while in some divine place or temple. Most judeo-christians cannot see the ritual because the whole process has become automatic, it has become a singular act rather than a series of parts. This isn't 'better', it is just what occurs when you grew up with the rituals from birth - you create a mental shortcut like a program that contains all of the processes.

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I sat down an thought about identifying the material world in terms of 'process' rather than 'matter' and 'energy' and the depth which you can take the model was mind boggling. What we define as matter is slow process. What we define as energy is quick process. Try to concieve of that, and then try to concieve of all Life as a form of 'process' as well (think: condensed amalgamated process).

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