Magick is the Science and Art of causing Change to occur in conformity with Will
–Aleister Crowley, Book 4, Part III
This is a famous quote from Aleister CrowleyAleister Crowley
, and for good reason. The question "What is MagicWhat is Magic
#todo _my thoughts on this have changed, I now believe magic to be a living art just like dance or painting or any other mundane art. It implements common techniques (A taxonomy of...? " has inspired countless words, but Crowley here gives quite a succinct answer. An answer I find more and more agreeable as my understanding of Magic grows.
Here he makes an initial claim: Magic is an art and a Science
This of course opens two perhaps equally challenging questions: "What is Art?" and "What is Science?" . I will leave a deeper investigation of these questions for another person or another time, and for now satisfy myself by saying a "science" is a field of study that follows the scientific method of observation and hypothesis; and an "art" is any choice made at least in part simply for aesthetic reason (as opposed to purely utilitarian action).
With this understanding we can begin to understand Magic as existing in a space that involves some sort of "observable" and ontological "truth", as well as having room for aesthetic and cultural choices (see Advanced Magic for Beginners by Alan Chapman) .
Another craft that is both a science and art this way is painting. Painting in the classical sense involves both a scientific method of conveying 3 dimensional shapes on a 2d plane, but also obviously is an aesthetic craft.
Magic, in much the same way, has certain principals that have been discovered by past magicians, that can be used to get repeatable results- but also is flexible enough to be fundamentally changed by the practitioners culture and personal aesthetic choices.
So what is this "Art and Science" . Crowley makes the next claim- it is causing change. To cause change is elementary. We do it all the time- it would be impossible to live a life that causes no change as our very existence causes reactions in the world around us. I can yell "fire" in a crowded theater and cause a large change- but simply causing change is not "magic". The magic is causing change in a way that is "in conformity with Will" - i.e. getting the results I planned to get.
In this sense Magic is an expression of the willMagic is an expression of the will
Magic is a tool through which The Will of the magician can be expressed into the world.
To express the will in the world can be very simple- I am thirsty, I will to have water, I stand and... .