Magick is an alternative term for magic that was coined by Aleister Crowley to differentiate "the true science of the Magi from all its counterfeits". In the broadest sense, magick is any act performed in order to cause intentional change – for example, changing the channel on your television set. This term is spelled with a terminal "k" to differentiate it from other practices, such as stage magic. According to Crowley it should also be pronounced differently – mage-ick – though this pronunciation is now uncommon. The letter "k" is the 11th letter of the Latin alphabet; in numerology the number 11 represents hidden energies and thereby magick. Therefore it is thought that to add a "k" to magic makes the word itself more "magickal".

It should be noted that Aleister Crowley merely coined the spelling in modern times, as the spelling with a final 'k' has been around since ancient times and was the normal spelling at that time. Crowley simply 'resurrected' the word to distinguish it from stage magic (illusions and slight of hand).

Magick is not capable of producing miracles or violating the physical laws of the universe (e.g., it cannot cause a solar eclipse), although "it is theoretically possible to cause in any object any change of which that object is capable by nature", according to Crowley. Crowley got the inspiration for the spelling from its usage by the famous English magician John

Despite these distinctions, specifically the assertion that magick cannot violate the laws of the universe, people often expect practitioners of magick (e.g., witches) to be able to, literally speaking, pull rabbits out of hats as they see illusionists do. Because the words are nearly identical, and the spelling of "magick" has not yet been widely accepted, some people are not aware of the differences in the usage of each term, and, indeed, tend to think they are one and the same. As a result, when a witch fails to impress with a feat similar to the sleight-of-hand trick of pulling a rabbit out of a hat, magick is dismissed as fictitious. However, if one is to make comparisons, it would be more accurate to compare magick to prayer as found in other religions rather than sleight of hand. Just as a Christian wouldn't expect to offer a prayer and open his eyes to see his wish immediately fulfilled by God, neither does a witch cast a spell and expect to see some sort of immediate and miraculous result.

Crowley defined magick as "the science and art of causing change to occur in conformity with the will". By this, he included 'mundane' acts of will as well as ritual magic. In Magick in Theory and Practice, Chapter XIV, Crowley says:

What is a Magical Operation? It may be defined as



any event in nature which is brought to pass by Will. We must not exclude potato-growing or banking from our definition. Let us take a very simple example of a Magical Act: that of a man blowing his nose.

Some in the Neopagan and occult communities have amended this definition, using the word "magick" exclusively in a paranormal sense. However, Crowley still wields significant influence in these circles.

Concentration or meditation plays an important role in Crowley's system. A certain amount of restricting the mind to some imagined object, according to this theory, produces mystical attainment or "an occurrence in the brain characterized essentially by the uniting of subject and object". (Book Four, Part 1: Mysticism.)

Magick, as defined previously, seeks to aid concentration by constantly recalling the attention to the chosen object (or Will), thereby producing said attainment. For example, if one wishes to concentrate on a god, one might memorize a system of correspondences (perhaps chosen arbitrarily, as this would not affect its usefulness for mystical purposes) and then make every object that one sees "correspond" to said god.

Aleister Crowley wrote:

Now what is all this but to do in a partial (and if I may say so, romantic) way what the Yogi does in his more scientifically complete yet more austerely difficult methods? And here the advantage of Magick is that the process of initiation is spontaneous and, so to speak, automatic. You may begin in the most modest way with the evocation of some simple elemental spirit; but in the course of the operation you are compelled, in order to attain success, to deal with higher entities. Your ambition grows, like every other organism, by what it feeds on. You are very soon led to the Great Work itself; you are led to aspire to the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel, and this ambition in turn arouses automatically further difficulties the conquest of which confers new powers. In the Book of the Thirty Aethyrs, commonly called "The Vision and the Voice", it becomes progressively difficult to penetrate each Aethyr. In fact, the penetration was only attained by the initiations which were conferred by the Angel of each Aethyr in its turn. There was this further identification with Yoga practices recorded in this book. At times the concentration necessary to dwell in the Aethyr became so intense that definitely Samadhic results were obtained. We see then that the exaltation of the mind by means of magical practices leads (as one may say, in spite of itself) to the same results as occur in straightforward Yoga. --(Crowley, )

Crowley also made claims for the paranormal effects of magick. However, he defined any attempt to use this power for a purpose other than aiding attainment as "black magic". See Magick of Aleister Crowley by Lon Milo Duquette.

See also

• Wicca
• Occult
• Magic (Paranormal)
• Sex magic