What is Magic?

I do not believe in using the term "magick" to explain what magic is. Magic is an art, the art of transforming everything around you by the power of will. Crowley defined it as "the science and art of causing change in conformity with will", and, like science, Magic can be sustained under the same standards as science: it has basic rules and structures, laws, and, much like art, it is amoral and it cannot be defined as "good" or "evil".

A spell is a specific act of magic to cause a specific change (Penzack, 2005). A spell is a means for Magic to reach the universe and work the change we are intending to make. Usually in the written form (with rhytmic verses), a spell can be compared in many ways with Christio-Judeo prayers, aimed at different deities for different purposes of change. For a spell to work, it needs object to channel the energy -- athames, wands, etc., as well as to be executed at a specific time. But most importantly, a spell has to be meant.

To create Magic one must understand all parts of oneself, and for this we need to acklowledge all three minds that create our Magical mind. According to Penzack, the first one is the conscious mind, the one that is more familiar to us. We are awake, we know who we are, we record the day-to-day activities in this part of our mind and it is here where we generate the need and desire of our life and, thus, the Magic we intend to create upon it. The problem of this mind is the perception we have of the world. This limits our ability to process energy in the shape of information. The second mind is the psychic mind, key and doorway to our talent. This part of our mind allows us to process the energy and release it in the shape of intuition. What we think is going to happen or what "our gut" tells us is going to happen. It is also called the lower self, the inner child who wonders upon the imaginary realm and makes us see that all we perceive in "the real life" is actually bendable to our needs and desires. The third mind is called the divine mind because it connects us with the higher self, the creative self. We create the world around us; we create it, we bend it, we transform it. And much like the gods and goddesseses, we do this by the power of will. If we will it, we can create it, we can destroy it, we can bend it, and we can transform it. The divine mind allows us to proyect that energy and release it upon the universe and in return it also works kind of like a short wave radio: the universe reveals itself to us in the shape of epiphanies, revelations, burst of insight, and dream-like states (Penzack, 2005). So, by knowing all this, we know that a spell is actually a request given to our third mind so that it can proyect it on to the universe and shape it.

Sources
Penzack, Christopher. The Inner Temple of Witchcraft. Llewellyn Publications, 2005