Everyday Use of Magic

[neededausername]

Some practictioners of magic claim that magic is simply a focused inner force. Basically you believe something so much that it happens. Some practictioners of magic rely on visualization.

I know the Catholic Church is against magic, but given the above don’t we all use magic on a daily basis? Right now I’m drinking my coffee out of a mug that says “Believe & Succeed”, and how many coaches tell their players to visualize a play?

Just curious as to everyone’s thoughts on this.

 

[Apologia100]

There is absolutely nothing wrong with creative visualization, or repeated affirmations. Imagine trying to accomplish something when all you tell yourself is “I am going to fail, I am going to fail.” Eventually, your subconscious believes you and you consciously loose interest in trying to succeed. You eventually stop putting forth effort, thereby guarateeing failure.

Magic, on the other hand, aways include elements of the occultic. It involves attempts to manipulate spirits that we have no business involving ourselves with. The reason Ouija boards, seances, fortune telling, etc… are so dangerous is precisely because they are REAL. They put you in touch with spirits who want you to believe they work so that you will being to loose faith in God. Who needs God if you can divine the winning lottery numbers or know the answers to problems in advance!

Many things were considered magic 1000 years ago that are taken as everyday events today. Take for instance penicillin. If you told people that you could cure some diseases by taking a compound made from moldy oranges, your would have been arrested and sat at a church tribunal for witchcraft. Today, penicillin is no more a matter of magic than driving a car.

The easiest way to answer your question is, are you trying to supplant God with your efforts? Are you trying to “get around” faith and grace? If the answer is yes, or even maybe, I would suspect that your activity would fall under the purview of magic, even if it is developing a computer program that can predict the winning lottery numbers.

 

[neededausername]

It seems that you would be trying to supplant God and get around faith by saying “I can do this” . That is putting belief in your own power outside of God. So would that fall under the category of magic? It would be better to say “With God I can do this”

 

[JPrejean]

As long as you don’t attribute any particular supernatural significance to what you are saying, I can’t see where it would be wrong. The problem with necromancy, idolatry, or magic is the suggestion of a supernatural power apart from God.

Affirming the natural powers that God actually gave you is not evil. It is even better, of course, for one to include explicit gratitude to God for having given you the natural power to accomplish whatever you did. But you are merely stating fact when you say “I can do this” when what you are attempting to accomplish is within the scope of the natural powers God has given you.

 

[Ken]

JPrejean:

As long as you don’t attribute any particular supernatural significance to what you are saying, I can’t see where it would be wrong. The problem with necromancy, idolatry, or magic is the suggestion of a supernatural power apart from God.

Affirming the natural powers that God actually gave you is not evil. It is even better, of course, for one to include explicit gratitude to God for having given you the natural power to accomplish whatever you did. But you are merely stating fact when you say “I can do this” when what you are attempting to accomplish is within the scope of the natural powers God has given you.

I wonder if we are aware of all the natural powers that God gave us?

 

[IanCorrigan]

**Some practictioners of magic claim that magic is simply a focused inner force. Basically you believe something so much that it happens. Some practictioners of magic rely on visualization. **

There are some kinds of magic that can be based on nothing more than focused personal power. However, there’s no magical theory that says ‘believe enough and it will happen’. Faith, itself, is not considered a cause of anything in magical art, though faith is helpful in encouraging confidence and concentration. Even when magic relies entirely on personal power it always involves technique - visualization, channeling of energy, etc. It is the personal will that makes magic work.

This is one of the reasons that some kinds of religion dislike magic. Many systems teach that only the will of their One God is supposed to matter in the world, and that efforts by individuals to make their own will happen are at least risky and at worst pridefully sinful.

Historically, most systems of magic depend on alliance between humans and a variety of spirits, from local nature beings all the way to the Deities. This involvement with non-biblically-approved spirits is a major source of the dislike of both old and new testament writers toward the practice.

Many sorts of monotheistic magic have been composed, in which the entire source of spiritual power is the biblical God, or which ally humans with various ‘angels’ and other spiritual servants of the Highest. The Roman church vassialted on this sort of magic over the centuries - I’m far from sure there aren’t people in the religious life today doing mysticism and even ritual magic based on renaissance christian magical forms. Nonetheless most sects of christianity reject anything that smells of using personal will to make specific alliances with spirits, or manipulate specific impersonal spiritual powers.

 

[holy_wood]

Some practictioners of magic claim that magic is simply a focused inner force. Basically you believe something so much that it happens. Some practictioners of magic rely on visualization.

I know the Catholic Church is against magic, but given the above don’t we all use magic on a daily basis? Right now I’m drinking my coffee out of a mug that says “Believe & Succeed”, and how many coaches tell their players to visualize a play?

Just curious as to everyone’s thoughts on this.

Thou shall not suffer a witch to live.

 

[Milliardo]

I know the Catholic Church is against magic, but given the above don’t we all use magic on a daily basis? Right now I’m drinking my coffee out of a mug that says “Believe & Succeed”, and how many coaches tell their players to visualize a play?

There’s a difference between magic and prayer. Magic has more to do with the ability of one’s self–casting spells require that one must have a very strong will and control over what he wants to achieve.