autumn twilight

Most, if not all pagans practice some form of magic. Or at least they say they do. Many people who don’t consider themselves pagans practice magic as well. The world is full of ceremonial and sympathetic magicians of all variety. In the neo-pagan community however, it strikes me as interesting how little real, solid, training there is on the practice of Magic.

Certainly many organizations have their own classes and structures to teach. The Brotherhood of the Phoenix has the Mystery School and several other curricula for membership. Temple of the Four Winds has a class structure that was written by Karen Jackson. Reclaiming has their Foundations of Magic (i think that’s what it’s called) classes. Most British Traditional Wicca groups have training programs of one variety or another.

But I wonder how many pagans have gone through a comprehensive, experiential, and thorough course of magical training. I know of maybe 30 people who have had some sort of recognized thorough training. Of those, there are many whose training probably isn’t as thorough as I think would be helpful. This is out of the hundreds of pagans that I have met and interacted with.

So where are all the rest of these practitioners learning to work magic? Is their magic effective? Do they know how to be safe? and careful?

It concerns me a little, as I think about it. Not to be dismissive of self-study, but it is very hard to learn anything through independent study. The more applied the skill is the harder it is to learn on your own, and magic is one of the most applied skills there is. I’ve done plenty of independent study. And I have a lot of independent experience. But it’s through my training and my work as a teacher that I’ve truly found the language of magic. I feel a little sad for anyone that hasn’t had the opportunity to study magic with a teacher.

Ideally, I think magic should be taught to small groups. The smaller the better. In a perfect world, it would be strictly Master-Apprentice relationships. One teacher with a few students at a time isn’t too bad, but one-on-one time is important.

I feel a bit of disdain for larger groups. Can you teach a classroom to play piano? You can teach them the notes. You can probably get them to plunk out Mary had a little lamb. But will they play with any art? It is the same with Magic. A Classroom is great for lecturing. It is great for the passing of information. But learning magic is not about passing on information. Anyone can lear the scholastic aspects of magical practice from hundreds of books.

The Practice of Magic is not so easily conveyed. It takes attention to detail. Careful discussion of experiences and occurrences. It takes a lot of questions and answer sessions. And that takes a large time commitment and a lot of individual focus. A talented and dedicated individual may be able to work these things out in their own time, through study and experimentation. But nothing replaces a teacher.

And sadly, there aren’t enough teachers. I’ve been called to teach for years. I know that I’m good at it. I’m a decent presenter and an okay lecturer, but I really love guiding people one on one or in small groups. I’m becoming aware that it’s time to start doing that work a bit more actively. Thus, I have something in the works. I’ll write more when it’s a bit more ready for public attention.