Magic vs. Magick?

[msilvercat]

Is there a difference between Magic and Magick (with a 'k')?

I've asked this question before, both on and off the net, and gotten conflicting answers, so I am trying to figure out "which way the wind is blowing" these days. As a long-time practicing Wiccan (both solitary, in circles, and in covens) I have seen a shift in thinking over the years.

What say the masses?

[Euphoria]

whether u say magic or magick it really makes no difference ... the k is usually added to differntiate between REAL magick and illusinary magic(i.e magicians tricks)

[Myst]

"k" is what people add in their need to "differentiate".

Personally I don't use the k anymore ever. I don't feel it'll convince anyone who doesn't believe my word that I don't pull rabbits from hats.

If you click search at the top near the right side, between F.A.Q. and home, and try to look for threads on this topic you might find some. I can also try bumping a few threads up for you.

[Myst]

Here's a good one for you - http://www.mysticwicks.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=12147&highlight=magick+spelling

[Lavender]

Some feel that magic is the illusions performed by stage magicians - the slight of hand tricks. Magick is the what we do when we move energies to create our own realities. Personally, I don't differentiate with the use of the "k". One is an illusion and I call it such. I spell it both ways.

[msilvercat]

Thanks all for the input. I, too, am an English major (teacher actually), and the linguistic aspect of the spelling variations intrigues me for professional as well as personal reasons ... but that is a whole different question.

In the past, when I saw people being very specific (and often snippy) about their spelling of the word I asked this same question to figure out what they *thought* they were doing by differentiating the spellings. The result was usually a combination of indignant "how could you call yourself a Wiccan and NOT know the answer to that question?" and "You mean there's a difference?"

As I said, this was more to get a sense of the "mood" of the community, both this one specifically, and the community as a whole.

In my life I have usually used 'magic' - I'm old enough to come from a time before books on magic (or magick) were widely available, and no one really felt a need, either political or personal, to stake a claim by using or abusing a particular spelling. Magic was good enough for Starhawk, and it's always been good enough for me. Using 'magick' was a political statement as much as a religious or spiritual one.

That's my two cents worth. I'm still interested in what folks have to say - especially now that I have added the political angle

... or should I repost in the Political Pagan forum?

[manstranger]

I spell it magick not because of what i mean it to mean .. magic and magick are essentially the same word to me.

I spell magic magick because thats how i learned it. I feel no need to change it. I mean, its like a tomato pronounciation thing ... the point will get across no matter what? You spell what you learned to spell, for whatever reason, imo.

[Lavender]

Heh! I mean, when you're talking to someone how do you differentiate? Do you say "magick-k-k" so they know? :lol:

[kblackthorne]

We have Aleister Crowley to thank for the "K". He was the first to use it in this way.

Personally, I have not used the word "Magick" since my first year on this path (and that was over a decade ago). If I write "Magic", most people will know I'm not talking stage-tricks.

[lucidfire]

actually the Crowley thing is a myth, he just popularized the spelling.

[kblackthorne]

Since I can't cite my source, I'll have to take your word. :) Hey, if I were infallible, I wouldn't still be incarnating.

(Although if you can cite your source, I'd be glad to read it. That's not a "challenge" -- just a cat twitching her whiskers at the scent of more information.)

[Magnus]

As a professional working magician, I use the two spellings with conscious thought. "Magic" is that which I do in performance (on stage or in close up situations), and "Magick" is that which I do in ritual or spell workings.

Magnus

[Myst]

"‘Myth : Magick’ is spelled with a ‘k’ to distinguish it from stage magic. Before dictionaries made their appearance with the printing press, words were spelled many ways, and magick was variously spelled with or without a ‘k’. Dictionaries standardized the spelling of ‘magick’ without a ‘k,’ and so it came to be used to refer to stage magic as well as ritual or ceremonial magic. The magician Aleister Crowley introduced the spelling of ‘magick’ with a ‘k’ in the early 1900’s to represent magick whose purpose was the spiritual transformation of the individual (as opposed, for instance, to the casting of spells). This was a Kabbalistic reference to the fact that the 11th sphere on the Tree of Life was the gateway in the Abyss to unbalanced spiritual forces which have to be faced by the initiate on the Path, and ‘k’ is the 11th letter of the alphabet. Like the word ‘Wicca,’ the word ‘magick’ is also widely misused today, and it has now become necessary to use designations such as High Magick and Low Magick to indicate the different types of magick. "

http://www.angelfire.com/nt/dragon9/MYTHS.html

[Earthcup]

hmmm... I tried it with a K but I kept thinking of a scene in a movie where "Orson Welles" says "Citizen Kane? A Z and a K, should look great on a marquee."

For me using a K was like writing my BoS in faux Old English, just kinda silly and more trouble than it's worth... ;)