Pagan Values: Faith and Magic

Author: Morgan St. Knight

What is faith? That question creates a conundrum for Pagans. We identify ourselves as Pagans because our views differentiate us from other religious groups–specifically, our views about Deity/Deities. It’s how we relate to those Deities that brings up the question of faith.

We’re in a unique position, we Pagans. Those of us who follow traditions such as Wicca and similar systems believe in magic; we believe that we can alter our world in certain ways using ritual, creative visualization and projection, and the proper focus of will and intent. But where do we draw the line between trying to accomplish things with magic, and giving our trust to the Gods to help us find our way, even if the outcome isn’t what we’re expecting? Can we trust–can we really believe –that the outcome, whatever it is, will be the correct one if we turn things over to the Gods? More importantly, do we have the courage to step over the dividing line from the realms of magic into the realm of faith, or do we repeatedly fall back to the option that lets us try to manipulate outcomes to suit our will?

One of the reasons Wicca appeals to so many people is that it theoretically allows us an extra measure of control over our lives through magic. This aspect of the Craft seems, at times, to truly fulfill the definition of a glamour: an illusion that befuddles the mind, hiding the truth, sometimes to the gazer’s downfall.

It’s no blame to anyone who falls under that particular spell. The mantra “Change your life through Magic” is practically shouted from every corner of every New Age or occult bookstore I’ve been to over the past decade. If I didn’t have 30 years in the Craft to ground me, I might leave those bookstores either with armloads of books I couldn’t afford, or the nagging sensation that yes, I should change my life; surely with so many books offering so many solutions, I must have problems I never even knew about, problems I must change through (dramatic pause) … The Magic Power of Witchcraft.

Once upon a time there were stores that didn’t leave me feeling this way. Longer ago than I care to remember, there were little nooks in small arcades, and independent bookstores on out-of-the-way street corners, where I could find a treasure trove of magical tomes. Of course they also sold books of spells for accomplishing great and marvelous things (with prices that guaranteed the publisher, at least, would see great and marvelous profits) , but not every book in the place was about that. One of my most treasured books from those days is Syblil Leek’s The Complete Art of Witchcraft. It is not full of spells, but thoughtful chapters on what some Witches believe, and a chapter of prayers… yes, actual prayers, asking the Goddess for help, but not conjuring or demanding or binding or bargaining for any specific outcome.

Those who have read that book may not be particularly keen on Leek’s brand of Witchcraft, but at least give her credit for putting out a book that was intended to educate, inform, and guide both the general public and aspiring Witches with a good foundation in basic truths, rather than a quick do-it-yourself guide. True, Sybil wrote her share of books with spells as well, but still, they had a good bit of substance. They had background information on methods and ingredients for one, not just a quick “here’s a list of stuff, here’s a choreography routine, go make magic” approach.

I don’t want to come off as downing the magical aspects of Wicca and championing faith alone. Far from it. I have charms for safe travel in my car, amulets to ward my house, and I perform many spells to help others, from healing spells to protection rites to spells for success. Sometimes I perform the same spells for myself. I cast general spells for love for others, aimed at bringing the right person into their lives without binding a specific person. (I hesitate to do that particular magic for myself. I’m always afraid that if I conjure for “my true and perfect love” I’ll open the door and find a giant wheel of Brie waiting for me. Truth hurts.)

I do, however, try to maintain perspective. My first faith must be to the Goddess and the Gods. Belief in magic (and I do draw a distinction between “faith” and “belief”) must come second in my life. I’ve had more than enough experience to believe magic works. That’s not the issue. I can cast and conjure all I want, but if the results are against the laws of the universe and the will of the Lady, I won’t get anywhere.

Whether I’m working for myself or others, I always include the stipulation that any spell I work be correct and for the good of all; this does leave open the possibility that the spell won’t work, or won’t produce the planned results, because doing so would hurt me or someone else. However, if the alternative is to demand to get my way, period, then I could be in for some very unpleasant results. Better to let higher powers weigh in and make the judgement call. That’s one area where faith comes in.

As I’ve indicated, having faith in the Goddess doesn’t mean I just sit back and pray. From my perspective, magic is a tool we are given, and we have the right to use it. Sometimes, we even have an obligation to use it. There is no more fault in using magic than there is in using a more mundane tool such as a dishwasher. Granted, I generally don’t cast a circle and wear flowing black robes to do the dishes (unless the casserole dish is crusted with burnt tomato sauce–all bets are off then) , but there are notable similarities. The key to using both magic and dishwashers is to have reasonable expectations, and to be responsible about it. Just because you can use magic or a dishwasher, doesn’t mean you always should.

For example, I live alone. That means I usually have one bowl, a glass, and perhaps a plate from breakfast, a container or two for the lunch I bring to work, and another plate and glass from dinner, along with the attendant cutlery and a pan or two every day. Not counting the pans, the items would fill less than a quarter of the dishwasher. Can I run it every day with so few items? Sure. Should I run it every day? Just so there’s no question about my eco-responsibility, I don’t. Much of the time I find it’s less wasteful to just do those few daily dishes by hand. I end up using the dishwasher once a week, at most.

Similarly, I can go for a heavy-handed approach and use magic every time a tough situation arises, or I can use it as an aid while taking a more mundane approach.

Suppose I have to deal with an incompetent boob at work, whose messes I have to continually clean up. No problem! Let’s just pull out the poppets and dagydes (how’s that for old-school?) Maybe a little War Water and Hotfoot Powder to push them on their way–after all, I practice root work as well as Wicca. Might as well flex those muscles once in awhile.

If the twit at work is really getting my goat (such layers of meaning in that phrase for a Witch!) maybe I can try a little sortilege to boot. Sure, it’s time-consuming to engrave that lead disk with a lengthy incantation in Demotic Greek, bind the poppet to it with knotted thread, then find a grave to bury it in, but the results could be well worth it.

Or maybe I could just talk to my boss, bring my concerns to her, and if that doesn’t work I can take things up with Human Resources. In my company, dealing with HR is a lot like dealing with the Sidhe. Good luck cornering them, but if you do, you often get what you need. Like doing the dishes by hand, the simple approach can work wonders, and in this case it’s preferable to the risk of being caught sprinkling arcane substances around that obnoxious co-worker’s desk. Ever hear of harassment and creating a hostile workplace? You can bet your employer’s attorneys have heard of it, and they don’t find it amusing.

However, to boost my chances of successfully dealing with the situation, I can easily add a little magic to the mix. Before approaching my boss or HR, I can perform a ritual to ensure there are no blocked communications when I relay my concerns. I can light some blue candles for peace, a yellow candle for Mercury/Air to ensure clear communications, and burn an herb or two of Mercury as incense. I find cinquefoil or cinnamon work well. I can carry an aquamarine when I meet with the person in power, to ensure smooth communication as well as to generate an aura of pleasantness for the meeting. Certainly that will be a welcome aid, since I’m likely to present the case that my co-worker would be far more utilitarian as a harvest scarecrow (how about a little fire?) . In this case, the magical solution is meant to augment, not replace, the mundane solution, just as using dish detergent and a good brush are meant to make it easier to clean dishes by hand.

That scenario is a bit cut-and-dried. It’s a pretty good case of being part of the problem if you refuse to be part of the solution. But things aren’t always so black and white. Sometimes it’s hard to figure out if and when you should start relying more heavily on magic, or if you really do need to let go and let Goddess. It’s a tough one, isn’t it? If you start to give up on magic as a solution to a particular situation, you’re admitting defeat in a way. You’re admitting that your efforts aren’t succeeding… which is tantamount to saying that you aren’t succeeding. All those little goodies in those drawers under your altar–those crystals, herbs, candles, special wands–really do sing a siren song when you’re faced with a knotty situation. If you don’t learn when to let go, you could end up running for the Book of Shadows every time you hit a speed-bump in life. This is not a good thing.

Back to dishwashers, maybe you’ve heard that you can use yours to cook dinner. Yep. Just wrap the food up well in foil and run it through. There are recipes on the internet for cooking everything from salmon to lasagna in your dishwasher. Some even say you can wash your already-dirty dishes along with your meal if it’s wrapped tightly enough. Yum.

Would you want to eat something cooked in a dishwasher with yesterday’s dishes, seasoned with a nice helping of Cascade, just because it was easier than turning on the oven and cleaning up another pan? And really, do you want to spend all of your time at your altar demanding that things go your way, instead of accepting that maybe, just maybe, if you let things go, they’ll work out? That if you just stop waving the wand for a minute and let the universe unfold as it wants to, maybe real magic will happen?

The dishwasher and the wand are waiting. Go ahead and use them for non-reasonable purposes if you’re of a mind, but I predict that either way you’ll have a bad taste in your mouth at some point.

That said, there are times when you not only can, but should use every means at your disposal for a certain end. These are desperate times, times when you or someone you know is in a terrible situation, maybe even imminent danger. Who can forget that scene in the book Mists of Avalon where Igraine dares to perform a magic she doesn’t know well, to send her spirit to Uther to warn him of Gorlois’ pending attack? She pays a heavy price for it, but in the end succeeds.

Romanticism aside, there are sadly far too many situations where innocents are endangered by domestic violence. Spouses and children are killed or injured by domestic violence every day. The numbers are staggering.

If you or someone you know is in this situation, it is perfectly acceptable to pull out all the stops and work magic, so long as you take every practical action as well to get the person at risk out of harm’s way. That mean’s packing, leaving, and seeking shelter as soon as possible. It means being willing to go to the police, swear out complaints, show up in court, and to tell the truth about what happened. It may mean moving to another city or even another state. You must be willing to do it. This is one time where faith alone will not be enough; the Goddess will help you if you make the sincere effort to help yourself and defend your self-worth. But you cannot expect her to ride in like the Morrigan, waving a fiery sword to defend you and whisk you to safety. You must do the real work yourself.

Far be it from me to say you shouldn’t use magic as well, and call upon Hecate and Kali to come to the aid of you or the one at risk, to do whatever is needed to keep the attacker from causing further harm. This could easily be a case where the thin line between a magical working and an act of prayer vanishes entirely. Make your case to She Who Devours, as strongly as you can. If there isn’t time for a formal ritual, if you have only a short time to act while the tormentor is at the store or passed out from their latest binge, then make your plea while you gather what you need and GO! Remember, will and intent are key components of magic, and a prayer born of primal need certainly focuses both will and intent.

In my view there must be no equivocation in these circumstances. While I typically ask that my spells be for the good of all and harm none, I might eschew that in this instance. If domestic abuse is involved, you cannot water down the invocation to Hecate by saying “But please don’t hurt him”. I would counsel against specifically demanding that harm come to the attacker, even though it might well be deserved, but under no circumstances would I want to set limitations on the Powers I invoked to deal with the criminal in question.

For those of us fortunate enough to be in good domestic circumstances, perhaps an act of faith is warranted. When you get up in the morning, do you ever pray to a Deity just to pray? Do you give thanks for all of your blessings, including the blessing of another day in this beautiful world?

I make it a daily morning ritual to give thanks as I’m preparing my morning meal, and again when I step outside to meet the day. As I mentioned above, I do root work, which is based in the traditions of the African Diaspora. Here is a simple prayer I’ll share with you, based on the practice of mojuba, or praise-song, from some African countries. I say this prayer the moment I walk outside my house, rain or shine, for the first time of the day:

“Owner of this day, thank you for the beauty of this day; Owner of this world, thank you for the beauty of this world; Giver of Life, thank you for the gift of Life and the beauty of Life. May all my senses always be open to the gifts You have given us, and may I always have gratitude in my heart for Your blessings.”

If you don’t already do it, I’d like to invite you to join me each morning in spending a little time just giving thanks, and taking time with whatever Deity or Deities you honor. Add that quiet time to the evening hours as well, if you can. You don’t have to talk much, just open your heart. The Gods aren’t always much for talking either, although if you learn to listen you’ll find They’re always communicating in other ways.

The next time you run into a tough (but not dangerous, as outlined above) situation, try bringing it to one of these sessions, and making a conscious act of focusing on it, defining it, then letting it go. Don’t let that stop you from taking mundane action to solve the problem, if that’s an option. But rather than whipping out the athame and casting a circle, try instead to cast your problem to Universe and see what happens.

I predict that if you do this several times, you’ll find solutions come up even though you aren’t specifically performing a ritual to make it happen. They will–yes, as if by magic–appear to you in unexpected ways. Do this, and soon you’ll find that you can ease your case-load of spell-casting. You probably won’t get rid of it entirely; I know I certainly don’t intend to give up the old summon-stir-and-conjure routine. But I’ve found my spell-casting and healing efforts are much more focused and successful when I let some situations resolve themselves. I have more energy to do work that’s really important for myself and others.

Most wonderfully of all, I’ve gotten to the point where I feel the Universe is my friend, and I don’t have to work magic day in and day out just to get by. I can save my energy for the times it’s really needed. Give it an honest try, and I’m sure you’ll find stress easing out of your life, and good energy pouring in.

I have faith in it.