magick

Magick, often spelled with a k, is a term used in occult and esoteric traditions to describe practices aimed at influencing events or reality through non-ordinary means. Unlike stage magic, magick is concerned with real effects in accordance with the practitioner's will, often achieved through ritual, meditation, or the evocation of spiritual forces.

Etymology and usage: The spelling magick signals a distinction from popular entertainment and from the general word magic. The term derives from Latin magia and Greek mageia, via Old French magie, and has been used in various esoteric systems since the early modern period.

Traditions and methods: Western occult systems commonly divide magick into ceremonial or ritual magick, practical alchemy, astrology, divination, sigils, and invocations or evocations. Prominent currents include the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Thelema (established by Aleister Crowley), and various strands of contemporary paganism and satanism. A widely cited definition, attributed to Crowley, is "the science and art of causing change to occur in conformity with will." He also stressed that magick differs from stage tricks.

Reception and culture: In science, magick is regarded as unverified by empirical standards. In culture and literature, the term is used to evoke the supernatural and is common in fantasy, horror, and role-playing contexts; the spelling magick appears in the works of Lovecraft and other authors.