Why Do Magick?

Last night I posted that I'd be back in my temple tonight. I am not going because I am tired and I don't want to. Instead, I am reading DuQuette's latest work, Enochian Vision Magick. I offer a bit of his writing because I liked it. This is from the book's second prologue. Yes, in typical DuQuette fashion, his book as a prologue to the prologue and a prologue.

"On the surface one might think it is reasonable and fair to ask, "Why are you a magician, Lon? Why do you believe in this stuff? Why do you do these crazy things?"

It might surprised you to know I don't have a proper answer to these questions. It is impossible for me to adequately explain or justify why I celebrate my spiritual life through the vehicle of magick, for the same reasons, it is impossible for any artist to properly explain why he or she has taken up the brush or the chisel or the violin or ballet slippers. If reasonableness were the sole criterion for the existence of art, there would be no music, no dance, no magick.

Make no mistake about it, magick is an art form, and every true magician is an artist. Just like the musician and dancer, the magician must practice, create, and perform. Just like the painter or sculptor, he or she must be armed with proper tools, skills, knowledge, and, most of all, inspiration. ...

As quantum physicists tell us, both the observer and that which is observed are changed by the act of observation itself. By appreciating the artist's handiwork, we are fundamentally affecting the reality and life of that creation. More importantly, when we expose ourselves to the artist's creation, we enjoy the passive luxury of allowing our consciousness to be altered, elevated, and enriched in unique and personal ways the artist might have never imagined.

The art of ceremonial magick, however, is a bit different. There are no painted canvas to display, no audience to applaud. Regardless of how altruistic the magician's motives my be, magick is spiritual performance art that must ultimately be executed and appreciated by the magician alone. He or she is at once the teacher, the student, the medium, the conductor, the performer, the venue, the audience, and the critic. The magician touches the broader audience of humanity only by affecting changes in the magician, and success can be weighted only in the silent Holy of Holies of his or her own soul.