Image by John.P. via Flickr
In wandering through this section, I noticed a recent post in which someone who was looking for a magickal "fix" for a problem got upset when responders also suggested some non-magickal ways of dealing with it.
This got me thinking that, as we grow in our own practice, we also begin to gradually evolve our own ways of deciding when to use magickal means to get something done, when to use mundane means, and when to use both.
I've seen similar issues pop up on many other sites and in many other contexts. Sometimes it's just a "Why won't you just give me what I asked for!!??" tantrum. But it also occurs because notions of what magic is for, and how it works, differ greatly from questioner to responder. And this is something newcomers generally have to struggle with on their own. While it seems like most beginners' resources (good or bad) make at least some mention of the moral issue of using magick on a particular problem, few of them address the pragmatic issues of when and where magick is likely to be an effective approach to that problem.
I'm sure this subject gets touched upon constantly over at the advanced discussion board, in the back-and-forth of regular conversation. But I'm wondering if this board might also be a good place for a little specific discussion-and-sharing of how we find our way around these kinds of questions. Such as:
Do you have a "practical philosophy" of when to use magick, or to recommend that someone else use magick, versus focusing on taking action in the mundane world?
Do you see magick as being separate from mundane action, or as being inextricably intertwined with our everyday actions and decisions?
Do you see a danger in depending on magick to address any particular type of issue, to the exclusion of mundane action (say, for a problem involving health, personal safety, or relationships)?
How do you figure out where your own most effective and useful sphere of magickal practice lies? Do you feel that this varies from person to person?
And so forth.
