Firstly, to be a magician is not to be part of a religion. The work of the magician has many similarities to that of paganism in general, but it also has some fundamental differences.
Traditionally, the division between pagan and magician has been termed as the difference between natural and high magick. The magician works with the latter, but is in no way excluded from using natural magick to achieve an end. High magick is a system comprising a practical, psychic and theoretical path and it is essential for the magician to walk all three paths at the same time.
The magician does not worship deity, nor is the magician’s primary role to serve. The magician is, instead, engaged in pursuit of the Great Work. That is, the magician seeks to accelerate his/her own spiritual development to the point at which he/she unites with the divine, entering into the spiritual ecstasy known in Sanskrit as Samadhi.
The magician seeks through ritual to know him/herself and transform him/herself in accordance with the divine purpose he/she was created for. That is to say, the magician seeks to know their true will, the purpose for which they came into manifestation. Then to ensure they live in such a way as to realise this will. The will in these terms is not personal choice, but that divinely inspired purpose.
In magick, no attempt is made to acquire powers for their own sake. Any power acquired must be subordinated to the Will, and kept in its own place and proper perspective. At the beginning of his journey/training, the Magician is obliged to understand that his one aspiration is his Higher Self and that any powers which are obtained must be used for that purpose. Any lesser work must have a definite spiritual motive.
Magick itself, has as one of its objectives a communion both here and hereafter, a union to be achieved by the exercise of other more spiritual faculties and powers in rites and ceremonies.
Service is not as a major path to this achievement, rather it is the fruit of the tree by which the journey can be seen.
The operation of magick can best be defined as causing a change in consciousness in accordance with the will.
