Ceremonial Magick
Magic is a spectrum, from 'village' Witchcraft, with
its herb-growing, off-the-cuff divination by scrying in the washing-up bowl, and
ready cures for ailments from the home-made lotion cupboard, to the
highly-scripted, highly powerful, formal workings of high-magic lodges. In the
nineteenth century, the Cunning Folk read the same books as the lodge-members.
The overlap became less clear in the twentieth century, even though ceremonial
magic was a major force in the birth of modern Pagan Witchcraft, whether through
the direct influence of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, or via more
secret traditions. And don't forget that quite a number of ritual elements and
phrases in Wicca can be traced back to Freemasonry, the higher degrees of which
are also clearly linked to the Mysteries, and were themselves a major factor in
the origin of systems like that of the Golden Dawn.
There is also today a surprising number of Magicians who practise both Witchcraft and Ceremonial Magic. But one does not have to be a Pagan to be a ceremonial Magician: there are many who profess Christianity, or other religions. Ceremonial Magic is a path to the Mysteries, as is Witchcraft, and the Mysteries overlap and transcend all professed religions. Whether from the point of view of the Mysteries or of practical Magic, there is much to be learned from ceremonial magic.