We Learn About Ceremonial Magic

Ceremonial magic is a type of magic that depends heavily on book learning; precise, complicated ritual; and intricate sets of correspondences.

In the West, ceremonial magic was almost entirely rooted in Judeo-Christian myth until the late 19th century. Even today, many ceremonial magicians continue to work within that context.

1 Ceremonial magic is also high magic. It is meant to have a spiritual purpose rather than a practical one, although there could be some overlap in those two concepts. It involves improving the soul, which might include gaining divine knowledge, purification, the attraction of proper influences, and embracing one's destiny.

Ceremonial magic (also known as ritual magic, high magic or learned magic) encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic. The works included are characterized by ceremony and numerous requisite accessories to aid the practitioner. It can be seen as an extension of ritual magic, and in most cases synonymous with it. Popularized by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, it draws on such schools of philosophical and occult thought as Hermetic Qabalah, Enochian magic, Thelema, and the magic of various grimoires. Ceremonial magic is part of Hermeticism and Western esotericism.

The synonym magick is an archaic spelling of 'magic' used during the Renaissance, which was revived by Aleister Crowley to differentiate occult magic from stage magic. He defined it as "the Science and Art of causing Change to occur in conformity with Will", including ordinary acts of will as well as ritual magic. Crowley wrote that "it is theoretically possible to cause in any object any change of which that object is capable by nature". John Symonds and Kenneth Grant attach a deeper occult significance to this preference.

Crowley saw magic as the essential method for a person to reach true understanding of the self and to act according to one's true will, which he saw as the reconciliation "between freewill and destiny." Crowley describes this process in his Magick, Book 4.

ceremonial magic, magick, ceremonial magick, ritual magic, high magic, learned magic, the hermetic order of the golden dawn, hermeticism, western esotericism, synonym magic, aleister crowley, john symonds, kenneth grant, the occult, magick book 4, Hermetic Qabalah, Enochian magic, Thelema