Re: can you give me advice? By: _bandjunkie / Beginner
Post # 4 Jul 24, 2016
For starters, wizards and warlocks are fantasy. If you are interested in spells and the Craft, whether male or female or anything in between, you're a with.
Helpful Books:
"Before You Cast a Spell" by Carl McColman
"Spells and How They Work" by Janet and Stewart Farrar
"Modern Magick" by Donald Michael Kraig
Also to be quite blunt, you are wrong. Someone can call themselves a Warlock or wizard if they so choose, much like witch it is just a title that a person decides to carry. Tell me, what is the difference between someone who titles themselves as a practitioner of the craft, and someone who titles themselves as a witch?
This being said, I will agree that being born with magical abilities as seen in say Harry Potter, or gaining magical abilities through a pact with a demon (sorry mate, they'll screw you over every time) are fantasy.
But someone does not have to conform to your title.
Re: can you give me advice? By: Nekoshema / Novice
Post # 6 Jul 25, 2016
actually, it depends on the person. all male practitioners i know call themselves witches. there are one or two men on here i've seen call themselves wizard, and a few men and woman go with mage. warlock is very rarely used [if ever] because its original meaning was an insult. but you can call yourself cheesecake for all it matters, it's not the title but what you do. if you're comfortable saying wizard, call yourself a wizard. it's just a title, how you incorporate magick into your life is what matters.
magick is a natural force exclusive to no one [so it can be used by an atheist, a christian, a witch, or anyone in between] you don't have to be born a witch/wizard to have 'power', spell casting can be learned by anyone. that said, don't expect it to be like Harry Potter, real magick is subtle, and cannot contradict nature. you can cast spells to effect energy surrounding a situation to bring a desired change [as magick is energy] but you cannot fly, turn into a cat, or shoot lightning bolts form your wand.
i suggest finding a reliable book on magick and reading it. is there a particular path you're interested in? you might wish to read the bellow link on the basics:
book wise there's many paths so it's a little difficult to suggest ones without knowing what interests you [it's like saying you wish to be a scientist. what field?] The Witches Bible by Janet and Stuart Farrar might help you.
Forgive me, but to my understanding all magic is, is the willing of obtaining desired results by working with the universal energy to have an extra push to get what you want.
I would say like a profession or hobby some people are better in other aspects of "magic". For example, take the category of divination. From what I've seen not everyone can do this like some others can. I have a friend who is dead on with tarot readings and haven't had anyone else come close to specific circumstances. They also have been doing readings for a long time, but she seems naturally attuned to it.
I believe it's more or less like real life. Not everyone can be a great basketball player, some can become good at it, but will not become phenomenal like others. Debating whether or not they were born to do that good, who knows. However, magic like everything takes practice and can be done splendidly with hard work and time.
For the initial post a wizard is practically a male witch or male practitioner of magic. It is no more than a label given by the general population. You can call yourself whatever you like, just ensure you meet the definition it holds if you wish to deem yourself and not appropriate it to be whatever you like. For instance calling yourself a shaman because you do a bit of reiki. You are not necessarily a shaman because you can heal energetically.
You also may know a lot about herbs yet if you do not have a certification stating you are a herbalist you aren't a herbalist you are just someone with knowledge of herbs. Like a Physician Assistant is what they are they are not a doctor just because they know a bit about medical matters.
I agree. You can be born with greater aptitude for magick than some people. Mine waxes and wanes in certain areas but my mother and grandmother and great grandmother... You get the idea. They were all very gifted in divination. My mother tried to excise her magical skills though and that's why I feel I'm weaker. Or perhaps because that particular strength only passes in the females of my line.
Read everything you can get your hands on, talk to others, and practice. Magic is a lot like any other skill, you can study a ton but you need to get the practice in for it to be any use. Just remember to take it at your own pace. If you're hung up on something, you can come back to it later and see if getting a handle on other things helps.
