A LIVING RELIGION – MODERN WITCHCRAFT AND SHAMANISM

FROM A SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE

____________________________________

A Thesis

Presented to the

Faculty of

California State University, Fullerton

____________________________________

In Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Degree

Master of Arts

in

Sociology
____________________________________

By

Giana Cicchelli

Approved by:

Eileen Walsh, Committee Chair Date

Department of Sociology

Dana Collins, Member Date

Department of Sociology

Sharon Kim, Member Date

Department of Sociology
 ABSTRACT

The goal of my research is to examine the experiences of modern witches and

1
shaman whom practice magick and healing in Southern California, and to examine

further how these experiences have developed a common culture of meaning. I studied an
2
eclectic mix of local practitioners of the magickal lifestyle in order to get an intimate

picture of these experiences and their diversity. In my review of the literature

surrounding Wicca, Witchcraft, Paganism, and Shamanism I have found that the original

focus of this type of research has been on empowerment: feminism, environmentalism,

and homosexual acceptance. I am concerned with the absence of literature on magick,

and as such my focus is on magick, as a real experience, and its practitioners. Using both

3 months of field observations and 20 in-depth individual interviews I have found that all

of the men and women believe in, and interact with, both masculine and feminine deities.

Practitioners of the magickal lifestyle use magickal techniques, such as deity invocation

or shifting ethereal energy, to embody a wholly different reality, thus subverting their

standpoint of knowledge.

1
I purposely spell the word magick with a ‘k’ to differentiate from sleight of hand.

2
I have created the term ‘magickal lifestyle’ as an umbrella term to encapsulate all those spiritual
practices that are nature based, recognize a feminine divinity, and practice magick or ritualized prayer. The
need to create an umbrella term arose as the varying practitioners had a myriad of labels they had adopted
that didn’t necessarily fit under ‘witch’ or ‘shaman’.

ii
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................... ii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................. iv

Chapter
1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ 1

2. LITERATURE REVIEW ..................................................................................... 6

Terms and Labels .................................................................................................. 7

Mumbo jumbo and other inherent racisms ........................................................... 9
Feminism and the emergence of the Goddess ...................................................... 11
Homosexual acceptance ........................................................................................ 13
Queering................................................................................................................ 13
Eco-friendly beliefs............................................................................................... 14
Race ...................................................................................................................... 14
Magick .................................................................................................................. 15
Purpose.................................................................................................................. 16

3. METHODS ........................................................................................................... 18

4. FINDINGS ............................................................................................................ 23

Magick comes in many forms: definitions and labels .......................................... 26

The sacred ............................................................................................................. 30
Community creation and knowledge building ...................................................... 32
Labels .................................................................................................................... 35
Standpoint knowledge .......................................................................................... 38
Invoking difference and being different ............................................................... 39
Subverting standpoint ........................................................................................... 48
Meaning-making and common experience ........................................................... 49
Co-creation of beliefs............................................................................................ 51

5. CONCLUSION..................................................................................................... 55

APPENDIX 1 ................................................................................................................. 59

REFERENCES ............................................................................................................. 60

iii
 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

“They burned us before to try and keep us down. Little did they know they
were purifying us by the fire so that when we returned we’d be stronger than
ever; put that in your thesis!” – Chelle

I would like to thank my committee: Eileen Walsh, Dana Collins, and Sharon Kim
whose invaluable input and direction have helped me immensely. To the sociology
professors at both UC Santa Cruz and CSU Fullerton, I would not be here without your
encouragement and support. Thank you. Candace West, Jennifer Reardon, Francesca
Guerra, Wendy Martyna, Gigi Blanche and Shannon Williams – you are amazing.

I would like to thank my mom, dad, sister, step-mom, and everyone else in my
family who has listened to my theoretical rants ad nauseum, and still managed to hold a
smile. Your love and patience have been a saving grace.

I would especially like to thank all of the practitioners of the magickal lifestyle who
allowed me the privilege of interviews, for their kindness, generosity, and amazing
stories.

Thank you to my spiritual teachers. I am honored to call myself your student.

Thank you to my Coven, for being there through the dark, for dancing with me by
the fire under the full moon, and filling my heart with laughter.

Hekate, Diana, Aradia, Ma’at, Kali, Morrigan, Pan, Cernunnos, Bacchus, Apuchine,
Otorongo, Amaru, Seq'e Kente, Sachamama, Inti TayTay, Mama Quilla, and
Pachamama—in your honor.

iv
 Any sufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology.

– Arthur C. Clarke

So the Christians and the Pagans sat together at the table,

Finding faith and common ground the best that they were able,
And where does magic come from? I think magic's in the learning,
'Cause now when Christians sit with Pagans only pumpkin pies are burning.

-Dar Williams

v
 CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

My research question is: how do modern witches and shaman talk about magick?

I am interested in hearing about experiences with magick and how those experiences

have affected the practitioner of the magickal lifestyle. The concept of magick as a lived

experience is often glossed over in the literature, possibly because it is so foreign to non-

practitioner of the magickal lifestyle, and also because it is impossible to measure.

Magick can be defined as affecting a change that manifests in the material realm based on

the direction of ethereal energies put forth (Grimassi 2003). Modern witches and shamen

as a culture use magick in their daily lives, magick is an integral aspect of the magickal

lifestyle. Furthermore, magick is real, and it is experienced by practitioners of the

magickal lifestyle, with tangible results. My interest is to focus on the magick and see

how its practitioners use magick, and what common themes emerge from these

experiences.

I came to investigate this topic through my own experiences as a practitioner of

the magickal lifestyle. Interactions I have had at work and in school led me to believe that

my research was important to the culture of the magickal lifestyle. By researching magick

as a lived experience I am emphasizing validity, and putting the focus of my work on a

culture that is often thought of as deviant. Practitioners of the magickal lifestyle are a

1
 2

growing community of people who turn their backs on the dominant religions in favor of

a practice that is both empowering and egalitarian.

I first began collecting my data by asking local witches what their experiences

had been, and how they became witches. I found myself drawn to asking about their

experiences with magick; my curiosity lay in the magick. I listened to the stories of a few

witches, and then decided I wanted to know where their stories fit into the academic

conversation already in progress.

The literature surrounding Wicca, Witchcraft, Shamanism, and Paganism is

actually quite substantial with authors looking to the growing culture as a venue for

feminist empowerment, environmental protection, and homosexual acceptance (Adler

1986; Bloch 1997; Cabot and Cowan 1989; Caulder 2002; Eller 1995; Foltz 2000; Griffin

1995; Jarvis 2008; Letcher 2001; McIntosh 2004; Neitz 2000; Sempruch 2004; Starhawk

1989; and Wallis 2000). If the research was done in Africa, however, then the focus is

generally on the HIV/AIDS pandemic and witchcraft’s inability to cure (Jolles and Jolles

2000; Kaboru, Falkenberg, Ndulo, Muchimba, Solo and Faxelid 2006; Nnko, Chiduo,

Wilson, Msuya, Mwaluko and Mruya 2000; Okwu 1979; Opaneye 1996; Peltzer,

Mngqundaniso and Petros 2006; Romero-Daza 2002; and Taylor 2001). While reading

the previous literature I found myself again yearning for more discussion of magick.

Participation in the magickal lifestyle is based on experiencing magick, and I wanted to

explore that lived experience. I realized magick is the focus of my research interest. The

theoretical lens I used to understand my data draws from the sociological concept of

standpoint theory and symbolic interaction theory’s interest in meaning-making activities.

 3

Standpoint theory plays an interesting role in the magickal lifestyle, as the

cosmology draws from the ability to manipulate ethereal energies in order to effect

change. These changes are not constrained to the outside world, and can in fact be used to

altar one’s perspective. Practitioners of the magickal lifestyle employ techniques to

manipulate ethereal energies in order to shift their standpoint of knowledge. Practitioners

of the magickal lifestyle are often well versed in feminist ideology and describe playing

with the differing energies as a means of subverting their gendered knowledge. I have
3
found that they tend to subvert the dominant paradigms through trickery and magick.

The previous example used by Neitz (2004) shows women putting on horns (a

display usually reserved for the male horned God), playing with expectations and

gendered norms. My example draws from women and men interacting with these

God/desses and archetypes through invocation. Gender play and invocation are only

slightly different through intention; it is my intent to focus on the experience and belief

rather than the practice. My focus shows that invoking energy creates a shift in the

perspective of the practitioner, changing their outlook, literally. This is a technique of

subverting the dominant paradigm because it is shifting energy without announcing the

change. It is a form of trickery because the non-practitioner of the magickal lifestyle

interacts with a practitioner whose energy is shifted they are affected by the change

without necessarily being aware.

3
I refer to trickery as an educational tool. In many mythologies the trickster is fundamental to the
growth of a people, teaching the hard lessons by tricking one into them. One story I heard was that trickster
stole fire from the Gods and gave it to humankind; oftentimes the trickster is the culture hero.
 4

Furthermore, the language and experiences within the magickal lifestyle serves to

create a common culture of meaning that both unites the practitioners of the magickal

lifestyle and gives validity to their experiences. The language that is used when talking

about magick is often the marker of a true experience, and many times this language is

psychic. For example, language that focuses on feeling and description of phenomenon is

a focus of magick. Furthermore, the experience of one practitioner feeling what the other

is saying while they are describing it is an indicator of realness. Often one practitioner

will describe a magick experience and the other practitioner will experience physical

symptoms (i.e., ears ringing, goose-bumps, or dizzy feeling) that indicate the story is true.

The practitioners of the magickal lifestyle use terms about energy and psychic perception

to communicate with each other and to demark the boundary separating themselves from

those who do not experience such phenomena and to solidify the group cohesiveness by

distinguishing themselves from others who do not discuss the magickal mysteries.

I employed qualitative methods of research, first conducting preliminary

interviews, making sense of the data, continuing to make observations prior to consulting

the existing literature. I took three months of field notes and conducted twenty in-depth

interviews with practitioners of the magickal lifestyle in the Southern California region.

The people I interviewed were women and men between the ages of 24 and 74 who

practice a variety of ‘Magickal Lifestyle’ cosmologies—from Peruvian Shamanism,

Catholic-Strega, Eclectic Goddess worshippers, hereditary to Druidic. The ethnic

backgrounds of my interviewees were Italian, Irish, African-American, and Jewish.

 5

In the future I would like to include heterosexual males in my study as well as

more eclectic representations of pantheons (i.e., Voodoo, North American Shamanism,

European Shamanism, Korean Shamanism, etc.). Also, I did not include practitioners of

the Golden Dawn, Sufi hermetic tradition, Chaos magicians, or members of the Ordo

Templi Orientis (O.T.O.). I did not have access to these practitioners, I do not practice

their tradition, and I do not know enough about their beliefs to include them in my study.

Future research should strive to include their cosmology and practices.

I would suggest further research be done into the differences of perception

regarding the magickal lifestyle as it is practiced in Africa to contrast and compare with

those European and American practices.

 CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

“I just thought that someone like you seems intellectual; not the type to believe is

silly things like magick,”1 a fellow CSU, Fullerton student once said to me, seemingly

ignorant of the possibility that I might be offended. Shortly thereafter, I came across a

newspaper article from the New York Times: “On Parched Farms Intuition is used to Find

Water” in which the author speaks of Phil Stein, labeled a ‘water witch’ for his magickal

ability. Inherent in the article are negative stereotypes of a ‘witch’ and many quotes are

used to ensure that Phil is not weird or possessed, only a humble man who uses his God

given ability to find water and help others through the drought (McKinley 2008).

Dialogue that demeans the practice of witchcraft is still prevalent. I am drawn to

this subject because of personal interest, but my interactions with those outside of the

witchcraft/Wicca community sparked me to want to research witchcraft, a practice and

community, which are all too often considered to be un-intellectual, and deviant. I

conducted a pilot study of interviews to begin my qualitative research, after which I

delved into the literature surrounding the topic. My methods have been an exploration of

the stories that practitioners of the magickal lifestyle tell.

1
I have spelled magickal with an extra k as a means of differentiating it from a person who
practices sleight of hand.

6
 7

The previous literature surrounding magick and witchcraft exhibits a theme of

empowerment woven through the literature on modern Wicca, witchcraft, paganism, and

shamanism. I have come across a vast canon of academic voices chiming in to create a

body of work with topics of feminism, environmentalism, homosexuality and

consumerism that gives me both comfort and concern for future research. My curiosity

was piqued at the realization that none of the literature I found explores the experience of

magick among practitioners. This study focuses on the meanings and understandings that

people in the magickal lifestyle use to explain their experiences with magick.

Terms and Labels

In order to start this review of literature, I need to mark some boundaries of

definition. My research focused on anything that could be seen as participating in the

magickal lifestyle.2 The labels that have been used vary among academics, and the

perspective of the researcher. However, my definition will include the names neo-

paganism and paganism (Adler 1986; Hutton 2000; Letcher 2001; Jorgensen & Russell

1999; McIntosh 2004; Neitz 2000; and Wallis 2000), Goddess worshippers and feminist

spirituality (Eller 1995; Foltz 2000; Griffin 1995; Sempruch 2004; and Starhawk 1989),

“cult” (Perrin 2001), witchcraft (Cabot and Cowan 1989, Ezzy 2006, Neitz 2004),

shamanism (Wallis 2000), and Wicca (Adler 1986; Cameron 2005; Jarvis 2008; and

2
I refer to magickal lifestyle as an umbrella term; I believe it encompasses the many labels
that I have found, and keeps its openness for other spiritual/religious additions.
 8

Neitz 2004). All these names reference a spiritual practice that is nature based, recognizes

a feminine divinity,3 and practices magick or ritualized prayer.

Magick can be defined as effecting a change that manifests in the material realm

based on the direction of ethereal energies put forth (Grimassi 2003). A more clear

explanation of this would be to think of the television sitcom aired in the 1970s

Bewitched, wherein the main character Samantha twitches her nose and something

suddenly appears. Magick is the same concept. Twitching of the nose is synonymous of

directing ethereal energies. Furthermore based on my interviews, and personal

experience, instantaneous results rarely occur, the time frame of manifestation is usually

a month, but can differ depending on the intent of the practitioner.

My definition of the magickal lifestyle incorporates various forms of modern

magickal practitioners; however, it was suggested by an outside reviewer that

practitioners of Chaos magick, and the Sufi hermetic tradition do not recognize a female

divinity. These particular groups would be left out of my definition. Further, there are

practitioners of the Golden Dawn and Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.) that may, or may

not resemble the findings of my study. I do not know enough about these different

cosmologies to feel comfortable categorizing them, and would suggest future research

take these into account. This research considers only those practices which recognize a

female deity and are based in nature; others are considered in the dominant religions.

Possibly greater classifications need to be made to differentiate a religion that practices

3
Dianic witchcraft is a feminist response to male dominated religious practices, and refuses
to acknowledge the God in their spiritual work (Foltz 2000; and Sempruch 2004).
 9

magick from a religion that utilizes prayer. Such distinctions are beyond the scope of this

research.

I have observed in my daily interactions with practitioners of the magickal

lifestyle that many mix and match various pantheons, or the Gods and Goddesses in a

particular religious structure; one may meet a Christian/Druid/Buddhist or a Cabala

practicing shaman. Later I will argue that these permutations are part of participating in a

living religion, a practice that is characteristically inclusive and evolves with the

practitioner. The practitioners that I have interacted with are free to include whichever

God/dess they feel is calling to them, and also integrate the mythology surrounding that

deity into their belief system. Personal experience, and stories from my interviews, also

shows that these deities are not necessarily bound by their mythological story. For

example, I had an interaction with Medusa wherein I was told that her myth was a lie,

and given another version of the story. My beliefs are free to transform themselves and

interact with me.

Mumbo Jumbo and other Inherent Racisms

I also focused on those articles that pertain to the European versions of the

magickal lifestyle (Wicca, neo-pagans, feminist spirituality, Goddess worshippers) or

Americanized versions of magick (Goddess worshippers, neo-pagans, and neo-

shamanism), as I have found that when the magick being performed is on the African

continent the literature focuses on the ability/inability for traditional healers, or witch

doctors, to help with the AIDS pandemic (Jolles and Jolles 2000; Kaboru, Falkenberg,

Ndulo, Muchimba, Solo and Faxelid 2006; Nnko, Chiduo, Wilson, Msuya, Mwaluko and
 10

Mruya 2000; Okwu 1979; Opaneye 1996; Peltzer, Mngqundaniso and Petros 2006;

Romero-Daza 2002; and Taylor 2001).

Some of this literature looked at the position in society that is held by the

traditional healer, or witch-doctor, and their ability to teach people about safe sex or

disease prevention (Opaneye 1996; Peltzer et al. 2006; and Romero 2002). African

religion and culture is intertwined with traditional healing, which is performed by magick

practitioners (Okwu 1979). Some articles looked to the collaboration between traditional

healers and western medicine (Kaboru et al. 2006) while others focused on traditional

healers being a waste of money (Nnko et al. 2000). I did not focus on this phenomenon

because magick’s ability or inability to cure a virus, and the social implications therein,

seem a hefty task to take on. Investigation of the differences that emerge within academic

writings about the magickal lifestyle cross culturally would be an interesting avenue for

further research.

The literature that is the focus of this review is the modern neo-emergence of the

magickal lifestyle which does not stress the health and medicine aspect as much as the

self-empowerment, environmental empowerment and feminist reclaiming avenues (Adler

1986; Bloch 1997; Cabot and Cowan 1989; Caulder 2002; Eller 1995; Foltz 2000; Griffin

1995; Jarvis 2008; Letcher 2001; McIntosh 2004; Neitz 2000; Sempruch 2004; Starhawk

1989; and Wallis 2000). I propose that there is a difference of opinion between the

whitemanized4 version of the magickal lifestyle (i.e. Wicca), and the practice of

4
Whitemanized term found in Lakota Woman by Mary Crow-Dog, published by
HarperPerennial, 1991. Whitemanized is a term that refers to the act of ‘becoming white’ or
assimilating one’s beliefs and lifestyle to the white culture, often by force.
 11

‘traditional ways’ (voodoo, shamanism, etc.) in areas that are untouched by western

medicine and culture. I strongly propose further research, both ethnographic and

discourse analysis, into the cross-cultural differences of practice, perception, and

evaluation of practitioners of the magickal lifestyle.

Feminism and the Emergence of a Goddess

The magickal lifestyle has been pursued as a means of searching out a feminine

aspect of God, or a Goddess (Adler 1986; Bloch 1997; Eller 1995; Foltz 2000; Griffin

1995; Jarvis 2008; Sempruch 2004; and Starhawk 1989). Women seek out a spiritual

connection with a deity with whom they can connect, and who represents them. Of the

research done on the feminist spirituality movement, a theme emerges: that one goes in

search for the mother and finds spiritual empowerment along with magick (Adler 1986;

Bloch 1997; Eller 1995; Foltz 2000; Griffin 1995; Jarvis 2008; Sempruch 2004; and

Starhawk 1989). The magickal lifestyle is an avenue for feminism in spirituality, wherein

there is a deity that women can identify with: Goddess. Wicca empowers women, and is a

venue for young girls to be empowered in their bodies and their sexuality (Jarvis 2008).

The Goddess movement spiritually empowers women and helps to articulate the gender-

based inequalities that they face (Bloch 1997).

The previous literature shows how Goddess spirituality changes, and Wicca,

creates a changed culture and creates a new platform of experience (Adler 1986; Bloch

1997; Eller 1995; Foltz 2000; Griffin1995; and Sempruch 2004). The focus on the culture

of a feminist spirituality shows how changes occurred through the transition and posited
 12

that these changes are ultimately good for women. Women found a religion that accepted

them and empowered them. Women were reclaiming the Goddess.

From this venue of feminist reclamation came an offshoot of lesbian separatist

witchcraft, otherwise known as Dianic5 witchcraft. The exclusion inherent in the Dianic

tradition has both excited adherents, as well as provoked cause for concern, as it harkens

back to a mirror image of the current male-centered religions (Foltz 2000; and Sempruch

2004). Not all of the reclaiming movements were female-exclusive, and Bloch (1997)

brings up the point that further research should be done into the perceptions that men of

the magickal lifestyle have; it may cater to a desire for balance, as well as a “nurturing

and expressive form of divinity” (181).

Types of feminisms that occur from the practices that are participated in are

female empowerment, observance of female deities, queering of traditional roles (woman

with horns) and freedom of the body, or the acceptance and sacredness of the female

body and sexuality. Feminist meaning-making occurs through the practice of creating

symbols and myths with a feminist lens. These two practices created solidarity within the

group, so even though there is not a uniform doctrine there is a sense of group (Neitz

2000; and Neitz 2004).

5
Dianic is taken from the name of the Goddess Diana, who is the virgin huntress of the wild
lands, thought by many to be a lesbian (Adler 1989; Foltz 2000; and Sempruch 2004). Though
this is the popular definition of the Dianic tradition, there is also a lesser popularized version
founded by Morgan McFarland which doesn’t exclude men, but strongly reveres the feminine
(Adler 1986).
 13

Homosexual Acceptance

American neo-pagans are widely accepting of homosexuality and homosexuals

(Adler 1986; Eller 1995; Neitz 2000; Starhawk 1989; and Wallis 2000). The majority of

American neo-pagans, or practitioners of the magickal lifestyle, are White women

urbanites in the working to middle classes (Jorgensen & Russell 1999). Jorgensen &

Russell (1999) recognized that there has been little empirical research done on the

increasing new religious movement in America. They used one-page, two-sided, self-

administered questionnaires at neo-pagan festivals across the country to collect data on

the social characteristics, viewpoints, and activities of these people. Unfortunately only

643 were returned (of the 2000 administered), a fact that was unanticipated by the

researchers. Further quantitative research should be utilized to get a more representative

sample of witches and neo-pagans. The data were also limited because respondents all

self-identified as practitioners and were attending a public pagan activity. The sample did

not include those pagans who are not out, and do not attend festivals, or identify

themselves online. It is likely that those who are less forthcoming about their

identification with the movement might respond differently to questionnaires. The fact

that this data was gathered at festivals may be a greater indicator of the data.

Queering

Homosexual acceptance is not the only form of progressive action in the magickal

lifestyle. In her article “Queering the Dragonfest: Changing Sexualities in a post

patriarchal religion” Neitz (2000) writes about women wearing horns during a pagan

ritual. This is a radical statement by the female practitioners as women were taking on the
 14

paraphernalia of men, or the horned God, and claiming male identified roles. Neitz

(2004) later shows how neo-pagan and Wicca culture focuses on practice instead of

belief, and in this way of expressing religion there is room for gender play. Neitz (2000 &

2004) looks at the Wicca movement as a unique change in position where the practitioner

is more concerned with practice rather than belief where dominant religion focuses on

belief. Her argument is that sociology of religion primarily focuses on belief, and needs

to realign itself to actual practice. I propose to take this one step further by looking not at

the actions but at the beliefs behind the actions, and the results.

Eco-friendly Beliefs

The magickal lifestyle, as I stated in the beginning, is firmly rooted in its

connection with nature (Aldler 1986; Cabot 1989; Caulder 2002; Grimassi 2003; Hutton

2000; Letcher 2001; McIntosh 2004; Starhawk 1989; and Wallis 2000). Furthermore, the

belief in faeries, as well as giving a name, face, and character to nature, may be a form of

identity and self-protection for eco-pagans (Letcher 2001). The cosmology of the

magickal lifestyle includes nature as an ally and consort that should be respected, and

protected; this belief may serve to more fully empower future environmental activism.

Race

The majority of American neo-pagans are White women, of working to middle

class, urbanites (Jorgensen & Russell); however, Griffin (1995) points out that while in

the majority it is not true in her observations. Of her interviewees she found core

members, and the Goddesses that were revered, are multi-cultural.

Magick
 15

Sam Cameron (2005) and Douglas Ezzy (2006) both had interesting views on

magick within an economic perspective. Cameron focused on the law of 3 or the

‘rebound’ effect in the terms of economics and religion as a consumer good, ultimately

pointing to invest/return composite wherein the Wiccan tenet basically is not all that

dissimilar from traditional Christian belief of payback for sin. Ezzy (2006), however,

focuses on the trend towards ‘White magick witches’ as being the product of a consumer

capitalistic society. Traditional witchcraft is not bound by these new definitions of

white/black magick, so by claiming to be a White witch—a position that is ready for

consumption in the dominant culture—is risking transforming their craft into a new fad

rather than a transformative religious tradition (Ezzy 2006). Another author, Ellis (1995),

looks at the adherence to positive magick, or hexing as a source of tension. These are

experiences of the practitioners around magick, but not really within magick.

It wasn’t a surprise that the existing literature did not describe experiences of

magick by practitioners of the magickal lifestyle. How can magick be measured? It

cannot, which is probably why it hasn’t been investigated. Little is written to describe the

practitioners’ experiences with magick, which are the focus of this research. Margot

Adler’s (1986) and Sabina Magliocco’s (2004) anthropological ethnographic studies of

the neo-magickal lifestyle describe the uses of magick, but in sociological literature

descriptions of the “hocus pocus” experiences are missing; as the name ‘magickal

lifestyle’ implies there is an open acceptance, and experience of magick.

Magick is an experience that is intimate, scary, and awesome. This is what I want

to hear about, what I want to research: experiences with magick. Eller (1995) describes
 16

the tension between women who are practicing Wicca, and their division because of

magick; some women wanted to do magick, some women were scared. Magick was an

avenue of tension between them. Eller (1995) is speaking of magick as a concept, but the

experience is of a division. Fear and acceptance of magick is the main premise of her

article. In an autoethnographic piece Caulder (2002) describes her own journey to Africa,

her reclamation of Voodoo, and her experiences. Caulder’s account and its descriptions

of magick were fascinating and lead me to explore the topic for this research. I would say

Caulder (2002) and Adler (1986) demonstrated magick as a lived experience, and told the

story. My curiosity led me to focus on magick, the stories of its practitioners, the

techniques they used, and how these influence their interaction with society.

Many people dismiss magick as a form of trickery, it often is not taken seriously;

some may even confuse it for sleight-of-hand. This outlook critically diminishes the

position of the magickal practitioner. I propose that further research be done into the

experiences of magick by its practitioners, as a means of describing its epistemology,

exploring the underlying assumptions, as well as showing how people go about

describing the ineffable.

Purpose

Hopefully, my work will inspire others to find commonality among various

religions by identifying similar themes of meaning, community, and understanding. The

magickal lifestyle is experiencing a relatively recent renaissance among the public. The

last legislation to ban or restrict witchcraft was repealed in 1951 (Neitz 2004). Witchcraft

and magick are paths that are feared by many, and not understood by most. I hope to
 17

bring understanding and tolerance by illuminating this mystical realm through findings

based on interviews with its practitioners and observations of open public rituals and

pagan festivals.
 CHAPTER 3

METHODS

No social study that does not come back to the problems of biography and of
history and of their intersections within a society has completed its intellectual
journey.
Mills, 1959

I began my qualitative research by doing preliminary interviews with a high

priestess of Wicca, and a Druidic high priest gay male couple. My purpose was to explore

the stories of people who live the magickal lifestyle, to discover themes that emerge. I

then delved into the literature surrounding my study to clarify the issues which emerged

from our conversations. In my findings I discovered that the previous literature regarding

feminism and the magickal lifestyle is still intact in the magickal community. The

magickal lifestyle is a mechanism for feminist empowerment. I started taking notes in the

field while attending pagan pride, and quickly realized that I had no need to go out and

find pagans or witches; I have a whole community of pagans that I work with, who, in

turn, know other pagans. Thus I used the snowball sampling technique to gather eligible

participants. I took field notes at open rituals, workshops, and gatherings. I am

intertwined in the world of Wicca, witchcraft, shamanism, and paganism. My eclectic

history of teachers and cohorts in my spiritual journey have expressed that they are more

18
 19

than happy to contribute to my academic pursuits. This will, however, limit my research
1
to the experiences of Southern Californians.

I am currently a high priestess of a Wicca tradition, and a Pompamasayoq in the

Peruvian Q’ero tradition. I have trained and apprenticed since 2003 and come from an

eclectic background of religious pantheons: Palo, Stregheria, Celtic, Druidic, Shamanic,

and Native American. I am also currently serving as a shaman’s apprentice (of the

Peruvian cosmology). I am telling you where I come from so that it is not a secret, but

assure you that I have also strived to make the familiar strange as a means of looking at

my data as an outsider (as much as is possible).

I am an observing participant as I have an obvious pre-established role in the

pagan community. My status, however, has also granted me access to people who might

otherwise not divulge their secrets, their experiences, and their magick. As much as I may

try to describe my standpoint, there are probably some taken-for-granted aspects of the

magickal lifestyle that I may overlook in describing; that oversight should be outweighed

by my insider status which grants you the privilege of peeking into this common culture

of meaning.

To begin gathering data I had to grapple with a number of questions: What is

witchcraft? This question is not easily answered given the myriad of idiosyncrasies

between the different pantheon practitioners. How does one experience magick? I cannot

1
Though I did spend three years studying various Wiccan pantheons with various
practitioners in Northern California, and specifically Santa Cruz, I did not conduct my research
there.
 20

hand out a survey with a Likert scale for each experience, as I would not even be able to

fathom the enormity of different kinds of magick, let alone the type of reaction to them. I

have no guiding hypothesis, but rather hoped that my curiosity about the experiences of

other practitioners of the magickal lifestyle may illuminate a concept or area to be further

investigated.

I am using an exploratory method and have employed a systematically subjective

inquiry into the stories of my interviewees, and my field notes as well as practiced the art

of reflexivity. I will include autoethnographic snippets that either help/hinder my

findings. My method will ensure validity, and reliability in the culture I am studying. I

will be employing a humanistic approach to the study of the magickal lifestyle, as I am

not looking for an objective truth, but a theme of experience, and meanings.

More than a mere interest in observing witches, I wanted to talk to people, to hear

their stories, and to give them the benefit of no preset perspective. In reality, I do have a

perspective: I believe that witchcraft and magick are real, not a subculture pursued by

deviants. Moreover, I do consider myself a witch, in that I practice a spirituality and

religion that would be defined as such. My research looks into the experiences of others

who may or may not self-defined as witches, but who would also be defined as a witch.2.

Over the course of 12 months I conducted twenty (20) in-depth interviews using the

snowball technique, which I have supplemented by three (3) months of field notes. I

believe field observations are a valuable asset to my data as I am able to observe the

interactions and exchange of information within a natural context. I attended both

2
The term ‘witch’ is not solely used to define women.
 21

summer and winter solstice fairs, pagan festivals, as well as shamanic workshops, and

full moon celebrations. In some circles I am a main contributor, but in other circles I am

only a participant. My interviewees ranged between 24 and 74 years of age, and practiced

a variety of different magickal lifestyles (from Peruvian Shaman to Goddess worshippers

to Druidic).

I participate in a magickal lifestyle activity at least once a week, and have an

abundant amount of data to draw from. I fully understand that my background may prove

to be a hindrance to my impartiality; however, it is my belief that no researcher is ever

truly unbiased. I am putting on the table my standpoint so that you, the reader, may

decide for yourself where my observations are lacking and or prejudiced. Furthermore,

one should take into consideration that it is probable that I have attracted others who are

similar to me; with time, and more interviews, I am sure that I can expand my pool to

include others who are more dissimilar to me. My purpose is to give a glimpse into that

world, and show some underlying and overarching themes.

In the preliminary interviews that I have done I have found that it would be

impossible to hand out a survey to people who consider themselves witches: many do not

associate with the word ‘witch’ because of its negative connotation. This varies through

different age brackets, but notably restricts my research to qualitative interviews. The

topic of magick is hardly understood, and such an intimate experience for the

practitioner, that to try and understand its intricacies with a survey is ludicrous. My

questions focused on hearing their favorite experiences with magick and healing.

Focusing on their experiences with magick enabled me to really delve into the
 22

practitioners’ interaction with magick, and how they view that interaction. The reason

that I asked about a favorite magickal experience and then a favorite healing experience

was not to differentiate types of magick; in my understanding magick is being employed

in both instances, and many times for the same reasons. By reframing the question in two

different ways I used this strategy to get a more profound understanding of the

practitioner’s experiences with magick. Drawing on the work done by Neitz (2000) I

hope to explore how practitioners’ experience with magick also affects their standpoint of

knowledge.

Last, in my reflexive ruminations over the data I have collected, I realized that

each interviewee has referred to the occult mysteries, and magick. In hindsight I should

have delved further into the perceived definitions of the mysteries, and magick, or the

understanding of the concepts. Instead, I was so comfortable with the idea, and had

created my own parameter of experience that it was an unspoken agreement of reality.

This is a hindrance; however, I cannot divorce myself from the belief that magick cannot

be measured. As a result, I take these practitioners’ experiences with magick and

extrapolate how magick affects their reality.

I have ‘outed’ myself throughout the body of this paper so that you may have an

understanding of my perspective, where I come from, and where my biases lie; I have

done this on purpose and with full knowledge of the possible backlash. In the spirit of

Lemert’s personal courage (2002) I hope to inspire others to question their beliefs of

personal identity, and to further open their minds to other possibilities of reality.
 CHAPTER 4

FINDINGS

Attending Pagan Pride is like a small snapshot of the greater magikcal lifestyle

community. I began my field notes at the Los Angeles/Orange County pagan pride event.

This is the first time I am attending as an observer and I am overwhelmed with curiosity

as I hear, “You have to build the energy from side to side, like this,” he says, flailing the

iron scimitar sword in an x pattern in front of his body, “and then you direct it forward,

like this.” He plunges the blade outward as if making a deadly blow into an invisible

assailant. The demonstration is lively. I linger a bit longer, eavesdropping tidbits of sword

magick, before my meandering gaze stumbles upon the beautiful belly dancers, and I

decide to move on. I notice I am moving slowly towards the entertainment stage in the

middle of the quad, magnetically pulled by the magnificence of a gyrating male,

contorting his belly with the grace of ocean waves. His dark brown hair is pulled back,

the length of its curly majesty meeting a blood red Celtic wrap around skirt; bare chest

rippling the motions of his hips. I think to myself with a chuckle that magick can be

performed by many tools, whether it be sword or steed, as I hear a near-by woman tell

her friend, “The tranny belly dancer is better than them all!”

The day is overcast, and the drive to Pagan Pride was a bit of magick itself,

feeling the wheels roll through the Whittier Narrows parking lot, transporting me into an

alternate (and alternative) reality. I carpooled with my friend, and as she pulls in, I notice

23
 24

that we have made the change: from the mundane to the world of magick. My insides get

giddy with butterflies as I spot an assortment of bumper stickers: coexist, my other car is

a broom, I’m in the witchcraft business what about you, and a license plate that reads

lawof3 (the idea that any magick you cast out will reverberate throughout your life times

3, a concept you may be familiar with if you’ve ever watched Charmed). I am in safe

space, and mentally I note that the feeling is similar to when I enter gay space; it feels a

little like a mixture of going on a first date and a sigh of relief. As we start walking

towards the entrance I see men in kilts, and a woman in a black flowing cape, “Ahhhh,” I

exhale, “I am home.”

The way in is an opening between two chain link fences, and crossing the

threshold reminds me a little of the never-ending story when Atreyu has to pass through

the portal doors to find the southern oracle. My entry is not nearly as dramatic, as the

woman at the welcome booth smiles and hands me a schedule of speakers, rituals, and

entertainment; I glance through the pamphlet noting that there are not many names that I

recognize.

Pagan Pride is kind of like a smaller version of the Renaissance faire, but with

more witches and fewer wenches. The booths are all placed in a large circle marking the

perimeter of the festival, with their offerings of witchy wares, and costumes. One can

choose from flowing black, purple, crimson, or spider-web capes, as well as an

assortment of wands. Of course the hand-decorated top hats are also enticing. I have a

personal ritual of my own; I make a preliminary round to check out all of the booths

before I start participating. My small notebook and pen in hand, making jottings in the
 25

field, I begin to feel like a voyeur and an outsider. I hope that no one notices and

presumes me a form of antagonistic surveillance. After I pass the first ten booths, with

offerings of tarot readings, jewelry, incense, oils, herbs, ritual accoutrement, and pagan

art, I come upon a tent set up for guest speakers. Housing a presenter and a dozen

seemingly captivated attendees, I hear, “After you go out on the astral plane, be sure to

return the way you came!” the emphasis on the last section makes me wonder if one can

get lost in the vast ethereal, or if it is possible to return to the right place but in a different

dimension, or time; I wish I had come earlier to attend his lecture. As I continue to survey

the area I note the proliferation of tattooed bodies, displaying symbols of their preferred

pantheon, or animal spirit ally. Just past the food vendors I spot a high priestess preparing

her space for the open ritual that will be performed in recognition of the harvest. I decide

it is time to put my pen away and submerge.

In my observations I have learned an immense amount about myself and about

my community. I have come to understand the Magickal Lifestyle as an interaction with a

living cosmology, an evolving cosmology, and a cosmology that changes with each

person uniquely. This practice of interacting intimately with one’s spiritual beliefs (or

religious doctrine), to the point of co-creating them continuously, has illuminated an

understanding that I didn’t comprehend before this research; the Magickal Lifestyle is as

eclectic as each practitioner and this fluidity lends to the ability to restructure the

internalized sense of self, to alter one’s perspective of reality, or knowledge standpoint.

This is revolutionary. This is alive. This is the magickal lifestyle.

 26

Another, more obvious realization is that everyone I interviewed has experienced

magick. I expected this. My goal was to talk to practitioners about their experiences with

magick, and no one said that they had not experienced any. Every participant, however,

referenced that everyone, even non-practitioners of the magickal lifestyle, has

experienced magick and that they just do not know it, and do not label it magick. A

constant understanding among the practitioners of the magickal lifestyle was that magick

is about paying attention; magick is happening all the time. With this definition of

magick, or as one interviewee defined it, “the bending of energy” magick is no longer

some ‘out there’ thing where a woman scrunches her nose and WAMM magick

happened. No, magick as a tangible aspect of everyday life is a new definition for the

non-practitioner of the magickal lifestyle, but a constant acknowledgement among the

practitioner. There are, however, many different ways to implement magick: healing,

spell casting, shifting perspective, and altering environment.

Magick Comes in Many Forms: Definitions and Labels

I realize the content of my paper may be alien to many readers. The concepts and

terms of the magickal lifestyle take years to learn and implement correctly by

practitioners. I expect that the reader will have much less exposure than even a novice

practitioner. In order to understand the argument I am going to make it is imperative that

the reader has a foundation of definitions. I have focused my intent on making these

concepts easy for the reader to understand. This section is meant to give the reader clarity

as I lay out my argument regarding magick.

 27

The moment I ask, “Have you experienced magick?” was always greeted with a

resounding Yes, or absolutely, and many times accompanied by a chuckle, as if this is the

easiest of my interview questions, and it is funny that I even ask. Hilarity would ensue as

we shared experiences we had both had. One woman shared the irony of her experiences

with people who do not practice the magickal lifestyle, saying,

They don’t realize they’re casting spells, they don’t realize they’re doing magick,
and they’re doing it, and heaven forbid you tell someone, “Wow! That’s a wicked
spell, you really shouldn’t do stuff like that, you know, that’s bad karma” you
know, they go, “I’m totally not doing a spell, I’m praying!”. Uh huh! Whatever.
You can call it whatever you want but, a duck is a duck, I don’t care if you call it
a quacker.

What she is saying is that, in her experience, just because a person does not call it

magick, or a spell, does not mean that is not what they are doing. Words are symbols to

represent actions, and people have disassociated themselves so far from the idea of

witchery, and spells, that they do not know what they actually mean, and often participate

in dark magick unwittingly. A person praying to God to take revenge on another person is

a form of dark magick. Dark magick is understood as over-taking someone else’s

willpower. So casting bad thoughts about a person is also a form of dark magick. This

suddenly makes the world of magick much more inclusive of everyday experiences, and

yet most people do not know there is any power or projection in what they are doing

and/or thinking.

Practitioners of the magickal lifestyle having interactions with non-practitioners

whom participate in what a practitioner would consider black magick was common, so

much so in fact that it is hard not to chuckle at the blatant irony. One would expect black
 28
1
magick from a witch, but what I heard and saw was just the opposite. Every practitioner
2
I interviewed knew the consequences of misplaced anger and even grey magick. Magick

is the bending of energy, and everything (thoughts, spells, desires) bends energy to some

degree, and manifests on the material realm, whether or not it was the desired

manifestation. The witch makes it their business to know how this works and to take an

active participant role, as well as a full responsibility role, of the outcome.

Further, the understanding of magick crossed into the arena of labels and

changing one’s language, the practitioner knew that a spell or magick wasn’t different, it

was just perceived differently. An example of this is demonstrated by Cindy when she

says,

Those who have asked me what is a spell, or why would you do a spell, and a
spell is the same thing you do when you’re praying or wishing for something, we
just use props

The reference to using props is a common understanding among practitioners of

the magickal lifestyle, but particularly Wiccans whom use prescribed altar tools to act out

ritual casting, or spell working, or praying. Shamans also use tools, though depending on

the form of shamanism the tools vary. In Peruvian Shamanism stones play a vital role in
1
Black magick is commonly understood as the type of magick that tries to overwhelm someone else’s
will for one’s own end. From my field notes it is generally understood that love spells are black magick and
should not be used as their consequences can be dire.

2
Grey magick is a conceptual spectrum. For example, some forms of magick are reflective and bounce
back bad energy at the sender. This is a form of grey magick. It’s not completely intentional on the
practitioner’s end, if no bad energy is sent their way then there will be no harm, but this also will
knowingly send back the bad energy, ultimately harming the sender. Many forms of magick reside in this
spectrum of ethical debate. Ultimately, when faced with the above scenario, the practitioner that doesn’t
want to participate in any form of grey or dark magick will set up a ethereal protection that will not bounce
back energy, but will ground the energy that comes at them, protecting both the practitioner and the sender
(Conway, 43).
 29

the working of magick or interacting with the universe. The kinds of tools that you would

find on a Wiccan altar are candles for the four directions, candles for the Goddess and the

God, and incense; the tools vary depending on the pantheon of the practitioner or the

purpose of the ritual. Tools you would find in a Peruvian Shaman mesa bundle would be

stones representing the four regions, and a keystone, or center-piece, representing the

practitioner which often includes stones or sacred objects that represent Pachamama

(mother earth) and Inti-TayTay (father sun). Palo Santa is an aromatic wood that is

burned for incense in the Peruvian tradition and is often kept in the bundle as well. You’ll

notice there are similarities across pantheons.

The practitioner of the magickal lifestyle knows however, that tools are not

necessary to cast magick or commune with the universe. Calliope mirrors this sentiment

exactly when she says,

I used to be very tool dependent and now my poor tools hardly ever see me
anymore, but of course I always knew that they were just props, I knew that if
they had magick in them it was only cuz I put it there, umm, that they were tools
to help me focus and I don’t really need them the way that I used to

Here she is saying that her magickal tools, the tools and props that she uses for

ritual, have not been used in a long time. Further, she is expressing the idea that the tools

are merely instruments for focusing one’s energies. By learning all of the basic ritual

design with props and a script one can familiarize themselves with the basic tenets of

belief. The directions are east/air, south/fire, west/water, and north/earth. The Goddess is

the archetypical energy that can give birth, that can utilize directed energy and mutate
 30

that energy into a creation. The God is an archetypical energy that projects energy

outward, that directs energy.

The Sacred

The idea and understanding that the sacred is everywhere, but ultimately comes

from within, is an aspect of the magickal lifestyle. Every macrocosm is a reflection of the

microcosm. The sacred is ultimately a part of everything, but it takes the

acknowledgement of the practitioner to really understand and recognize what is going on.

The symbols (altar tools and language) are used to represent sacred elements that are

archetypical throughout life. Interacting with these symbols taps into the universal energy

that is within everything and puts the practitioner in direct communion with divinity. The

tools help one to visualize and familiarize themselves with the different forms of energy,

but ultimately no tool is necessary.

There are many similarities between different religions; however, this is not the

scope of my paper. My focus is specifically on the experience of magick. The magickal

lifestyle gives the practitioner permission to interact with the universal energy, allows for

experimentation and evolution of the spirit through spell casting, assemblage point

movement and deity invocation. This is an experience that both empowers and frightens

the young practitioner of the magickal lifestyle, as well as expanding their intuitive

abilities. For example the interviews with my younger witches (mid 20s) revealed an

internalized questioning of sanity, and as such the mere presence of my thesis and the fact

that they were being interviewed served as a mechanism of comfort, or validating that

they are not crazy. They were excited that I understood what they were talking about and
 31

could share stories that were similar. They mentioned how nice it was to be able to share

their experiences with me, and how they don’t often get the chance to. The older

practitioners did not question the sanity of their experiences, but many mentioned that

early on in their experiences they would wonder if they were just going crazy, and find

ways to validate that they weren’t. A good example of this is when Anniitra says,

But after the ritual, and I played music and then the next day, and the reason it
was so profound is I thought I was seeing things, and the next morning a feather
was on the floor, and it wasn’t one I had already, it was right there where she was
standing.

She is talking about a magickal experience she had wherein a woman appeared to

her in her living room. This woman was not physically there, but was an apparition, or

spirit, that was visiting her. She appeared with some feathers in her hand, and the next

day when Anniitra woke up there was a feather in the spot where she had been. The

feather, that was unlike any feather she had, served as proof that what she had

experienced was real. Until she saw the feather she thought that she had maybe gone

crazy, or drunk a little too much wine. The feather was a sign from the universe that she

was in direct communion.

Anniitra was questioning herself early on, wondering if she was just seeing things,

but then experiences that happened afterward, for example, the feather being where the

ethereal woman stood, was proof that the experience had occurred and what she saw was

more than an apparition, or a trick of light, but an actual occurrence. This is a common

theme that I found among my interviewees, and also for myself, I have found that early

on things would happen and I would wonder if I was just losing my mind. I had
 32

experiences that could not be explained away by my logical mind, no matter how many

ways I tried to dissect it. I would feel isolated because no one in my peer group was

interacting with this magick, and in this solitude I would start to feel insecure. Luckily

right when I thought I was going to lose my mind someone would appear in the physical

world and tell me about experiences similar to mine that they had. I would be assured,

and continue on with my learning. This is an important social phenomenon, and could be

explored more in-depth, though it is not within the scope of my project.

The realization that the practitioner is not crazy because a point of departure for

the subversion of one’s standpoint of knowledge. The practitioner is suddenly able to

reconcile that their experience is real, and in turn different from what their normal reality.

This is an important experience as it creates community among various practitioners,

finding solace in their similarities. Commonality and community is established creating

strength in the group. Further, the group is a foundation to continue exploration into

changing one’s reality, and later, one’s standpoint of knowledge.

Community Creation and Knowledge Building

My initial hypothesis was that when someone says they experienced magick they

are going to use metaphor to explain their experience, but that there will be a common

theme of wholly authentic experiences that are unique to each practitioner. When I am in

an interview and I say, “Yeah, I had this experience, that is kind of like that,” there is a

common agreement of understanding and a sort of joy in seeing that someone

understands them, but completely unique, neither of us expects the other to fully

understand. This is not different from any other common culture of meaning, except there
 33

is a tinge of realization that this mutual understanding validates one’s experiences with

magick.

The degree of societal acceptance of a particular group will ultimately affect the

way that the common culture of meaning evolves. What I found interesting, even more

interesting than the metaphors being used, was the fact each interview was a knowledge

building experience for me and the interviewee, we co-created each other’s ideas of the

magickal lifestyle. Where I expected the commonality to end at the metaphor, in actuality

sharing experiences was more like swapping recipes. This co-creation didn’t rely as much

on the utilization of metaphor, as it did on the reference to cosmology, and the ability to

find commonality amid the varying pantheons of belief.

One woman said,

The amazing thing about Wicca is that it is not a dead religion, it is constantly
being co-created with its practitioners, it’s not a set religion and it’s not, it’s
completely fluid

This really caught my attention because she said it is a living religion, a religion

that is tangible to the hands, mutable, co-created by its practitioners; revolutionary!

Furthermore, as I was transcribing the interviews I realized that my interviews were a co-

creation; that with each piece of knowledge shared between practitioners there was a new

understanding of reality for each person involved. I started telling my friends that I

thought every person that was new to Wicca should be required to interview other Wicca

practitioners; it was an idea, and a joke. This is the point though, the creation of
 34

community by sharing experiences with magick, a community that, first and foremost,

believes in magick.

My own personal experience with these interviews is that I was able to augment

my spiritual practice with the different techniques that my interviewees talked about;

dance, breath, sound, etc. Before I engaged in this thesis project I had no idea that I

would be learning new techniques, new concepts, and new variations of magick, I only

anticipated the comfort of commonality, and revelations of language. This knowledge

sharing is an aspect of the common culture of meaning that is created when practitioners

of the magickal lifestyle interact. Often the practitioners will hope to gain new insights,

new techniques, new understandings from their cohorts even though they may practice

different brands of magickal lifestyle (i.e., Shaman, Wiccan, Druid, etc.) there is still a

consensus that new information is worthy of integration into their cosmology, moreover

that their cosmology can be adjusted and expanded.

I am not arguing that the practitioners of the magickal lifestyle are without fault,

we are not all completely enlightened, un-egotistical mages; we fall prey to the same

tension as the rest of humanity. A good example of the intricacy of this phenomenon can

be seen when Cindy says,

We still follow the same traps as other religions and respect people who are
published and respect people who have blah di blah and have certain initiations
and degrees, and fall into the same traps as anybody else, but if we pull back we
know what the truth is and the truth is that everybody has their own journey to
travel and as neo-pagans who are honest with ourselves, and our consciousness is
elevated enough no matter how old you are, we give everybody their freedom to
enjoy the journey, where they’re at on it and the truth that that bares for that
person.
 35

Here we see that practitioners of the magickal lifestyle can and do have infighting,

‘witch wars’, and practices deemed better than others because of publication. This is just

like other religions that fight about whose version is more right; however, the overarching

understanding of the magickal lifestyle is that the seeker or practitioner must find their

own path to the hidden truth, and that this truth comes in many ways. The practitioner’s

cosmology includes changeability and personal evolution through the spiritual journey,

which includes complete changes in a belief system. Changing doesn’t negate the value

of the practice, but adds a dimension of dynamic beliefs, and forces openness to new

ideas. It is a living tradition and it bends in the wind, it allows co-creation and the people

who interact with life under the influence of this perspective seem to understand that

pieces of the puzzle can all be put together, that each person is their own puzzle; can be

taught and learned from.

Labels

The knowledge building that was present in my interviews goes hand in hand with

the language used, which not only followed metaphors, and drew on cosmology but also

showed a keen understanding of the limitations of labels. I noticed that various

techniques were employed to help explain magickal experiences, as well as various

comparisons, especially if someone were trying to explain their experience to a non-

practitioner of the magickal lifestyle. Changing one’s language so that the practitioner

can be fully heard, and understood, was a common theme among my interactions with the

magickal culture, and it helps illustrate how one uses language to explain the

unexplainable.
 36

The understanding that different labels do not necessarily constitute differences

was a common theme. This was especially prevalent when I asked my interviewees about

changing their language when talking to non-magickal people. Each person understood

the concept that just because the language varied did not mean that the reality was any

different. Often if a practitioner of the magickal lifestyle were interacting with a non-

practitioner about spiritual matters they would shift their language, and use Christian

paradigms to explain their point. Some respondents, however, made it a point to say that

they did not change their language because they wanted recognition of the magickal

lifestyle as something real. This is similar to the idea of coming out of the closet for

homosexuals, in that by letting people know who exactly is gay, give a name and a face

to gay people, it is harder for the non-homosexual to buy into homosexual discrimination.

These practitioners that did not change their language did however know full well that the

actions were the same: there is no real difference between a prayer and a spell. Using the

word spell is revolutionary.

Many participants, however, did change their language and the theme of “so they

can hear what I am saying” was constant throughout. It is a given that if a practitioner of

the magickal lifestyle uses words that will scare their audience then the audience will not

hear what they are saying, only focus on the deviant form of spiritual practice. For

example, Aradia said,

Depending on where I am I’m a witch, when I am around a buncha witches ‘cuz

they know what that is. But if I’m around a bunch of Christians then you’re
awakened or something, a different aspect in order for them to kinda understand
because the point is to spread understanding not to close doors, so, and I don’t
have labels.
 37

Here she is saying that she refers to herself as a witch if she is around a bunch of

witches because she knows what they practice and believe, and her beliefs are

synonymous. She then explains that when she is around a bunch of Christians she would

use a word like awakened, or whatever other word would be accepted as a Christian

mystic, but wouldn’t offend the Christian’s belief system. Further she is saying that she is

trying to spread understanding, not to close doors, so by changing her language to words

that aren’t scary she is able to easily communicate with people of different faiths.

Not changing your language is a revolutionary act, but also changing your

language is a radical statement. It is the act of saying ‘I am experiencing a spiritually

profound evolution and I am going to share it with people’. The acknowledgement that

the magickal lifestyle is profound, enlightened, leads to spiritual growth, and furthermore

should be shared with non-practitioners so that they too can grow. Changing one’s

language to fit the dominant paradigm, but still reflect the lessons garnered in the

magickal lifestyle, is a form of claiming legitimacy.

Labels could either lend to or detract from one’s understanding and so using the

appropriate labels to be heard was a common experience. An unanticipated side-note

regarding labels however, was that many of my respondents did not call themselves

witches. Some would call themselves Druids, Goddess-women, Wiccan, awakened,

spiritual, or shaman as a means of lessening the stigma of what they practice. The

external and internalized definition of witch was too much for some practitioners, for

example we see Michael demonstrate this perfectly when he says,

 38

um, witch just is the hooked nose, green skin thing that houses fall on and that’s
something I probably need to get over, but that’s where I’m at right now, 20
something years into the craft (hint of humor)

So we see that the negative association with the word witch was still an issue for

many of my respondents. The stereotypes applied to the term witch are often connotative

of wickedness, evil, or bad: in other words, someone who deserves the punishment that

the burning times delivered. I have mentioned before that being a witch was still illegal in

England up until 1951, a fact that may keep many witches hidden away in the broom

closet. The few women that did call themselves and consider themselves witches were the

feminist reclaimers, the Dianic practitioners that considered the word witch an

awesomely empowering declaration of womanhood. The women I interviewed who were

in their 20s didn’t not consider themselves witches but preferred not to take on the label,

which they saw as hindering understanding and knowledge. This may be a venue for

future sociology of religion research as it is a rather unanticipated finding.

Standpoint Knowledge

I have found that all of the men and women cognitively believe in and interact
3
with both a masculine and feminine deities, which in turn affects their personal narrative

and further transforms the way in which they experience standpoint knowledge.

Standpoint theory postulates that life experiences are judged from a perspective that is

affected by gender, social class, race, etc. (Smith 1992). The stories I have heard

incorporate both men and women invoking a Deity or shifting ethereal energy, and in

3
Except for Dianic practitioners, who recognize masculine deities, but purposefully decline from
invoking them in their rituals.
 39

turn embodying a wholly different reality than the one that they usually interact with,

thus subverting their standpoint of knowledge.

Invoking Difference & Being Different

Of the invocation tales, my favorite example was told to me by a woman,

Calliope, who had been asked to invoke the Mother-Goddess energy.

They asked me to play the mother-Goddess and I felt kind of odd about that it’s
not one that I usually do, I usually kind of avoid it, it doesn’t, that’s not me, I’m
not a mother . . . one of the things we’ve learned (my friends and I) is that when
you’re resisting something sometimes that means that’s exactly where you need to
go, so I thought, okay, they want me to do it, they have the confidence that I’m
the right person to do this, and so I need to get out of my own way and just do it
and be open to it, and it was another one of those transformational experiences
when I kind of put my costume and kind of introduced myself to the group, I
became the mother and people had lined up ‘cuz they wanted mother’s love and I
loved, I truly loved, every person who came to me.”

First Calliope says that her coven asked her to play the role of the mother

Goddess, now I should explain what exactly that entails. When the Goddess in invoked

she is called into the body of the practitioner, and the person becomes the Goddess. The

energy that is invoked depends on the type of Goddess that is called into the practitioner.

For example, if I needed to call of the power of the female warrior I might call Diana into

myself, take on her knowledge and her confidence. Diana is the Roman Goddess of the

hunt, among other things. Each God/dess has an array of particular talents and can be

called on for various functions, so even though Diana is the Goddess of the hunt, she is

also the Goddess of childbirth. The deities are as complex as humanity.

Now Calliope is a little nervous, and resisting the task. She doesn’t identify as a

mother, and she knows that when she invokes the mother Goddess energy she will be

taking that into her, she will become a mother (not literally, but energetically). Further
 40

she says that she has learned that the mere presence of resistance against something is an

indicator that that is exactly what she needs. This is known as one of the mysteries,

something in life that recurs and is best accepted to lessen the anxiety. Taking oneself out

of their comfort zone is a basic tenet of the magickal lifestyle. Invoking energies that are

not your own will change you and force you to look at life through different lenses.

Calliope didn’t feel like a mother. She also didn’t feel as if her coven mates were

pushing an archetypical type of womanhood on her but rather that they were giving her

an opportunity to experience a type of womanhood that she does not usually engage. In

the terms of gendered knowledge she is not referencing her life experience as something

less than or greater than the experience of a man, or the normalized expectation of a

woman (to bare children) but that she didn’t consider herself a mother, and this was an

opportunity to become that without actual offspring.

Calliope was asked to, and able to, invoke the Mother-Goddess energy into her

being thereby becoming a Goddess-head, an incarnate of a deity, a vessel for the energy

to manifest. The practitioner of the magickal lifestyle believes that magick is real,

experiences magick, and the invocation of a Goddess is a tangible experience, so much so

that Calliope was nervous. Furthermore, each practitioner I interviewed has had

experiences with magick wherein their environment was affected by a manifested

intention.

As Calliope invoked the Mother-Goddess she explained that she actually felt love

for these people; that love was an unlikely emotion to come from her towards strangers,

but that it welled-up inside her, spilling onto those who witnessed. In exchange for the
 41

courage of invoking a Goddess, she was gifted the experiential reference of that feeling.

Calliope’s ability to become a Mother-Goddess was empowering, illuminating, and a

worthwhile experience to add to her reservoir of life. It was not an experience of “okay,

you’re a mother now, and feel how worthless you are, the ultimate expression of

femininity and so much less than the role of man”; no, it was an experience of “imagine

what this may feel like, now that you have experienced it you will forever know it.”

Moreover, Calliope then told me a story about her friend Andy who had an

experience invoking a God:

At the Summer Solstice the new God battles the old God, and I had a bunch of
those cinnamon brooms and we rolled ‘em all together to be the old God and we
decorated him all up and we put a red rose right where his heart should be so he
was the old God and then we asked Andy to be the new God and battle the old
God. He’s a big fan of the Aztecs and the Mayans and the whole eating of your
enemies heart thing so he’s fighting (in the ritual), he battling . . . and finally he
just goes in and he grabs the heart rose and he stuffs it in his mouth . . . then he
was really into it until he realizes he’s gotta mouth full of rose, but the show must
go on, and he managed to swallow it, wow!!

Here we see a man, Andy, invoking the energy of the new God, invoking the

energy of the battle between summer and winter, embodying the Gods of the cosmology

he most identifies with and experiencing a scenario that is manifesting through ritual. He

gets so taken up in the experience of the battle, in the experience of eating thy enemy’s

heart that he manages to actually swallow the rose petals. This story is from the

perspective of Calliope and so we have no way of knowing what Andy was experiencing

in this ritual, it would be interesting to find out what he was thinking, feeling, responding

to, in those moments.

 42

Invoking a certain deity in ritual, doesn’t stop at human experiences, Marguerite

told me of her favorite magickal experience being her wolf dance, wherein she embodied

the wolf archetype:

My wolf dance! OH MY GOD! This is my favorite recent magick story.. I was

asked to be in a show and they gave me prehistory. How am I supposed to do
prehistory in this particular type of dance!? So, I have this skin that was given to
me in the 80s, it’s a full, huge wolf skin, I fit inside of it, and I’ve always wanted
to do a stage performance with this thing, and a lot of the styles of folkloric dance
that I do has to do with trance, certain types of moves, spinning or whirling,
rocking the body, utilization of hand held instruments that refer to trance states
not from something that anybody would identify as shamanic dance . . . I know
that I could make this look like a totem performance, like a bear dance, but not a
bear dance . . . It was really amazing, it was very very magickal and it was kind of
like the symbol that kept reappearing many many times.

Marguerite is telling the story of her wolf dance, of the experience she had during

a ceremony where she put on a wolf skin and became the wolf in order to alter the space

of the ceremony. This experience enabled her to not only shift her own standpoint of

knowledge, but also shift the energy if the entire room. The people experiencing her

ceremony also participated in altered states of consciousness, and possibly shifted

realities of perception. It is, however, impossible for me to find the people who

experienced her wolf dance to ask them what exactly they experienced, so I will only

focus on Marguerite.

Marguerite’s experience of becoming the wolf enabled her to create ritual space

or sacred space for all the people that were watching her perform, she invoked the energy

of the wolf because she had been having synchronicities with wolf symbolism and wolf

stories that culminated in her embodying the wolf and gaining a whole new experience of
 43

self. She was neither he nor she but wolf, the archetype that has a direct connection to

spirit and who is considered a teacher in many pantheons (not to be confused with coyote

who is considered the trickster). Marguerite’s knowledge standpoint as a human is altered

during her ceremony, as she becomes wolf. Marguerite does not physically shape-shift

into the animal, but rather her perception of reality is shifted from her normal experience

to that of the spirit she is invoking. A person’s standpoint of knowledge is dictated by

their position in society: sex, race, socio-economic status. If, however, this position can

be altered, even if only during the duration of a ceremony, one has still subverted their

standpoint of knowledge having forever the reference of memory of being

someone/something different.

Responses about magick many times held the sentiment of understanding

previous circumstances, and taking further action to change them, or the perception of

them. My argument that the practice of magick, or the manipulation of ethereal energies,

being implemented to change one’s standpoint of knowledge can be seen throughout the

responses from my interviewees. Whether or not the actual magick can be measured or

proven is inconsequential as it is the experience of the practitioner that I am concerned

with. The first three examples that I have discussed seem obvious in that the standpoint is

definitely changed, if only for the duration of the ceremony, yet reference able in future

life experiences. Thus, when I began to look at the pattern of how the implementation of

magick affected my interviewees I realized that the changing of knowledge standpoint is

a fundamental part of the magickal lifestyle. Another example of this is from an

 44

interviewee, Carla, who told me of a magickal experience she had that helped her to

understand why she could not have children in this lifetime,

The main thing is I can’t have kids, and I wanted to find out why I couldn’t have
children cuz I’ve always had the feeling ‘just can’t have kids’, so I went to a
friend or a person that I knew at that time, and they did a regression with eye to
eye contact . . . I visualized where I was, it was way way back way far back, I was
giving birth to a child, I was laying on a rock having the child, like a table a rock
table, and as I was crowning, it was a little girl, I know it was a little girl, I saw
her briefly, and then the father of the child came up and slit my throat. That
brought me out. They were taking her away and he killed me. So, the essence or
reason for me understanding my past life as to why I couldn’t have children was
because of what happened with my child, my daughter that was taken away from
me. The man who I trusted, the father of the child, was the one who slit my throat.

Carla is describing a past life regression that she had performed for her. The

practitioner implemented a technique of regression using eye to eye contact. When Carla

was taken back to the lifetime that was connected to her inability to have children she

experiences giving birth and then being killed by the baby’s father. As soon as he killed

her she came out of her trance and now held an experience and a knowledge that she had

not had before. A little back information is necessary at this point. In my interviews and

field notes I have found that most practitioners of the magickal lifestyle believe in the

concept of past lives and reincarnation. Now the conceptual framework of past lives

varies from practitioner to practitioner, many times depending on the pantheon or sect

from which they were trained.

The technique of past life regression varies from practitioner to practitioner and is

not necessarily employed by all; however, as a technique it is considered magick. The

practitioner employing past life regression has to bend the energy of the client in order to

get them into an altered state of consciousness and regress them. The regression
 45

experience takes place in the ethereal realms of pre-incarnation memory. Carla’s

experience changed her standpoint of knowledge when she remembered giving birth to a

baby girl. She transformed from a woman who could not have children, to a woman who

had given birth before, and experienced great trauma. Her murder after the birth of her

child was the point in which her spirit decided to not have children again. Before Carla

came into contact with this knowledge she had a different standpoint of knowledge.

In my field notes and interviews with neo-shaman I have found the same

phenomenon. Further, the shamanic cosmology utilizes changing one’s standpoint of

knowledge in order to perform particular types of magick. In my interview with Edythe

she speaks of the technique she teaches her students so that they may be able to transform

their lives.

You must change the position of your assemblage point in order to shift your
perceptual state of awareness in order to gather information about what’s going on
but removed from your emotional state of being. One way to do this is to shift
your assemblage point into your lower chakra in order to engage the seeing state
of serpent and change your external perception.

This quote is packed with information about shamanic practices, and may be quite

baffling to the reader. To break this down Edythe is saying that the practitioner needs to

manipulate ethereal energy, or move the assemblage point, in order to shift their

perspective, or knowledge standpoint. The shift is a specific technique that is employed

commonly when trying to gather information about one’s environment. The shaman must

understand the full picture of their environment in order to act from a place of power, and

to gather this information the shaman must shift their knowledge standpoint. Ultimately it

is the goal of the shaman to become unattached to their given standpoint; the shaman is
 46

free of the constraints of the mundane world. Shifting the assemblage point is in fact the

definition of changing one’s standpoint of knowledge. It is not necessary to prove that the

standpoint of knowledge was shifted by finding various methods of measurement, as the

practitioner experiences an altered standpoint of knowledge. The experience is used as a

tool to gather information that would otherwise be unavailable to the practitioner, and this

knowledge is used to change guide one’s further interactions with their environment.

Another shaman that I interviewed, Isabella, also spoke of subverting one’s

knowledge standpoint. She did not speak of the assemblage point, but she did speak of

people’s ‘stories’, their standpoint of knowledge that they are trapped into, and replay

over and over as their reality.

We talk about our stories, and it’s all about our stories, and we talk about how
fucked up it is, “You know, it’s fucked up, man!” and how fucked up we are, you
know, and then we create more of that story and it gets bigger and bigger and
juicier and juicier. Rather than going, “No, that story no longer serves me.” You
have to move that out of your body, out of your energy body, let that go, and
reweave a new story of beauty and light and wonder and fulfillment and
prosperity.

Again, this quotation may confuse the reader. What Isabella is saying is that we as

humans trap ourselves in our standpoint of knowledge, in the situations which created our

position in society. This loop of story that is played over and over, in the mind and in the

language used, propagates its own continuation. Isabella is expressing that the condition

of retelling our story is the condition of reifying our standpoint of knowledge as a prison,

or as a place that cannot be escaped. Like Edythe, Isabella then goes on to say that the

shaman’s duty is to help facilitate the movement out of that space of cyclical self-

destruction. In order to overcome the hardships that have come before Isabella says one
 47

must “move out of your body.” This is interesting because it is in essence the exact same

thing that Edythe said, but using different language. Isabella knows that in order to

recreate one’s life from a different standpoint they must first free themselves from the

physical trap. To move out of their body, the shaman manipulates ethereal energy, or

does magick, so that the client may experience a different standpoint of knowledge that

they can then reference as their reality, ridding themselves of their old story.

As we can see in both Edythe’s and Isabella’s quotes, changing one’s standpoint

of knowledge is a revolutionary action of reclaiming oneself, instead of their story. A

person’s position in society, their standpoint of knowledge, can be altered and subverted

with the use of magick. Moreover, practitioners of the magickal lifestyle regularly use

various forms of magick, invocation, moving out of their body, or movement of the

assemblage point, in order to specifically change their position of knowledge. Magick can

be, and is, used to gain greater understanding and a wider reference of reality.

In fact, the ability to change one’s reality, to shift one’s standpoint of knowledge

is often times a draw to, and a deterrent from, the magickal lifestyle. Magick is not only

used to shift one’s reality, but it can be. This idea of greater knowledge and full

responsibility for one’s reality is both empowering and scary. As Calliope puts it,

When you say, “Okay, it’s my will, and I’m going to change my reality,” that
scared people; to actually own that power and take the leap of faith that you could
actually have an impact on your internal and external environment

Calliope is saying that magick is a great privilege that comes with heavy

responsibility can test the courage of those not ready to step into their full power. Further,

Calliope is also saying that magick can and does shift one’s internal and external
 48

environment. The idea that one can shift their internal environment, or their perception of

reality, is a core tenet of the practice of magick. Similar to what Neitz (2000 & 2004)

found, that one could play with their standpoint of knowledge by queering the female role

play in ritual, I have found that one can actually change their standpoint of knowledge

through magick.

Subverting Standpoint

By agreeing to invoke various energies one agrees to widen their field of

perspective. From what I have observed, and what I have read (Neitz 2004), the

practitioner of the magickal lifestyle ultimately wants to embody different perceptions of

reality in order to gain a wide knowledge base, and a shifted standpoint. The

implementation of magick is not a trick of solely achieving the mundane goals of wealth,

health, and fame; magick is much more intricate and can be used to achieve high states of

wisdom and knowledge. The use of magick to shift one’s perspective ultimately begins to

achieve this goal, to subvert one’s position of knowledge in society and expand their

knowledge base. Calliope’s example she was asked to embody a Mother-Goddess not

because she was already such a motherly person, but because she wasn’t, thereby creating

a more whole perspective; in the words of William Blake, from the book of poetry

entitled The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1794), "If the doors of perception were

cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, infinite. For man has closed himself

up, till he sees all things through narrow chinks of his cavern” (14). This quote inspired

the writer Auldous Huxley in his work The Doors of Perception (1990), wherein the
 49

concept is derived that once you open the doors they are forever open and available for

reference.

Why am I suddenly referencing Huxley and Blake? Because I want to better

describe how the invocation of deities that personify archetypical energies can forever

alter the human database of referenceable experiences. Each of these people has told me a

story where they brought in energy that they were not familiar with, thereby expanding

their personal, internal, database of knowledge; their standpoint of knowledge is

subverted by their magickal experiences.

Meaning-Making and Common Experience

Meaning-making is created by a group for the purposes of bringing people

together against a common enemy (Dill 1982); however, it is also used to create cohesion

within a group. The magickal lifestyle is no exception. In my observations and interviews

I have found that various methods are employed to establish a common culture of

meaning, most notably however was the simple belief in, and experiences with, magick.

In my interviews I found that sharing my own personal experiences with magick not only

jogged the memory of my participants but also opened the door for them to share more; I

too had experienced magick. I too am a practitioner of the magickal lifestyle. This fact

made the interview process easy, the stories would flow as the practitioners were sharing

with one of their own, and not telling an outsider that which may be deemed ‘crazy’. This

brings up an interesting chasm, however, as my research is focused on finding out how

practitioners of the magickal lifestyle describe magick I realize now that this will/may

vary depending on who they are talking to, notably non-practitioners.

 50

This commonality creates a common culture of meaning, the participants in this

social world know that symbols show up, that magick happens, and to pay attention to the

message that is being brought from spirit. In my own experiences I had always been

cynical; of institutions, of religion, of people’s motivations, etc. When I first started

learning the magickal lifestyle one of my common mental traits whenever something

significant occurred would be to systematically check all the mitigating factors that could

have contributed to the occurrence, tried to explain it, so that when I couldn’t explain it

then, and only then, was it real magick. Now I understand that even when the

circumstances surrounding the occurrence actually created it there is still meaning if a

meaning resounds in one’s inner spirit, and the core of one’s being.

Furthermore, when a new initiate, or seeker of the mysteries, begins to question

magickal results with cynicism and mentally checklists all possible contributing factors

that would make the experience not magick, I see myself and other practitioners of the

magickal lifestyle recognizing it as a necessary attribute of the initiation process. I also

see that I and others will withhold information, stories, greater illumination from the

seeker who is still checking the facts, checking for sincere divine revelations, not because

they don’t deserve it or there is a hierarchy in place but because the seeker would not

understand, doesn’t have the ears to hear, the eyes to see, or the wisdom to behold.

Another aspect of internalizing and restructuring a sense of self, and others, is

when the common culture of meaning begins to spill over onto definitions of popular

culture, for example Marguerite spoke of the inaugural speech.

 51

The last manifestation of it was the speech in the church after the inauguration by
a woman who is the preacher, pastor or whatever they were calling her, she’s
actually a priestess, a Christian Priestess, the first woman ever to give the
inaugural sermon.

Here we see that terms that would be used in the common culture of Wiccan

meaning are being used to define a Christian, she is called a priestess. I am not aware of

any Christian sects referring to their female leaders as priestesses, but by Wiccan

definition this woman who leads in the church would be considered a priestess of the

Christian God. Furthermore, seeing Wiccan concepts in other traditions is similar to the

concept of referencing the dominant paradigm when explaining a different group (i.e., “A

synagogue? That’s like a Jewish church?”). This is also the basis of gendered knowledge,

the constant reference to the male perspective, or the dominant male mythology, is to

compare all others to the male. So, in this twisty maze of an argument I am stating that

Marguerite had managed to subvert the dominant paradigm by referencing a Wiccan

concept when referring to a Christian example; this is the type of practice that is engaged

in by practitioners of the magickal lifestyle, subverting gendered knowledge however still

referencing gendered characteristics.

Co-creation of Beliefs

The concept of a living religion also bore some interesting fruit; a practitioner of

the magickal lifestyle could hold any conglomeration of beliefs. I met a

druid/Christian/Buddhist, a cabala practicing shaman, a Palo incorporating Native

American traditions, voodoo practicing druids, Reiki practicing Christians, the hereditary

Strega incorporating Catholicism, and my favorite, the Mormon turned Wiccan high
 52

priestess. Each expressed that they understood all religions hold seeds of truth, one only

needed pick the fruit that tasted best to them. As one woman said, “All different paths to

the same mountain top.”

Still this realization that I had interviewed people who mixed and matched their

beliefs was awesome, as I realized that I too co-create my cosmology. Another realization

occurred to me as I was ruminating on my experiences in the magickal lifestyle: this co-

creation generally occurred with assistance from various God/desses. I had an experience

where I did a spell, or prayed, to the Goddess Ma’at (of the Egyptian pantheon) and the

events that followed were authentic to my initiation into the great mysteries. My

interactions with Ma’at further defined my beliefs, and I based much of my knowledge of

the great mysteries from that reference. Laura demonstrates this ability to comprehend as

she spoke of her experience.

It was 1976 and everyone was into mantras so I asked the Goddess to give me a
little mantra and she did, she gave me a little phrase, “the priestess of Isis
remembers the Goddess is everywhere.” I don’t share that too often but, you
know, I was driving on Mulholland Drive and it just came into my mind and went
oh, okay, and now what does that mean? I have no idea!

Here we see that she is gifted a mantra that hints to later experiences she may

interact with as a Priestess of Isis. She spoke to the Goddess, with full anticipation of an

answer, and received a mantra. It came to her, appeared in her head, and she knew it was

hers. Her authentic road was co-created by her knowledge of mantras, her prayer to the

Goddess, and the Egyptian pantheon. Further, Laura hints at another aspect of the

magickal lifestyle, that she did not know what it meant, but she knew that now that she
 53

had the mantra she would definitely come into contact with its meaning. She knows that

not everyone will have this experience, that it is her experience, an aspect of the divine

mysteries that she is a part of. Laura’s belief in, receipt of, and integration of the mantra

is her co-creation with the Goddess.

This understanding was shared with another participant, Robb, when he said, “Yet

how do you describe the un-describable, it can only be experienced.” The common

knowledge that each practitioner’s experience of magick, of healing, of the divine is

completely authentic unto them creates a common culture of meaning and understanding.

The practitioners search for words to share, but in actuality know that their experience is

only to be experienced by them, it is their gift from the divine.

So as you can see living the magickal lifestyle isn’t necessarily as alien as you

might have expected; it is a contentious decision to pay attention, a co-creation of belief,

and a desire to live fluidly, in step with the magick that is all around. My data have

shown me that the interactions between practitioners of the magickal lifestyle are varied,

and yet common, is accepting and constantly evolving; there is a knowledge of gender

norms, and privileged male experience, and yet there is also a playing with these

expectations, bending of norms. Overall the common culture of meaning that is created

connects each practitioner of the magickal lifestyle, though their particular pantheons

may vary.
 54

The practitioner of the magickal lifestyle draws on subverted forms of standpoint

4
knowledge and creates meaning through interaction with other practitioners of the

magickal lifestyle who are also co-creating their religion.

4
Commonality in understanding the sacred, the co-creation of religion, the acceptance & knowledge
building of eclectic traditions, and the ability to play with one’s gendered understanding.
 CHAPTER 5

CONCLUSION

In my research I have found that magick can be employed through various

techniques, and for numerous reasons. One of the ways that magick is used is to change

one’s standpoint of knowledge. The stories I have heard incorporate both men and

women invoking a Deity or shifting ethereal energy, and in turn embodying a wholly

different reality than the one that they usually interact with, thus subverting their

standpoint of knowledge. The ability to shift ethereal energies within and around their

self in order to change their standpoint of knowledge is not bound only to human

experience. Practitioners of various cosmologies used invocation, or shifting of the

assemblage point, in order to embody the perception of various animals.

Practitioners of the magickal lifestyle change their standpoint of knowledge in

order to gain further insight into situations and/or people. In turn, their personal narrative

is affected and further transforms the way in which they experience knowledge.

Information and clarity gained during magick becomes a memory that can be referenced.

These interviews have expressed what I see as both a community and internalized

narrative of interacting with a ethereal energies and a ‘living religion’, a mythology and

ideology that is interactive and continually evolving and recreating itself through the

interpretation and interaction of its practitioners. The magickal lifestyle is a living

cosmology, an evolving cosmology, and a cosmology that changes with each person

55
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uniquely; it is as eclectic as each practitioner, and this fluidity lends to the ability to

restructure the internalized sense of self, to alter one’s perspective on their community,

and ultimately reality. Magick as a lived experience ultimately alters the way its

practitioners understand and interact with society, allowing them to consciously change

their standpoint of knowledge.

The stories I have heard incorporate both men and women invoking a Deity or

higher power, and in turn embodying a wholly different reality than the one that they

usually interact with. By agreeing to invoke various energies one agrees to widen their

field of perspective. Each of these people has told me a story where they brought in

energy that they were not familiar with, thereby expanding their personal, internal

database, of knowledge.

The magickal lifestyle gives the practitioner permission to interact with the

universal energy, allows for experimentation and evolution of the spirit through spell

casting, energy shifting, assemblage point moving, and deity invocation. Each of these

people has told me a story where they brought in energy that they were not familiar with,

thereby expanding their personal, internal, database of knowledge. The practitioners

search for words to share, but in actuality know that their experience is only to be

experienced by them, it is their gift from the divine.

The magickal lifestyle is a living religion. Often the practitioners will hope to gain

new insights, new techniques, new understandings from their cohorts even though they

may practice different brands of magickal lifestyle (i.e., Shaman, Wiccan, Druid, etc.)

there is still a consensus that new information is worthy of integration into their
 57

cosmology, moreover, that their cosmology can be adjusted and expanded. The magickal

lifestyle includes changeability and personal evolution through the spiritual journey,

which includes complete changes in a belief system. Changing doesn’t negate the value

of the practice, but adds a dimension of dynamic beliefs, and forces openness to new

ideas.

In my observations and interviews I have found that various methods are

employed to establish a common culture of meaning; most notably, however, was the

simple belief in, and experiences with, magick. This commonality creates a common

culture of meaning, the participants in this social world know that symbols show up, that

magick happens, and to pay attention to the message that is being brought from spirit. In

my observations and interviews I have found that various methods are employed to

establish a common culture of meaning, most notably however was the simple belief in,

and experiences with, magick.

Some shortcomings that I am acutely aware of in my research: First and foremost

I struggled constantly with my definition of the magickal lifestyle, and those who are

practitioners. The magickal lifestyle is correctly defined, but it encompasses such a broad

array of practitioners that the idiosyncrasies between groups will need to be investigated

further. In the world of Wicca alone there are many different cosmologies being

experienced and participated in, which one can only really string together with my

classification for the magickal lifestyle, but which differ from each other much more than

one would imagine. When I then add shamanism to the mix, I am further expanding the

magnifying glass. There is no way that I would have access to a practicing shaman from
 58

every culture, and Wicca seems to stem from a European shamanic practice. In fact I can

say with authority that the only shamanic cosmology I have had access to is Peruvian,

expressed through two women that do not originate from Peru.

I primarily interviewed women, and the only two men were homosexuals, which I

think is a testament to my own bias, and who I choose to consort with magickally. It

would be advantageous to investigate a greater male perspective, to find if there are

significant differences in types of magick practiced and how healings are performed.
 APPENDIX 1

Interview Schedule:

My focus so far is actually an exploratory study of southern California witches

and shamans. I am looking at the way language is used to explain the experience of

magick and healing.

My questions are geared at having ya'll tell me your story of how you got

involved in and what you've experienced in witchcraft/shamanism. Also, I would like to

remind you that you can revoke your consent at any time.

These are the basic questions, though I will be listening to your answers

and asking questions that reflect on what you have said.

How did you become a witch or how did you discover you were a witch?

If you consider yourself something other than a witch, what is that?

I am interested in your story, how did happen to get involved with the Craft/practice?

Were you raised with a particular religion? Tell me about that.

Have you experienced magick? Tell me a story of your most profound magickal

experience.

Tell me your favorite magick story.

Have you performed any healings?

What can you tell me about your experience as a healer?

Tell me your favorite healing story.

59
 60

Do you tell non-magickal people about your healing and magick experiences?

When telling others about healings or magick have you found that you have to change

your language to explain?

Lastly, here is your chance to tell the people in academia what it is you think they

need to be studying, or an aspect they’ve missed that you think they should research

further.

(From what I’ve experienced these questions take the interview to an hour, if not a bit

more)
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