Today there is a rich heritage of magical practices
and beliefs on which we can call to satisfy our
need for control over our own lives. Where
conventional religion no longer offers an outlet
for our sense of belonging, we can turn to
magical rituals and spell making to honour our
origins. We can make use of the knowledge and
practices that have been handed down to us and
have survived, often in the face of adversity. The
principles that form the basis of magical practice
still operate today, as do the various belief
systems associated with them.
Many of these belief systems take their names
from the Greek word theo, meaning god. One
can be polytheistic (belief in many gods) yet see
all things as being part of one great mystery, or
monotheistic (belief in one god) yet recognize
that for others there may be many gods. Again
one might be atheistic (with no belief in god),
with simply a belief in one’s own power.
In the working of magical spells no one can
tell you what to believe – you must make your
own decisions. The words ‘paganism’ and
‘pagan’ come from the Latin paganus, meaning
‘rustic’ or ‘belonging to the country’. Largely,
ancient paganism was pantheistic (believing in
all gods) but today the word has come to mean
someone who does not recognize the God of
the main religions of the world, such as
Christianity or Judaism. We are much closer to
a belief in the power of nature and for those
who seek to use magic and spell making in
their daily lives, there is the need for love and
respect for all living things. How we express
that will be mirrored in our spell making.
