I started learning about magic a good 8 years ago. I was at that time inspired by the occult in the media like in shows, namely Buffy, The Craft and the sort. It started as that for me. I was totally fascinated with the power that magic could bring. You hated a guy? Cool, no problem, curse him to hell. You liked a girl? No problem too, do a love spell and hey presto she�s there for you. Got money problems? Viola, spell = money.

No doubt, this works. I had girl problems, magic solved it. I had bullies and stuff, magic solved it. I needed money, magic solved it. Pretty soon, I began looking towards magic as my cure-all. But lightning never strikes twice. Every irritancy and nuance demanded a more elaborate ritual or at least a properly blessed charm to cure it. In other words, I began to foster a dependency towards magic. It became my crutch. Now this is what many wise magicians talk about when they say that magic is a curse upon humanity. The learning magician, when faced with this and that will soon enough resort to doing some sort of spell or ritual to overcome this barrier.

I have seen this case illustrated at least a hundred times. I�ve been on IRC channels, forums, occult shops and sometimes even to occult lodges and I see this same weird pattern being repeated and propagated. Magician has a problem, spell cures it. This process, while being repeated over and over again causes a serious mental disease. You lose your soul.

Magic is seriously not a form of escapism. In its truest sense, magic is not a very pleasurable process. Magic is not about running away from every problem you face and hiding behind some elaborate ritual or spell. It�s not about dependence on external forces. On some mystical force or some ancient ritual. It�s about living.

Magic is not really pleasurable because it is an acceleration. A rapid increase in learning force and intelligence and intuition. It is like a rocket engine that launches your learning curve skyward. When you face problems, magic is not there to be used to solve it. Therein lies the curse.

God made magic in such a special way that its secrets were only revealed to people who were really ready to learn about it. It is sort of like a self-locking system. Like one of those safety caps on medicine bottles. The medicine is inside but since the kid can�t open it to get to the good stuff, they either junk it aside in boredom or are happy tossing the bottle around and rolling it for enjoyment.

The pagans and heathens of old who strongly believed and lived within such systems as ancient witchcraft and paganism knew this very well. That is why, besides doing their yearly say harvest ritual, they would also go out there and work on the fields and put some hard labor into it. They just use magic to augment the process and guide them in the most beneficial way possible.

This is what made the ancient pagans so wise and that�s what helped them survive. Imagine if all they did was do their harvest rituals then go back into their houses, sit down and wait for the wheat to grow by itself. Quite frankly, we wouldn�t be here right now. We would have died waiting.

The same principles apply to our modern life right now. The only thing that has changed is that we live sheltered lives, protected by our societal exoskeleton. If there is a bad guy on the street, we don�t worry too much because the cops are out there. For some people too, it doesn�t matter if they don�t work. They can live quite happily of their dole money and by leeching off others. If anything goes wrong, we blame our governments and say they never took care of us. In the face of every adversity there is something there to bolster to fall. So much so that we have forgotten how to think on our feet. We have forgotten the values of practicality and hard work.

I�ve seen plenty of teens out there bitch and moan about stress and boredom and stuff like that. �Oh no, I have no money to buy those shoes. Let�s do a spell�. �Oh no, I love that girl but she loves someone else. Let�s do a spell�. �Oh no my exams are around the corner, lets do a spell�. I am no exception from this. I am in fact, guilty of this every day. Sometimes unconsciously, sometimes consciously but still ignored. Have we ever stopped to consider our plight against others?

My apartment block will be undergoing upgrading soon. Their going to be doing renovations in it and my house will be in a mess. And seriously, I�m majorly stressed over it because I am the one that�s going to be inconvenienced. Then I sent my mind out on an excursion. In the world, 5,000 children die everyday due to improper sanitation and housing. Die. I�m not talking about getting bad grades or losing a girlfriend or not getting a new pair of Nike�s. Their dead. Nothing much left there. But for every 5,000 that die, there is another 5,000 that make it. For today at least. That�s magic. Magic is when you work to overcome the odds and learn from it. Morgan Freeman said it best in Bruce Almighty : � Magic is when a single mother works 2 jobs to support her children but still finds time to raise them in a loving environment, Magic is when a teenager says no to drugs�..� Magic is about an evolution. A revolution perhaps, considering our plight now. If we do not change our dependency on external sources and not exercise our God-given abilities, we are destined to face the fate of others before us. Sure, there are spirits and objects along the way that can help you.

Like the 360 spirits that surround the realm of Malkuth(Earth). They can teach you all manner of things. They can even do things for you, but every wise magician will be wary of these things because getting people/spirits to do things for you will only result in dependency. In addition to this, its you who will lose out in the end because you lost a chance to practice.

Spirits and demons and wands and pentacles are just an aid. They make things that much easier when you know what you are doing.

The next time when you are faced with a challenge, when the odds are against you and times seem tough. Use a little magic. Use it for guidance and strength and willpower to dissolve all obstacles. Don�t use it as an easy way out. It just might be a trap. Anything that was ever worthwhile had to be worked hard for. The magician is not a person who can cast spells or raise the most demons or who has the most rings or pentacles. The magician is a fighter above all the rest. An immortal spirit that cannot be killed. A spirit who is imbued with a fire to burn down all obstacles. A human, a child of God. God made us in God�s image. Tells us a lot about ourself and who we are. Its not about handphones or cars or games. Its about living life and learning. You are a magician the moment you are born.