I read a post earlier today stating
"Magic doesn't belong to bigots, it belongs to Pagans"
The statement itself is deeply ironic. It seems to accidently become exactly what it condemns; a gatekeeping phrase that excludes others based on belief, identity, or history. All while claiming to speak for a primordial, arcane, and inclusive force like magic.
Paganism is a wide umbrella that spans countless traditions; Norse, Celtic, Hellenic, Kemetic, Slavic, animist, and more. Some pagans are radically inclusive, some hold bloodline based or ancestral exclusivity. So, Paganism isn't automatically antithetical to bigotry. That depends entirely on each practitioner.
Magic has existed long before any organized belief system, before words even. Indigeonous across the world practiced magic long before the term "pagan" was used. So, to say magic "belongs" to one group erases that older truth. Magic precedes paganism.
Someone can call themselves pagan, occultist, christian, or aetheist and still carry bigotry, or free themselves from it. Bigotry is a wound, not a belief system. It's the result of fear, insecurity, and indoctrination. Magic in its truest form seeks to transmute these wounds, instead of weaponize them. Magic responds to the heart, not the label.
I tend to have a more realistic view of things, separate from how I personally, and emotionally, feel about certain subject matters. Which can cause me to seem contrarian or even problematic to some people unwilling to face the truth.
The truth is that magic is not owned by any one group, religion, or bloodline. Though many try to claim it. Magic is woven into the fabric of reality and embedded into the DNA of every living thing. It live in the land, in every breath. It belongs to the earth, the air, the water, the fire, the Source. Magic is honored by those who do not seek to hoard it.
Magic is taken advantage of by people who fear losing power without it. Secret societies, elite groups, media moguls, politicians, dark practitioners, and other sorcerers seeking to influence outcomes, are all dangerous and parasitic paths. People who truly honor magic are those who know that true power is shared, not hoarded or stolen.
Unfortunately for the original author, and those who agree, magic does not discriminate. But it does choose those who listen. And to those who live in truth even when it requires sacrifice. It chooses those who carry the sacred, not as an ego badge, but as a promise. Unfortunately that includes the people you might deem as bigots.
To say "magic belongs to us, not them" is exactly the kind of thinking and attitude is meant to dissolve. Magic is not meant to serve your ego, superiority, or tribalism. It breaks illusion. It liberates, heals, connects. You can clearly tell when someone is misusing it. They are those who only touch its shadow, not the source.
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