On the necessity of magical theory
We have all seen posts going around trying to define what separates the level of beginner, intermediate or advanced, weither talking about the magic itself or the practitioner. I even more wrote one myself when I felt like I learned all I could learn from beginner-oriented resources and was looking for more. And the conclusion I came to, is that the thing that will tell apart witches who will remain beginners forever (which isn't inherently bad, your path is your path) is your ability to build, create, or deduce a form of theory from the practical aspects of your craft.
For example, in the case of tarot, I have seen it's much less likely for someone to get the spooks and leave the practice all together if they have a solid understanding of what they do for, the ethics and the mechanics of it, as well as being able to integrate tarot into a potential faith or religious practice, for those interested. The witches who veer off the deep end, who suddenly renounce tarot or who fall to propaganda, New Age, or religious psychosis are the people who never looked deeper into tarot as a tool and what it entailed. For example, being a Christian Witch, I usually ask the Holy Spirit, a Saint or another entity to answer my questions. Each entity comes with their own language, their subjects preferences, their limits. Archangel Michael does not really give much of a shit when I ask him about my office gossip, but my Grandma Spirit loves that, and she is prone to telling me I should fight people more, when Michael used to teach me trigger discipline. Even in an animist viewpoint, I see the deck as being crafted by an artist so those intentions are somewhat inbued, and I do see my decks as having specific personalities or a bit of a temper, but I don't think the cards have a spirit themselves that is capable of guiding me the way a plant spirit, land spirit or other being could have.
The tarot is the tool, but I as a magician is the one doing the tuning into the energy of my guides, asking them a question, and then my energetic perception is helped by the cards to translate information. Same thing when reading for others, for me it works more like this:
I start by connecting with my own guides, asking to connect to a certain person. They guide me to them, either in the astral or by guiding me to their specific energy. Usually their guides are present as well, and may add limits, ask for a small offering, a codeword or straight out refuse the readings. Sometimes the person's soul (or their energy or their higher self, whatever way you see it) already knows me and the guides aren't present/visible. Some people I may only have been able to connect through their guides, that is especially the case if they are particularly energy sensitive, in a transformative period or very busy/stressed. I can still get information on them, but it usually feel like looking through a window at someone, instead of actually discussing with them.
After that though, I connect to the person myself, but I am still overseen by my guides and theirs, as such:
At this point, I can get a feel of their energy myself, and the tarot reading feels more like a discussion or a diagnosis, than feeling like asking your mom about how you are doing when I see you do your homework through the kitchen's window.
For witchcraft, I also have my own system. I see the world as a rhizome, everything and everyone is connected. Magic is about looking through the tapestry, and choosing the right bonds to tug on to favor the outcome you want. What it means is, everything that is technically possible through the mundane is possible through magic. Probably not likely, nor effective, nor probable, but possible. Any protection is penetrable, any person is hexable, any hex is breakable as long as you can use your creativity to poke at the right weakness. I have seen people gloat about being the most feared practitioner of their country but folding at any threat, and people claim they're untouchable but having lives run by bad luck they don't think to attribute to people potentially hexing them, magic stops where your imagination does. God I have even seen someone claimed they warded themselves against Justice itself in order to not deal with the consequences of their actions, and I'm thinking that if it was possible to do that, it would be possible to banish Bigotry and protect against Stupidity forever, which is simply not the case lol, but maybe I'm the one whose mind is not open enough then?
But then, without theory, what is left truly of someone who claims to be an advanced practitioner?
How can you diagnose how effective your magic is if you never stop to wonder how it works? How good can your tarot readings get if all you are doing is pulling cards but you don't have any methodology or theory of how and why it works? How well can you read and create energy intentionally if you don't build an understanding of what it is and why you can read it? How can you cast effectively if you don't have an understanding of what effective magic is, or if it is even right for you to cast magic, or if you don't have a solid understand of the consequences of your magic and if you are okay with them?
I think there comes a point, especially when it comes to practitioners who gloat about how many years they have of experience or sell their works, that having a magical theory is not just about understand their service, but understanding if the service is even worth it. I don't trust readers, no matter how many years, who have never shared their process or talked about the theory of tarot in a way I aligned with. I do not trust witches who never shared about their methodology, theory or even mentioned any witchcraft or magical tradition or framework of understanding.
Of course, everyone has a right to post, or to sell their services, or to give free spellwork or free readings. I however would call for caution about practitioners who claim titles (ex: priestess, oracle) and advanced roles without being able to back it up not only with experience, but also with knowledge and wisdom, weither that is in their specific traditions (for example, heathenry or hellenism) or in magic theory in general.
And you? What is your magical theory like?
