Highs and Lows of Magick
@euge--rome
High Magick
High magick, also known as ceremonial magick, is the type of magick done by learning a precise and typically complicated ritual or ceremony. Its origins (in the West) see it almost entirely rooted in judeo-christian myth until the late 19th century, and today many ceremonial witches continue to work using a high magick within that specific context. During the late 1800's and early 1900's the resurgence was known as The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, or the Golden Dawn for short. “The Golden Dawn was a magical system that blended elements of Christian and Jewish mysticism with elements of freemasonry and tarot, seeking to unify all of the religions into one single framework”. And although today this system is considered dead by many, the influence that the Golden Dawn had on Wicca and Thelema is strong, so it's legacy lives on through them. It is meant to have a spiritual purpose rather than a practical one, however these can absolutely overlap conceptually. These ceremonies and rituals involve improving the soul, which includes gaining divine purification, spiritual knowledge, having regular encounters with destiny/embracing one's own destiny, and attracting the proper magical influences for your soul to learn and grow in healthy way.
Low Magick
Low magick, also known as Folk magick, is a practical kind of magick having to do with healing, attracting luck or love, driving away evil, fertility, good harvest, etc. It is called folk magick because it is said to be the magick of “common folk”, and records of these practices are sparse due to the illiteracy of the practitioners. This is the kind of magick more well-known however because this is the kind of magick that is recognized and used more often today between the two. Contrary to High magick, low magick is called low magick because of its practical nature and association with the lower class. Rituals were simple and evolved over time and they included everyday items that the modern which is more than familiar with such as plants and wood and so on. Another name for low magick is natural magick, as it is linked closely to the natural world in the ways that I mentioned(it having to do with plants and wood and such). Natural magick has much to do with astrology and herbalism, however it's still in compasses more modern methods such as divination. Low magick has its roots in spiritual practices such as shamanism, which is regarded to be one of the world's oldest religions as well as one of the newest, as evidence of its practice has been discovered in Paleolithic cave art however it has evolved in such a way that many see it as being new rather than old because of the recently created Neo Shamanism variations. One of the earliest examples of shamanism, or at least that is what this cave art is believed to depict by experts, dates back to around 17,000 years ago. Shamanism is part of the Ainu religion and Japanese religion of Shinto, although Shinto is different in the way that it is Shamanism specifically made for an Agricultural Society. but enough of the history lesson, I'm getting a bit sidetracked here!
Conclusion
In all, the major historical difference between high magick and low magick is the classes it enveloped, however the difference today is that high magick is more ceremonial while low magick is more “casual” and down to Earth by comparison.
https://www.jsouthernstudio.com/blogs/esotericinsights/low-magick-vs-high-magick https://www.learnreligions.com/types-of-magic-95961 (info on shamanism, shintoism, and paleolitic art I learned in my AP Art class a few years ago)
TLDR: High magick is ceremonial, prepared carefully with instruments, emotions, and conjuring. It is rumored that the gods prefer high magick due to its formality.
Low magick is close to the opposite end is done using ordinary objects like a spoon or plants or a stick. Low magick is known for its simplicity and takes power from the earth instead of words or self power.
