Gray magic
Gray magic (also spelled magick) is magic that is not performed for specifically beneficial reasons, but is also not focused towards completely hostile practices.[1][2] It is seen as falling in a continuum between white and black magic. It is also called neutral magic
Overview
According to D. J. Conway, practitioners of white magic avoid causing any form of harm, even to enact positive outcomes. Gray magic incorporates all the beneficial purposes of white magic, but also works towards ridding the world of evils.[3] Ann Finnin states that many practitioners of gray magic employ the term because of its vagueness, and to avoid having to consider ethical questions.[4]
A rather different meaning to the term was given by Roy Bowers, an influential British witch of the 1960s. For Bowers, it was a technique of baffling, bewildering, and mystifying everyone he met in order to gain power over them; by doing so, he was always more sure about them than they were about him. In his article entitled Genuine Witchcraft is Defended, Bowers says the following:[5]
One basic tenet of witch psychological grey magic is that your opponent should never be allowed to confirm an opinion about you, but should always remain undecided. This gives you a greater power over him, because the undecided is always the weaker. From this attitude much confusion has probably sprung in the long path of history."[6]
References
- ^ Smoley, R. & Kinney, J. (2006) Hidden Wisdom: A Guide to the Western Inner Traditions. Quest Books. p. 121.
- ^ Cicero, Chic & Cicero, Sandra Tabatha The Essential Golden Dawn: An Introduction to High Magic. Llewellyn Books. p. 87.
- ^ Conway, D. J. Wicca: The Complete Craft. p. 43.
- ^ Finnin, Ann The Forge of Tubal Cain. p. 100.
- ^ Hutton, Ronald (1999) Triumph of the Moon p. 315
- ^ Bowers, Roy (1963) "Genuine Witchcraft is Defended" in Psychic News, 8 November 1963,p.8.