Is Magick a Privilege or a Right?

“It can be both, but in the end, we seek to have powers that originate from our inner being rather than those that we are simply given or are loaned to us for a time.”

When Tolkien’s Frodo, Bilbo and Gollum had the ring that gave them the power of invisibility, the magick that they used was in the form of a privilege. As long as they possessed the ring (or the ring possessed them) they could use its powers, but the power was not their own and as soon as they lost the ring they lost the power.

The same idea is essentially contained in the idea of the genie or djinn in a lamp, in which an individual rubs the lamp (why not light it?) and a genie comes forth and must do their bidding. As long as they possess the lamp, they can direct the power of the djinn. And this is the essential idea with all sorts of magic objects, rings of power, enchanted swords, cloaks, boots, and so forth. The power belongs to the individual only as long as they have the magic object in their possession.

This is similar to the powers individuals obtain when they are elected President, Premier or hold some other official position where they may wield certain powers only as long as they hold the office. The power does not belong to them, it is only on loan, so to speak, it is a privilege but not a right.

We might say that prayer, which is the evocation of a particular deity, is a form of magick, but in prayer one becomes utterly subservient to and dependent upon the beneficence, grace or whim of that deity. One has given up any magick as either right or privilege and becomes much like villagers who go to the local witch to cast spells for love or success for them.

On the other hand, we have ceremonial magicians who are supposed to have formulas by which they might wield power over beings/demons/spirits who have power. In certain ways, this is rather like blackmail or the coercive practices of gangsters. You can blackmail a person into doing something they don’t wish to do but they never really like it and you can never really trust them not to betray you at the very first opportunity. This is the ‘power over’ sort of magick and this is popular among men. Is this power a right or a privilege? Well, it’s a mixture really. They have obtained the power to force the individual with power to do their bidding. It is a sort of right/rite, but an indirect right. They are still dependent upon outside forces to carry out their will, and usually, we are told, carry it out unwillingly. It is rather the power of the lion tamer. He never knows when they might take exception to his commands.

This idea of ‘power over’ is quite popular in the thinking of many men, and goblins and orcs and dark sorcerers, too. They are often heard to say in movies that one can’t be given power, it must be seized, it must be taken to be one’s own and here they are speaking of a distinction between privilege, elected office, we might say, and right of power, the assumption of power through the use of power. While some might question the legitimacy of power so obtained, few can deny the reality of such power. It is power obtained, even if by force, not power granted, although, uneasy rests the crown.

Similar in some ways is the magician or witch who carries out barter with spirits. The spirits still have the essential power, why else would the magician evoke them, but the witch/wizard/magician offers something in exchange for the spirits help. We might call this commercial magic. One is buying what one desires or trading for it really. This surely is, in part, the source of the idea that ‘magic always has a price’, that is so popular in modern media. In a certain sense this is a more reliable magic, since you don’t always have to fear that the spirits are out to trick or betray you, but like in business, as the Romans said, “Caveat Emptor,” “Let the buyer beware.” You still have to be sure of the reliability of the spirits you evoke.

Magick, as originally conceived, was the evocation of the powers of Nature and setting them into motion through the appropriate formulas. This is magick as being similar to chemistry. If you know the right formula and put the ingredients together in the proper measure and proper order and under the right conditions, things will turn out as you desire. The right of magick here might be thought in terms of forcing one’s will upon Nature, but the right comes from knowledge. It is not a privilege but an attainment of esoteric information that one can use to obtain what sHe (she/he) desires. And one might say one uses force, but really one uses the flow and tendencies of Nature. It is the understanding of the power of the fulcrum, the use of magick as block and tackle. It is not so much about the application of force but the transference of force.

In Buddhist thought, we are ultimately conceived to be one with our environment. We, as magic wielders, command the world and create it in the same way we command our own bodies. We are not forcing something outside of us to do this or that, but moving our own being as we will. Thus, we have people in the Matrix and other films telling someone who is attempting telekinesis not to move the object so much as be the object and then move.

We elves understand that we are not just channels of the magick for some outer force. Although it is an attunement with the magic of Nature around us, our magick is primarily the expression of our own inner being. The Magic Divine exists as potential in everything, but it is by arousing it within ourselves that we effect things magically outside ourselves. In that way, it does not just channel through us but also from us and then we can effect what is around us. Another way of saying this is that we are a part of the Magic Divine, so we just have to find it within ourselves and express it. This is also why self awareness and development is so important, in that we must clear the way within our consciousness in order to reach this potential.

We elves are primarily enchanters. It is true we have, and do, study all sort of magick, astrology, yoga and various other esoteric studies from various cultures around the world, but our primary use of magick is ever though enchantment, which involves the development of our own charms, personality and beings. It is true that we may get others to do things for us, and we surely reciprocate for their efforts, often giving them more than they gave us, but we don’t force spirits to act for us, and those who do serve us do so willingly and really are not outside of us, so much as a part of our magical and enchanting elfin family.

If there is privilege involved, it is our privilege in knowing and being associated with such wonderful kindred, on whatever plane they may currently be. If there is barter, it is in terms of mutual exchange and appreciation. We never have to fear that they are cheating us, because we will always give them more anyway. And it is a right because it is by virtue of our own efforts to develop ours’elves that we have obtained the authority that others lend us and is born of our own inner confidence, in ours’elves and also our confidence in them.

So, is magick a privilege or a right? It can be both, but in the end, we seek to have powers that originate from our inner being rather than those that we are simply given or are loaned to us for a time. Still, we elves don’t mind gifts and we ever seek to use them well so that what we have been given, even for a short while, will bear abundant fruit for the future.
Fardas Lovur Tae Lan (Dancing toward the dawn),
The Silver Elves
http://silverelves.angelfire.com

Also you may see all our The Silver Elves books on The Elven Way on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/The-Silver-Elves/e/B0070R8ER2/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1

 

“Elves often define magic as the art and science of recognizing in the world all around one the potential for being wondrous.”
—The Silver Elves

What sort of elf, faerie or other are you?
For years various kindred have asked us, the Silver Elves, to help them figure this out. Now we’ve created a questionnaire to help us do so. This is our gift to you. Simply follow the link & the directions. http://silverelves.angelfire.com/HAelfkin.html 

 

 

If you enjoyed the article above, you might enjoy finding out more about Elven Magick of the Silver Elves. Our magick practice is unique, as you will see in our book below on using the periodic table of elements to evoke spirits to assist you in life. You may read a sample chapter of this book on our website here:

The Elements of Elven Magic: A New View of Calling the Elementals
Based Upon the Periodic Table of Elements

THE ELEMENTS OF ELVEN MAGIC: A New View of Calling the Elementals Based Upon the Periodic Table of Elements is a book to use for summoning and evoking elements to help you in your life and magick. Taking a new look at the idea of the elements and the elementals, the Silver Elves have once again merged the reality of Science, which is Nature, and Occult tradition and have introduced the elements of Earth, Fire, Air and Water into the modern age of the Periodic Table of Elements. It is a new and original view of the Ways of the Ancients as expected of the Elves. The Silver Elves present for your consideration a new and elven way at pursuing the magical art of evocation of the Elements and the Elementals. Their wish is that it serves you well and hopefully evokes your own imagination and stirs your particular and individual style of magick.

 

“To the elven, magick is much like romance. We don’t attempt to force our way on others, we seek to charm them into assisting our will. But we do so because we find them amazing and lovely and trust that through our enchantments, they will consider us so as well. It is a dance and hopefully ever mutually fulfilling.”
—The Silver Elves

 

If you are further interested in our magic philosophy and rituals, we suggest that you visit our website and read sample pages and the table of contents of our two volumes (also both available on Amazon) of The Book of Elven Magick: The Philosophy and Enchantments of the Seelie Elves (volume 1) and here you will find volume 2. In these two books we explore the Elven viewpoint concerning magick and the tools of magic with magical ceremonies that may be adapted for use by modern faerie folk. The two volumes give the complete progression of color magicks and also explore Elven Vortexes and Covens, as well as our theories on calling the directions and dimensions and more.

The Book of Elven Magick:
The Philosophy and Enchantments of the Seelie Elves, volume 1
Please click on the link above to learn more about this book, view the table of contents, read sample pages and also some reviews from readers.

 

The Book of Elven Magick:
The Philosophy and Enchantments of the Seelie Elves, Volume 2

“This book, dear kin, and the others we have written are the magic signs we’ve left for those searching for Elfin/Faerie in and beyond the world. We bless you and grant your true wishes.”
—From the Book of Elven Magick, volume 2 

 

The Circle of Magic . . . . . .

The circle of magic
Goes ever round,
What we did in the past
In the present is found.

And spells we do now
In the future unfold,
In the time and the place
That our actions foretold.

So choose with great care
The choices you make,
For all you will give
Is all you did take.

And all that you gift
Will be your return
To Elfin most fair
With the lessons you learn.
— from An Elven Game of Rhymes: Book Two of the Magical Poems of Zardoa Silverstar by The Silver Elves

 

The Silver Elves invite you to come join us in some of our elven and magical otherkin Facebook groups where you will find our elven-faerie-fae otherkin community interacting and sharing the Elven Way:

Elf Witches of the Mystic Moon — https://www.facebook.com/groups/806583242768352

The Magical Books of the Silver Elves — https://www.facebook.com/groups/539205916250397 — And if you would like to find out more about our Silver Elves books on The Elven Way, please do join us! We have discussions about our Silver Elves books as well as about Elven and Otherkin philosophy, elven lifestyle and the Elven Way. If you have read our books and would like to discuss them with us, this is the place to come join in the discussions and ask questions.

Elven Life and Magic — https://www.facebook.com/groups/629491797123886

Elvish Magical Chat — https://www.facebook.com/groups/307775362744491

The Faerie Circle — https://www.facebook.com/groups/1025483294180077

Faerie Craft — https://www.facebook.com/groups/395403367195312 — This is a group to share your elven and fae creations.

I Heart Elven Magic — https://www.facebook.com/groups/2215672296

Feasting With the Elves (sharing elven recipes and healthy eating) — https://www.facebook.com/groups/597948240617006

United Otherkin Alliance — https://www.facebook.com/groups/328253710566869 This is an alliance for Otherkin/ Therians, where elves, faeries, dragons, kitsune, gnomes, hobbits, merkin, pixies, brownies, nymphs, driads, niaids, valkyrie, vampires, devas, fauns, unicorns, animal kin and all manner of Faerie Folk gather and come together! This group is open to anyone who wishes to be part of a congenial group of Otherkin.

The Elven Way and Friends — https://www.facebook.com/groups/165938637423212

Devayana: Buddhism, Vedic, & Asian Spirituality for Elves and Fae https://www.facebook.com/groups/devayana

Nature & the Unseen Realms with the Elves & otherkin. A spiritual journey — https://www.facebook.com/groups/196916350335537

 

 

And for further reading about elven magick and enchantment,
we suggest:

The Keys to Elfin Enchantment:
Mastery of the Faerie Light Through the Portals of Manifestation
by The Silver Elves

THE KEYS TO ELFIN ENCHANTMENT is a book of enchantment, for enchanters, revealing the Keys to Enchantment, the true and greatest magick of the elfin folk. It is filled with the philosophy of the elves and how they encounter and subtly transform the world wielding and fulfilling its dreams and desires while guiding it toward a better and more elfin future.

And please, when you come to our Silver Elves website do enjoy reading sample pages , tables of contents, and reader’s reviews of our 45+ books on magic and enchantment and the elven way at: http://silverelves.angelfire.com/HAelfbooks.html

You may also read excerpts from our magical tribes books here:  Just click on the titles below to read a blog post on each book, which includes a number of examples of tribe narratives from these two books:
ELF TRIBES: The Silver Elves’ Guide for Finding Your Magical Kind and Kin and  FAERIE, FAE AND OTHERKIN TRIBES: The Silver Elves’ Guide for Finding Your Magical Kind and Kin.

 

An elven poem for you on this beautiful day!

I WISH TO DANCE FOREVER FREE . . . . . .

“I wish to dance forever free
Upon the dewy down
As starlight through the mist does see
The glimmering of her gown.

And here and there about me round
They come with loving smiles
To dance and play the night away
With their enchanting wiles.

And where we step the moss springs back
No trace that we have been
Except in our deep memories
Shared among elf kin.

And others coming after
In the morning light
Find nothing of our revelry
But a vague sense of delight.”

— from An Elven Game of Rhymes: Book Two of the Magical Poems of Zardoa Silverstar by The Silver Elves

 

Please touch this tiny green star above, dear Kindred,
for an Elven Blessing!

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Tags: ceremonial magicians, djinn, elven elementals, enchantment magick, Frodo and magick