"Black versus White Magick" By
Gaia_d@yahoo.com – Please don’t reproduce without permission.
Someone posted the following in a discussion on “Darkness” and “Black magick” recently:
“Everything i have read thus far has taught me the difference between black magick and white magick -- black being used for bad...white for good…..
But others tell me to “embrace” Darkness.
Can anyone explain?”
And here is my reply:
What a great question!
Yes, i’m afraid even some good authors like Cunningham, do use the terms, “Black / Dark” magick to describe “evil” or destructive magick, and do caution beginners to avoid practices that can be harmful both to themselves and others.
Unfortunately, though, this is an extreme over-simplification that only serves to re-assert and emphasize the Christian elements that are deeply embedded in our culture – and few if any try to sort it out, for beginners or others -- So i’d like to try, if i can.
The idea that “white = good” and “bad = black/ evil” is a very old one that (afaik) came out of Zoroastrianism (a very early middle-Eastern religion) – and it was absorbed into many other Middle-Eastern religions and philosophies – notably, Greek philosophy, Judaism and later, Christianity.
Early philosophers split the entire Universe into sets of “opposites”, such as:
- COLUMN A ------- COLUMN B
- Spirit ------- Matter
- Light ------- Darkness
- Good ------- Evil
- Heaven ------- Earth (or Hell)
- Culture ------- Nature
- Sun ------- Moon
- Logic ------- Emotion
- Reason ------- Intuition
- Mind ------- Body
- Linear Time ------- Wholistic Time
- Creation ------- Destruction
- Birth ------- Death
- Growth ------- Disintegration
- Male ------- Female
-- Furthermore, they said that for the Universe to operate safely and correctly, everything in "Column A" must “rule over and hold in check” everything in "Column B". This was the philosophical rationale for white males “ruling” over everything from the Earth, to Nature, to women.
This philosophical view entered Christianity by way of “Saint Paul” who (as a Roman citizen) was steeped in it – and together, they became the foundation for Western thought and culture for the next 2000 years.
It’s been picked up by NewAgers who pretty much hate, fear, and avoid Darkness. If someone considers himself a “Lightworker”, it’s very likely he’s a NewAger rather than Pagan or Wiccan.
But consider for a moment: There is ANOTHER way to understand / view the Universe, that is NON-dualistic. This alternate way -- the more Pagan / Wiccan way -- views the universe NOT as a collection of dualistic opposites, but rather, as a collection of
diversities within ultimate UNITY or BALANCE; and it is the BALANCE that is important, not one "side" or the other.
Wiccans (and many other Pagans) honor the Universe as a totality; they do *not* split it up into opposites (ie, "Light (Good)" versus "Dark(Evil)"; nor do they accept the Christian notion that there is some sort of great "battle" waging between "Good and Evil"; nor that they must take "sides" in any such battle.
Wiccans honor both “sides” or “phases” of the Cycle of Renewal: the downward-or-inward turning, end of every Cycle is as important to the whole, as the upward-or-outward turning, productive part. We MUST make way for death and disintegration, in order to create new space and opportuntities for new growth.
Consider a Garden: If you want to have a productive garden, you have to destroy pests and weeds. That’s destructive, but is it “black” gardening? To plant a seed, you must put it into the dark earth to sprout. Unending light would be as dangerous as absolute darkness. The “growth” principle without the principle of limitation or death, is what we call “Cancer”.
Similarly, the tendency to split magick into concepts of "White (good)" versus "Black (evil)" is irrelevant to and has no place in Wicca; it comes out of Christian, NOT Wiccan, world-view and ethics.
And, there are other problems with such terms / ideas.
As mages and metaphysicians, we know that Words have power to create and sustain social systems, cultures, and even reality. If we use word-concepts like "Black=evil" and "White=good" in magick, we support and encourage the dualistic world view that splits the universe into two opposite and opposing "camps";
-- The view that celebrates and idealizes Spirit over matter, mind over body, logic over intuition, heaven over earth, order over chaos, light over darkness, and males over females. It's a "packaged deal," y’see.
Furthermore, As long as we allow the word "black" to symbolize evil, we buy into, encourage and perpetuate its inherent racism.
Wiccans (and again, many other Pagans) see Magick as neither white nor black, good nor evil – but rather as a TOOL – like a hammer. A hammer may be used to build houses, or tear down old ones – and a good, well-used hammer will eventually be used for both purposes.
Whether magick manifests as positive or negative is dependent upon HOW it is USED, and the INTENT of the USER.
I hope that’s helpful – Blessed Be ~ GaiaDianne