This is a very heated topic in some circles because some people feel very passionately about differentiating magic vs. magick. But what are we actually differentiating? Is there really a difference between magic and magick? Does adding the “k” really make any difference in the meaning? Should we even be using the “k?” What is the point?
According to some sources, the word “magick” is quite old, showing up in translations as early as 1651. The earliest use of the spelling of “magick” is that by Heinreich Cornelius Agrippa. Agrippa was a 16th-century physician, occultist and philosopher. Agrippa’s works (primarily his Three Books on Occult Philosophy) were arguably some of the most important works written in Western Occultism often being referred to as its foundation.
However, as with most words in the English language, letters were later dropped with words such as shoppe becoming shop, olde becoming old, and magick becoming magic. It wasn’t until the Victorian Period that the k was brought back by Aleister Crowley. During this period, mesmerism and spiritualism were captivating audiences across Europe, especially in England. He defined magick famously as “the science and art of causing change to occur in conformity with will” in his book Magick In Theory and Practice. His public explanation for the spelling was to distinguished this with the magic of fairytales, folklore and stage magician slight-of-hand. Today, many witches still follow this practice, using magick to describe their craft and rituals while using magic to describe illusions and tricks. Some occult practitioners today still prefer the “k” feeling that the magic which they work with is the same as the magic of folklore and legend.
Sage, from exemplore.com sums it up perfectly. Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales:
Whan that Aprille with his shoures soote
The droghte of Marche hath perced to the roote,
And bathed every veyne in swich licour,
Of which vertu engendred is the flour;
My spell check is having conniption fits. That’s Middle English; Old English is even more unrecognizable. Moral of the story: we don’t speak Middle English anymore. So why pluck the spelling of one isolated word out of the past? We have standardized spelling since then, and the word magic in our standardized modern spelling doesn’t have a ‘k’.
Some will argue “but that’s how witches spelled it back then.” Maybe, but they also spelled it Aprille instead of April, and shoures instead of showers like Chaucer. Back then, the ‘k’ was not an attempt to sound archaic; it was the actual spelling. Things have changed.
I agree with her. When I see that many red lines under words, it sets off my anxiety that I am spelling things wrong but unfortunately, it is all accurate.
Spelling magic with a ‘k’ has become a very common thing in the Pagan community at large, particularly with Wiccans. As Wicca exploded in popularity in the 90’s, and more and more books came out, almost all of them seemed to include that ‘k’—books were not about magic, they were about magick . Gerald Gardner—Wicca’s founder—used magic in all of his writings. So did Doreen Valiente. It’s often mistakenly believed to be a Wiccan tradition. There’s no actual historical relevance to the ‘k’ in Wicca.
On that note, Aleistor Crowley is often credited with having brought it back into our century but he also made things up and changed many words and meanings without regards to the rules of language construction or grammar. His works are considered controversial because a lot of it is untrue and created with the end product of mesmerizing his followers, not staying true to the actual old ways of magic. I read his works for the historical knowledge of the changing times and his influence on others who enabled pagan religions to stand out and excel, and not so much for accurate material I can apply to my own craft.
It makes no difference in pronunciation. The only time it can be seen as relevant is in writing. When you write about witchcraft, spells, or famous magicians like John Dee, do you really believe that without the ‘k’ people would think you meant sawing a lady in half? When you, as a pagan, talk about magic with someone, rarely are they going to think you mean card tricks.
When my friends ask me what witchy things I am up to today, they know I am not going to ask them to pick a card. They know that I am probably burning candles and herbs and meditating in my circle and potentially casting spells or making sachets to help me in life.
So what is the correct spelling of the word? Who cares? Spell it however you want. Spell it medjuke if you want. The most important thing is your intention in influencing your magic works.
From our altar to yours, with love from the sea,
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