Gray magic, also called neutral magic, is magic that is not performed for specifically beneficial reasons, but is also not focused on completely hostile practices.[1][2] It is seen as falling into a continuum between white and black magic. It is also spelled gray magic, grey magic or neutral magic.
Overview
editAccording 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, a British Neopagan witch of the 1960s. For Bowers, it was a technique of baffling, bewildering, and mystifying everyone he met to gain power over them; by doing so, he was always more sure about them than they were about him.[5]
See also
edit- Left-hand path and right-hand path – Dichotomy between two opposing approaches to magic
References
edit- ^ Smoley, R.; Kinney, J. (2006). Hidden Wisdom: A Guide to the Western Inner Traditions. Quest Books. p. 121. ISBN 978-0835608442.
- ^ Cicero, Chic; Cicero, Sandra Tabatha (2003). The Essential Golden Dawn: An Introduction to High Magic. Llewellyn Books. p. 87. ISBN 978-0738703107.
- ^ Conway, D. J. (2001). Wicca: The Complete Craft. Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed. p. 43. ISBN 978-1580910927.
- ^ Finnin, Ann (2008). The Forge of Tubal Cain. Pendraig Publishing. p. 100. ISBN 978-0979616839.
- ^ Hutton, Ronald (1999). Triumph of the Moon. Oxford University Press. p. 315. ISBN 978-0198207443.
External links
edit
The dictionary definition of gray magic at Wiktionary
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