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that Witches practice magic. They may have misguided ideas concerning the type of magic performed, but the Witch is firmly linked in popular thought with the magical arts.
    Wicca is, as we have seen, a religion that embraces magic as one of its basic concepts. This isn’t unusual. In fact, it’s often difficult to discern where religion ends and magic begins in any faith.
    Still, magic plays a special role in Wicca. It allows us to improve our lives and return energy to our ravaged planet. Wiccans also develop special relationships with the Goddess and God through magic. This doesn’t mean that every spell is a prayer, nor are invocations differently worded spells. Through working with the powers that the God and the Goddess embody,we grow close to them. Calling upon their names and visualizing their presence during spells and rites creates a bond between deity and human. Thus, in Wicca, magic is a religious practice.
    I’ve defined magic a number of times in my books. Surprisingly, this is a difficult task.My latest, most refined definition is:
    Magic is the projection of natural energies to produce needed effects.
    There are three main sources of this energy—personal power, earth power, and divine power.
    Personal power is the life force that sustains our earthly existences. It powers our bodies. We absorb energy from the moon and sun, from water and food. We release it during movement, exercise, sex, and childbirth. Even exhaling releases some power, though we recoup the loss through inhaling.
    In magic, personal power is aroused, infused with a specific purpose, released, and directed toward its goal.
    Earth power is that which resides within our planet and in its natural products. Stones, trees, wind, flames, water, crystals, and scents all possess unique, specific powers that can be used during magical ritual.
    A Wiccan may dip a quartz crystal in salt water to cleanse it and then press it against an ailing person’s body to send its healing energies within. Or, herbs may be sprinkled around a candle that is burned to produce a specific magical effect. Oils are rubbed onto the body to effect internal changes.
    Divine power is the manifestation of personal power and earth power. This is the energy that exists within the Goddess and God—the life force, the source of universal power that created everything in existence.
    Wiccans invoke the Goddess and God to bless their magic with power. During ritual they may direct personal power to the deities, asking that a specific need be met. This is truly religious magic.
    And so, magic is a process in which Wiccans work in harmony with the universal power source that we envision as the Goddess and God, as well as with personal and earth energies, to improve our lives and to lend energy to Earth. Magic is a method whereby individuals under none but self-determined predestination take control of their lives.
    Contrary to popular belief, magic isn’t supernatural. True, it is an occult (hidden) practice steeped in millennia of secrecy, slander, and misinformation, but it is a natural practice utilizing genuine powers that haven’t yet been discovered or labeled by science.
    This doesn’t invalidate magic. Even scientists don’t claim to know everything about our universe. If they did, the field of scientific investigation wouldn’t exist. The powers the Wiccans use will eventually be documented and so lose their mystery. Such has already partially occurred with hypnotism and psychology, and may soon happen to extrasensory perception.Magnetism, indeed, was a firmly established aspect of magic until it was “discovered” by science. But even today, magnets are used in spells and charms, and such forces as these call up strange, old feelings.
    Play with two magnets. See the invisible forces resisting and attracting in seemingly supernatural ways.
    Magic is similar. Though it appears to be completely nonsensical, with no basis in fact, it operates along its own rules and