Originally written as private correspondence, posted to alt.magick.moderated with the correspondent anonymized. A practitioner with twenty years of experience in occult theory and practice offers a careful taxonomy of magical categories, distinguishing material magic from religious theurgy, verbal spellwork, psychicism, and astral technique — and explaining why the question "can magic exist without matter?" is not as simple as it appears.
Introduction
Of course, there are as many spells as there are humans who have imagination to make them. Whether they are of any likelihood to be effective is another matter entirely.
I don't think magic exists without symbols of some kind, though there are occultists who are convinced that spells and other magical rites may be achieved or effected without any material components at all.
Matterless Categories of Magic?
Once you transcend matter I think you're dealing in the realm of psychism/psychicism, and this strikes me as both unreliable and worthless for my interests.
The mind-only mages can figure out the details of what a "spell" means for someone who is not dealing with matter or physical associative connections — as to the spell's target or in construction of talismans.
There is a sizable portion of the occult community who want the following types of activities to be an aspect of magic and insert them therein without much substantiation or rationalization:
- spells with verbal components only
- power words that unlock inherent energy
- psychic powers
- fantasy-based effects (ADnD, movies, etc.)
- mystical and religious aims and limits
- religious and ethical beliefs and conduct
Each of these by themselves are fine to focus upon and specialise in or study if you have the interest. But as someone who has evaluated occult theory and practices for the past twenty-odd years and compared it all with other things (including its competitor expressions and socioculture), my impression is that those who insert these are unaware of the common foundation from which magic actually springs, and what its generalisable contents sustainably include.
Religious Magic
Now some portion of the activities incorporated into religion and mysticism do not in fact require any kind of direction (or intent) or symbolism other than that inherent to the action engaged. This would include such things as mediumship and laying on of hands for healing. The intention is usually born in mind, and the effect is direct, rather than symbolic.
Transmutational effects by the religious which are subtle and do in fact include symbols and intentions — often for mystical or purificatory ends — are more recognisably magical or divinatory in a conventional sense. Whether this is censing/aspurgation as part of a blessing (e.g. with salt water or burned herbs), or the consumption of a eucharistic and/or alchemical ritual construction, or effecting some kind of conceptual/spiritual boundary for the purpose of "creating sacred space" or "working space" for further rite and spell, they become more complex and recognisably magical in their construction no matter what the religious themselves call it.
Scriptural and lyrical spellwork or religion will at points adhere more closely to the kind of matterless or extremely simple recitation of hallowed text or associated magical effect — as by recitation of very specific portions of scripture for particular effects like surahs, psalms, or prayers. Pieces of scripture are enclosed in worn amuletic devices for this purpose also, and therefore require little other than one's text of faith and some scissors along with a modified carrying device into which the sliver or scroll may be fitted.
Magic or Not?
We might brainstorm some common containment devices that could be gotten from one's home or from a local grocery store. The use of home-made amuletic contents, such as the construction of name-papers, should also be easy enough for anyone with ordinary means.
Whether this falls within the purview of the action of prayer (entreaty, appeal, appeasement, etc.) or spellwork is an academic question of little import to those who feel that the effectiveness of what is done does not depend upon its classification so much as the faith or propriety in respect of the religion.
As far as my involvement (for reference and research) is concerned, prayer does NOT qualify on its own as a kind of magical spell. Thaumaturgy — the effecting of change by the magician — is occult. Whereas theurgy — the effecting of change by the deity, especially as it enters into prayer — is not.
Borderlands of Occultism
Therefore, your query as a request for "spiritual spells" is like the ADnD "verbal spell components only" spells. In RPGs this applied to only a few of the spells included, and typically had their catalyst in the mind of the spellcaster.
English and Irish spellcasting sometimes takes on this form, with its lyrical referent to components or spell effects, and religious or mystical verbals where not qualifying as a prayer usually borrow from magical tradition in some manner — as by gesture, or at the least the inclusion of minimal tools and components (books and reading from them, gestures by priests of the god, etc.).
There is also a good argument for the notion of "astral spellwork" in which the components of all spellcraft are strictly imagined for symbolic sake, and this done on what is called "the astral plane" (which I interpret as the stage of imagination). In that sense ALL spellwork might be spiritual.
By my understanding of what spirituality is, I'd say that there are numerous spiritual spells of the sort which seek to improve or optimise experience of the world — i.e. it isn't their components that are the referent for "spirituality" but the effects — and that a good number of rites or activities which are associated with spirituality aren't spells at all but are sometimes categorised along with spells, such as quietist meditation, mystical disciplines of repetition such as mantram or yoga, prayer or spirit contact/mediumship/invocation/evocation.
What's the Matter for You?
The bulk of truly magical disciplines and activities do require material components or tools, and those who specialise in nonmaterial methods/effects tend to develop a particular name for what they are doing (e.g. "reiki," "ESP," or "channelling"). Some in the occult community have attempted to legitimise these actions by calling them "direct magick" or any other more complimentary and toolless referent that one might take up as spiritual discipline (such as "High Magick," "Magical Philosophy," or even "spiritual alchemy").
This may serve as a brief introduction to "matterless magic" as a category of investigation and research. It is not intended as a substitute or as a sampler of verbal-only spells or religiomystical activities.
Good luck with those.
Colophon
Posted to alt.magick.moderated by nagasiva yronwode (posting as tyaginator), December 28, 2007. Originally written as private correspondence.
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
Archived for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.
🌲