Can you be a magician and a witch at the same time?

[magick&psionics]

Idk where I heard the term maybe it was in a vision or a dream or something. But I heard the term. Magici-witch and it kinda makes sense due how in ancient greece, witches back then were called
pharmakis: which is a woman who distributed herbs, drugs and potions.
Aoidos: which is a singer or an enchantress
Nekromantis which is one who would communicate with the dead to gain future insight
And finally we have the word
Mágissa: which is a witch or sorceress

So yeah I kinda feel like magici-witch could be a term in the future

 

[OberonFromTheHills]

Nobody will stop you from being both so why not?
(Pov: i always thought that, in 2026, those terms were basically synonymous )

 

[Firetree]

Idk where I heard the term maybe it was in a vision or a dream or something. But I heard the term. Magici-witch and it kinda makes sense due how in ancient greece, witches back then were called
pharmakis: which is a woman who distributed herbs, drugs and potions.
Aoidos: which is a singer or an enchantress
Nekromantis which is one who would communicate with the dead to gain future insight
And finally we have the word
Mágissa: which is a witch or sorceress

So yeah I kinda feel like magici-witch could be a term in the future

Does a witch do magic in their practice ? I think so . So, you can be both .

It used to be poo-pooed , and there was a bit of this or that camp 'fighting' going on about it . Mhe ..... I held a magical order initiation ( several degrees ) while concurrently 2 degree in Wicca . Only issue was some snoots in the Order which looked down on Wicca . Also in our 'Order group' we had an initiate that was the local Wiccan 3rd degreee HPS , and the local head of that Order was good mates with her and they often worked together , and I often worked with thm - in a triangle . It was potent !

Post automatically merged: Today at 2:55 AM

Here is a bit of both

 

[dcwilson]

Idk where I heard the term maybe it was in a vision or a dream or something. But I heard the term. Magici-witch and it kinda makes sense due how in ancient greece, witches back then were called
pharmakis: which is a woman who distributed herbs, drugs and potions.
Aoidos: which is a singer or an enchantress
Nekromantis which is one who would communicate with the dead to gain future insight
And finally we have the word
Mágissa: which is a witch or sorceress

So yeah I kinda feel like magici-witch could be a term in the future

There is no reason you can't do both! Wiccan magick doesn't have to be followed to the letter, and you can always be a solitary! Neo-Pagan groups like their own ways, but pretty much anything goes there. If you join a coven, they'll have their own way of doing things, but there is no rule I know of that prevents you from doing what you want there either. I don't know too much about the Orders, but I doubt they care one way or another; do their stuff when you're with them. You may have to ask them about it though.

 

[Feywer]

In my mind, I always kind of imagined that the term Witch referred to either a Wiccan or someone who practiced Witchcraft (as, Wicca and Witchcraft are entirely different things); and that a Magician was more into high or learned magic. I practice both, and like to use both terms. Not interchangeably, but to provide elaboration on my practices.

 

[solxyz]

There is no fundamental difference between the two. They are just general descriptors of broad trends in styles of practice and philosophy. Unless you're following a very specific ritual system, such as is taught in particular magical orders or some initiation-based covens, you can integrate whatever kinds of approaches you like.

 

[ewiz]

In my mind, I always kind of imagined that the term Witch referred to either a Wiccan or someone who practiced Witchcraft (as, Wicca and Witchcraft are entirely different things); and that a Magician was more into high or learned magic. I practice both, and like to use both terms. Not interchangeably, but to provide elaboration on my practices.

I agree, and would say this is how most people will see it. No reason why you couldn't be both or call yourself both, but they do imply different things.

 

[MorganBlack]

Without making rules for anyone:

Historically service magicians and Cunning Folk are very "witchy", as is Iberian Folk Catholic sorcery.

Then there are plenty of excellent magicians who only engage with "The Above" (the Noetic-Mind layer of reality) and never directly engage with "The Below" of the sublunar or Underworld spirits and forces.

The Grimoium Verum is my main grim. We are Solomonic magicians but also very "witchy," forming alliances with sublunar spirits in a way that looks like a witch's familiar. But we also enage with "the Above." for self-coherence and authority (btw, the best authority comes from Love and not force, just saying).

Then there are Folk Catholic necromancers who would never call themselves magicians nor witches. They're just Catholics.

There are Folk Catholic magicians who do call themselves sorcerers / bokors / brujos / brujas, are very devout Catholics , but have no issue smacking people upside the head with a 2 x4 plank of chthonic spirit sorcery or necromancy.

Then there are the 20th Century Wiccans who practice "High Magic"- Golden Dawn ritual tech reskinned with Victorian pastoral poetry - who never conjure sublunar spirits, yet call themselves witches.

I say do whatever you like. It might just work out for you, but in conversations, please be specific what "level" of reality you are calling in your own cosmo-conception.

A minor pet peeve on mine - it does not help with clarity when modern magicans and pagans confuse the planes and try to verbally elevate chthonic forces to the "Above." Not saying it won't work, but to me it looks like they are trying to trigger the Underworld Intitation through ceremonial mimicry instead of spirit contact, who hold the key to intitation here. Not to be too harsh, but I am not sure their approach works, and seems more a way for them to accesss the Above as non-Christians (all good) while LARPing they are contacting the Below (my real issue here). But still looking at it.

 

[OberonFromTheHills]

I also that a witch was using low magick (kitchen magick, hoodoo, folk stuff) while a magician was more into ceremonial magick and in more academic stuff.

Once again, it's 2026, and i see a lot of people practicing both or mixing both.

 

[MorganBlack]

Historically what "witchcraft" meant was "malefica" - magic to harm.

Gardner "reclaimed it''' - by making shit totally up - so many Anglo witches of the Wiccan school do not perform rites to harm.

What Wiccans and modern witches practice would have been called "Natural Magic" - and it's the exact same stuff, just with some names, and the cultural and intellectual framework changed around a little. It is the same stuff good Baptists rootworkers do , as well as Catholics, Muslims - all without calling it "witchcraft" in the 20th century ret-conned meaning.

What is meant by "witchcraft" in Mexico, and even "magic" in Haiti is vastly darker and meaner than very nice, kind, usually white-as driven snow Natural Magic and "folk magic" (a term taken from anthropology, and not a form of separate magic unto itself)) of Wiccans and modern witches.

That said, all good. But vauge terms makes cross cultural converation a thousand times harder than they need to be

And to another wrinkle, Natural Magic was allowed by the Church, which issued a clarification back in the 1970's that they have no issues with "white magic" even using that exact phrase. They just don't like you practicing "malefica" - meaning magic to harm... witchcraft.

So are Catholic natural magicians , practicing what they see as a Sacred Science ... witches?

I just let people call themselves whatever they want, but they also-need to define their terms, or the words lose all meaning, and just mean whatever we want them to mean in a bland post-modern soup, making future mis-understandings more frequent and severe.

 

[Mycelial_Adept]

The titles in the occult world are just human made words. the manipulation of reality is happening regardless of the method someone is skilled in. what matters are results. Personally, I have seen low magic practitioners outperform high magic practitioners repeatedly. However, that seems to come from key differences lots of "high magic" practitioners have, mainly, many high magic practitioners are often almost exclusively theoretical occultists, performing a ritual occasionally. Most do not train the body and mind which is needed. where are low magic practitioners are normally elbow deep in the work they need to do.

They being said, I know several practitioners of high magic who can produce powerful results as well, but they put in a LOT of mental/spiritual training.

Personally, I think a fusion of the two is always good. I don't understand why people get so hung up on the titles of it all though.

 

[Darkat]

It's your life, so do what you want to do. If you want to mix witchcraft with some more ceremonial magick then just go ahead and do it.
Who is going to stop you.
I happily mix witchcraft, daemonolatry and other forms of magick.

 

[Lucien6493]

I've never encountered a definition of witch or of witchcraft, let alone of magician, that has anything to do with my actual practice. Quite honestly, I really don't care because what others call me is not on me. It is a convenience. I belong to no Orders let alone Covens so I just call myself a swampy sort of feral hedge witch and leave it that, but only if you ask, because I love you, or maybe not. I practice magick, that makes me a witch. The rest is glamor, entwined with first principles (lineage) and I like it that way. I don't believe in left or right, up or down, higher or lower. I don't organize reality that way. I'm just vibing, like Circe on her rock. So, you know...Toss the bottle. Drink the sea. Tend to your haunting. I have spent a lifetime trying to wrest language from the tyranny of meaning so if you can pronounce it, call me a Chwedleuwr or a Cloud Walker. A storyteller then. A shaper of reality. A witch by any other name.

 

[MorganBlack]

On a personal level I'm supportive of whatever people want to try. They might find something good!

But I draw the line ret-conning personal things backwards in time that are not part of the historical tradition. Making new ones is fine.

I mean, I don't like to brag but I'm TOTALLY a yogi master in the totally legit school of Aggressive Microwave Yoga, Bhastrika Microwaveasana

First you have to wear this special magic robe I'll sell ya, and assume a slight squat. Stare intensely at a point on a microwave oven exactly two inches in front of your face. Hold this pose for 90 seconds to four hours while radiating pure, peevish impatience, mimicking the exact energy of waiting for leftover pizza to heat up at 2:00 AM. Channel this into your second chakra. Contort your body into a shape that defies human anatomy, realizing halfway through that you missed a step three hours ago. Hold this pose while experiencing a profound sense of isolation and a distinct lack of paremsan cheese.