First off, a disclaimer. This is not intended to mock or offend high magicians. I was a practicing high magician for years and years, and it's a fantastic segue into magic. Moving on.
High magic, sometimes more aptly called ceremonial magic, is traditional spell casting and occultism at it's finest and most high point. People clad in robes with deep cowls and masks, candles, chalk outlines, a sack full of ritual gear, and everything in it's proper place or may the Gods help you.
This is fantastic for seekers or initiates, because it gives the conscious mind precisely what is expected. By doing this it placates the conscious and allows the subconscious to work the true deep magic of the world by creating an atmosphere of magic. Simply put, it puts you in a magical state of mind.
However, what does this do for the experienced magician? For the magician where magic is more science than faith, the magician that lives a holistic life where the magical and the mundane are not separate, where conscious and unconscious intermingle at will, the magician that has forsaken the comforting illusions of separation? For us, these extra tools are useful, but no longer necessary.
Almost any experienced magician or witch or what have you will tell you the same thing. These tools are fantastic for creating the right state of mind, but once you can do so without them they become unnecessary. They will tell you that the theories and trappings of high magic are useful, and that it is a wonderful starting point. However, there comes a point in your path where you must let go of what has aided your ascent heretofore in order to climb ever higher. What was once helpful, held on to far too fiercely, becomes stagnant dead weight that will drag you down.
Until next time,
May the stars guide you, the moon guard you, and your heart lead you home.
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