Gray Magic

Gray Magic

Positive magic, which helps people, is termed "white" magic. Negative magic, which is designed to harm, is termed "black" magic. There is an area between the two that is neither positive nor harmful; this is called "gray" magic. An example would be a binding spell.

A number of years ago, a group of professional men and women were investigating and experimenting with Ceremonial Magic, attempting to conjure one of the entities that supposedly had been invoked in centuries past by the ritualists of the period. The group was operating solely for academic reasons, yet an acquaintance of one of the would-be magicians, upon hearing of the project, thought he might make some money selling the group's story to a tabloid newspaper. He was apparently unconcerned that his exposé might seriously harm the reputations of those involved.

When the magicians learned what the man was planning to do, they decided to stop him by using sympathetic magic. To do this, they made a poppet—a clay image of the man—and held a a ritual in which they bound the figure and sewed-up its mouth. Subsequently, the man found that he was totally unable to tell anyone of what he knew, no matter how hard he tried. The spell had no other effect on him; it simply made him mute on that particular subject.

That binding spell is an example of gray magic. The man was not harmed, so it was not black magic. He certainly was not helped, so it was not white magic. Instead, the spell covered a gray area between the two.

G R E AT B E A S T see ALEISTER CROWLEY