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do people realy chose there magice or is it passed down to you by your familys where abouts?

like people from europe are better at practicing paganism because that is where it mainly started,, are people from africa better at vedoo because that is where it mainly started, are native americans better at there magice because this is where it was started?

Im not sure but it is a good question..

or is it you just can go i think i want to practice this and do it?

I think that anyone can practice any magick they choose, i believe that the magick is inside the person doing the magick and voodoo or santaria are just forms of magick it is just different ways to practice it...

maybe

i dont you can actually pick your magic but i think you have strength and weaknesses

I believe that magic is a base thing, as said above - different practices are simply different ways of completing the same thing.

It is interesting to wonder if we do have a particular affinity to the way we practice, though.

I half agree with Meska. I believe we all have strengths and weaknesses and our strengths are what we should accentuate. I do believe though, that we can choose what type of magick we can become adept at.

You always have a choice, but there is going to be certain types that you are naturally inclined to being able to use

I think that it is tied to your ancestry.

Well i think if dreams of things to come is a magic then no cant choose it is born into your life thread.. we all are merged strings into one fabric of life one out of place makes a mess of the whole fabric.. make sense?

I think magic is just manipulation of some forces so in any case you can chose

I think ancestry and possibly past lives has something to do with what kind of magick you're inclined to lean towards.

But as for predetermining what magick, I don't think so. My reasoning is it has to do with the person's own beliefs and their sense of right and wrong. I also believe that everyone is capable of magick in some way because we all do rituals, in one way or another, almost every day.

Generally I think it's what the individual is drawn to.

Some things like voodoo, which is actually a recognised religion in the African Republic of Benin, is certainly something that would be handed down.

It sounds like you are asking about an idea known as "metagenetics." Also known as a "Folk-Soul." This is an idea were you are tied to a certain form of Magick through your ancestory. That it is "in your Blood" so to speak. It does not state that it is the only form of Magick you can practice. Just that it will be the path of least resistance. Which, while not my personal view of Magick. One cannot help but ponder the validity of the statement. After all. When was the last time you saw a Black Pawnee Shaman, a Greek Voodoo Witch Doctor, or an Asian Khabbalist.

I have always been led to where I am and who I am..and I am a preachers daughter. So obviously it is not passed down in my case. I think it is that way for everyone, they are just drawn to their own path in life.

personally i believe you have a choice and depending on what you are willing to do to learn that particular path then that is how hard or easy that particular one will be for you

magic is a gift. it wouldnt be a gift if you could chose it.

Angel well said

What the idea of "Folk-Soul" teaches is that one is drawn to or led by the magick of thier ancetrial line. Your Heritage if you will.

sounds like a cult to me but just my opinion.

Angel,

Name one religion that doesn't sound like a cult.

"Folk-Soul" or "Metagenetics" is only a philophosy. An Idea. Not an actual religion. Kind of like all the ideas or philoposies on the Rave about the origins of Vampires and Demons. ect, ect.

i cant im not religious for that reason.
you can say god is just an idea.
but lets get back to the thread discusion shall we?

I think it can work both ways....

Magic is a broad term....leave out the hollywood versions like Bewitched, Sabrina, etc...etc...etc and if you deal with real world magic it is something that is learned through patience and study and discipline. Yes it works. I have chosen healing as a path in Santeria. With the writings left to me from four generations of practitioners in the field of healing and the instructions of my present teacher you could say that it is magic considering that modern day medical science is filled with synthetics that don't work and keep a person hooked on meds that only weaken the immune system and find the person needing stronger meds. It is a magic in the sense that through combinations of herbs and other natural resources.....many of which MODERN science haven't a clue about, people can be cured of ailments.

Maybe in general, magic is dependent on location. Like, Africans wil be automatically drawn to one type and europeans another simply becuase of the culture they were raised in. I don't think it matters when it comes to being better at one type or another.

i think in general you can chose whether to use good magick or darker magick it is your own choice which path it leads you.

Shamans and now some nutritionist are saying that your local food is better for you than the food that is being imported to your area. So if you live in the northern areas, roots plants will be best for you as oppose to say topical fruit. The same goes for medicine and herbs. Why wouldn't your local rituals work better for you too?

Etrigan....bingo

Catalunah....exactly.....we choose our path within the field of specifics. You can be a healer, you can be a spell caster, one who works on the mind....youcan choose to follow whatever is within your given grasp working outside of your grasp and not knowing the teachers, wither by trade or lore....is dangerous.

I don't play - games. ;)

I think it's all in the family and that it choses you

angle onikino was on topic,

I would have to say there is some genetic predisposition to certain forms, but it has more to do with the type of perspective one has on the world.

If its a naturally more shamanistic view, or Kabalistic view, or a hermetic view, or some such.

Infernalmage

you make a good point

My personal opinion on the subject is that like most things, how adept at what magic you are and why is half choice (free will) and half nature (nurture). I'm using nature and nurture as a similar concept here for the point of differentiating between personal tendencies (influenced by nature or your conditioning) and personal free will, or what you choose to become skilled at.

It's a preference, almost religious or lifestyle oriented, to decide whether or not people are more adept at magick or involved in it because of their culture and ethnicity or whether their ethnicity/culture is less relevant and ultimately, individuals will choose what they will.

Regardless of physical/mental ability, the evidence is clear that people from all sorts of backgrounds and cultures will choose to branch off completely at times, and more frequently in modern times. It's almost popular now to be different from your family in Western Civilizations, but as far as other countries and cultures are concerned, I think they practice the religion they are raised around because like western christians or other religious groups, they are rasied around it, it is convenient, it is all they know, and it is their lifestyle.

I'm extremely into many different magickal practices and even cultures, but I come from a very straight-laced, christian, western family. Some people raised around the occult or particular trends break away to live more "occult-apathetic" lives, and so forth.

However, digging into your ancestry and using some cultural tendencies they had is a great way to enhance your magickal experience (aka, me with my gaelic ancestors, or my russian gypsy ancestors, or my wicthdoctor/earthy/voodoo native american/african ancestory - note, we're talking at least 4/5 generations back, and in very very very small qauntities).

After reading my post again:

It's also possible that people are somewhat influenced a little randomly by their genetic traits concerning spur off groups.

eg. I have a very small amount of voodoo/gypsy/gaelic background, but perhaps it came out like a recessive gene in me, and just happened to not come out in most of my other family members. since it's a smaller part of my genetic makeup, there's a smaller chance of it existing strongly as the lines go more spread out.

And that would explain why so many people "branch off" from their families concerning religion or magick. If there's a small genetic strain of something different in the dna make up, it could come out randomly in certain members of that line of descendants to create the appearance of spurring off, when it's actually more logical than it seems.

It's possible that your magick, then, chooses you in a sense. But like I mentioned before, it's also possible that it all comes down to free will.

Is there any real way to find out?

i believe that the land helps alot with the magic. it also may have to do with whats passed down.

No you can't choose your magic it comes to you naturally.

you can train in other areas and get better at them tho....

I think it is more who and what you choose to be than who your ancestors are.

I dont think everyone can choose themself to master a sertain magic. But i think all can practice it and learn it. It is two different things between master it and know how to do it.

Hmmm Good question... I personally think A Person is born with a Gift and once they know what it is and practice it that is there expertise.. However anyone can study and learn most anything i suppose but i would think a person who go with what they are gifted at and most skilled ... Some of the True Witches and Pagans that are so skilled in what they do were born with this Trait and So their work and Psychological abilities are by far more amzing then meere people who have just studied the art...

Does it bother some of you to restrict yourself and others so much by believing you were "chosen" for the magic you're involved in and had little choice in your abilities?

Even if it happened at a very young age or was influenced by family or mentors, I think free will has a lot to do with it.

Discipline and desire accomplish more than genes in my book (hard work beats talent, when talent doesn't work hard).

i want to learn it all and master it all so yep

I do believe that it can go both ways. For instance, how many of us here were raised Christian, but now follow other paths?

No you can't choose your magic

well I for one believe it is a combination of both, that your family passes it down throught he generations yet, as we grow we also find ourselves and choose different as well as use the old. just my opinion. That is how it is in our family, we all have the old ways yet we each have new things and ways to do many different things as well

I'm so glad some people like to discuss... it makes for great... discussion.

I definitely like the idea of being able to choose your own magick, and I think it makes more sense. And sense that's the original question... well... it seems to be pretty simple.

Nobody ever came to me, hit me on the head, and made me be a Thelemite, or anything else I've been.

I think it all depends on what you study. The thing about being better at one magic over another is its all about the magic you practice and the people that teach you about it

What about the Magick everyone here practices? Do you believe that a part of you was pulled towards that form of Magick? Is the Magick a form possibly practiced by your ancestors? Or did you sit and way the pros and cons of each Magickal field you were interested in and make a decision based on the outcome?

Their are familys out their that have long lines of people who practise magick, and just because they know magick does not mean that other people in their family can learn it, so i think that people choose the best type of magick for themselves...

I think it can be passed down for the fact you can have one kid who can and one kid who cant but you choose what magic you use

i am not 100% on this but i dont think it does

"what you want today fine sir"
"I'm here to return this gift I got last year"
"what you want to swap it with"
"erm"
....sorry to take the micky but if you could chose your own gift and its not what you expected you cant swap it.
you get what your given.

That is a good question.

Angel4Blood

not bad :)

it can be pass down and also learned, but most is you got magic that at first it is neutral, it get trigger by your choice to orient it to blakc, white or gray, once you orient it you ether develop it for good or evil depending on your choice.

I logically think no for a yes answer suggest pre ordained plans.
Which means someone planed them……..

I personally have gone down many paths just coz I believe no one is right and for anyone who has read a wiccan book on a shop shelf and has read the golden dawn will click on to this right away.

I believe we all have our special gifts but others can be developed

Well being Navajo I was raised with their magic and beliefs and I admit I am better at that style of casting than others. But i have gone on to learn other methods. Mostly wicca related. I believe the reason people seem to be better at the kind of magic from their lands is simply because it is all around them. And of course if your exposed to something from a young age you will learn it better.

But having learn other forms of magic and ways of doing things I have come to understand that you can use magic much like anything else. You simply need to have the desire to learn it. Well and of course teh ability to use it.

Thats a good question....i think it really depends....some magics are passed down from generation to generation, some magic is done thro own perference, so it depends!

also it depends on what you use the magic for and what type it is, wiccan, pagan, white, black, good or evil!

Thats a good question....i think it really depends....some magics are passed down from generation to generation, some magic is done thro own perference, so it depends!

also it depends on what you use the magic for and what type it is, wiccan, pagan, white, black, good or evil!

to me it woud depend on a few factors one what you are human,vampier ect and on how you grew up is this new or did your parrents teach you? in truth we all started from somwhere and we add a bit of ourselves to our magic

I don't think you choose your magic, I think the magic chooses you. It's oversaid and sounds a little hokey and cheesy, but I think it's pretty damn true.
I think your background really does have some sort of effect on what magic you can do, but I also think that it's the way your soul reacts with it. If your soul and the magic match up, then it's sure to work.
I'm not sure how I can explain it.

For what it is worth I think "BELIEF" is the biggist part of it all, you may be given something and like something else, but if you don't believe in any of it then it makes no difference..

That's true NightWalker.

I believe firmly that faith, or belief, is the most important part of anything you want to do.

i dont know if anyone said this or not becasue i only read like the first 4 or so replys but some witches can bless others or at least thats wat me and my friends believe that and sometimes u may be blessed at birth by the gods but u never know

i think it can be passed down therw histery or we can find our own i think we can choose our own and it dont matter

not only can you choose your magic you can incorparate from all types to make your own

I think we all have natural abilities that just come to use, but sometimes we may be unsure of what exactly it is that we are able to do.

I also believe you can practice any magic too. if nothing comes of it though, then I suggest moving on tho something else, or strengthening your abilities

I believe that the magic chooses you, not the other way around.

I can believe that too. Doesn't mean though you can't try to practice others.

If you didn't you may not realize what you naturally are able to do.

Life is a choice is it not? Magick is just the same. I don't believe the nonsense that wherever u were born or whatever yer race ,determines the type of magicks u can practice.
That does not make sense to me, magick is very much on a personal level.It is something different to each person.We are in control of it ,it does not choose us.To be good at anything, we must master it, not the other way around.

Well I imagine that depends upon your beliefs and whether you think all magic is real or just your culture's version. If you believe in all magic, then I'd look at it this way:

Culture and family connection is a powerful focus. It can be an amazing way to harness your energy and direct it with more concentration and emotion because it holds something personal for you.

However, if your connection to that lineage isn't so strong or if you feel a strong connection to some other esoteric tradition, then just doing some family magic because it's you're family's may actually hamper you and following a new direction could be a strengthening factor in your arts.

In my opinion, the key is how much it means to you. It's always a question of focus of power. The more something means to you, the more you identify with it, the more you can focus and be successful. Whether that additional focus is due to family, culture, or personal interest is going to be entirely dependent upon the person at hand. However, no matter what magic you attempt, it would always behove you to know where that tradition came from and the culture and principles that go along with it.

I beliebe that this mainly depends on the kind of energy you collect. By concentrating correctly and studying a lot, I think that you could use (almost) any kind of magic.

Ok, I think I need to clarify what I was trying to say.

I did not mean that one type of magic chooses you, but rather the magic that you practice, is yours, it is not a generic type magic.

It is a personal choice in that there are many many types and variations of each type of magic.

Through trial and error or by studying or how ever you come across your magic, the one that is from within you, your magic. it is you and you are it, basically joined as one.

I hope I explained it better this time.

I think everyone has thier own strengths and weaknesses, which may or may not be related to their families strengths and weaknesses.

However it must be possible to improve your ability in certain areas, like in other things, but magic is so ambiguous that you will never be as good in and area you have to learn than one you are naturally taslented in

jagee7

i like how you said it both ways

Thank you.

On the subject of genetic traits and "magic" being pased down.
If we are to say that certain things are magic genetically passed down then specifics of it is needed. In what sense of "Magic" is it?
Over the centuries there have been those who were called healers. They had the ability to "lay hands" upon an individual and cure them of particular ailments.
Genetically speaking, there are genes that are latent in our system, this is a fact of science. For a child to play a piano without having a lesson in their life, they are called prodigies. But what allows them to play the music at such a young age and without any training?
If you say that they have a good ear for tones you wouldn't be far off, but it is already in the genetic make-up and when a particular gene or series of genes awake that correspond to tones and the ability to repeat them.
Some say "It's like magic" but it's genetics and the releasing or awakening of particular genes.
For a healer it is the same. Certain genes awaken allowing the person to transmit amounts of energy from their body that can allow for healing another person.
Remembering the biblical references of laying on of hands, but not harboring on it....it's genetics, and to some a form of "magic".
It isn't chosen by that person to have it...it just happens in their life time.

I have been practising Chaos Magick for many years. It is a path that I decided to follow after working with other magick forms.

Chaos magick has led me to other things that I find very useful.

Yes, I believe that you can choose your own path. However, I also believe that sometimes the path chooses you. Sometimes I wonder whether I chose chaos magick, or whether it chose me.

Mener

Things thst one is genitically predisposed to are of course much stronger than in those who are not.

Every body has their own thing some people practise magick because it was passed down and some people practise magick because they thought it was the right type of magick for them, magick is magick no matter if it was handed down or if it was chosen...

Kwil-
What you said is really interesting.

I don't think it's possible to choose your magic. But I think personalities can be drawn to the type of magic that they can do. (meaning they would like their magic)

Don't know how much sense that makes, but its the best I can do at the moment.

I believe magic is magic and it is the same no matter who or where you are

Well, Voodoo is more of a Haitian religion. Where it originated. Not in Africa. I believe that some people are born with the gift of magic. But others can choose. If they have faith that it will work and do it correctly I think it will work for them.

Can some truly possess power, even if it was not received from another?: Can they just magically have this abilities?

I belive you can you should

Im not sure but this can be true

In my opinion, I feel that we are able to practice our choice of magics. To me magic is not bound by heritage or anything like that.

I beleive that we can. But I think that people choose certain magicks because they feel attracted to it, or because they are born into a family that already practices a certain magick

I second RavenKnight's Idea. All the way.

I think it is a bit of both. For some, the ability to perform and practice magick is something that is handed down from generation. If you are born into a culture, practice or religion that practices a certain kind of magick, then it is likely that you will be brought up tp do the same. As to who is the best at their magick--those who study, practice, and believe.

And, like those who change Relgions in their Adult years, I am sure there are those who are born into one Path of Magick study who might wish to change to another due to feeling more in sync with it.

I feel that it chooses you, you dont choose it. I mean I started out a baptized catholic and ending up when i was able to make my own descions that it wasnt for me.

I think is can be a bit of both, my family had a wide range to pick from, some I could not stop others I have made better. Its all in the person

Personally on this topic, My answer is Yes.
The reason why, It comes in Naturally,
If you decide to accept it. learn it & live with it.
If you do not to accept it, ignore it if you have a
strong will to do so.

I often wonder about that myself. If it did get passed down then it skipped many generations. I don't know of Satanists or Pagans in my bloodline for the last 400 years or so. Of course not everything is documented.

This thread has been automatically closed for length.