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Magik or Luck?

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DragonsFriend:
I suppose this is a philosophical question, more to ponder on a personal level, but I am interested in your thoughts and beliefs.

I believe that the two are mutually exclusive. If I accept that I am a magikal being then I must accept the responsibility for the things that happen in my life.
If I believe in luck, then it is just the law of averages that determine where I am and what happens.

Tell us how you feel about it, after pondering the question.

earthmuffin:
I'm not sure I consider the two mutually exclusive. I do accept responsibility for things that happen in my life to a large extent, but I do think there are things outside of my ability to control.  So to some extent I believe that certain things that happen are due to chance (perhaps things like being in the wrong place at the wrong time) and where we exercise our personal power is how we choose to deal with chance events and their effects on our life. Certain types of events do seem to be to be a bit predestined, in that I think we come into the world with certain lessons to learn just by being who we are and the person we are will affect the choices we make at various points in time. Later as we learned the lesson from that choice we might choose differently but we really don't have that capacity until we learn the lesson that comes from the choice. So some things that happen to us might seem like chance events at first when really they are more likely to occur or even bound to happen given the person we are from our upbringing, temperament and such. But other choices might not have such a consequential effect on what happens or our growth. I also believe events and things in the universe are more connected than readily apparent so again we tend to view certain connected events as unconnected and due to chance when in reality there is something tying them together but we just can't comprehend the relationship.  So to sum up, I'd say I believe a bit in luck but also in our personal power to effect change and evolve as individuals.

Good thought-provoking question. Thanks for asking.

Tirya:
I don't have enough hubris to believe that I can control everything that goes on around me. Do I have the ability to influence my surroundings and help bring about the outcome that I would like using magic? Yes. Are some things just luck that I have no control over (or that were set in motion by someone else)? Yes.

An illustration: Do I believe that something I did (or didn't do) resulted in me being a widow at the age of 38? No. That would be ridiculous.

DragonsFriend:
I am going to give an example of an event in my life. It does not reflect on the answers already given but is perhaps one more step in my believing that I own responsibility for what happens to me.

I had a small accident and cut my finger. I went to the doctor and got the stitches necessary to close it up and a shot to prevent infection. I was told to come back on the following Saturday to have the stitches removed and a final exam. My wife and a few close friends were putting together an event and we set up an appointment with a venue to hold the event mid-afternoon on Saturday. No problem my appointment was for 9:am. I got to the doctors office a little early and checked in. At 9:00 I reminded the nurse that my appointment was for 9am and that I had another appointment so If they were more than a half hour behind that I would have to reschedule. She assured me that the doctor would be with me shortly. At 9:20 I was called back to the exam room to get my vitals checked and wait for the doctor. The nurse came in at 9:50 and told me the doctor had one more patient before me. I asked how long it would be and she told me that it would be 15 minutes or so. At 10:15 I walked out of the exam room and informed the nurse that I had to leave. She explained that the doctor was tied up with this las patient and I would be seen next. I reminded her (same nurse) that I had an appointment and If I waited any longer I would be late. I left and drove back to my home. Well almost to my home. I was waiting behind another car at a red light when I noticed a car approaching from behind at higher speed than the speed limit. I pumped my brakes to alert her but she did not see. Her car hit mine head to tail. The car she was driving was not hers but it was totaled. My car suffered less damage but the collision was enough to break the seat and mess up the back of my car. I also hit the car in front of me but did no damage to her, her car or the front end of my car.
Long story shortened I had two operations on my neck to relieve pressure on the nerves that controlled my right arm - finally got the use of it back and the feeling back in it and the nerves that controlled my right diaphragm. I got the use of my right lung back. After 10 years I am off all narcotics, and trying to rebuild my strength.

I did not cause her to hit me but I was obviously put in that position at that time by my impatience. If I had not been there that sweet little old lady in front of me might have been hit instead or maybe the accident would never had happened at all. I must take the responsibility of putting myself at that place and time.

There have been many events in my life where I avoided harm by "knowing" it was there and taking steps to avoid it. I have even used magik to prevent physical harm before. I know that if I had put a shield in place or thought to feel like a witch that nothing would have happened. Now I work daily to ponder what my day will contain and what I want. I get what I expect when I have expectations and intent. When I don't pay attention, I pay the consequences.

Eternal Seeker:

   I feel that the "luck or magic" question is a false choice. Everything we are or do is a function of "luck", the random and chaotic nature of the universe. The things we do affect the likelihood or odds of something happening, but you cannot completely remove random chance from the equation. That was the lesson of the "Kobiyashi Maru" test in Star Trek- to drive home the fact that you can do everything right and still fail... and the flip side they didn't show, that you can screw up and succeed as well- it's all in that roll of the dice.
   Your behavior can affect the odds. When you step up to the plate in baseball, your odds of getting a hit are much improved if you've been practicing. But no amount of practice will guarantee you a hit! Being nice to everyone makes it much more likely that people will like you- but there will always be those who don't.
   What magic can do is alter the odds, the probability. Maybe you had one chance in a hundred before, and after the ritual or spell you now have one chance in ten- but it's still "luck". And the fact of the magic working will change the odds of other things as well- often, things that never occurred to you; that's why all the warnings. But the "luck", the element of chaos, will always be present.

peace,
ES

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