What are you exactly?

[Cunning Witch Angus]

Well, I have done a lot of...soul searching as it were, and I have come to the conclusion that I am not a witch...but a magus...or something. I look at all kinds of magic, but it isn't strictly witchcraft. I draw from all sorts of sources to do my workings. However, I am not ceremonial in that everything has to be a certain way on a certain day at a certain time in a certain month with certain correspondences etc.

I just practice magic. A friend of mine referred to me as a "user" because when she first saw me at a dance she was like: "WTF you use magic!" It was quite funny really because at the same time she entered the room I had put up a shield because I felt someone probing XD

Anyway. This is mostly for Mitsh because he seems more learned in the occult ways than I (lately I have been looking a lot into Chaos magic, I find it fascinating). What should I call myself? Magus seems to be the best term really...I think.

I do not adhere to any "god" but I call on the forces of nature itself: Death, the Wyrd, Chaos, Life etc, the four classical elements: earth, air, fire and water; and the four spaces of power: sky, land, the sun and the river of souls; the seven directions etc. I don't really believe in angels because they are a Judeo-Christian thing that I do not really adhere to by that I don't believe in demons either. The "Goetic Demons" are merely power manifestations of a their archetypes, that is how I see them.

In general I am fascinated with all kinds of magic from folk to ceremonial but I do not like to take a long time to do a spell (much like it would appear in some forms of ceremonial magic). Nor do I like to do things a certain way because I am very spontaneous and chaotically organized.

I know the gods exist, I just don't adhere to them because we personify them too much I think and identify with them in an unnecessary way.

What would you call me?

And what do you call yourself?  

[Rustig]

Me, learned? There're folk here who can definitely give me a run for my money. I seriously wonder why I'm admin and not someone like Nuadu and Loagaeth. XD

Nonetheless, I generally only throw folk into two broad categories (at least, while on the internet) - magickian and psion. A /lot/ of people on the intrawebz seem to "use their energy" (or some variant thereof) to reach their goals, and to that end I'd label them as psions. Those who rely mostly on spells and rituals, I'd call magickians.

I personally find the term magus a little out-there and lofty, but if you honestly like it, then I can't fault you for it.  

[Just Tsuki]

i wouldnt say that you are a magus because i think they are more like some sort of ancient order that specializes in astronomy and magic whereas you sound more diverse in what you practice. i could be completely wrong though.

if i were you i'd try not to label yourself beyond your name as you seem to have individual beliefs on gods and you have your own away of doing magic.

i think to say that you are a magus is a little too sturctured for your style.

make up your own name!!  

[Kimiko no Tenshi]

I think you are what you feel in your heart you are. If you must label yourself, then you will find one that feels right to you.  

[Terg]

I call myself a philosochologist.

One who studies philosophies. Reasons, logics, cosmologies that run from the natural philosophies of the olde grimoires to the contemporary works of Sartre and Camus.

Another term might be a psychonaut. An explorer of the mind and it's infinite potential.

I feel you might be a magus.  

[Grey Jedi Knight]

I am to many different things to take on one term. I am sure that all of us here are while it would be nice if one word could describe us, but it cant.

With that said I could say that I am a celtic pagan with ties to asataru and to the Norse...  

[D_Marx]

Earth Spirit Pagan borderline Atheist. I think. It's weird. I read tarot, I'm a Medium, I don't believe in God, but I guess Earth could be considered a higher being. I just think there's energy everywhere.  

[Chieftain Twilight]

Terg

I call myself a philosochologist.

One who studies philosophies. Reasons, logics, cosmologies that run from the natural philosophies of the olde grimoires to the contemporary works of Sartre and Camus.

Another term might be a psychonaut. An explorer of the mind and it's infinite potential.

that is very interesting a termactually, and sounds about what i relate as. biggrin but i prefer still to be considered either an Interfaith Spiritualist or a Chaos Shaman. still, when explaining to people i go into much more detail usually.

anywho, Angus, i would consider you a Mage myself. a good combonation of Witchcraft Traditions and the exploration into Chaos Magick about says it for you. ^_^

and to Mitsh, i usually consider Magic and Psionics/Psychicism to be the same thing under different names/aproaches. but then again, so is any of this. xd  

[Captain Chemosh]

I consider myself a Breacher, if that can be considered a term, as my magic is used by passing, mentally, through the barrier of this plane and into the plane of the Kami. My magic is granted by the Kami and is very ritualistic to the point that it somewhat controls my life and decisions.  

[Chieftain Twilight]

so basically, like the Chinese Qinto Wu-Jen, or the Japanese Shinto Shaman?  

[Captain Chemosh]

Similar, since I practice Neo-Shintoism...  

[Chieftain Twilight]

i've never heard of neo-shintoism... shinto practice never got old.  

[regina_in_exile]

I'd like to say that i am like any other person. Only, i have a small lightbulb problem i cant ever seem to fix. I don't follow any traditional path of magick usage, i don't worship any gods, per say. I believe in energy, in consequence, and in strict study. I do however make it a point to study every belief system i come in contact with, because i feel that at the bottom of it all, there was once a root religion and a root culture that all of the separate beliefs sprung off of, and that is my goal.
In the above poll, i marked myself as a psi-user. However, i have only been studying that particular bit for a little over the last year, keeping a journal to look back on. I have, though, been in the study of nature magick, such as 'wicca' for the last ten years, under the guidance of my grandmother. But we are different in that we believe really only in life cycles and nature itself. Not the personification of energies, which is really all that gods are, in our opinion. And i would also like to add, though for some it is taboo, that i have been studying sexual magick itself for a couple of years (don't worry kids i'm legal), and at least in the case of me and mine, it actually ties quite nicely into the psionics/energy manipulation.  

[Captain Chemosh]

Chieftain Twilight

I've never heard of neo-Shintoism... Shinto practice never got old.

You are correct, the problem is that I don't live near any traditional shrines and my life is busy, so I adapted it to my lifestyle making it neo-Shintoism...  

[WebenBanu]

This is a subject which has been perplexing to me for a while as well- I've never known what to call myself in this regard. Back when I was a Wiccan, I used to think that I could only be called a "witch" inasmuch as the words "Wiccan' and "witch" were often used interchangeably- and whether that was a correct usage of the term I couldn't say. Back then, although I was fascinated by magical theory, I didn't really practice it that much beyond the very basic circle casting required for ritual.

I've since moved out of Wicca and into a reconstructionist approach, and while I have retained my fascination for different schools of magic, the style of "magic" associated with my chosen cultural focus fits much, much better with my lifestyle and worldview- no big surprise there! However, I'm still not so focused on magic that I'd anchor my personal identity on it- and within the culture of ancient Egypt, the source of my spirituality, the types of things that I do with magic don't seem like they would have been all that amazing or uncommon. It's just another technology, and I use it where appropriate.

The word "witch" seems rooted in Western occultism anyway- it has a distinctly European flavor to it to my mind. I don't know if it would even be applicable to someone who practices heka (an Egyptian word which is often translated as "magic"). And I don't know whether I would qualify as a "magician" or just another person who is applying her understanding of the world when interacting with her environment.

So I chose "other" in your poll.