Sorcerers And Sorcery Options

I have a soft spot for the title Sorcerer and the art of such called Sorcery.
And yeah, I'll admit it, it goes back to that infamous Apprentice by the name of Mickey Mouse.

What I have noticed over the years in various occult literature is the use of terms mostly has been to derogate whatever magickal approach for which the writers gave low regard.

What disappoints me is: regardless of how cool the terms are, the fact remains that there really is not a specific kind of magickal approach associated with them. I do not mean one particular universal paradigm here. I mean a kind of flavor that when tasted with one's meta-sensibilities clearly indicates a Sorcerer and Sorcery just as much as certain spices, herbs, and sauces clearly indicate unique ethnic cooks and their respective cuisines.

My preference would be for Sorcery to reference pathways that lay between the traditional old school and the modern new school - brushing shoulders with the nature-based and rubbing elbows with the technological - enabling group participation and allowing fierce independence - etc...

Regardless of my preference, however, I remain surprised that no one has been able to do for Sorcerers and Sorcery what Gardner (and Alexander, Buckland, et.al.) did for Witches and Witchcraft.

Note: make no mistake with that last parallel. I am not saying that Sorcery should end up exactly like Witchcraft today. The point of making that parallel is: those authors took those terms and dared to cook and to create memorable meals for a magickal approach that has a consistency, fragrance, flavor, and ambiance not only unique - but also very recognizable - compared to non-Witchcraft approaches ... even with all the diversity within Witches and Witchcraft.

This post has been edited by Praxis: Dec 4 2008, 12:40 PM

In many ways concepts such as sorcery have been deluded, repackaged, and reworked numerous thousands of times over through out the years. The term Sorcerer is often times synonymous with the term Wizard. Yet if anyone where to ask you what a wizard is you'd have a better ability to define it due to more capable examples. More over the fiction of a number of RPG's has added to this by creating a concept (artificial as it is) of the division of Sorcerer and Wizard. This results in a concept that exists more in the mind likely than in the reality of the situation. However rather than spend my time downplaying fiction lets look at the basic concepts evoked in the spell work/magick done by both Sorcerers and Wizards in fiction (as well as their real counterparts).

The Wizard: The classic text book wizard is, by his or her nature, a text book wizard. They rely on spells, ceremonies, incantations, and often sympathetic magicks coupled with higher form "High Magicks". That is to say they are far more the "bookish" type of wizard. They are considered Scholars in the field of magick and metaphysics in general

The Sorcerer: Classically the Sorcerer is one who is seen in command of great power. They tend to harness energies natural, or un-natural, for their own purposes. The name invokes a concept in the readers mind of the powerful, barely controlled, and bursting with magickal fortitude. However where the Wizard has learned the manipulation of such forces of nature it seems the Sorcerer has learned to channel these forces in less controlled ways.

The End Result: What we see, just from the imagery invoked by the names, is a contrast of restraint versus raw power. Both concepts are beneficial in their own right. Though its hard to deny that the term Sorcerer gains negative press this is probably because the term seems to indicate more of a "blast cannon" personality (no doubt from channeling all that energy (IMG:style_emoticons/default/bigwink.gif)). Ultimately the Wizard refines magick to a purpose, and the Sorcerer calls upon raw magick to achieve his ends. Often times the lines between the two blur as no doubt in fiction (and reality) Sorcerers are seen reading from ancient tomes, or learned books, and Wizards are seen going off the handle with more magick than they can handle.