Magick, in its most basic manifestation, is clearly operational and immediate, focusing fundamentally on the solution of worldly problems, in what could be considered sorcery, and which some have technically classified as Low Magic, as opposed to practices with a transcendental focus, related to eschatological mysteries, i.e. High Magic.

However, although this is a plausible assessment at first glance, it is insufficient when we explore magic from a traditional perspective, in which complex considerations are developed, not only regarding its operability, but also its own ontological conceptualizations.

The Egyptians called magick heka [ḥkꜣ(w)], conceiving it as a gift from the gods, which is why not everyone could wield it properly, being surrounded by a tangible sacredness, a reason that explains why the Lector Priests were the same magicians, who in their lay period, outside the temple, dedicated themselves to the exercise of personal operations or for clients.

This peculiarity, which officially intertwined magic and religion, with the heka being appreciated as a divine gift—a motif that would be repeated in other ancient civilizations—gives us a different perspective than the usually held in modern times and popularized by non-traditional occult systems, where magick is seen as a mere mechanical device, under the control of whoever can subdue it to his/her seduction.

The interaction with the deities and spirits that fuel this basic magick, establishing levels of communication that go beyond the satisfaction of profane needs, gave rise to what has been called The Arte Magical.

The Arte Magical, also called Arte Hieraticus [from Greek ἱερατικός, Hieratikós] given its relationship with priestly esoteric knowledge, being a lofty manifestation of sorcery or operative magic, is markedly naturalistic in nature, with a harmonious duality between the stellar and chthonic, the diurnal and nocturnal; being undeniably ecstatic, mystical, and particularly initiatory; in this last respect a comment is necessary. Initiation involves induction into a mystery that is impossible to access without the granting of a type of authorization, which also serves as empowerment; there are various forms of initiation and methods to obtain the so-called "magical power", i.e. the ability to influence physical and astral reality, thus exercising the individual's will; however, despite this variety of methods, there are three constitutive and invariable characteristics:

• It is a process of symbolic death, in which the future initiated abandons his old self to embrace a new existential process, possessing a sui generis worldview of Nature/Cosmos as an intellectual entity, plagued by beings with multiple agencies, which he learns to propitiate, subjugate, or nullify.
• With the understanding of this new meta-phenomenological vision, one simultaneously gains the authorization, depending on the tradition and specific spirits, to perform ceremonies, protections, consecrations, curses, possessions, and summons.
• Whether the 'magickal power' has been obtained through an incarnated intercessor, or as part of an epiphany or spiritual ecstasy, the new initiate is finally granted the potential dominion over his reality, both corporeal and etheric, provided he/she is able to discover it and work it appropriately since, like any craft, it requires conscientious practice.

Although, based on the above, it is evident that much of the Arte Magical can only be revealed at esoteric levels, that is, after the formal induction to its mysteries, it is feasible, in a panoramic and ecumenical discourse, going beyond the particularities of a singular tradition, to investigate the details that concern all practitioners of this current, providing beacons that serve as a guide to the traveller, whether he is just at the beginning of his journey, or constitutes himself as a journeyman/woman on the way to realization.

The mágos (Greek: μάγος), framed within this transmundane assessment, on that has defined my personal practice for many years, both in my solitary labours, the quintessential core of the Great Work, and in front of others, privately and publicly, is an explorer of worlds, who voluntarily abandons the community of men to embrace that of spirits, building a new language that supports a relationship of mutual benefit; in this ordeal of disappointments and pleasures, he is rightfully transformed into a mystic, who incessantly yearns for union with the divine, eager to become intoxicated with the wine of liberating frenzy, which breaks the vessel of his flesh, propelling him to the spiritual flight that will make him an intimate participant of the eternal.

Such is The Path that connects us, filled with small deaths that bring us closer to the unknown, offering us clarity in the apotheosis of our spirit.

I will therefore try to shed a little light on the road to the future, mercurially concocting supporting stones that aid both the walker and the preservation of the path itself.

- L.J. Tang

In the first place, therefore, you say, “it must be granted that there are Gods”.

Thus to speak, however, is not right on this subject. For an innate knowledge of the Gods is coexistent with our very essence; and this knowledge is superior to all judgment and deliberate choice, and subsists prior to reason and demonstration. 

-On The Mysteries, Iamblichus.

It is crucial to understand, with the greatest possible solidity, at least as much as is externally transmissible, since true understanding of such matters is only attainable through empirical evidence, the nature of what we poetically call the Arte Magical, for it represents a unique current that cannot, and should not, be confused with the mere practice of plain sorcery and/or basic operative magick; it constitutes, in fact, a path of supreme spiritual realization, seeking to transcend the limitations of the material plane to achieve full enlightenment for the practitioner.

May this succinct essay shed some light on the matter.

While the Arte Magical has been considered by some distinguished practitioners as a brother of that conceptual umbrella called witchcraft, sorcery, or enchantment, and even seen as synonyms, in your author's experience the comparison is, unfortunately, insufficient, at least when it comes to fully exploring its background and genesis. Magick, as it is currently understood in the West, tends to be reduced to its merely operative and immediate character, with special emphasis on folk magic, spells, and grimoires, being virtually devoid of all true mysticism; the Arte Magical, for its part, under the esoteric canon that imbues its most extensive imagery, conceptually surpasses such details, traveling not only back to classical and late antiquity, with its mystery cults, of which the medieval Witch Sabbath is a later iteration, but even deeper into the mountains of Anatolia, the sands of the eastern deserts, and even the banks of the Nile. Although for many years I considered witchcraft and the Arte Magical to be one and the same, the passage of time, interaction with the Powers, as well as a greater understanding of the Mysteries, opened up new possibilities that led to a rethinking of such questions, for the sake of that irrepressible search for Truth. Although Traditional Witchcraft, circumscribed as it is, is part of the Arte Magical, understood as that initiatic Royal Art that has taken on various expressions, it is not its entirety, but is encompassed by it, embraced by its timeless mantle.

The Arte Magical is a magical and mystical approach to a mysterious spirituality that naturally unites the stellar and chthonic, the theurgic and goetic, a higher manifestation of magick, transcending its merely operative side, that focused on resolving superficial and mundane needs. This veiled Arte Hieraticus [mod. Hieratic Art], as it is also known to denote its priestly and arcane essence, is the persuasion of bonds, tying or releasing elements, shifting them to the realm of the sacred and subtle, with the aim of producing a change of state, sometimes minor and other times, when it reach to its roots, to the transmutation of the practitioner who, like the serpent, seeks to become a dragon, thus uniting with the Eternal. Therefore, the Arte Magical cannot be called a tradition per se, but rather a way of dealing with subtle realities, with its own ethos, composed of an intimate vision of interaction with spirits, from which formal traditions can emerge, that is, teaching structures subordinated to a mythopoetic imagery, protocol, and singular methods of magical, spiritual, and mystical exercise, linked by a lineage, both etheric and sanguine.