Colin Wilson, author of The Occult and noted authority on matters metaphysical, said that Magic is the ability to live your life guided by intuition. 

I like and agree with his simple definition. But I also know that it is a profound art that takes as much learning, practice and dedication as it does to become an accomplished musician or ballerina. It is not for slackers and dilettantes.

A working relationship with intuition is not a matter of responding to random gut feels and feelings about things. As opposed to the rational approach where you work with supposedly tangible facts, applied intuition is a continuous process of actively making up that you know the rationally unknowable, and following through on that. That is a terrifying prospect for anyone, and why so many who learn intuition never go further than practicing it in workshops and support circles.

A Magician is more warrior than anything else; someone with faith, but also prepared to be failed by their faith. I remember once, when I was about 18 months into living my life by Magic, I was telling someone what an amazing experience it was, and they said to me, “Yes, William, but it won’t last.” Every day I go to bed, amazed that over 25 years later it has lasted this long.

William Whitecloud