Thank you for this, was looking for a new perspective and this really helped. Good take (less in a "fake it till you make it" and more "make it real until it ain't fake" kinda way). All the theory and practice in the world is good only to a certain point, but it starts to feel like self-deception after a while of not really believing in it. Just like in mundane life, "magickal depression" is a very real disease.
I love that, "make it real until it ain't fake", it's a good way to phrase it. I felt the self-deception most strongly when I was mixing in the "New Age" circles. Reflecting, I think this might be because the New Age is full of fluff and people eager to deceive. Perhaps our instincts pick up on this deception and then our rational mind uses it against us...? That inner critic is always ready to do battle. This is why I try to normalise my vision of magick and connect it to concepts that I already accept as true. I can't see electricity, magnetism or qi, but I believe in them and can indirectly perceive their existence. So if I define these as magick, then it becomes much easier to accept the crazy stuff.
