So, here I am, recuperating from surgery, and I am reading the forums and thinking.

Understand, though I am a practitioner, I came to magick practice via the side door, having kind of fallen into it once I arrived at CH in 2013. Prior to that, I had spent a whole lot of years practicing what I have seen described here as psionics, though I had never seen that term prior to my arrival here, either.

So... having never really formally studied magick, outside of having taken some courses of CH's and Papa Hood's, I have some terminology questions for those whose route to magick has been a more formal one.

Witchcraft. Magick. Sorcery. Are these words entirely interchangeable, or are there nuances attached to one or the other of them that make them "not quite the same" as one another? In particular, what makes sorcery different from witchcraft or magick, if it does in fact have a distinct definition from those other two words? That is the word I see employed least frequently on these forums, leading me to wonder if it has its own nuances that only make it usable under certain circumstances.

Just wondering. And I learned a long time ago that if one student in a class is wondering about something, then stats suggest that up to 3/4 of the class is also wondering about the same thing. So it's NEVER wrong to just ask the question you need answered.

OK, formally-trained friends, we are counting on you. What's the deal with these words?

magick is setting things into motion using your will and intuition, spells, rituals, the supernatural .the k is there to separate this from magic.. which is staged, pick a card, any card magic. magick goes for witchcraft or sorcery, both use magick to do whatever it is they're trying to do, using your will and intuition, what have you. witchcraft and sorcery are two different things.. as far as intention. do what ye will but harm none, that's witchcraft. sorcery is more.. negative aspect. getting things done the dirty way. (i think of ursula or jafar from Disney movies lol)

that's just what I know and understand, feel free to correct me, I've been practicing the craft since middle school, took an extremely long hiatus and recently started back up again the end of last year.

blessed be!

It's more of the problem of terminology or definition. It may refer to the same or different things.
For some, witchcraft is positive and sorcery is negative, for some others the reverse, and the rest is neutral.
Some said that witchcraft is natural ability inherited by lineage while sorcery is learned and can be done by anyone.
There are as well some who consider witchcraft as basic practice while sorcery is advance one.