229
This is a pretty good some up of the difference between things as they appear to be and things as they really are.
(hexbear.net)
I suspect a lot of people have difficulty recognizing that what they believe about the world may not be representative of how the world actually behaves. I certainly do, frequently.
Like with politics, people think they need to go vote and march and stuff to effect change, but if you're willing to accept the idea that there are limits to your ability to perceive the world and your perceptions are misleading, you can pretty reliably go and see that isn't true.
You can also decipher deeper realities like you can basically put whatever you want on flat bread, or that you dadskf;'akse'wfaegqrwt;'lj'a fuck my brain. I'm asd I'm not sure what I was trying to say.
Well, a properly scientific view is not dogmatically opposed to concepts that are culturally associated with mysticism. The CPC made a point to investigate and for a time even promoted qi stuff before they felt certain it was nonsense and rejected it. If something under the umbrella of "magic" can observably produce change in the material world, demonstrate it! Such a thing would almost certainly be useful.
The problem is that many new-age pagans take on their "beliefs" about magic as essentially a roleplay: they know deep down it doesn't work but proclaim that it does because the social mindset of it working is somehow involved in its actual use as what amounts to a therapeutic religious practice. There is more in common with Tumblr moon witches and qanon posters than either group would like to admit.