I do believe in magick. I have been an earth magick practioner for 16 years now and have seen first hand the results of casting "spells". As far as demons or devils or other mythical creatures: I reserve judgement because I have never seen such things. Believing in the power of magick is absolutely no different than believing in the power of prayer. Magick comes from within oneself; willpower. I know people possess the ability to "see" into the past or future, I know if you cast spells for positive change it will happen. One must use common sense when thinking about such subjects however, change only occurs when you actually do something to cause change. For example: if you cast a spell to find a job, and then sit at home and wait for the job to "appear", of course nothing will happen. Magick is driven by ones desire make changes in their current status. I think of it as a little boost of good luck.
Religion and spirituality are a seperate issue altogether. To practice magick has nothing to do with what you perceive as the higher power, whether that is God, Buddha, Gnash, Isis, etc. Magick is earth based; it is in everything we are surrounded by. Instead of debating and being prejudiced against something we don't understand, we should celebrate our right to be diverse. I don't condemn folks that pray before a meal even though I don't understand it. Why thank a higher being for the food you are eating when it was the farmer or rancher or fisherman that provided you with your food, not a higher being. People respond negatively to what they don't like or understand. We are supposed to accept each and foster brotherly love for all mankind, why waste precious time with negativity and jealousy?
I understand the controversy over sacrifices,(which is of course wrong in my opinion)
and the "calling of dark powers", but honestly people, if that were really possible, don't you think we would be seeing the affects of these "dark powers"? If the witch trials had really found true powerful beings, do you think those beings would actually let themselves be tortured to death? Innocent human beings were murdered for the ignorance of the time.
We only use 10% of our brain capacity according to studies; what about the other 90%? Perhaps witches and the kin have discovered how to tap into more of our intended potential. Why in the world would you put them down for being smarter? Why not try to learn from them? Of course that is just my opinion.