Why Continue To Pursue Magic?

In my last blog post I discussed why I began to pursue magic. That post can be read here. Currently, I have been plagued by one question – Should I continue to pursue magic? As I have already discussed in my previous post, I hoped to use magical techniques in conjunction with my efforts to become more engaged with mundane matters. Again, as I have already stated, somewhere along my life’s journey a concern for matters of a practical nature fell to the wayside. I am fairly sure that my spirituality is primarily responsible for bringing me to this point. However, rather than viewing this as a positive state, I found it (perhaps erroneously) to be an extreme- I had gone too far in the spiritual direction. Again, magic was to play a role in redressing this issue. But magic, at least magic that is effective is hard work. Much time is needed to learn about magic and a great deal of time is needed to do magic. The more I learn and practice magic the more my spiritual side screams out…”magic is a distraction to what is important.” So I find myself in the middle of a battle between my perceived need to willfully engage the world and the cry of my spirit to abandon mundane concerns. So, is magic that is used for practical issues a distraction that should be set aside?  Maybe it is so for me now, as a neophyte magus who needs to exert a great deal of time and energy to learn the Art. Perhaps magic will become less of a distraction as I gain familiarity with its use. Like the Buddha, I seek the Middle Path here. Unfortunately, that path is covered by undergrowth and hard to find.