My grandmother used to say a word is just a word until you put weight behind it. That pretty much sums up the whole debate for me. The older folk magic traditions like hoodoo and brujería never bothered with the k at all, and neither did the cunning folk. It’s really a modern ceremonial thing.
The spelling only matters in writing. When we’re actually speaking to someone, the k vanishes entirely.
The debate exists almost exclusively in text, which is kind of funny when you think about it. If the intention behind the word is what matters, your voice or your hand carries that intention regardless of how it’s spelled on a page.
I used to spell it ‘magick’ because, if I’m honest, I felt like I had to prove I was serious. Over time I noticed the spelling was just making me self-conscious about how I sounded.
Now I let my journal be inconsistent, which feels more honest.
I keep trying to stick with one spelling, then forget halfway through a journal entry. Last week I wrote both versions in the same sentence and just shrugged it off.
Nothing about the spell felt off or stronger either way. My notes look messy (always have, honestly) but the actual results stay consistent. Probably for the best since I lose track of small details all the time anyway.