What is Magic?

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I have seen quite a bit in the Ra material about magic and magical, but I would like a simple explanation of what "magic" means in this context. I am NOT talking about the Tarot card, the Magician.

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Getting back to my first question, can anyone explain - in very simple terminology - what Ra might mean by "magic"?

You've had some very good answers to these questions in this thread. One that was missed is:

Magical ability is the ability to consciously use the so-called unconscious.

...However, now that I've mentioned the Tarot, a second question would be why does Ra speak so much about the Tarot and the cards in it. Is it perhaps because Carla and her group are especially interested in this "distortion"?

To me Tarot and Astrology have meaning perhaps because there are so many thought forms built up around them in the mass consciousness. ...

Tarot was a method that L/L Research group chose to study to understand the Archetypical mind which is:

The archetypical mind may be defined as that mind which is peculiar to the Logos of this planetary sphere. Thusly unlike the great cosmic all-mind, it contains the material which it pleased the Logos to offer as refinements to the great cosmic beingness. The archetypical mind, then, is that which contains all facets which may affect mind or experience.

To study the Archetypical mind is a work of an adept (or magician?). And Ra offered the group to choose one method of this study. L/L Research group chose Tarot as the method of the study of Archetypical mind.

I like Ra's version of the tarot because it has become such a useful tool for me in understanding the workings of our Logos' creation.

The Ra quote about how magical ability is being able to consciously use the unconscious is represented in the tarot by the Magician and the High Priestess, or the Matrix of the Mind and the Potentiator of the Mind. The Magician represents the conscious mind, which is experimenting constantly with the various ideas and concepts it's picked up along the way, and the High Priestess is the so-called unconscious mind, which is always observing passively with connection to the spirit represented by the moon which is usually in her card. The interaction of the Matrix and the Potentiator generate a Catalyst, or the Empress. The Empress' masculine counterpart is the Emperor, the Experience of the Mind. I see the Emperor as being the attitude you adopt towards the Catalyst you are receiving, which is where polarity starts coming into play.

As you can see Magic is the work of the mind and as such is limited by the mind and what it can conceive of and the limitations of our agreed upon illusion. Personality is a big part of it because the frame of mind with which you approach your experimentation will greatly effect the outcome. Asking the right questions will with the proper attitude will generate Catalyst closer to what you intended or really want. Ritual, meditation, focusing on crystals and what-have-you are all ways to get into a magical frame of mind where you can see things from a sacramental perspective; you can then adopt a magical personality which lends authority to your questioning and has reverence for the Catalyst which is presented.

As always this is only my perspective on these things, take only what resonates. I think my signature says it well.