Magic and mysticism, science and skepticism (part one)

In the first book of Henry Agrippa's Three Books of Occult Philosophy, we get the following quote from chapter 2:

Whosoever therefore is desirous to study in this faculty [magic], if he be not skilled in natural philosophy, wherein are discovered the qualities of things, and in which are found the occult properties of every being, and if he be not skillful in the mathematics, and in the aspects, and figures of the stars, upon which depends the sublime virtue, and property of everything; and if he be not learned in theology, wherein are manifested those immaterial substances, which dispense and minister all things, he cannot be possibly able to understand the rationality of magic. For there is no work that is done by mere magic, nor any work that is merely magical, that doth not comprehend these three faculties.

Now - obviously - this doesn't restrict the practice of magic to the lofty realms of individuals who have earned three or four PhDs in wildly unrelated fields. Magic is a practical art first and foremost - it always has been, and it always will be. It's wired into our brains and our blood and our bones, whether we recognize it or not. It doesn't require any special training to perform, or to get results.

That probably sounds like rank heresy to any number of people, but hear me out.

There's nothing special about doing magic. Pretty much any human being can focus his Will to achieve some goal. If that human focuses long enough then something - call it coincidence, call it synchronicity, call it magic, call it prayer, call it whatever you like - something happens.

And that's magic in a nutshell: causing change in accordance with your Will.

So, then, if magic can be done by anybody at any time with no training whatsoever, why on Earth am I studying the 800-some pages of dense 16th century occultism that is the Three Books of Occult Philosophy? Why would budding magi pursue initiation into the Golden Dawn or the OTO? Why go through the year and a day of training in Wicca or the ADF, or practice the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram or the Middle Pillar exercise?

Because - in the same way any person can do magic - any person can run, or jump, or reason. Some people might even have a natural talent for it. But without practice, without training, without the constant striving to improve, you never get better at it.