that's certainly a valid way of looking at it. werewolves are a fairly drastic and outlandish example, and levi presents an admirably skeptical perspective for a magician from the 1800s. you are better off reading the chapter than taking me at my word though. it's been a while since i read it.

here is the full text, it's the third instance of "CHAPTER XIV" if you search the page.

a much more mundane case would be a glamour (spell) for someone who needs to be perceived a certain way so they can attain a goal. they might be falling for it, but if it produces results, are they wrong? the same goes for a magical operation for health.

you might say that science can describe the mechanism by which the above occurs, but a magician will say that so can magic. one difference between proper science and proper magic in this case is that magic gives you handles you can grab on to to operate your subjective experience such that you can produce the results you want. magic operates on the sensorium, and it is occult/hidden because it can't be shown.

many people claim they can do more with magic. i have had some positive results, but it hinges on my ability to stay in a certain frame of mind. i've experienced prescience in small unimportant matters, but the complex of thoughts and feelings has been clear enough that i've been able to identify it as prescience before i received verification. i have had someone intrude on my dreams and then talk to me about it. i have had "energy" sensations in my body that another person clearly identified the building and the motion of the energy without me prompting them in any way. again though, this can't be shown.

another way to look at the educated city folk is they engage in common rituals, plug into common data streams, and are bombarded by the same large scale operations. if i walk outside and say "DAAAAANIAAAAAALL" i will get people talking about white vans. even simple jokes are very strong currents.

likewise, when a black person in the united states takes a test, they are likely to perform poorly because black people perform poorly on tests. if they're told it's a test black people score better on, they do better on it.

out in the country, there are strong currents in the form of day, night, weather, but those strong currents are in a raw form instead of logically (logos=word=creation). the intent of the magician is to take these raw currents and shape them. the first step is to isolate yourself from all external current until you are a stable unit. once you do that, then you selectively connect to currents to shape them or bridge them with other currents. the degree to which this can be done is all that is contested. and it always will be because the occult can't be shown.

crowley's notes for an astral atlas would be good further reading.