Almost every book on magic has at least some introductory chapter on theory, and everyone has a different opinion - there is no such thing as a Unified Theory of Magic. No two magicians will exactly agree on how it works and everybody comes up with their own opinion once they gained some experience. There is always the danger of becoming so stuck in a morass of theories that one never gets anything done. It's also possible to switch paradigms, for example to consider spirits as objectively existing beings and another time as parts of your own mind (I'm in a middle of a long-term working where my practical understanding would often oscillate between these extremes). All in all, I would try to gain some experience and only then analyse them and see if they fit into some accepted theory. Yes, this book says this and that book says that but there is only one way to find out which is author is right, and that is practicing.
I think you quoted someone else by mistake with the last part, I didn't say this:
I figure it is best to start my journey into Magick by first understanding the theory behind it.
Any recommendations for a good theoretical text?
I would never ask for a theoretical text lol. I only ever want books with practical training, because theory you can't test will just waste your time and more likely place you on the path of becoming an armchair magician.
I think theory is pointless without capability so practice and testing needs to be a part of theory. I find that people best understand something by experiencing it and/or doing it. Just reading about something leaves too much room for imagination & doubt. Someone can learn all the theory of aerodynamics and piloting that they want. Until they actually fly a plane they won't be a pilot, and they won't really understand how flying a plane works.
Theory needs to be incrementally paired up with practical training, and you have to actually succeed at the practical training to truly make sense of the theory. A theoretical text could try to explain a feeling of a specific energy you feel when you do a specific kind of meditation, but literally anybody can placebo themselves into thinking that they are feeling what is described and that they did the meditation right, especially if the description is vague and they are desperate for success. So there must be a practical way to test whether or not you actually did the meditation right, and it must be a method that accounts for your cognitive biases.
Theory without practice is just fiction. Until you successfully put it into practice, those writings are no more valid than any random theory you conceive of yourself. It's like Schrodinger's Cat, the theory is both fictional and factual at the same time, until you test the theory and find out for yourself which one it is.
