Magical Methodology: Letter of the Craft, or Spirit of the Art?

I have, of late, been working very closely with the Olympic Spirits of the Arbatel and the Planetary Spirits of the Heptameron (as reproduced in the Veritable Key of Solomon, a fantastic book, pick yourself a copy if you get a chance), and this has gotten me thinking (out of both necessity of the operations and academic interest).

I have, until recently, accepted that there seemed very much to be two schools of thought when it comes to ritual magic. The first includes proponents of what I will call "Letter of the Craft" magicians who follow a very rigid interpretation of ancient Grimoires, expecting the practitioner to follow instructions (however convoluted or complex they may be) to their very letter and insist upon that method as the only honest way to perform operations. The second is the "Spirit of the Art" camp who feel that the important part is the will of the magician and all other instructions (however dire and insistent they might be) clutter the magician.

But it has occurred to me that there is a third group which seems to take the worst parts from both (or possibly the best parts, depending on how biased I might be). This group seems to have decided that ancient grimoires include instructions which are unnecessary, however they insist that the magical methods of tradition or of particular orders are absolutely required for every operation, regardless of whether or not they conflict with the instructions of the original source material.

So who's right? That's the question I find myself dealing with. I am unhappy with the rigid structure of many magical systems, but cannot accept the loose philosophy of tossing out unliked instructions, nor can I accept the very strict and often incomplete instructions of some of the source materials. Much of these questions, I suppose, will be solved by experiment and reason.

I just felt the necessity to muse on these for a moment.

Magic on the Small Scale

I've been thinking a lot about occult practice in regards to personal transitions. What happens when an occultist has to pickup shop? Close his books, roll up his tapestries, zip his robes into suit bags, wrap up his quarter tablets, and say good by to his permanent outer temple. What then?

When the vicissitudes of life necessitate a certain flexibility of personal property, how does the practitioner of a religious art which basically necessitates the building of holy ground and the equivalent of a church in one's own home cope with the loss of the space and tools necessary to properly perform his art?

This question is probably one that every Magus has faced at one point or another in his existence. We are just as prone to economic, social, and personal distress as practitioners of any other faith or practice.

Understand that I am in no way discounting the Inner Temple, mental practice, “it's all in your head, you just have no idea how big your head is” (thanks Lon) philosophy of magic. However, when a practitioner become accustomed to a certain level of theatricality and high ritual, how is the Magus affected by having to 'settle' for a purely mental or less than ideal magical environment.

As an illustration: While meal supplements can nourish our bodies and be nutritiously valuable, when we are used to meat and potatoes downgrading to liquid protean has to cause some amount of withdrawal and cravings.

So how does a practitioner who has downgraded his Outer Temple cope with the cravings for the grand Temple he was used to? How does he replace the accoutrements of his trade with simple, portable, and affordable substitutions?

I don't quite have an answer yet, but I am considering a few options. The first is parchment. Lots and lots of parchment. Parchment is portable, and can be pinned to walls easily. Does it replace nicely carved quarter tablets, or framed paintings. Maybe not. But it is easily replaceable, and with enough time and investment a Magus can make even parchment tools into personal extensions of his will.

Any other suggestions? Replacements for robes? Temporary tools? Simpler rituals?

Looking for input here :)