Depending who you read, magick could be the ability to cause changes in ones own consciousness through an act of will (Dion Fortune) or the ability to cause changes in conformity through an act of will (Aleister Crowley). Crowley was probably more materialistic in his outlook on the world (he often criticised his own mystical writing as "the ravings of a lunatic" ) wheras Dion Fortune was more rooted in lay psychotherapy and mysticism, but they both express a similar idea.
In magick, a clear intention will be required before any sort of work is carried out. Whether it's a basic banishing of energies to clear your space or a full-blown invocation of 'the bornless one' to reconnect with your own essence, there is always a lot of importance placed on having clear intention. Much like the way we prepare for imbibing a psychedelic, you optimise the conditions to ensure that a certain outcome is obtained and go into the experience with as much preparation (however pointless is may seem at the peak!) as possible by educating ourselves on the substance, arranging the space we're in to provide comfort and security, and having a secure, positive mindset.
For a magician, they learn as much as possible about what they're about to do e.g. if it's an invocation then we would study the deity/pantheon involved and learn as much as possible about it and it's qualities, numerological correspondances, relevant incense etc. Where a psychonaut prepares their living space for their journey, the magician sets out his temple with all the colours, symbolism and materials relevant to the purpose. Where the psychonaut prepares by calming the mind to accept incoming impressions and absorb their experience without holding onto reality for dear life, the magician does similar by mentally preparing to surrender to the subjective element of the experience e.g. invocation can involve what appears to be, for all intent and purposes, possession if performed correctly.
The point of all that rambling there is to draw a parallel between the rituals of magick and the rituals of the psychonaut. It may not be totally relevant to this thread but I thought it was worth discussing at least. The above section is probably more related to the concept of will rather than intention so my apologies if I digress.
Before the will can be directed, it requires a focus; an intention. I see intention as being more about what lies behind the action itself, for example I intend to do the pile of ironing in the corner tonight. Why would I intend to do this? Because it needs done, it gets my girlfriend off my back and it can be quit medatative. So there are various reasons behind my original intention, the intention is only the result of a series of considerations about this one subject i.e. ironing.
Is an intention the result of something else? The result of a 'need' or a desire for a specific outcome? (in my example, getting the ironing done to clear space, stopping my gf from nagging me about it.) I don't know that intention should be considered a sense as such, to me it's more of a nexus (haha) between a desire and it's outcome. A sense, as I understand it, would be something pre-verbal which occurs without conscious control and an intention requires a motivation which brings the subject into the conscious mind. Once an intention is set, we can direct ourselves to achieving a particular outcome.
That's what I'm thinking right now any so excuse my verbiage and linguistic diarrhea
Ident is a fictional character - The stories and quoutes attributed to Ident should be treated as having no basis in reality.