My magic castle

My magic castle

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

The Magic Of I Will

I am. I can. I will. The time will come for a wise magician when he comes out of the fog and confusion induced by fearfulness and he is ready to go forward with a purposeful life. Then it is easy to say 'I will." and work for worthy goals. These goals will have integrity and not be full of wishes to put down other groups or people or to deny anything to anybody. The question is how to arrive at that state of clarity. A lot of soul searching is probably the key. Knowing what you value and want to have in your ideal world tells you what is worth working for. You can go back over your life and look at patterns, successes and failures. You may find that what you thought of as failures were really valuable learning situations. When your stomach loosens up and your heart feels at peace you have discovered what you need to know to start on this journey. If you can not yet articulate it try talking with different friends. That will help to make your goal a little more well-formed. Being true to yourself and following your bliss are not different things. Sometimes people think of 'following your bliss' as a way to become wealthy and can't seem to find the right connection to get on that path. Wealth is a relative term. Money is necessary and nice but feeling at peace and true to oneself is greater than mere wealth. So reach out to discover your deeper self. That will bring the realm of magic forward to help you. May the spark be with you.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Magic Is The Soul Of Things

I have been doing some mentoring of other writers. Each one was having trouble making their work well-formed and putting life or zing into it. When we applied the principle of magic to these works they seemed to be much easier to write. I told them that magic is the driving good in something and that seemed to help. Sometimes we feel down because we feel that we have not lived a purposeful life. But with everyone that I have worked with we have found consistent patterns of behavior that showed these people that they were actually being true to certain values all along, they just didn't realize it. A purposeful life is more satisfying than one of fame and notoriety. We are just finishing up Women's History Month. Women like Harriet Tubman, Florence Nightingale and Clara Barton come to mind way before Lady Gaga. The first three accomplished great things and had a lasting legacy because they poured their heart and soul into their work. They were the judge of how well they were doing, not other people. So if you feel that you are lacking something in your life, look to your values. If you appreciate beauty make some beauty appear somewhere. My flower beds are blooming now because my daughter took the time last year to plant more bulbs. I appreciate the beauty every time I step outside. If you value good manners be a role model whenever you can. If will rub off on others. You are bringing magic into the world in little ways and that can lead to bigger things because goodness ripples outward. Remember, your soul is that part of you reaching out for good in your life. So make magic happen, express your soul's desires. May the spark be with you.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Magic Likes To Be Drawn Out

Magic is often referred to as the study of the occult, or hidden. By being occult magic is less likely to be tarnished. If you desire to have some magic in your life you must be willing to call it forth and/or appreciate it when it comes, or is manifest. Every morning there is a beautiful sunrise that can be seen out my office door. But if I don't bother to see it it is not in my life. It is the same with friendships you don't nurture and goals you don't try to achieve. If you want those special things in your life you must make a home for them. The wise magician believes in possibilities and opens doors. But too many people fail to open their hands and hearts to receive. They say that good couldn't happen to them, that good doesn't exist, or that it is too much trouble to work for it. How foolish. Once magic starts to be drawn to you there is a power that continues that draw. This is not the exact quote from Goethe but he says, "If you can think a thing begin it, for effort has a magic and power in it." Do reach out for the little bit of extra zing that will make your life better. You deserve it and it wants to come to you.
Be clear about what you want and draw it to you. Ask for it, work for it, make a home for it. Goodness will come your way. May the spark be with you.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

The Magic Of The Soul

Soul is a term that means different things to different people. So I must start off by telling you what soul means to me. It is that part of your inner self that is always trying to guide you to something transcendent, something better. Once, a long time ago, I sampled a certain substance. I thought to myself, "How smart this makes me feel." It was my soul that came on strong and gave me the thought, "But I am smart. I don't need something else to make me feel that way." I was never tempted to try anything like that again. The inner strength that our ancestors showed in coming to America, crossing the plains, building railroads and cities was not easy. It demanded a lot of inner resources, of faith in their ability to solve problems. There is magic in turning to yourself and your community to solve problems. They get solved. Whether the problem is a matter to be dealt with on a personal, community or national level the wise magician believes that a good outcome is possible and should be searched out. We have to option of operating from love or fear. If we love our fellow man we will try to help them. If we fear them we will try to protect ourselves from them and control them. Money is often used to influence fear based outcomes, as in when large sums are thrown into the political arena to give certain groups power (and tax breaks). If you become aware of your inner resources you are more able to stop running around mindlessly and begin to build a satisfying and purposeful life. Every one has strong resources. Not everyone knows that or has learned how to use them. The field of magic that surrounds you is there to help you discover and use your resources. Reach out. May the spark be with you.

Friday, March 11, 2011

The Shoemakers Magic

The shoemaker was a poor struggling workman who became very rich. Read the story of "The Shoemaker and the Elves" and learn valuable lessons from that. The shoemaker was struggling. But he had a good product that had a demand, and he could be trusted. Some outside help came his way. In terms in use in the present it could be said that he caught the eye of some venture capitalists. Anyway, he got some outside help. Then he carefully took advantage of that help and plowed all his profits back into his business until it because very profitable. Many people throw away their resources and their windfalls then bemoan their situation. That is not taking advantage of the magic that surround you. The shoemaker was totally responsible in all aspects of his craft, including the marketing, letting potential clients know he had a good product. I believe a wise magician would constantly look for resources and ways to develop those resources until he had a good product. Then he would find a magical, appealing way to market that product and use that way. Many times the product people have is themselves. It does not do to tear down or degrade that product that is yourself. Opportunities abound even though they may not be handed out on a silver platter. Have faith and be creative. You may be surprised at the financial opportunities that will come your way, almost like magic. The friends you make, who trust you, will be part of that magic, trying to advise and help you. May the spark be with you.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

The Magic of Work and Play

Both work and play are mindful, purposeful activities. Or should be. When you engage in either you are in the present and being an important part of your community. Both can bring joy and satisfaction. You are engaged in making your will manifest. But when you are letting your mind dance around like a sick grasshopper, clutching at pleasure that isn't there or adding needless worries or resentments to your imagination you are neither at work or play. You are nowhere, in the dark limbo of self-caused pain. To get away from the 'grasshopper' mind is not easy for some.
But it is needed. Some of the things that will trigger the 'grasshopper mind' is letting yourself consider questions that are worded wrong. Such as 'What is the purpose of life?' Well--life tries to keep living. As to 'purpose' one would better ask, 'What purpose do I give to my life?'
Do you see the difference? At times work may be hard to find in the conventional sense. We hear constantly about the unemployment rate. That kind of work is the kind where you want somebody to tell you what to do. Even if you don't have a conventional job you can find purposeful activities. Don't sit around and let worries and dark thoughts eat at your mind. If you have worries make it your job to face them and deal with them. It can be done. You may have to get a little help from your friends. There we come back to play. Play is wonderful and gains friends for you. So make your life magical for yourself by putting as much work and play into it as will fit. May the spark be with you.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

The Magic Of Faith

Faith that things will work out as wanted is essential to the wise magician. You must first become clear about your desire or will. Then you take action to cause the results you want. If you lack faith you will fail to follow through or you will get in the way of the success you have coming by over-correcting or changing your mind too often. Often a feeling of insecurity or unworthiness will interfere with having the necessary faith to work towards a goal, or to wait for the results that are trying to come to you. At times like that you may have to experiment with your attitudes. Perhaps you can say "even though I may not deserve these good results, I do believe in magic and I will wait to see what happens. If I have been thorough in my attempts to cause good results and have had nothing come to me, I am free to try something else." You have to do what you can to keep those sabotaging fears out of the way. If you can't have faith in yourself, try having faith in magic. It surrounds you and you have seen flashes of it in your life from time to time. Have faith that you can bring about what you want one more time at least. A component of faith is the willingness to let the needed time pass that it will take for your desires to manifest. Patience and faith go hand in hand. Because we have the capacity to be happy it must mean that we are meant to have happiness. So call the good life to you. Become clear about what you want, believe that you can cause it, take action then have faith. May the spark be with you.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Magical Eggs

Today I was wondering what I could learn from fairy tales, as I often do, and I remembered that many tales have an egg as an important component. What could be important about eggs? Well, they hatch. Not quickly but in due time. Like good ideas. A wise magician gets an idea then he/she talks it over with other wise magicians. The idea is nurtured and turned over on a regular basis and then one day it opens up to reveal something wonderful. Talking with others about your ideas is what is needed to hatch your wonderful projects. Remember, magic is occult, or hidden, and we need to do things to bring it to the light of day. Discussion is one of the ways to do that. Napoleon Hill was a motivational speaker and writer in the early 20th century who wrote a book called "Think and Grow Rich". In it he advocated surrounding yourself with advisors with whom you could discuss your plans so that they could become well formed. So take a suggestion from many sources, help your ideas hatch. Talk them over with yourself and others. You will see the flaws and the good parts. You will come to understand what is needed to bring these ideas to fruition. Learn from current motivational speakers or from ancient fairy tales. All say that it is good to talk things over with trusted advisors until you can cause good ideas to happen. May the spark be with you.