My magic castle

My magic castle

Saturday, April 23, 2011

The Magic of the Circle

Many times we may come across, in our reading of fairy tales, the drawing of a circle by a wizard or sorcerer. How can we apply this ancient practice to our modern lives? Many ideas occur. When we look around us to see what we can show gratitude for or what we need to change we tend to cast our attention outward in a circle. Squares have unhandy corners for personal attention. When we say we are 'boxed' in we are not saying that in a good way. But when we are encircled it is usually by a family's love or by our successes. One of the magical things we can bring into our life is a good circle of friends. These friends will support us, guide us, enlighten us and entertain us. Sometimes two people can be in dialog and the communication is so rich that it feels like being in a magic circle. Another use of the circle is to mark what is within and without the circle. You may have a lot of stressful things on your mind. Draw a circle to decide which of those things are allowed to have your attention and effort and which must be relegated to some other time or place or even the land of never never. When you are trying to solve a problem you can visualize yourself circling around it, looking for the weak (parts you can easily do) parts of your opponent. Like a predator you can circle around, taking out a chunk here and there until the problem is totally at your mercy. There are all kinds of uses for the idea of the circle. Magic encircles you. Reach out to that energy to improve your life. May the spark be with you.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Revisiting "Act As If"

I posted a short bit about the magic principle or "acting as if" on Feb. 2, 2010. I think it is a good time to revisit that principle. In that previous post I used examples of going after goals I had clearly in mind. But there are times when despair hits because you do not have your goals well formed. Since magic is well formed you may feel that magic has abandoned you. That is a good time to call on the "As if" principle. I know my ultimate goal but not the way to get there. I was feeling a bit of despair until I remembered the 'as if' principle. I began to act as if I would find a way to meet my ultimate goal and I immediately began to get ideas of things I could try. Research and getting feedback are part of the way to go along your path. Then I got an e-mail that vindicated the usefulness of one of my ideas. That indicated I may, after all, be on a good pathway. Just the remembrance of the principle seemed to give me courage, seemed to hook into the energy of the magic that surrounds me. I was able to sort out possible actions to take, prioritize them and make plans for implementation. Now it will be easier for me to act as if I will achieve my goal. May you also be able to reach out for your goals. May the spark be with you.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Invocation

A powerful part of any spell is the invocation, or calling forth. That takes you from half-formed wish to sureness of result. Whether it is a physical healing that is needed or a change in life circumstances you must call forth the desired result. You must do it so strongly that your inner self and all the universe feels the urge for such to happen. In the book "The Goddess In Every Woman" by Jean Sinoda Bolin, woman are taught how to invoke aspects of different goddesses that are within themselves. Perhaps they need the wisdom of Athena. Then they call that forth. People who participate in running marathons learn how to call forth that extra bit of endurance they need to finish the race. If we learn well the uses of the tools of magic we will find that we are invoking many things we would have ignored previously. New ideas, knowledge, opportunities, friendships and chances to grow and learn will come to us constantly. Recognize your wishes. Choose which ones are worthy of pursuit. Then call forth their fulfillment. As Captain Picard, of the Starship Enterprise, says, "Make it so." You can also call forth favorable responses or behaviors from other people. As they say, in sales, 'You don't ask you don't get'. So call forth that which you need and deserve, remembering that magic is well formed. For it to work right the aim must be worthy. Tales abound of wishes gone wrong, as in the story of King Midas. But if you are tune with the energy of magic that is around you will be able to invoke good things for yourself. May the spark be with you.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

When Magic Seems Fleeting

At times the magic we create or experience seems to leave us too quickly. Or a brilliant solution to a problems fades away before we really can grasp it. It is important at these times to not tighten up. Don't lose faith that magic is always there. Most of the time the desired idea will come back to you if you will become very calm and simply wait for it. If it doesn't come in due time, call up another idea. The energy of magic is always there to be tapped into. If one thing doesn't work, something else will. Perhaps the first idea was not what you really needed. There are some strategies used in brain storming sessions in business that you can use. Try turning the problem or current idea around or over or upside down. Try linking two very different products or ideas together. Try looking at the opposite of the idea. Try supposing that the idea you liked is really a bad idea and that if you use it there will be dire results. The more you free up your mind to play, the more you will achieve magical results. Magic may be fleeting at times. But it is also a constant in life. Play with it. Enjoy it. Let it help you. May the spark be with you.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

The Magic Of Modeling

Magic is often brought in to our life to dress up the small things. But sometimes we need to make a really big change. We need to think and act on a grand scale. That is not easy for everybody. I, myself, fight shyness at times. But I do know that the field of Neurolingistic Programing has a lot to offer about learning new things. They talk about modeling as a good way to learn. Modeling is one way to pick up new behaviors and knowledge. You find another person who knows what you need to know and you copy what they do, basically. Some of the people in my writer's group are much better at reaching out to publishers than I am. But being around them has broken down some of my barriers. Parents know the importance of modeling, they see the way their children copy them. But adults can also learn from modeling. Don't be afraid to use this technique to work magic in your life. Find a way to be around people that have the success you want to have and before you know it, you will be learning from them without even much of a struggle. That might be why television and movies are so popular. People like to see new ways of doing things, perhaps things they would like to do. So, go ahead and dream or think on a grand scale. Then if the new ideas call to you reach out for them you will find many ways of working towards these new goals. Modeling could very well be one of your strategies. May the spark be with you.

Saturday, April 9, 2011

The Magic Of Suspending Judgement

I last posted about the magic of patience. Suspending judgement is similar but different. Patience is necessary when you have a goal in mind but haven't achieved it or received it. Suspension of judgement can be useful at any time. It is the refusal to overreact. We have a part of our brain called the amygdala. It is part of the brain stem. It sends out fear signals to keep us alert. But not all those signals are valid warnings. We need to get in the habit of monitoring our thoughts so we can encourage the creative and productive ones. When the overly judgmental or fear induced thoughts come at us we can suspend judgment long enough to see if we want to accept them. Magic will not work is we have judged that it will not. Magic is mysterious and wonderful. But if we fear that part of our mind, the right brain, it will not be easy to manifest the blessing of magic in our life. Perhaps the people you see that you have judged as rejects are simply having a bad day and are really wonderful. Perhaps the suggestion someone has given you is the ideal solution to one of your problems and you didn't give it a chance. Do not go about your day rushing to judgement. It will deprive you of some of the glory, joy and magic you deserve. One of the problems of being judgmental is that you will tend to give up on solving problems, or doing magic, too easily. So reach out to the magic that surrounds you, with full acceptance of its glory and your power, and bring something good into your life. May the spark be with you.

Friday, April 8, 2011

The Magic Of Patience

To have patience you must be able to believe in a positive outcome. Since the wise magician has a mindset that they will bring about a positive outcome it would seem that patience is natural to the wise magician. But just in case you are as human as everybody else I will help you examine a few things you might consider about patience. The first thing, of course, is the ability to put aside the needless fears that want to intrude. Fear, in many forms, likes to sneak in where ever it can. If you run from it it gets stronger. Challenge it. If you are getting tired that might be one of the forms fear has taken. Procrastination, getting fog headed, having an urge to be distracted, getting with people who will discourage you from working towards your goals are all manifestations of fear. Sometimes all you fear is change. Even so the smallest fear can hold you back. A second thing about patience is to fill the time purposefully. If you are waiting for Christmas it might be well to buy presents, wrap them and send out cards. Prepare for the achievement of the desire. A third thing you can do to help yourself with the development of patience is to make the goal seem more real. Do affirmations, visualizations and plans for how you will enjoy what you are manifesting for yourself. A fourth thing that will help you have patience is to break up the time into chunks. It is easier to get through a day than a week. After you have patiently passed one day you can then take on another. Fifth, be creative about your waiting. Find ways to make games of it, or find humor to help you pass the time. Creativity is a special realm of magic. So reach out to the magic that surrounds you and accpt that good things will come to you. May the spark be with you.

Sunday, April 3, 2011

The Importance of Gratitude To The Wise Magician

Learning takes a while to process. If we have created something wonderful it will take a while to understand that it is truly in our life and to know how we drew it there. If emotion is connected with a learning that learning is more powerful, complete and long lasting. Gratitude is a strong and positive emotion. Therefore, it would be good to practice gratitude constantly. Connect that feeling with your awareness of what has just manifested. As you practice gratitude for life's goodness you will see more and more of it manifest. You inner self has drawn all that to you. Even if you don't consciously know how these things came to be, your inner self does and the emotion of gratitude will help it remember how to do so again. Sometimes we only play lip service to gratitude. But it is better to actually let a warm strong feeling bathe you. Even, if you want to, give a good strong exclamation as you accept the gift you have been given. Be grateful for the gift and for the ability to draw it to you. Magic is experiential. What you think about is what you will experience. If you focus on your blessings you will have less time to create fears.
Reach out to the realm of magic that surrounds you and bring goodness into your life then lock that goodness by feeling gratitude. May the spark be with you.