The Magic of Listening to the Inner Self

  In early July of this year (2016) I discovered I needed to undergo open heart surgery.  I knew from past experience that I had to prepare my body/mind for this.  I had undergone major surgery in 1999 and it seemed as if my body had been angry at the sudden jolt.  I developed arthritis in my knees so bad that I had trouble walking.  As if my path forward was harder to follow.  So in the few days I had to prepare for this surgery I did a lot of meditation.  Then one day I seemed to sense that my inner self had replied with the phrase "But this is OPEN heart surgery".  It seemed as if I was being told to open up my heart to others.  I took notice and broke out of my shell of fear and isolation.  I reached out to my family and friends and told them what I was about to undergo.  It was wonderful the way they drew around me with caring and support. It was also wonderful the way I received support and caring from the caregivers I encountered. I was in the hospital and rehab facilities for two months.  Healing would have been so much more difficult had I simply been dealing with the physical aspects of all this.  After the replacement of a leaky heart valve, among other things, I discovered my body/mind had a rage to heal.  I was extremely weak but every day I have been getting stronger in body and mind.  Previously my life had been crushing me and now I find that every day I am able to take on more challenges and find solutions for problems I had been running from.  This new openness to my self and others is a source of joy and energy.  The Wise Magician knows of the source of joy and energy in connection to others.  May this come to you.  May the spark be with you.

The Magic in the Message of Procrastination

The wise magician does not do everything with a save of the wand.  Living by whim can be tiring, even exhausting.  But to have a stable life one must question the wave of the wand.  Do magicians get goals?  I believe they must.  But then procrastination creeps in.  Procrastination is often spoken of as a sin.  But the wise magician knows that every cringe or 'aiyah' is simply a signal from the wise inner self.  It is a signal that something needs to change.  Perhaps there is a monster to be slain or a deluge to be stopped.  Procrastination comes through in different ways.  Perhaps you feel tired.  Or perhaps something that is not usually that wonderful seems to beckon and sparkle. When procrastination is recognized the wise magician will take out the magic wand and wave it until all the bits and pieces of the procrastination lays at your feet.  Now look at it.  It is not so overwhelming.  You can use your magic of analysis now.  What part of the planned task or goal were you not ready for?  Why?  What part did you need to do some more preparation for?  Do you need to get some training or help?  Did fear intrude?  Was there something to which you need to acclimate yourself?  Was it all just too new?
Where is the easiest place to start?  Can you make up some games to help you?  Do you think the goal is a step in the wrong direction after all?  Procrastination is a message, not a good way of life. Welcome the message procrastination has for you, interpret it and go on to a more magical life.  May the spark be with you.

The Magic of Just Enough Security

Have you ever felt fearful and full of anxiety?  Did you get over it?  There is a part of our personality, the  Wise Magician, that observes and learns as we go along.  When we are children we look to our parents as being a source of security and all powerful and loving.  At least that is the ideal.  Then we see their feet of clay.  Oh, horrors!  They are not perfect.  We rebel.  If we are lucky we go on to the next step and and realize that we had a good enough start in life to take over for ourselves.  We accept the imperfections and also accept the good and the glory. Maybe the only good is that we have something we know to avoid.  But that keeps us from being naive.  Confidence and inner security is, in the end, a learned skill.  It is ideal if we are immersed in a life of security and experiences that lead to great confidence.  But when we decide to become our own Wise Magician we can engineer many experiences that lead to a mindset of confidence and security.  Blow on your inner fire until a spark of magic ignites.  Learn to develop security and leave fearfulness behind.  There is a lot of fear mongering going on now in national politics.  Don't sucker in to it.  May the spark be with you.

The Magic of Musing

 I use the term musing in a specific way.  It is not just idly thinking about something.  It is exploring an idea for the purpose of becoming productive in regards to it.  I am a writer  and I believe in outlining.  But before outlining comes musing. Musing is a paper and pen thing and it can take several forms.  Always I start the top of my page with a title 'Muse on....(fill in idea here)'.  Then I start to encourage my ideas to become more fully developed.  One form for this is the I - Me Conversation.  I have written about this before, perhaps even in my blogs.  But I'd like to mention it again, if you will bear with me.  I says something about the idea, perhaps that it is poorly formed.  Me replies.  I makes a point.  Me may get more of an idea along the lines they are exploring. And so on.
When the conversation winds down I have a better idea about the way I want to proceed with my idea.  Sometimes I see that it is actually not an independent idea but a subset of another project I am already working on.
   Another form of musing, after I have put the title at the top of the page, is the write down all the points I can think of in regards to my topic.  Later I will order them, polish them and put them into an outline.  A third form of musing about a particular topic is to get it out on paper all the hesitation, anxiety, fear, worry, and questions I have in regard to that topic. If the idea is good it will not do to let anxiety sabotage it.  So it is good to face and deal with fears from the first.
   No matter what form my musing takes, it helps me get well formed about my ideas.  And remember, one of the main tenets of magic is: 'Magic is well formed'.  So try musing about you ideas to help make them real.  May the spark be with you.

The Magic of Interaction

   Magic does not happen in a vacuum or a sterile atmosphere.  The spark may go from the wise magician to an object of nature, or come from the natural entity to the wise magician.  Such may have happened when early people discovered the beneficial qualities of certain plants.  But a great magic can happen between people.  Think of how energized you feel when you are validated by a smile from a mentor or a thumbs up from a friend.  Even more, when true collaboration takes place and a problem is solved, a great spark of energy surrounds the group.  Often ideas will come in clusters because the magic of creativity has opened up minds.  Dialogue between minds, even dialogue between different aspects of your self, can make life richer.  So, wise magicians, I urge you to keep the interaction going.  Listen.  Respond.  Question.  Avoid close mindedness.  Slogans and labels are anathema to magic.  Remember, good magic- white magic- is all that is good for people and the world.  Black magic works against our good and our world.  Corruption is black. Apathy is black.
Love is blindingly white and gold.  Warm your world by encouraging interaction.  May the spark be with you.

The Magic of Expectation

   Many creative people get excited by their ideas and that high keeps them working until the idea is made real.  A writer will continue to pour out words even if fingers are cramping around the pen.  A painter will paint until the picture is done, even if eyes are bleary and the brush falls from stiff fingers. As the faint glimmer takes form the work feeds on itself and the energy is good.  This is the best scenario.  Idea.  Energy to keep going.  Finished creation.  But this is not always the reality.
   All people are creative, whether they label themselves so or not.  But all too often an idea comes to one.  Or a goal.  The excitement happens.  But there is a gap.  The goal or idea exists.  But the way forward is unclear.  Then the energy fizzles.  This is the more common scenario.  Idea-gap-fade...
  For decades I have been aware of that gap, painfully so.  Sometimes I have bridged it but all too often I have not.  I have discovered that many others have the same life experience.  But again I have hope that there is a way over this gap.  I am actually excited about this possibility.  In the last issue of O magazine, Oprah Winfrey's platform, I was reading her interview with Brendan Burchard.  He is the founder of The Experts Academy and author of several books about growth.  His latest is "The Motivation Manifesto".  In this interview, in one small sentence, he mentioned the power of expectation.  He didn't use the word 'power'.  But I will.  Expect something to continue, to turn out well and it is likely to.  That sense of expectation is like the tendril a climbing plant throws out.  It takes a while for it to find the support it will climb on but it keeps reaching out, learning as it goes, until the way becomes well established. This is a powerful idea for me.  A magical one.  I intend to make this my spark of magic mantra for reaching my goals. "Expect the way to open up."  I intend to replace the sense of hopelessness I have had at facing the GAP and learn to expect the way forward to be shown to me.  I hope all of you can also expect the way to open for you.  May the spark be with you.

The Magical Power of Consolation

At times your world may turn so grey that you think you can never catch a spark of magic again.  But I suggest to wise magicians that this is a signal to stop and ask a few question of yourself and the universe. Suppose you are just worried about another person's troubles and don't know what you can do to make it better for them.  Suppose all you can do is have faith in them and give them a hug or a pat on the back.  As you think about consoling your friend you may realize that you need a bit of consolation for yourself. The magic of consolation is that it buys a bit of time and it hooks into the belief that things actually can get better.
So go ahead and say to your inner child something like this: "There, there.  I know that skies are grey.  I know that you have lost a sense of sparkle.  I know that you have worries.  It is okay.  If you hang in there a bit you can praise yourself for hanging in there.  Won't that be a bit of magic when you can praise yourself?"
This might make you smile a bit at the way you have turned the tables on the inconsolable part of your character.  I don't deny that there is awful tragedy in life.  But they pass.  Love yourself and others and give support in coming through the storm back into the magical world of sunshine and flowers.  Be consolable. Give comfort.  It is deserved.  May the spark be with you.