The Magic of Talking to Your Plants

On the surface you might say that talking to your plants is not magic but simply breathing out carbon dioxide, which plants breathe in, and taking in oxygen, which plants breathe out.  It is so much more.  When you talk to your plants you tend to voice your inner thoughts, which gives you direction for the actions you will take to work magic, or bring better things into your life.  Plus, being aware of plants makes you aware of your place in the cosmos.  You are not alone, but part of the web of life. Dialogue with your plants, the loving ears that are always there for you, is dialogue with your inner self.  This brings balance and wisdom to your life.  Remember, magic is well formed.  Talking things over with yourself is one way to discover how to form things in a good way.  So I say to all wise magicians out there,  find a plant to talk to or a tree to hug.  The life force they carry will energize you and help make your magic more well formed.  May the spark be with you.

Maintaining Your Courage

In epic tales or adventure movies the hero, with great courage, blasts through the problem and succeeds. Then the story is over. Supposedly everyone lives happily ever after. The wise magician knows that in real life situations demanding courage will arise again and again. Chocolate and fattening foods have to be resisted until all of the weight is off. Exercise has to be a daily habit if you want to get fit. A job that isn't perfect has to be worked until you have earned your college tuition or until the house payments are made. Habits that are strongly ingrained have to be replaced by new habits. Courage is a constant need. It must be maintained even when it seems boring or hard to do so. That is when your magical creative self can come to the rescue. I know a man who was dealing with a powerful problem of claustrophobia. He was working at enlarging a crawl space under a house that was being remodeled. He got very creative about congratulating himself on how much bigger he was making the hole hour by hour. He celebrated filling the container with the dirt he had to remove by bringing it into the sunshine as an offering to his eventual success. He constantly found ways to encourage himself with praise for doing his work in spite of his fear. Now he realizes he has inner resources that he can use to deal with other hard situations. By being proud that we are facing and accepting our fears we can keep them from crippling us. We can also challenge the way others try to be fearful for us. This can hold us back. Sometimes we enjoy the way it feels when other worry over us. But watch out. It may be a form of control. It is not good to be without fear at all. Fear is there to help us be careful when we need to be. Courage is there to help us carefully refuse to be crippled by our fears. Reach out to the realm of magical energy that surrounds you to learn how to look at your fears realistically. Then develop and maintain the courage to deal with them. May the spark be with you.

The Magic Zone

For me the best use of magic is as a help when times are tough, when your energy is low and you feel a bit (or a lot) overwhelmed. Then you can go to the magic zone. You can reach out to the magic that surrounds you. The way to do that is to call up a good memory somehow, from somewhere. Perhaps it is of a time you were in your mother's arms, being read a wonderful story. Of the glow of candlelight at a special time. Maybe you can see or hear what was involved at a special daybreak experience. Go to the magic zone, wrap yourself in that goodness, then bring it back with you to help you face the changes you need to make. Do this as many times as you need to. Just getting five good minutes can do wonders to help you deal with stress and trouble. The silky feel of a pet's coat, the taste of your favorite fruit, the sound of a good orchestra, the laughter of children, there are many experiences that you can call up to soothe and energize you. It might be something as simple as smelling cinnamon. You know what you need and want to do. You also know when that is hard. But magic abounds and is there for you to use. One of the tools of magic is the ability we have to put ourselves in a different realm for a bit. Then we come back to an everyday world with more courage and energy than we had before. When we put ourselves in the magic zone we often get another bonus. When we are not feeling so pressured creative ideas often come that help us solve the problems we are facing in a better way. So reach out to the magic that surrounds you. Feel the good and bring it back. May the spark be with you.

The Magic Of Resilience

I believe that human beings by nature are resilient, able to bounce back from hard times. Resilience is what brought us successfully through the ages with all the myriad problems that had to be solved to modern times. But I admit that some people have more or it than others and we each have more or less of it at different times. How can the practical magician hook into or develop their resilience? The first step is to believe that problems can be solved. The solution may not be immediately evident but even small steps in searching for a solution are likely to open things up. Second: Hook into mentors. A support system is very important. You may have trouble in establishing an easily available and wise support system. Some magicians use a technique suggested in Barbara Sher's book, 'Wishcraft' in which a person puts pictures up of people, living or dead, real or in literature, who would be good role models and helpful if they were available. She calls it 'a person's saints'. You can also commune with your self by writing out a conversation about the problem you are dealing with. Third: Nurture and take care of your self. When you are feeling stressed it is easy to forget to eat or laugh. Fourth: Make time for laughter and movement. Fifth: Limit the time you spend mulling or worrying about your problems. You may need to make an appointment with yourself for worry time. But don't worry all day long no matter what. Sixth:Create your own ways of encouraging your resilience. The magician who believes there is an aura of magical energy surrounding him or her has a head start on being resilient. Hook into that energy. May the spark be with you.

The Magic Of Attention

"What you pay attention to grows" (Deepak Chopra, M.D. in Creating Health) This is similar to the ideas I discussed about practice: practice strengthens things whether in a negative or positive way. The things you focus on are important. If you give attention to negative thoughts they will grow. You will become more aware of them. You become more spiritual and healthy as you become more self aware. As you become more aware you are better able to make good choices. There are different kinds of and different levels of attention. A tight hovering kind of attention is less apt to be beneficial than a broad, relaxed attention. Our inner self will tell us when something is positive or negative, especially if we practice awareness to the inner voice. When you feel tight (or uptight, as is often the case) you can try to acknowledge that, then broaden your field of awareness. You can say to yourself, "I am able to take in a broader awareness, I am aware that I can choose to focus on something other than this. I can look for other colors, hear other sounds, be aware of other movements. I am my own magician and I can resist evil spells." Goals on which you focus are more apt to be reached. Health becomes more part of your life as you pay attention to it. Let the energy of magic help you guide your attention in wonderful ways. May the spark be with you.

Magic Of Dialogue

Words are meant to be heard, or read. They are meant for a dialogue. Even as we think them or speak them we are engaging in an inner dialogue with ourselves. Neither people or words are meant to exist in a vacuum. But it is a miracle when communication is clear and exchange of ideas really does take place between two people. I had an acquaintance once who would be clearly in the throes of anger but would be saying fairly calm words. If the listener mentioned that he seemed to be angry and could that be resolved, the answer would be, "Listen to my words, not my face." He was able to be controlled enough that he could choose words he hoped would steer the conversation where he thought it should go. Other times I have known people who seemed unable to enter into any give and take either, were extremely emotional about it as well, but would go on for multiple sentences trying to find some point, somehow, somewhere. In none of those cases was it likely that an actual conversation was going to take place. The key point here is that THE FIRST EXCHANGE IS NOT THE FULL EXCHANGE. It takes listening, exchange of message, more listening, clarification as to what was heard, reshaping of message and ideas in order to have dialogue. It is a great life skill. One that can always be improved upon. Reach out for the energy of the spark of magic that abounds around you and try to engage in dialogue with others. It will enrich your life. May the spark be with you.

The Magic Of Juxtaposition

For over a month I've been wanting to focus on a particular writing project and finding barrier after barrier thrown in my way. Yesterday I was finally able to sit down, supposedly freely, to the project and it just wouldn't flow. I woke up this morning determined not to be stressed about it but still a bit on edge. Then I decided to use some of the brain storming tools I've learned. One of which is juxtaposition, or pairings. This project is a second chapter and I needed to introduce a character who is important but had no place in the first chapter. Yet I felt that there needed to be less isolation between the two. When I asked my muse if there was a way to show connection that made sense I realized I could have a character in the second chapter mention a character in the first. This would open things up for a lot of events down the line to fall into place much more easily. Putting things in proximity has a lot of uses. In graduate school I often found ways to get double duty out of research so I could get papers turned in for different classes by the way I would pair ideas or spin things off from one idea to another. So if you are feeling stressed about a goal, face your problem with logic and magic. See if an unusual pairing might not open up doors for your creativity. May the spark be with you.

The Magic Of Practice

Practice is doing something mindfully on a regular basis. After a time it may become more and more automatic. Over a long time it becomes ingrained in our repertoire of behaviors. I am not just talking about playing the piano or riding a bicycle. All of our behaviors, including our behaviors of speech and thought, become more ingrained the more they are repeated. Thus if you practice expressing anger you will do that more and more often, more and more easily. I hear people say that certain things are hard, or impossible. I don't have a lot of sympathy for that. Yes, things are hard. It was hard to walk, to talk, to learn to feed yourself. Probably harder at the time than the new behavior that is now being attempted. But if the person attempting the new behavior will "just do it" it will get easier. Break the worry chain for five minutes. The next time you may be able to go for six minutes. Hold off on having a smoke for five minutes. The next time you may be able to go for six minutes. Every behavior you can start you can improve. The magic key is mindful practice. By mindful I mean that you look for the snags and missteps and devise ways to improve upon them. At times you have to have a very deep focus to smooth out those little snags, then focus on integrating them into the whole behavior. But if you will do it, it can be done. One of the hardest things I ever had to learn was to keep my mind about me when someone was shouting at me. I learned it and now I prize my ability to keep cool in a crisis, or even when someone else is in an agitated state. I know I'm not perfect so I continue to be mindful about it. But I can also think back to times in my life when I was too easily manipulated and know that doesn't happen so easily now. I practice the way of the dragon, clarity of thought. I wish the same power to you.

The Best Magical Spells

I've often seen reference to spells, those words that will cause magical change. No matter if they exist or not, there is one way of using words that will have a great deal of effectiveness. Those are the self-accepting, self-encouraging words you say to yourself. Notice I put self-accepting first. That is the first key.
Everyone has a nurturing, self-encouraging part of themselves. We may need to grow it a bit if we have been around toxic people who have always criticized us. But we all can become our own mother. A good mother is accepting first and then expects the child to act in ways that are good for that child. You can do the same for yourself. It has been said that we experience adversity daily, maybe over a dozen times. We deal with it, make a big deal of it, or run away from it. In order to deal with adversity, the best way of the three to achieve success in life, we must first note our reaction. If we encounter a bad driver on the road we first note if that slowed us down, frightened us or what ever other reaction we had. Then we note if we accept that driver as one of the conditions of the road, like rain or potholes, or if we are going to overreact and mess up our own driving. It is the same in other situations. Use your words to form magical spells for yourself.
That soft voice we send to ourselves of, you can do this, you can think clearly, you can figure this out, you can get help if you need to, you can get the skills you need, you can break this problem down into smaller parts, good going, keep on trying, are all words that can become your magical spells. Do this for yourself and achieve magical results.

What Is Magic?

In one of my first posts I mentioned a definition I had seen as magic being 'the ability to change perception at will.' When I was given this definition I was not told whether that change was in myself or in others. I think it would be good to examine our perceptions of magic for ourselves. Walt Disney refers to 'The Magic Kingdom'. We use the term magical often to refer to delightful events or sights. Some think of illusionists as magicians. Some people want to believe that humans can suspend the laws of nature and cause events to behave for their whims. We don't know all the laws of nature yet, but the ones we do know of don't suspend. What a mystery! What is magic? Magic is based on perception. It is change. It is surprise. When we perceive things a certain way,but then there is a shift, and it is for the better, magic has happened. Events can happen that are so lucky they are almost unbelieveable. But the person who received the luck was open to that luck. They were not pushing it away. I challenge you to examine how you perceive your world. Then dare to question your perceptions. This will lead to greater self knowledge and self power. Decide what is magical in your life, for yourself.

The Realm of Magic

The idea of "well formedness" is very important in magic and the good life. Balance of energy, form, and interests; being at one; being in tune. To help you get through a rough day or patch in your life find touchstones,rituals, talismans, or ideas that can help you and buoy you up. Since I had the experience of my worries being my pets( I blogged about it a few days ago) I call my pets to me to help me with whichever problem they are hooked onto. For instance, I need to get a zoning permit for a shed in my backyard. I called my permit-worry-pet to me and he gave me energy to find out what is involved and what I must do. You are free to create ways to help you deal with what you must. Also remember to call the joy and glory of life to you.
At one point in my life I was struggling with extreme shyness. I found a lovely white rock that made me think of the egg of a dragon. I put it on the dashboard of my car and when I would look at it I would imagine becoming the strong glorious dragon I was meant to be. In a short time my shyness had left me, without me even being aware that I was in the process of that change. It is your life. Live it creatively.Magic abounds.

The Eyes Have It

Open your eyes and let wonderful sights and ideas enter your magical realm. Look up and live.
The eyes are powerful organs and more than just an organ of sight. For instance if your neck is stiff when you turn it, you can unlock those muscles by turning your eyes in the direction you are turning your neck and the range of motion will be increased.
To help yourself go into the alpha state roll your eyes up towards the top of your head as you lean back. Alpha state refers to the rhythm of your brain waves. Beta is the normal state. Alpha is a relaxed state, nearing hypnotic trance. A few days ago I was having some stress but I found my small kaleidoscope right there near my computer. A magical gift in the way and time it manifested itself. I turned to the light coming in through the window in the door and instantly acheived calm.
Lightly touching your face around your eyes, and on the forehead between the eyes, the area of the third eye, is part of the technique known as tapping. This can be very calming as well.
Your eyes can be part of your set of magical tools.

Whose Plan For My Day?

As I got out of bed this morning I was formulating a plan about reaching out to friends to help me become more adept at computer usage. Being able to attach to e-mails, paste, copy, save etc are all skills a writer needs. I planned to e-mail a certain friend about helping me assess my skills and making a plan to upgrade them. The universe planned that I must learn as well and it threw me in front of the school bus with a vengeance. I discovered I was locked out of my e-mail for security reasons then I learned that "I" had sent a scam e-mail from England asking for help because I'd been robbed. All while I was staying out of the cold here in the Rocky Mountains! I learned a lot of things I didn't know about using computers and had several good conversations with friends. I even felt friendly toward the lady in computer security I talked with in the Phillipines. It was a long hard day picking up all the pieces of the bus wreck. But I have some better skills and enjoyed the visits. I kept my eye on the prize, and whenever anything flashed by that I needed to know I snatched it. I also ended up getting promises of help in learning from several friends. Now I've recovered I'd say it was a fine day.