Magic and The Natural Connection

Magic is a kind of wild animal; a panther, a wolf, an eagle and a sparrow. Magic is a kind of wild animal, like us. A body of energy shifting into shapes, to experience itself through different forms. Magic is a shapeshifter. The alchemists described it as “the ability to turn lead into gold” or in other words, it is the ability to turn something mundane into extraordinary. At its true essence, magic is a way of perceiving our world in a new way; engaging with it and falling in love with it again instead of manipulating it or controlling it.

Magic is weaving the ordinary into extraordinary as we deepen our connection to life and allow it to move through us. It runs wild and free, as wild animals do but it is not found outside of us; it is rooted and threads in our everyday life and experiences. Magic is found in no other place than the soil of our soul. And the only way to work with it in a healthy manner, is by harmonizing our inner selves.

Doing the laundry, watering the plants, writing a book, cooking and making babies, all of these are the product of our creation. Magic is made by the power of three; intention, energy and action. We pour our intention into everything and whether consciously or unconsciously, we are love making and creating magic every day. The question is: what are we creating?

Magic is Know Thyself, so that we are aware of what we create and how. Magic is found in our ability to build connection to ourselves because magic only comes from within. It is a way of harmonizing our inner self and moving the energy with our clear intentions and actions.

Each seemingly small thing that we do carries its own imprint; scents of us and is a giant created by our very own hands. We create magic by the words we choose to speak each day – making a decision on the kind of person we want to be and how we want to contribute to others; kindness or harm. There is magic in how we fold the clothes, how we prepare food or how we make our tea, appreciating these sacred ingredients of our hands and love for those we do it.

Magic originates in the natural world. Herbs, wood, talismans, rituals, wildlife, cotton, minerals – the food we eat, the cloths we wear, the wood in our fireplace and all life begins from the soil, tempted by water, tempted by air to surface for merging with us.

In Indigenous and many others cultures, people have an intimate connection to the natural world. They relate to rocks and trees the same way that they connect to humans. This is what I do as well, ever since I was a child. I believe that everything around us has consciousness – in its own way of course, even if not as evolved as a human mind. I believe that spirit flows through everything. And I believe that how we treat nature and everything else around us, including our furniture, reflects our relationship to ourselves.

How do we keep ourselves from ourselves? Why do we need so many things – material and seen – if only to avoid feeling?

What do we feel when we put our hands to our faces?

As children we give names to our toys and look at animals with wonder as if they speak to us. As adults people continue to give names to things such as sailboats, trucks and cars. Name giving is actually a very important tradition and ceremony in Indigenous cultures. Children do this authomatically because they have a greater connection to spirit, the (super)natural world and their psychic senses.

To build a deeper connection to nature, spirit and life, we don’t have to go out and look for the faeries to take us into the otherworld – all we have to do is just spend some silence in our bedroom. Truly sit still and notice – notice how everything around you is a part of greater consciousness and unites it all together; how every object is imbued with spirit.

This is how we build a connection to everything and everyone. Spend time with it, see it, truly see it, pay attention to it and appreciate it even when it doesn’t look like you nor shares the same language. Augustine once famously said, “Amo: volo ut is” meaning “I love: I will that you are.” The essence of this beautiful phrase is that the only way to love is to accept another as they are and hold space for them, allowing them to just be. The greatest lovers are those who just pay attention; pay attention to the changing selves of those around them. What this also implies is that we become comfortable with not knowing. By allowing mystery and curiosity into our lives, we also allow this space to unfold for our beloved.

This is how we build respect towards life and everything and everyone in it; by paying attention and appreciating.

Ritual is essentially a dialogue; a language with the sacred. It is a way for various energies to interact together and it is an understanding that the sacred interacts with us continuously through everything. Learning that wordless language teaches us how to relate more deeply to all life surrounding us.

When we feed the squirrels, they can’t thank us with words and yet nature communicates back to us in its own unique way. Everything in life is an exchange of energy. Money itself is exchange of energy. When we walk into a temple, we leave a donation in exchange for its contribution of peace and harmony in the community. When we read an article that we love, we leave a lovely comment or share it or donate to the author, because it made us feel good. And so we learn that whatever is given, something of that intentional weight will be received. If we understand these concepts, we’ll be more responsible in life.

We live in a consumerist world where unfortunately all we do is take, take and take – and this is what has caused a lot of imbalance because life cannot sustain itself that way. Neither can we. I meet many people who constantly talk about social issues and justice – and yet don’t pay attention to the very person sitting beside them treating them with unkindness.

Yesterday, I watched Soylent Green. “How did we come to this,” Sol broke down in tears when Thorn brought home steak (a giant rarity in a world of starvation). It’s a relevant and scarily accurate representation of the countless happenings and trends in our modern world; and the dangerous consequences that may lay not far ahead.

We’ve abused nature and wildlife, treat others with disrespect. We are killing our Earth – but focus on Mars. We’ve objectified humans and normalized abuse. We live in degradation of values as reflected by the degradation of nature.

And yet what struck me most in this scene from Soylent Green was that Sol and Thorn still had each other. I think we can all see how this world has changed relative to the “good old days.” Yes, but …

Are we not grateful enough? While we are longing for what’s gone, how much of our present are we missing? How much do we appreciate the tomato we ate today or the hands that served it?

While we are focused on what’s missing, how much are we taking for granted what’s still with us, next to us? How easy we forget sometimes – or just not see.

We are all faced with limits as humans; limited bodies, limited perceptions, limited resources. The ability to recognize, accept and be grateful for our limits, allows us to then enrich our experience within them. This is what gives rise to a different perception and true expansion of our inner world. Limits and boundaries teach us responsibility, accountability and humility.

Maybe the greatest ingredient to our magical self is grace; grace in accepting and appreciating our life and ourselves as we are, as our ordinary selves and being content in these simple moments that we are blessed with.

Grace is about letting go of what is beyond our control because we can only focus on ourselves. Through us, all else flows like water. As within so without.

Blessed be the little things.

May we make everything that we do a devotion; a ritual of love, finding pleasure in the doing. No thing is too small or insignificant. An important part of living a mindful life is taking care of the little things; of the not-so-obviously meaningful things. The mundane is just as important because it shows an honouring and gratitude for what we already have and care for. And this matters.

Blessed be our little ones. 

May we in turn show our children and future generations how to make the ordinary come alive; the infinite pleasure of holding hands and how apples taste. The extraordinary will take care of itself. What greater magic than that?