Truth is self evident. That’s the most amazing thing about it. Truth cannot be denied. We can try. We can pretend to be something else, pretend that something isn’t what it is. But at the end of the day, nothing will shine as brightly as the truth.
That’s the Human in Me
I want to believe in goodness. I want to have hope for the best possible outcome all the time. The problem with that is that hope is not truth. It is great to be optimistic. It’s perfectly fine to hold this as a preference as long as you’re acknowledging that sometimes the truth is the opposite of what you hope for.
Fear works the same way. Fear is also not truth. So, I wrote a book for Llewellyn Worldwide. I’ve turned in my first draft and now I’m in the waiting place. I sent the manuscript to two friends in order to get their opinions as well. It’s been three weeks, which let’s face it, isn’t really a long time. My fear, though, tells me that it is forever. My fear tells me they’ve all read it, and they hate it. My fear tells me I’ve failed. This is not true.
My editor doesn’t leave me hanging. The empirical evidence that I have tells me that she responds to my emails right away. The truth tells me that she does not dance around an issue. She is direct and to the point, which I love. So probably my fear that she hates my book is not real. That’s not hope. That’s the truth based off of the evidence I already have. The truth is that the editing world moves at a much slower pace than the break-neck-tornado-person speeds that I move at. The truth is that I need patience.
My friends are busy. One of them is the Head Witch in Charge of a Mystery School. The other one is getting quite popular with her pyrography. I asked one of them about the manuscript yesterday. I genuinely made it clear that there is no pressure and then I voiced my fears. She countered with the truth that I’m a good writer and our Mystery school Headmistress is very busy.
That’s the Goddess in Me
When my friend pointed out the truth it was easy to accept. I was able to rest, assured in the embrace that only truth can provide. There was no more hope and no more fear, just peace, just comfort.
On my way home I received an email from my teacher. She would read the manuscript this weekend somewhere in the snowy mountains of Canada. Instantly I knew this was synchronicity. I knew this was the Goddess at work. I knew the truth was being confirmed because I accepted it. And then of course fear gave me a lie. Fear told me maybe my friend had said something to my teacher. When I questioned her, she confirmed she had not. I was so blinded to the truth of this magickal synchronicity that I again had to confirm the lie fear presented to me.
There is a truth in magick that happens all the time. This truth can be easily overlooked, but pausing to see it is nearly the definition of being a Witch, at least in my opinion. When we, as Witches, come to an understanding, an epiphany, or even through a lesson in which we’ve learned something, anything, we are gaining truth. Witchcraft is about learning, it’s about self improvement, it’s about understanding the world around us so that we can better manipulate it to meet our needs.
Witchcraft is so totally not all about the Tarot and the incense. It has very little to do with the stones you collect and the herbs you are growing. What Witchcraft is really about, at the heart of itself, is the knowledge you grow and the truths that you collect. Yeah, sure, the statues, candles, and various other witchy accoutrements are all great. But where would you be with any of it without the truth, without understanding, without knowledge?
You’re ‘posed to Hold Me Down, But You’re Holding Me Back
I see a therapist; I fully accept that I need help. I am basically marooned and surrounded by an ocean of lies in my mind. I really do my best to be hopeful. It feels like an excellent default way to be. People talk about the abundance mindset all the time and I get it. My therapist tells me a person’s perception is their reality. So the whole abundance mindset, it makes sense. You walk around expecting abundance and then anytime something falls in line with the mindset, it confirms for you that this state of mind is working. But what about all the other things, what about the moments that were contrary to your state of abundance?
Here’s the truth: the abundance mindset is a lie. I know this is going to be a super unpopular opinion. I don’t care. This isn’t my fantasies and falsity blog, this is Magick IRL. If we are living in a world where we acknowledge only the “good” stuff and we ignore all the “bad” stuff, we are doing a disservice to ourselves. The truth is not everything is horrible and not everything is perfect.
The whole believing in abundance thing is cool if it works for you, I guess. What about when it isn’t working for you though? Are you beating yourself up? Are you assuming that you are less than any other person on this planet? If so, then that lie is affecting you negatively because that is what lies do. Living a lie in order to save face or level up in life is not going to help you out. And yes, hope can be grounding, but so can fear. I’m not saying not to experience either of those things. What I am saying is that there is a healthy level of both that you would do best to moderate.
Shoot Your Shot
Perhaps you are asking yourself, “Does this guy believe that truth and spell-work can coexist?” Yeah, I do. I cast spells and work rituals all the time. I maintain realistic expectations now. It used to be that I did not. Before I really began to understand the truth, I’d put a ton of hope into the world and just sort of expected that things would work. I would cast for things like abundance while expecting more pay at work. I’d do a ritual to open the path ahead of me with the expectation of some great new job. That was hope; those expectations were lies.
When I work my magick now I am not expecting abundance to look like money in my bank account. And I am not expecting abundance all the time. Expecting something like that is unreasonable. If you are listening to someone who audaciously tells you that you can achieve consistent abundance they are either foolish or deceiving you. Do not be confused. Working towards abundance is perfectly okay and it is totally a thing you can do, it’s just highly unlikely that you will win the lottery.
This article was inspired by Truth Hurts by Lizzo.
Please follow me on Instagram @vincent_higginbotham
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