“There will be no foolish wand waving or silly incantations in this class!” – Severus Snape, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
One of the biggest misconceptions about magic is that it’s easy and sure – at least for those with the right genes. Wave your wand or mumble a few words of Latin or Sanskrit or Gaelic and whatever you want comes into being. Anyone who’s attempted magic at even the dabbler stage knows this isn’t true.
Real magic is hard work and the results are never certain. That’s why in most situations you’re better off with a mundane approach. But for spiritual work – inner work, affecting real change at the deepest levels – there is no substitute for magic (though other traditions may use different names for similar techniques).
During our Spring Equinox Wishing Well Ritual, I made a wish and put my intention and my will behind it. As I reported a few days later, so far so good. But even the best of rituals will start to fade over time, and I want this to build and grow until the change is self-sustaining. So last night I recharged the magic.
I stood facing East, watching the full moon rise over the treetops. I repeated my wish and my commitment to work to make it real. I repeated a visualization I did last week that has been successful so far. I added a new visualization to build on it and to create some much-needed change in a very specific area of my life (“fuzzy targets yield fuzzy results”). And I asked the Goddess and God for their blessing on my work.
I hadn’t planned on doing anything beyond that, but as I was walking this morning, the full moon was still out, setting a few degrees South of due West. It seemed a good time to charge the magic further and repeat the visualizations, so I did.
They call it “practicing” magic for a reason. No matter what your spiritual tradition, we can all benefit from daily practice and the reinforcement it brings.
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