{"id":1522,"date":"2013-10-29T18:18:18","date_gmt":"2013-10-30T00:18:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/?p=1522"},"modified":"2013-10-29T18:18:18","modified_gmt":"2013-10-30T00:18:18","slug":"re-enchanting-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2013\/10\/re-enchanting-the-world.html","title":{"rendered":"Re-enchanting the World"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a>If art imitates life, what are the current supernatural TV shows imitating?\u00a0 As I mentioned in passing last week<\/a>, it\u2019s the poorly articulated but widespread belief that something is wrong with our world.\u00a0 It reflects the desire for magical skills to cope with these troublesome times, and an unspoken but clear desire for something more<\/em>.<\/p>\n

It reflects a desire to re-enchant the world.<\/p>\n

But mention re-enchanting the world to many of the same people who are watching The Walking Dead<\/em> and Sleepy Hollow<\/em> and American Horror Story: Coven<\/em> and you\u2019re likely to be met with shaking heads and rolling eyes.\u00a0 They may feel the call of something more<\/em>, but they\u2019re so invested in our hypermaterialistic consumer culture they can\u2019t hear it.<\/p>\n

\u201cMagic?\u00a0 That\u2019s just wishful thinking.\u201d<\/p>\n

No, the real wishful thinking is assuming electing the right political party will fix all our problems.\u00a0 Greens and Libertarians, I\u2019m talking to you too.\u00a0 After all the garbage the Democrats and Republicans have created \u00a0I think it\u2019s time to let someone else have a go at it, but I\u2019m under no illusion a regime change would make things right.<\/p>\n

The real wishful thinking is assuming fossil fuels will last indefinitely, or that some high tech vaporware will bring us a Star Trek<\/em> future.\u00a0 I\u2019m not saying we shouldn\u2019t invest in alternative energy technologies \u2013 some of them have the potential to support a sustainably modest lifestyle.\u00a0 But \u201cthey\u2019ll think of something so buy another Expedition\u201d isn\u2019t a workable plan.\u00a0 Limits are real<\/a> and we ignore them at our collective and individual peril.<\/p>\n

And the most harmful wishful thinking of all is assuming we need a never-ending supply of more and better stuff to be happy.<\/p>\n

These supernatural entertainments are speaking to a wave of emotions and intuitions in our wider society.\u00a0 How can we respond?<\/p>\n

We can be mindlessly amused by Hollywood witchcraft.\u00a0 We can be depressed because it isn\u2019t real.\u00a0 Or we can use it as inspiration to do something that is real.<\/p>\n

In his book Apocalyptic Witchcraft<\/a><\/em>, Peter Grey says:<\/p>\n

Witchcraft is the recourse of the dispossessed, the powerless, the hungry and the abused.\u00a0 It gives heart and tongue to stones and trees.\u00a0 It wears the rough skin of beasts.\u00a0 It turns on a civilisation that knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

If you can read this you\u2019re probably not powerless.\u00a0 But in the political and economic realms, the power you and I and 99% of everyone else can project is nothing compared to power wielded by those in control.\u00a0 So why are we playing their games?\u00a0 Why are we playing by the rules they set up to guarantee they win?\u00a0 Why not play by our own rules \u2013 by enchanted rules?<\/p>\n

The old saying is true \u2013 art imitates life.\u00a0 But it\u2019s also true that life imitates art\u2026 and witchcraft and Druidry are called arts for a reason.\u00a0 By practicing our arts we create and sustain changes in our lives and in the life of the wider culture.<\/p>\n

The gods and goddesses of our ancestors aren\u2019t going to restore the worlds of the ancient Celts and Norse and Greeks \u2013 neither are other, better-known gods<\/a>.\u00a0 But by working with and for our deities, we bring their values and virtues into our lives, we contribute to their great work, and we become more like them.<\/p>\n

Nature is beautiful and life-giving, but Nature is also terrifying and destructive.\u00a0 Naive views of Nature are at best unhelpful and can be deadly.\u00a0 But when we respect Nature and revere Nature we remember our connection with the rest of the natural world and we find our place: not at the center and not at the head, but as a critical part of the greater whole.<\/p>\n

Harry Potter<\/a><\/em> got one thing right (actually, it got a lot of things right, it just got the technology of magic wrong) \u2013 it takes many years of dedicated study and practice to become an accomplished wizard.\u00a0 It takes many years of dedicated study and practice to become an accomplished musician, cook, athlete or engineer.\u00a0 Whatever your art, start practicing it now.<\/p>\n

Life imitates art.\u00a0 By practicing our art we change ourselves and we make subtle but real changes in the wider world.\u00a0 By working enchantments we re-enchant the world.<\/p>\n

We can\u2019t take down the mainstream world \u2013 it\u2019s too big, too powerful, and too deeply entrenched.\u00a0 It will eventually crumble under its own weight.\u00a0 That crumbling that has already begun and it will continue for far longer than any of us will be alive in this world.\u00a0 The mainstream culture sees that long descent even if it can\u2019t quite understand it, and even if it expects Ichabod Crane to use George Washington\u2019s Bible to keep it from happening.<\/p>\n

Personally, I have no interest in being an Old Testament prophet ranting against a dysfunctional society to a culture that wants to keep its head in the sand.\u00a0 I take no pleasure in the thought that in a thousand years someone will find my writings and say \u201cdamn, that guy sure saw what was coming.\u201d\u00a0 Nor do I fear someone saying \u201cwhat an idiot!\u201d either then or now.\u00a0 I\u2019d rather spend my time and energy working with those who hear the call of the gods and of Nature and of magic to re-enchant the world.<\/p>\n

Or at least, to re-enchant our little corner of it.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The current trend of supernatural TV shows reflects the general feeling that something is wrong with our world, as well as the desire for magical skills to cope with these troublesome times. We can be mindlessly entertained by Hollywood witchcraft, we can be depressed because it isn\u2019t real, or we can use it as inspiration to do something that is real.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1129,"featured_media":1523,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1522","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-magic"],"yoast_head":"\nRe-enchanting the World<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The current trend of supernatural TV shows reflects the general feeling that something is wrong with our world, as well as the desire for magical skills to cope with these troublesome times. 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