Starlight Witch
I don’t mind writing about past personal experiences, but there are times I’d rather not talk about it. When I’m working with a new deity, have a manifestation goal, or a new creative project, I find it’s better to keep it to myself. I’ve spilled the magic several times by sharing something too early. Much to my disappointment, I could not resurrect it, despite months of trying.
Secrets are good sometimes. We need some privacy when it comes to deeply personal things. Among friends, we may be tempted to share more than we ought. This post is about finding the right balance between creative expression and letting something simmer a little longer on the spiritual or creative fires.
If you’ve ever created something big, such as a book or a dozen paintings for a show, or a workshop or group ritual, you get the same question. “What is your next project?” It’s an honest, supportive question, and there’s nothing wrong with it. I appreciate my friends and fans so much. However, the times I’ve shared information about my projects in their early stages killed them in their tracks. The magic spilled all over the floor and away from me, and it didn’t want to come back, no matter how much I called it.
I understand if not everyone has these problems, but here’s what I’ve learned about spilling the magic. I’ll use kitchen examples, because baking and cooking have so many similarities that relate to the creative and magical process.
Keep Magic and Goals Hidden in their Infancy
Dough needs to be isolated, veiled, and in a warm environment to grow. Things like breezes, sunshine, bumps, movement, and lifting the towel to check on it will make the dough not grow as much. When such a dough is baked in the oven, it comes out flat and unappetizing.
Our spiritualities are like this. Keep things in the dark and let them gain a foothold in your imagination. A process might need to work itself out before we can share it. Give it space and room to grow without bothering it for a while. Let it dream of becoming a big puffy ciabatta someday without making demands of it when it’s still dough.
Don’t Remove it from the Magic
Cooking a stew is an hours-long process that needs constant heat, tasting, the adjustment of herbs, salt, and spices, and sometimes even stirring. Taking it off the stove or out of the oven too early will give you a messy, tasteless, half-baked meal that ultimately, does not satisfy and might give you food poisoning.
When we share our projects with people when they’re half-baked, the process can be stopped in its tracks. A half-baked stew might be reheated, but you’ll have to start heating it up again from scratch.
This is especially bad if someone pronounces a judgment on it. “It doesn’t look like stew! It looks like a mess!” Needless to say, that person is not your friend and does not deserve your stew. Cook on.
Never Reveal the Secret Ingredients
If you divulge that you’re making spiced cookies with an exotic spice that’s rarely used in cookies, like black pepper, it can ruin the surprise. It takes away some of the mystery and wonder. Maybe entirely, maybe just a little, but one thing is clear — it’s not the same. Sure, most people will still enjoy a cookie (assuming pepper is tasty in a cookie), but they won’t marvel at the flavor as much or try to discern the mystery on their own.
Likewise, sometimes, we need to keep our secrets close to our hearts. Talking about goals and creative projects can spill the mystery and our secret intentions. I don’t know why or how, but sometimes, telling people about the deity you just had a mystical experience with, or the details of the ritual you worked for your upcoming project can take the magic out of the goal.
In my opinion, magic is a mostly inside job. Be cautious about what you share if it’s a sensitive subject or a goal in its infancy. Remember, too, that not everyone will like what you made, even if you thought they liked similar things in the past. The best people are supportive, but you might even want to be cautious about them. Sharing magic with people who aren’t also working on the same magic might dilute it.
To close, may your bread rise, may your stews be fully cooked, and may your secret ingredients always be delightful surprises.
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