{"id":112,"date":"2016-07-26T10:45:15","date_gmt":"2016-07-26T18:45:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/tempest\/?p=112"},"modified":"2016-07-26T10:45:15","modified_gmt":"2016-07-26T18:45:15","slug":"riding-the-waves-of-magick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tempest\/2016\/07\/riding-the-waves-of-magick.html","title":{"rendered":"Riding The Waves of Magick"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
vintage postcard from the author\u2019s stock collection<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>
I learned to surf when I was 6 years old, on the real deal \u2013 a 5\u2032 long fiberglass single-fin board that was my brother\u2019s. Still in the family today, the board sports a multi-color shooting star followed by a rainbow stream. \u00a0The first time that I managed to stand up, I road that wave all the way triumphantly from the far breakers to the shore.<\/p>\n
As I grew up, I still surfed on the star board, but more frequently I would invest in and use Morey Boogie boards. \u00a0The surfboard was still awesome, but the boogie board was lighter for me to carry and also meant I could enjoy the surf more often \u2013 instead of having to wait\u00a0for waves big enough\u00a0to ride with the fiberglass board.<\/p>\n
Then in my late teens, I started to bodysurf more and more, leaving the boards behind on the beach. \u00a0If you\u2019re not familiar with it, bodysurfing is when you position your body to ride the wave, being propelled towards the shore while suspended in the curl and crash of the wave \u2013 your body is<\/em> the board.<\/p>\n
In thinking about how I personally define Witchcraft, spellcraft, and magick at some point last week, I saw a connection. \u00a0On the best days of my personal practice, I feel tapped into the Universe, that I am flowing with it and on it \u2013 not unlike bodysurfing the waves of the ocean. \u00a0I\u2019m subject to how the Universe flows, but I can choose what I wish to ride and I can change how I am positioned within it. And when I\u2019m consciously working magick, it\u2019s just me alone\u00a0and the powers that be \u2013 nothing else between us.<\/p>\n
So in looking how one practices, you could use surfing as a metaphor to describe the approach and interaction.<\/p>\n
The fiberglass surfboard? It\u2019s a big, expensive tool that has a certain amount of danger to it. \u00a0It takes a lot of energy to haul it out and use it, and requires regular upkeep and cleaning. \u00a0You have to be very conscious of who\u2019s around you when you\u2019re using it, as you severely hurt someone if you run into them with it. \u00a0Also, when you fall off, you have to be careful that it doesn\u2019t bounce back at you and hit you. (Requiring\u00a0stitches, you can ask my brothers.)<\/em>\u00a0It takes skill and dedication to really learn how to work it, but the amount of risk never quite changes. When the waves are hard to come by, you may have to go out really deep in the water, where you can\u2019t touch the ground anymore, and are possibly subject to sharks and other sealife. However, when everything works in your favor, you\u2019re riding on top of the world, and everyone can see that too. \u00a0You\u2019re not quite of the wave because there\u2019s this big board between you, but you\u2019re riding with it and on top of it all. \u00a0That to me sums up ceremonial and similar forms of ritual and \u201chigh\u201d magick: a lot of effort, a fair amount of risk, a lot of factors to figure in, but can produce some amazing results.<\/p>\n
The boogie board is your typical spellcraft and sympathetic forms of magick. \u00a0It takes some investment, but it\u2019s far more convenient and can be used more often. \u00a0Like the surfboard, you do need to watch where you are going, but the damage done when you hit someone (or yourself) with it, isn\u2019t as severe \u2013 though it still can hurt!\u00a0It takes a bit of practice to make the rides last longer and to maneuver it more freely how you want, but the mechanics are pretty basic: you, the board, and a wave. How and when you pick the wave will affect the kind of ride you will have. In spellcraft terms, it\u2019s you, some herbs, a candle, poppet, etc and focusing your intent. \u00a0You\u2019re riding the wave, still with a board, but are closer to the action of the wave with less of a visual show.<\/p>\nvintage postcard from the author\u2019s stock collection<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Bodysurfing equates to magick without any tools or physical evidence of a working \u2013 just you and the wave. \u00a0And unlike the surfboard and boogie board, you\u2019re not riding on top of the wave, but are IN it. And to get the best ride possible, before you take off, you make sure the road is clear ahead of you, put your head down and launch. \u00a0Sure, you could try and keep your head up and see where you are going, but that impedes the shape of your body and affects how well your ride will go. \u00a0Bodysurfing isn\u2019t about how it looks to anyone else, because it\u2019s pretty hard to see the person riding the wave or for them to see anything either. No one will probably even see you or know you did it. It\u2019s best to close your eyes and become part of the wave, to feel the sensation and movement of it all, adjusting your body and mind instinctively. \u00a0Occasionally you do end up sand-logged and shell-scraped on shore, or\u00a0modestly positioned in the\u00a0little breakers needing to reclaim your bathing suit, but you got there regardless. \u00a0It\u2019s the most immediate, immersive way to ride a wave. It would seem to be the easiest of all three methods, because it doesn\u2019t involve any investment, but it takes skill and practice to not only train your body\/mind to move the right way and to keep in shape, AND\u00a0learning to read the circumstances in order to choose the best wave.<\/p>\n
In the end, all three methods are perfectly valid ways to ride the waves to get to the shore \u2013 they\u2019re just each a bit different, providing separate viewpoints and experiences. \u00a0It all depends on you and which you choose at any given time \u2013 because just because you\u2019ve done it one way, doesn\u2019t mean you can\u2019t try it other ways.<\/p>\n
Catch a wave, because surf\u2019s up!<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I learned to surf when I was 6 years old, on the real deal \u2013 a 5\u2032 long fiberglass single-fin board that was my brother\u2019s. Still in the family today, the board sports a multi-color shooting star followed by a rainbow stream. \u00a0The first time that I managed to stand up, I road that wave […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2676,"featured_media":116,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,12],"tags":[67,68,69,63,54,71,66,70,7,4],"class_list":["post-112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-metaphysics","category-modernpractice","tag-high-magick","tag-low-magick","tag-magic","tag-ocean","tag-spellcraft","tag-surfing","tag-water-magick","tag-waves","tag-witch","tag-witchcraft"],"yoast_head":"\n
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