A Little Bit of Time Magic – Without The Tardis.

Time. We are all bound by it. There are just so many moments in each day. Those moments expand into the years that make up our lifetime but, eventually, time runs out. At some point in the far distant future, even our bright sun will find, not withstanding The Rolling Stones declaration to the contrary, that time is not, in fact, on our side.

I’ve attended workshops and retreats where Time has been invoked as a ally. The idea being that it would work with us for the duration of the event. There would be the perfect amount of time to eat and do magic and shower and get from here to there without feeling rushed. We would honour Time and, in return, it would consent to move just a bit more slowly or not at all or, at the very least, time would amble along at a leisurely pace keeping in harmony with our activities.

As it turns out, time does behave differently when it’s brought into the circle. Perhaps it has to do with the flavour of the rituals or the intentions set for the magic, or simply that Time was a conscious part of our workings. Whatever the reason, Time was altered. Or maybe, my relationship to Time was different. I found that I was present, in the moment, much more often.

Slowing Down And Taking Time

It would be a naive position to suggest that we should all simply slow down. My calendar has pencil marks denoting commitments I’ve made many, many months from now. Notifications on my social media accounts tell me that I’m to be at this event today and another tomorrow. My daughters and my son and my partner all have their own timetables to contend with and their schedules impact mine. There are demands on my time as a priestess, a witch, a teacher, a business owner, a partner, a writer, and the list goes on. I imagine you have a long list of things to do already as well.

As much as I would like to cut certain chores and obligations out of my schedule, it is just not a practical option. Besides, much of what is on my growing to-do list are activities I look forward to, like getting a massage or date night, or attending an online discussion, or nap time.

So if slowing down is an unlikely option, what can be done? My answer is Re-enchanting Time.

Re-Enchanting Time

Thomas Moore, the former monk turned author and lecturer, published a book in the late 1990’s titled “The Re-enchantment of Every Day Life.” A substantial part of my magical practice has been directly influenced by this excellent book. A well thumbed and dog-eared copy occupies a prime spot on my bookshelves. I often find that I’m leafing through it to reacquaint myself with a particular passage on this or that.

Now re-enchanting a whole life seems like a lot of work to me. I like to take on my enchantments in bite sized pieces. So I figured I should start with Time. Because, no matter what we might choose to do with our time or what choices are made for us about how we should spend our time, time is the only thing we really have.

So how does one go about Re-enchanting time?

Creating Space

Creating space is the first step. Carving out a few moments of every day to…Here’s the bit that took me years to discover…to be. Become a Human Being, rather than a Human Doing. It’s hard, really hard actually, to just be. Just being might look like sitting or meditating or standing in my back yard and listening to what’s occurring in the trees and the blackberry bushes.

What being doesn’t look like for me is thinking “oh! While I’m standing here I could text my friend” and then grabbing my phone, then checking Facebook, because I have my phone in my hand anyway. Being certainly doesn’t include Googling “Blackberry bushes and what they are good for?” I might note that I want to text my friend or return an email and I might even do that later on, but during my “being” time, I practice being.

Once upon a time, my “being” practice had to be scheduled. I took ten minutes every morning and sat outside. If the weather was inclement, I’d look out of the window, preferably with the widow open. As I practiced more and more I discovered that there was actually quite a bit of space in my day to just be. I also learned that I could create time within my day, so that there was space between this thing and the next thing.

Time Becomes and Ally

Now, my day was (and is) still full and I do occasionally run out of time or run over time on projects, but I find it happens less and less. Setting aside ten minutes once a day turned into setting aside ten minutes several times a day. Eventually, I found enough space to set aside a whole day and do with it as I pleased. My time became my own. And with my newly created extra day, I discovered that I could fill it with whatever I wanted to do. Even if that was nothing at all. And I have to tell you, it’s absolutely delicious having a day devoted to being.

Tea in a Teapot 

I enjoy a cup of tea. English tea, Irish tea, tea from Ceylon. I like tea in the morning and in the afternoon. My cousin, who still lives in England asked me once how I made my tea. “Do you just put a tea bag in a cup or do you still make it properly?” I told her I still made it properly. She went on, “Properly, like with loose leaves in a teapot or with tea bags?” Now if the truth is to be told, I do sometimes pop a PG Tips tea bag into a cup and pour water over it and call that a cuppa. But more often than not, I prefer to use my trusty old brown Betty teapot. There’s something magical that happens when I do.

I stop. The tea steeps. I get a tea cup and milk. I take the teapot and cup over to the kitchen table and I pour the tea. Frequently someone will join me. It might be a person. It might be the cat or one of the dogs, but I don’t drink the tea alone. And it tastes better the longer I savour it. And conversation happens (yes, I talk to the dogs. The cat mostly ignores me). And that conversation usually turns into second cup of tea. The second cup of tea has even been known to turn into a second pot of tea.

An afternoon cuppa has become a ritual of sorts. A moment to connect. Making the time for a simple tea ritual adds a splash of re-enchantment to the mundane. A few minutes to let loose leaves and an idea brew and become sustenance.

Friends and The Buffer Zone 

Another important aspect of re-enchanting Time is the “buffer zone”. Whether I’m off visiting friends or going to a magical planning session or on a video chat with a client, I do my best to create a buffer zone. Tell me if this sounds familiar – You finally match up your schedule with your best friend’s schedule and you plan to meet for lunch at Bistro XYZ. On the way to your lunch date, you go to the post office, swing by the office supply store to get printer ink, drive around looking for parking and arrive just in time to sit down and order your meal. A few minutes into hearing about your friend’s day, which consists of them telling you how busy they’ve been, you realize that you’ve got to pick the kids up in an hour or need to get to the next thing on your list and before you know it, you are talking about that instead of talking with your friend.

So I now employ a buffer zone. If we agree that the meeting, the date, the check in is going to start at 7:30, we all agree to arrive by 7. That extra half hour is dedicated to putting our coats away, or ordering the first drink, or finding the right table. In other words, we set aside a specific period to get all of the busyness out of the way, so that when we sit down to eat or chat or whatever it is we’re gathering for, we can be present for that and that alone.

Real Time Together

You know what? Its really a lovely practice. What I’ve noticed is there’s this moment when we sit, look at each other and enjoy a big sigh together. It happens pretty organically and it happens virtually every time. We are settling into the time we have, rather than being engaged with the next thing on the list. And that breath, that pause, that devotion to honouring each other’s (or the group’s) time is pure magic. Everything slows down and becomes re-enchanted.

Time is fickle. There are days that fly by in an instant and minutes that last a lifetime. I can’t stop it from marching on. I can however, re-enchant the time I have by being present for each precious second and in that presence, time truly can become a magical ally.

Until the next time…