Chapter 1
Preparing for Magic
Open the door: There is magic under the teapot, in your shoestring...and in the wind outside, chanting to you.
Magic Requires
TIME
You might feel you simply cannot fit another project into your day. You might think that magic is for gypsies or witches who were born that way anyhow, or that you need to be initiated by some powerful personage -- and where are you going to find one, between stretch-aerobic classes, office hours and baby teething problems?
You have picked up this book. Whether you know it or not, magic has already entered your life. Experience magic, even for just a moment, and you will not be the same again. You will see ordinary objects shine like stars -- teacups and saucers becoming holy with life; then you will know that whatever you are spending your time on -- success, relationship, career, family, money -- is only important when it carries inside it that magical quality.
All you need to do at the beginning is to follow the pull of magic. Give yourself a few minutes -- maybe before going to sleep, when your children are in bed and you are finished for the day. You don't need to be made-up and dressed -- take your most pressing problem and do a little magic for it. See what happens. It will be fun, relaxing and entertaining; something you can do totally alone, something that involves you in an activity that is different, and a pleasure.
You can begin without complications, using a flower or a concoction of herbs or a single candle. The magic circle and the symbols of the elements (see end of this section) are useful, but not a must. In fact nothing in this course of magic is a must, except your willingness and concentration. At first you may not find an extraordinary result from your magic, but you will begin to feel what it is to do magic. This feeling will stay with you during the rest of the day. You might not notice it, but it will be there, slowly changing and deepening the way you perceive reality.
Maybe one day you will notice that without any special purpose in mind you have bought a bunch of red roses to adorn your bedroom -- that same evening you spend a very intense, passionate time with the man or woman in your life. Or you suddenly notice the rhymes of a song going round in your head; you listen to the words and you realize, for example, that there are words in the song that make you aware of something you have been wanting for a long time without being conscious of it. Or you could find yourself replacing the old doormat with a new one -- only to greet, later, a long lost friend showing up at your doorstep.
You begin seeing connections, links between experiences which evade your normal casual way of seeing life. You realize more and more the magic connection. You are not doing anything different; you still eat at eight and take the bus to work -- but slowly everything finds a new meaning.
Magic rituals and incantations are really only ways of repeating under "laboratory conditions" what is happening in life all the time anyway. Doing them opens your eyes to what you are creating for yourself outside your magic laboratory, in real life, as well as showing you ways in which you can change your life. As you progress in your relationship with magic you see how all of your life's elements are just like pieces of a puzzle which can be moved around by magic, until you form the intended picture -- your real self.
Then it is not at all a matter of finding time. As you stop running around trying to fulfill ever-growing expectations, outside factors no longer control you, and your time becomes your dimension -- a magic gift of existence for you to express all that you need to express and create all that you want to create within your own life.
INTENSITY AND CONCENTRATION
Now you want to proceed with exploring the ins and outs of the magic world, but before looking at the moon and gathering herbs, it is necessary to consider just exactly what you have to be in order to do magic. What do you need to pull out of your own hat, what qualities, what personal attributes? It is not a matter of shining up your past boy-scout memories, or your best achievements as corporate manager. What you need for magic is not so much a quality, as an intention. Everybody is fit for magic, if only they want to be.
In fact will is the first requisite of magic. You need to focus on the matter at hand, gather as much emotional steam as you can master and will the thing to happen. Second, and equally important, is your unwavering belief that what you do is going to succeed. This is not so much a positive action, something you actively do by repeating to yourself, "this is going to work, this is going to work," but more a peaceful awareness of lack of doubt. It is not easy to be one hundred percent focused and perfectly calm. It is likely that in your normal day a stressful combination of work and/or family will take you as far from calm and concentration as you can be.
Learning to do magic is like learning to swim -- you learn to do it by doing it. Take a little time out each week from your normal occupations and dedicate it to exploring magic; you will find it becomes easier and easier to concentrate totally on the subject you wish to achieve. This ability and the resulting peacefulness will then spill back out into your normal day. Soon you will be able to see your daily activities as acts of magic where life is no longer controlling you, but you are creating it.
THE FOUR POWERS OF THE MAGUS
Knowledge, courage, will and silence: traditionally called the four powers of the magus, these qualities are what you need to aid your ability to focus and to concentrate.
Here are some details:
Knowledge This is the voice of your inner wisdom, the part in you which knows. It is not knowledge in the way you learn at school; it is a knowledge which cannot be acquired for it is to be lived or experienced.
Courage When your own, inner truth challenges ideas and preconceptions you have lived with for a long time, you will need courage to follow it.
Will This is what keeps you on the path, fending off the thousand and one distractions that can take you away from it.
Silence This is the ability to shut off the noise of the mind; all the constant thoughts and worries which go around and around in your head. Without this ability, you cannot hear your inner voice.
Nourish these qualities -- remember them. You don't need a special setting and a special time to do that. You might be sitting in your office or at the counter of a local store or waiting for the subway...just remember: "Am I listening to myself?"
Remembering the four powers can bring about deep changes in your life. It is in fact the first part of your magic training, and a very important part. Be practical though; don't expect too much too soon. For example, you might be on a train going to the movies and you remember the four powers. Perhaps you realize that this is not what you really want to do. It is easy to get off the train and go home -- in this case you are entirely master of your activities. However, if you are working and your inner voice tells you that this is not the right job for you, it might be a little impractical to get up and leave your job!
Find alternative ways of being, retrain yourself, and explore new possibilities, for magic is about being intelligent, courageous and present. It is an ever-growing process. By remembering the four powers of the magus often, you will enter this process, and while you see your ability to focus and to concentrate grow every day, your life will be changing from mundane to magical.
Text Copyright © 1988 by Marina Medici
