We live in a culture that dismisses magic as silly superstition. We believe in scientific, rational explanations, but yesterday’s magic is today’s science. Where science leaves off, magic begins again. It dwells at the limits of what we understand. And just as you can experience divinity, you can experience magic.
The extraordinary, mysterious and wonderful that awakens within and that manifests in the world without warning, explanation or apparent cause happens to all of us. And when it does, we say with amazement, ‘It was magical!’
Deep inside, we long for the magic to make our dreams come true. It may be why you’re reading this book, impatiently waiting for spells and incantations, for the real secrets to change your life. Wicca has always been a magical spirituality. But be careful what you ask for… because magic works.
We live in an age of instant gratification, and that’s how a lot of people think about magic – they want the spell, the incantation and the potion that works. Simple and easy. Since Wicca came out of the broom closet, there have been countless books, endless websites, YouTube videos and online classes offering ‘secret’ spells and ‘ancient’ incantations, powerful potions and all that you could possibly want or need for instant, magical gratification.
Sometimes it even works. More often it doesn’t, and then people throw out the concoctions and conclude that magic isn’t real. They shut the book, blow out the candle and ring the bell. I don’t want that to be you, because I know magic is real. I know that your life, like the world, can be filled with magic. I want that for you. I want that for the world.
To understand what real, divine magic is, you first have to understand what it isn’t. People have been approaching magic with some very strange ideas that have nothing to do with real magic.
Those are all ideas left over from patriarchal views of reality – the old one in which God gave man dominion over an inanimate world to do with as he pleases, or the modern one in which man has the intellectual power to unlock the laws of a mechanical and inanimate universe to then manipulate and exploit for his own ends.
That kind of ‘magic’ is about ego and domination. The universe is not a machine to be maneuvered, whether by science or magic. You can have all the props and potions and plans, and enough ego, intention and willpower to run for president, but unless you understand the secrets of magic, casting spells will be like driving a car without gas. You may get a mile or two down the road but ultimately you’re not going anywhere. Thank goodness. Imagine the world if it were that simple and easy.
But real magic, divine magic, is simple and easy. It’s utterly natural.
Magic isn’t something you do to the world. Magic is what a living cosmos does with you once you’ve awakened to its divinity, and yours. The secret to real magic is your partnership with divinity – because the energy that makes all magic work is divine. Just as all of Creation is an embodiment of the Divine, all real magic is a manifestation of the Divine.
When you’re open, aware and connected, magic is everywhere: in the synchronicities, signs and messages you receive; in the dreams that come true; in the healing that defies prognosis; in the opportunities that appear and the unexpected help, healing and harmony with which your life begins to take shape; in the destiny that begins to manifest and the love that arrives when you’ve given up. And much more.
When I wrote my first memoir, Book of Shadows, I realized magic wasn’t just the spells we cast that so often worked. The greatest magic was the extraordinary way the Divine began to appear in my daily life. Magic changes everything and the first thing it changes is you. It rattles your cage and breaks down your barriers; it shifts your perception and awakens your soul. It’s as if you’ve been living in a black-and-white movie that’s suddenly filled with color. Magic is a dimension of reality now open to you, a dimension of yourself now known to you.
The magic that you make by spellcasting, ritual, meditating, dancing, chanting, lovemaking, art creating, poem writing, vision seeking, self-care, being in Nature, visiting the Other World, giving thanks, or however you choose, works because the power you’re working with is divine. And the more you work with it, the more you’ll realize it’s the power of love. Magic manifests in your life because of your connection to the Sacred. Like the sacred isle of Avalon, magic will also disappear in the mists, but once you know it’s there, you can always find it again.
Just as there are ways of inviting the Sacred into your life – which we’ll continue to explore and develop in upcoming chapters – there are ways to invite magic into your life and to begin to magically co-create a divinely empowered life. Dion Fortune, author and member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, defined magic as ‘the art of changing consciousness at will.’ It’s an important definition but not the only way to experience or make magic.
Shamans, Wiccans, Witches and mystics of many faiths have long known that altering our state of consciousness opens us to the Divine; it enables us to enter the realms of Spirit, to move freely outside the bounds of space and time and to dive deep within.
You’ve already begun to make the magic of changing consciousness at will – with meditation. It’s one of the fastest, easiest and most powerful ways to change your consciousness, and it will temporarily alter your brain the very first time you try it. Neuroscience is verifying that, practiced consistently over time, meditation alters your brain permanently, expanding its volume, areas of activation and brain wave production.
Meditation,likemagic,changesyou.Studiesareconfirming that meditation reduces anxiety and depression and increases creativity, imagination, visualization skills and memory, attentiveness and calmness within the mind and body. It improves perception, learning ability, concentration, self-awareness and self-control.
And when the meditation practice focuses loving attention on the heart region, the meditator develops the capacity to feel love and compassion toward themselves, and then others. Long-term practice leads to permanent changes in the brain and an expanded capacity to focus and learn, and to feel happiness, compassion and loving-kindness toward others when we’re not meditating. People describe it as bliss.
Wiccan meditation has yet to be studied; however, practitioners describe similar effects, which makes sense since we commonly use very similar techniques. Meditation also connects us to the Sacred, and as our relationship deepens, we become one with the real power that makes magic manifest.
Shamans, Wiccans, Witches and mystics have always known what science is beginning to discover – that the mind has profound capacities to affect the outcome of events. (Another area of forgotten human capacities that neurobiology and quantum physics are beginning to explore and affirm.) Changing consciousness unlocks forgotten human abilities that are… magical. Meditation is a universal, natural and effective way to change consciousness – it’s also an ancient and powerful technique for making magic.
People generally think that a mantra, which means ‘sound tool’ in Sanskrit, is used to keep our mind from wandering off during meditation. Like breath, it gives us something to focus on. But there’s magic in the method waiting to be unleashed:
What you focus on during your
meditation, while you’re in an altered
state of consciousness and connected
to the Divine – the mantra, phrase, word,
symbol, image or intention – manifests.
Affirmations – repetition of positive phrases to alter our self-perception and behavior and to manifest desired changes in our psyche and our life – are a modern adaptation. Louise Hay understood and helped others understand the power of affirmations to change one’s consciousness and one’s life. You’ll find similar ideas about the power of intention in the Law of Attraction, Deepak Chopra’s Vedantic teachings, A Course in Miracles, the New Thought Movement, the visualization work of Shakti Gawain, and scores of others, including the spells of Wiccans.
Reframe an affirmation in the context of your connection to the Sacred, use it while in an altered, opened state of awareness, and it’s like putting rocket fuel in your engine. It’s an enchantment.
I’m a bit of a detective, which is why I like etymology, the study of the origin and development of language. There is lost wisdom, and magic, hidden in the meaning of words, and this is one of my favorites: the root of enchant is the Latin incantare, which meant to enchant or fix a spell by singing.
Chanting is one of the most joyful ways to alter our consciousness (which has been scientifically proven) and make magic. A magical chant can be an imitation of a sound of Nature, a single letter with profound symbolic meaning, a word or a phrase that expresses your intention or goal. It can also be the name of a deity. If you can make your chant rhyme – a common characteristic of many spells, as you’ll learn later – and give it a tempo, even better. It turns out that the brain responds positively to rhymes, rhythms and repetition.
Chanting with others magnifies the effect. I learned to chant when I began practicing yoga many years ago, but it was even more powerful when I chanted in my Wiccan circles. Studies have shown that group chanting actually synchronizes the brain waves and energies between the members of a circle. When we chant together, we’re aligning our minds, bodies and spirits with one another. We’re literally coming into harmony – each voice unique but together creating something magically magnified. Alone or with others, we’re aligning with Creation, especially when we use chants that emulate the sounds of Creation. That’s making magic.
Now that you know some of the secrets, you can make magic by chanting a vivid and empowering phrase as you meditate, alter your consciousness, connect to the Sacred Source, focus on your intention, and begin to manifest your reason for being here.
Give some thought to a word or short phrase(s) that expresses what you want to change, accomplish or create in your life. Don’t overthink. Let your playful side have some fun composing a rhyme that you enjoy.
Sit comfortably in a place where you won’t be disturbed. Close your eyes. Breathe until you feel your mind and body grow quiet and peaceful. Feel the energy coursing through you and all around you.
Feel your consciousness shift and your perception become clearer. Feel your heart open. Feel yourself increasingly connected to the Sacred. You’re coming into union and wholeness. Thank Creation for receiving your intention, your energy, your magic.
Inhale fully and naturally. Chant your enchantment as you exhale. Inhale deeply and rest in silence, feeling the power and potential of Creation flow through you. Chant your enchantment as you exhale. Chant with joy. Allow yourself to rest in the silence as you continue inhaling and exhaling naturally.
Now chant as you inhale and exhale, from your diaphragm. Feel the vibration travel through you. Enjoy the feelings the vibration creates within and beyond your body. Feel the source of Creation that is within you. Feel your intention moving out into the world, with joy.
Chant until you feel fulfilled. When you’re done, rest in the silence and the sense of happiness, peace and bliss. Thank Creation for accepting your energy, your intention, your magic into itself and for returning it to you in the form you’ve envisioned, or the unexpected form that’s best for your wellbeing and happiness. When you’re ready, open your eyes. Rest in the feelings evoked in you – the changes you feel in your heart, your mind, your spirit.
Congratulations – you just created your first spell. Write it in your magical journal.
Pay attention to shifts in your feelings and your energy. Watch for signs of manifestation in your life and in the world around you. It may be subtle at first, but if you take a few minutes a few times a week to make magic with your focused meditation and nourish the enchantment, like a seed planted in spring, your intention will take root and grow.
Practice magical chanting regularly and you’ll start to recognize that consciousness is much more than thinking. And so is magic. You’re entering the generative flow of Creation. And that’s where real magic comes from.
What you chant, repeat, visualize,
imagine evokes change within
you and in the world.
Just as sound can alter your consciousness and a phrase can help your magic manifest, an image or symbol can provide a visual focus for meditation and for magic. In traditional magical parlance, what you focus on and project energy into (which we’ll discuss soon) is called a ‘thought form.’ It’s also called ‘setting your intention,’ a phrase that you may be familiar with.
You can’t manifest your magic, your goal, intention or desire if you can’t visualize it first. Visualization practices help you focus on your intention with precision, clarity and confidence. You’ll discover it gets easier when you practice for a few minutes regularly – one or two minutes a day should be enough – rather than for longer stretches infrequently. Visualization skills also provide a powerful foundation for other important practices – including entering visionary or trance states – that we’ll explore shortly.
You’re also going to work with other sensations that should make the technique easier to master, more fun and more useful. The more you feel what you’re imagining, the more fully you can bring it into being. So let’s practice visualizing, or creating a thought form.
Begin with the Breathing guided meditation.
The next technique is particularly helpful if you have trouble visualizing. You’re going to add more sensations to your practice.
Just as you looked at the apple, or other organic form, before closing your eyes to visualize it, start with a physical experience and then re-create it with your imagination:
Indigenous peoples who lived without industrial technologies developed technologies of the Sacred: our innate human spiritual capacities to participate with gratitude and grace, generosity and reverence in the tapestry of Creation. It is real magic.
We don’t need science to explain spirituality. But as much as science can explain it, I like understanding why what we do actually works. Magic is natural after all, and the more we understand it, the more confidence we have in the reality of what we’re experiencing. Quantum physics, neuroscience and other areas of study are confirming what shamans, Wiccans, Witches and mystics have long known. Everything is interconnected in countless ways that defy our old models of space, time, separation and causality. And our consciousness – which includes not only our mind but also our heart, body and spirit – can interact with this web of life, the energy of Creation.
Magic has always been used for practical purposes, like healing, assuring the abundance of a good harvest or hunt and experiencing the joys of love, and we’ll explore the artistry of using magic for these and other purposes later.
Real magic is more than just changing consciousness at will or projecting will into thought forms to manifest our desires. We change consciousness to take off the blindfold and experience the Sacred that’s everywhere present in Creation, including ourselves. Divine magic, real magic, flows not from ego and impulses but from our connection to the Sacred.
Magic is the life-altering awakening to the
divinity within you and in the world around you.
Magic is what manifests when you awaken.
It’s the next step in human evolution.
This is my definition and it is Wicca’s great contribution to a world that’s lost all sense of the Sacred. While the full measure of the Divine will always remain mysterious and ultimately unknowable (for no reason other than our human limitations), the world embodies divinity and so do you. And that’s the source of real, divine magic.
Just as all of Creation is a manifestation
of the Divine, all real magic is a
manifestation of the Divine.
When you’re connected with the Sacred Source of Creation, the Divine that dwells within you and the world around you, you’ll discover that magic is a gift, a skill, a sacred practice to manifest the very best of who you are and what you want for your life. It’s an extraordinary way to co-create your life with the Sacred.
The divine nature of the energy you’ll work with transforms what you desire and how you make magic. Make magic with respect and reverence, joy and gratitude, humor and spontaneity. The more you nourish your relationship with divinity – within you and in the world around you – the easier and simpler and more natural magic becomes. It becomes a sixth sense, a quality of being, a revealed dimension that makes life an amazing and heroic adventure.
This book is my spell for you: May you awaken to the divine magic of your life!