New Worlds of Body, Mind & Spirit Since 1901
I often have people who want to be authors ask me for tips on creating a successful book. One of the things I like to say is that a key to success is often the title. I like crisp, short titles that clearly indicate what is in the book. The reason for this is that if someone is looking for a book on a particular subject, a title that clearly indicates what the book is about makes it easy for the reader. One such title is Instant Magick by Christopher Penczak. There are several reasons this is a great title. First, the sad truth is that many people—often influenced by movies, novels, TV, or comic books—are looking for “magick pills” and easy answers. They want to ...
Are you still using the same old brain you had when you started practicing magick? Probably not. Until nearly the end of the Twentieth Century, most neuroscientists believed that once a human brain was formed in childhood, it would remain pretty much the same throughout its life. Injury or disease could kill off brain cells but, other than that, what was in your head was yours, for better or worse, until the day you died. When sophisticated brain-imaging technology appeared in the 1980s, however, scientists changed their minds about brain change. We now know that the brain not only can rewire itself very quickly, it can also grow new cells. The ability of the brain to change itself is ...
Building the TempleYour bare feet pad softly against the cool, packed earth. The path you follow curves through trees and bracken, meandering gently uphill. Dappled morning sunlight dances through verdant leaves. A gentle breeze lifts your hair, and you sigh peacefully, feeling yourself open to the land around you. The pathway brings you to a small stone temple, old and worn, smudged with moss. You climb the steps to find a granite water basin, splashing sweet water on your face. You enter the cool darkness of the temple, the solid, smooth stone supporting your feet. You kneel on a small cushion placed before the altar, and light the white candle and incense stick before you, using a ...
Someone once said that we are not really able to heal another person, but we can support them in healing themselves. Just as a nurse might sew up a wound to help our body heal, so can a friend provide a listening ear and open arms to help our heart heal itself. Whether it's our turn to carry the stretcher or lie down on it, we often call on the Moon when it's time for healing. No matter what hurts, healing requires vulnerability; if we do not expose the wound, we will never be able to apply the healing salve where it's actually needed. The Moon represents the most vulnerable part of us. It is our heart and hearth fire; it is stronger than it seems but also most susceptible to wounding. ...
