Having had and raised a child, I spent many years indoors in the evening, observing early bedtimes. Recently I realized I was afraid of the night, and wanted to reclaim it. I started the practice of walking in the village at night with my dog. Initially I was aware of my racing heart. I told myself, “There is nothing here in the dark that isn’t here in the light.” Dispelling negative notions, I searched for positivity. I trained my eyes to see the night magic—how the ...
Today is the birthday of famous Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov, the man behind the famous “Pavlov’s dog” experiments. We have a magical parallel to Pavlov’s classical conditioning experiments that we can examine. Pavlov found that whenever the dogs saw an object or witnessed an event associated with being fed, they would begin to salivate. Well, the same thing happens to us during our preparations for ritual and magic. When we establish a routine of lighting a certain ...
Dion Fortune said that “magic is the practice of changing consciousness at will.” Friday is my magical day, my day off, the day when I do all of my favorite things. I comprehend the deep and abiding magic that comes from this practice. It changes my consciousness and heals and uplifts me. Even on Fridays when I might have to work, I still practice this spell to great benefit, wrapping myself in the transformative energies of love and passion. To begin, quickly identify five things ...
The woods are bursting with wildflowers at this time of year. Trillium, dogtooth violet, and trout lilies abound in my area. Wildflowers are resilient, strong, willful, and beautiful. Get outside and find some. If you live in a city, you may find wildflowers in the unexpected wild lands of urban ravines, parks, and cemeteries. Don’t pick the wildflowers that you find, but draw from their energy, knowing how much it took for them to push up through the snow, mud, and soil. Let each ...