The world is a magical place. I don’t mean this in terms of Hallmark cards, Harry Potter or Disney movies – as in bibbity-bobbity-boo. I don’t mean it in the sense of those insulting and silly television shows that portray “witches” as “good” or “evil” or trying to take over the world or just some virginal blonde woman’s soul. I don’t mean it in the way that Siegfried and Roy or David Blane do. I don’t even mean it in terms of religious traditions that use rituals that look like magic spells to outsiders, and even to some of the adherents – those that use animal parts (Bones!), wands, candles, incantations, turning bread and wine into flesh and blood, and the like. These may be manifestations of magical intentions, or the avenues that some folks use to put their intentions into the place where magic happens. But we don’t create the magic – it’s the magic that creates everything else.

Shamans, witches, sorcerers, “medicine men,” spiritual leaders of all sorts have been with us since societies began. There were always one or more persons in the ancient community who was in tune with their surroundings, and was able to explain the inexplicable and even possibly understand and manipulate nature. Most of the earliest examples of peoples who existed before recorded history come from what was believed to be left behind by those who tried to work in harmony with their environments, harsh as they were at times. Observations of their worlds carved or painted onto rocks and cave walls could have been an early form of graffiti, instructions about how things are done (ancient textbooks) or supplications to something or someone they believed would help them find food, or water, or fire or shelter or companionship – those things that are really the only things we really need for survival. By careful observation and quiet experimentation to understand, the wise ones could perform magic.

Yet magic has held that good/evil rap since man invented god/s – depending on who’s doing the defining, and what specifically is being defined. If a society believed in a jealous and vengeful god, any attempt at “godlike” behavior – such as being able to manipulate the environment through a “knowledge of good and evil” (or rudimentary critical/scientific thinking) may bring wrath upon the people as a whole. The shaman’s interventions made a likely scapegoat when hoped-for improvements in situation didn’t take place as expected. A lack of understanding – or refusal to understand lest it be seen as an offense against one’s god – lends itself to fearing something that we may find mysterious, distasteful, fascinating, ridiculous, sinful, or however we see it. So I’m going to steer away from the “magic as craft” territory, and focus on the more spiritual, esoteric poetic way of thinking of magic.

Even though I always mourn the passing of winter, I can’t deny the magic of spring. And it’s this everyday magic – the things we take for granted as ho-hum just another day on planet Earth – that I wanted to focus on this month. Think about it for a minute – for the most part, looking around in winter in a northern town you would think a strange apocalypse has transpired. Trees and grass look dead on ground that is frozen and/or covered in snow, the usual plague of biting insects are nowhere to be found, some birds have flown to warmer skies – the place looks downright dismal. But then, one day in perhaps March or April (February, this year…), you start to notice little buds, little shoots, a robin, something green among the brown. Slowly but surely, the Earth starts to wake back up, all on its own, through an ancient knowledge and ritual nestled deep within its roots, happening by what can only be called… magic. Yes, we’ve been able to figure out the process scientifically, but that doesn’t make it any less magical. Everyday magic that we take for granted.

Not every image that we’re given the opportunity to see every day now, given the ability to access the internet at any time, is positive, but through it we have the ability to witness everyday magic – well – every day, thanks to advances in science. We can see astonishing cosmic beauty from light years away, the depths of the ocean, and even the tiniest bits of our own bodies. Amazing structures, natural wonders, and mind-blowingly beautiful places are now only a click away. Each of these really brings home (literally) the magic of our world in a way we were never able to appreciate before. We truly live in an astonishingly magical place.

But let’s go deeper – into the magic of relationships. I believe – and part of my work as a manifestation coach affirms – that each of our relationships happens for a reason. I believe that there is a purpose, and a plan, to those we find and with whom we share experiences, for joy or pain. I have experienced many times in my life meeting someone I just immediately knew would become an important part of my life. These “kismet” feelings have grown stronger the older I get. Now that I have settled in with my Twin Flame, I get the sense most of all when meeting women with whom I know I will share a special bond and friendship. And I have never been wrong. Even relationships that have come and gone in my life, whether leaving fond or challenging memories, have had purpose in my life. I grew in one way or another through each and every one, and am grateful for each. The magic is in the meeting, then instantly feeling your energy click with someone else’s. As you go through life and learn to pay very close attention to those feelings, you’ll see them coming, and know that a magic relationship is at your doorstep.

Finally, the magic of our multiverse (if you believe in such a thing – which, of course – I do!). Through my work, I have learned that there is no “there” – we’re all “here,” whether we’re still in our bodies or not. And once we slip our bodies, we can actually be in more than one place at once at all times. In fact, we can be everywhere at once – we revert back to the infinite beings we were before we embarked on a life in a meat machine (usually to learn, sometimes to make a difference, in some way). I’m at the point now that I know when my dreams are not always really dreams, but sometimes journeys to one of my “other lives.” I feel and see differently those nights, and in the morning I know where I have been, and remember the “dream” for weeks or longer, knowing that what happened in the “dream” really happened. There are dreamscapes that I go back to again and again – I know the streets now, the inhabitants, which way I can walk or drive to get where – I know the places and relationships that I have there as well as I know those of my waking life. Sometimes it’s difficult to keep straight what has happened in each – that’s how vivid my “dream” lives are. Each time I awaken with a strange feeling of interruption, and am as tired as if I had been awake all night. This magic is something that I believe happens to many people, but, as with anything that’s difficult for us to understand, most shrug it off or write it off as just a dream, or a restless night’s sleep.

Popular culture exploitation aside, the world is a magical place. But to have magic in your life, you need to believe in magic. Many modern cultures have tried to strip it from their daily lives. They live lives of profit-seeking and superficial relationships based on short-term gain, and sleep the sleep of the exhausted. In a life where we’re forced to work at breakneck speed, forsaking the opportunities to see and embrace the magic, we’ve grown cold and cynical, and see our lives as just for waking, working and sleeping, with occasional breaks for a weekend bender or to spend countless hours before some type of screen. But if we make the time to focus – really focus – on the magic around us, and make this time on a daily or even weekly basis, it can’t be unseen. If you make an effort to see magic everywhere, you’ll see magic everywhere – because there’s SO much of it all around us!

How do you find the magic if you’re out of practice? If you’ve forgotten how, here are some tips you might find useful:

1. One of the easiest ways to find wonder is to spend time with a child. Children aren’t being immature when they speak about the magic all around us – they’re seeing things we no longer can because of our worldliness, our embarrassment over “seeing things,” and mistrusting our gut and our heart. Ask them questions about what they see in nature, their relationships, their dreams, and prepare to be astonished at the answers. See what they see, and believe. They have so much to teach us.
2. Look at your environment with purpose. Turn off the screen and go out into the woods, the beach, a park, the mountains, anyplace where nature is everywhere and the man-made hasn’t yet encroached. Leave your phone behind. Stop. Sit. Close your eyes. Breathe slowly and deeply. Listen with every fiber of your being. Meditate. If you’re patient, you’ll find that magical things will happen.
3. Travel. See as much of the world as you can, starting with a nearby place that you’ve always wanted to visit but haven’t yet. Be open to new things, people and places. Allow yourself to be amazed and mesmerized by what you never knew exists. Open your eyes to the beauty and magic all around us.
4. Meet and greet! Be open to meeting new people. Join groups of people with whom you share a common interest, even if it starts online. Go outside of your comfort zone. Say hello first – smile and extend your hand and introduce yourself. Too much? Start with the smile alone. Smiles are magical keys that open so many doors. If you feel an affinity and kinship with someone, get to know them better. Your attraction to them will tell you so much about yourself.
5. Get in tune with the cycles of the Earth, and respect every aspect of its being. Enjoy every season for its own magical beauty, and the lessons it teaches us. Don’t spend the winter grousing about the cold, or the summer complaining about the humidity. Walk through crunchy leaves. Look for the first shoots of spring, the first birdsong, the peepers and gradual greening of the land. Go to the beach or out to an overgrown field and breathe along with the rhythm of the waves. Climb a mountain and see the world from a different perspective. Swim or wade in water, stick your feet in the sand, dig in the dirt and mud, walk in the rain, make a snow person, pick flowers – immerse yourself in nature. It’s truly magical.
6. Write down your dreams as soon as you wake up. Pay special attention to recurring dreams, or those that continue over a period, picking up where they left off last time. Look for patterns, messages and lessons. Be as detailed as possible.
7. Look for the magical beings all around us. Yep, they’re there. The reason most people don’t see them is that they don’t look, because they don’t believe. They see them as fantasy creatures, or childish wishful thinking, or just plain insanity. But if you start looking and listening for Angels, the Fae folk, elves, sprites, gin, the whole works… they’ll start making themselves known to you. Magic.

Magic is everywhere – if you don’t believe it, or haven’t seen it, it doesn’t mean it isn’t there. It means you haven’t let it in yet. Open up. Be the magical beast you are meant to be!

Featured image – Bone Witch, by Gideon Arietti, (C) 2023