Hello, and welcome to Psychic Teachers. I'm your host DEEB. Bowen and
I'm Samantha Fay. We are just so excited and delighted that you have joined
us for this week's episode. You know, we took a short break during
the holidays and ran a repeat of an episode we'd done a while back about
magic, and we were just blown away by the overwhelming positive comments that we
got from you all about it, and so we realized a couple of things.
One is that we have so many wonderful new listeners who probably have not
heard the episode before, so we're delighted to have you join us. And
also it tells us that we aren't finished discussing magic. So we've got some
more episodes coming about magic and related topics, and this week's episode is one
of the So we're going to dive more deeply into the notion of what magic
is, take a look at one of the legend's most enduring magicians, and
discuss what magic means for you today. I think one of the questions that
I most often ponder is this, what is magic? We don't have a
definitive answer, of course, and there are lots of them, but we
are going to discuss a couple of ideas today, and of course you're going
to want to know how to do magic, and we'll get to that,
but above all else in this episode, we're going to talk about this.
You are magic. So for me personally, magic is about a willingness to
trust what I can't see or explain in some way, even when I know
that there's a scientific answer. For example, I know that science can explain
the way a hyacinths bulb, very deep in the soil this time of year,
covered in snow, knows exactly when to push its way through the dirt
and up to the surface and bloom and turn its face to the sun.
I know that science, it's also magic to me. There's something magical and
miraculous in this scientific process. And while I may be able to rattle off
the science of it, which really I probably can't, but in theory I
suppose I could. I truly don't understand it, do you, Samantha,
No, not really, And I do think there's still an element of magic
in that. I think there's an element of magic in manifesting. I think
there's an element of magic when we align ourselves with divine timing and we get
into that happy, perfect balance of surrender and acceptance with co creation and determination.
That's magical too, well it is, I mean, cooking's magic to
me too. So yes, we can't define it, but there it is,
and we recognize it when we see it. So let's look at some
definitions from some famous magicians and theorists. This comes from the American Heritage Dictionary.
Magic is the art that purports to control or forecast natural events, effects,
or forces by invoking the supernatural. The practice of using charms, spells,
or rituals to attempt to produce supernatural effects or control events in nature.
The charm spells or in rituals so used are called magic. The exercise of
slight of hand or conjuring for entertainment, a mysterious quality of enchantment, of
relating to or invoking the supernatural, possessing distinctive qualities that produce unaccountable or baffling
effects. So, in other words, as I read all those various aspects
of looking at the word magic, I realized that magic is something connected to
that which is beyond super natural, beyond nature, and it can't be explained.
And I loved as I was reading through this very dictionary definition of the
word magic. I loved looking at the idea that something about the notion of
working with magic was beyond our comprehension super natural, and I just I love
the idea that that is a part of it is that there are things that
we cannot explain. Magical practitioner Scott Cunningham, who was just such an amazing
man, wrote in his Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs that magic is the practice of
causing needed change through the use of ours as yet undefined and unaccepted by science.
His notion explores the idea that magic is needed and that change occurs in
a way that defies explanation and scientific theory. I love the idea that we
need magic, and I think we do, at least I certainly do in
my life. I think a willingness to accept and look at something I can't
understand or explain gives me a better connection to the divine. Does that make
sense to use of anthwer? It does, It does, and it makes
life more palatable, and it helps us to realize how much capability and power
we have within us. Richard Cunningham, I was reading one of his definitions
of magic. He talks a lot about that concept of as above so below
in terms of meaning whatever magical forces are out there are also inside of us.
And he says, because we are a miniature of the universe, by
a process of spiritual expansion, we can mystically extend our own being to cover
the entire world and subject it to our will. That's a pretty powerful statement,
isn't it. Well, it is, and I think that for me.
In what you've just described and Scott's definition, and even the Dictionary definition,
and I'm going to talk more about Phillips Garot in a minute, in
all of these definitions, there's the idea that there's some need and process for
us to work in harmony and in conjunction with natural forces. And I love
that. I think that it's well indeed, that magic lives within us,
it is also the part of us that works without us, outside of us
to work with other forces of nature. I love that as well. I
do too. And you know, when we were studying magic for our theme
that year, one of the things that kept coming up was the power of
our imagination. Yes, and how all of magic first happens in our thoughts,
which is why I compared it earlier to manifesting. Indeed, so I
mean, in order to figure out how to do magic, you have to
be able to believe in magic and to see magic, I think, to
be able to connect to it in some way. Here's what Philip says about
that. Phyllis Karat who has been our guests several times, and she talks
about that need to work with nature, and she says, the art of
magic is the ability to work with the natural flow of energy. We characterize
energy as moving in waves, as light and sound do. But a wave
is only a two dimensional depiction of a multi dimensional movement through and beyond the
space time continuum. Energy moves in spirals, the spirals of seasons and snakes,
seashells and stars, DNA and dogs curling to lie before the fire.
Here was the meaning of the Goddess's coiling serpent. Magic is the art of
unlocking the vast, untapped powers of the human mind, powers to function in
ways that seemed magical but were completely consistent with the new laws of physics,
where everything in the universe was interconnected energy. Now, if that isn't a
definition of both magic and quantum physics, I don't know what it is.
Yeah, it's to nail it. And as I was reading this definition that
Phillips gives us, you know, I of course went into sacred geometry and
DNA and all sorts of the pieces of the puzzle of what is science and
what is also at some molecular level beyond our comprehension. And yet, as
she also points out, the vast untapped powers of the human mind, which
is what you were saying, if we can manifest it, and the power
to do magic is there, which I think is an in depth and simplified
definition right at the same time, because it's not just the power of imagination,
because all the books and stuff we read about magic really talked about imagination,
but also the power of your own will and your ability to focus your
mind and concentrate on what it is you're trying to bring into fruition, which
kind of brings us back to meditation. I'm so glad you said that I
didn't, because people are about to roll their eyes because they know that they're
what's going to happen next is meditate, Meditate, meditate, and it does.
It really is about that focus and clarity of intention. Yeah, it
is and you know we had on my other podcast and Lightened Empaths, we
had Summer Mixed travag on. She's you guys might remember her from her flow
Dreaming series and she helps start hay House Radio. And she said, the
whole magic of bringing anything into creation starts with daydreaming. Oh it does,
Yeah, it really does, because you've got to think about it. You've
got to focus your will and your concentration on it. You've got to be
able to imagine it, feel it, see it, taste it, sense
it, and project it out into the universe with full confidence that you deserve
it and it's going to manifest and create with and for you. So that's
what I mean by simple and easy. Yes, I mean when I sit
to write something that I'm going to send someplace for publication, the sitting and
writing process is step two or maybe three. The writing of creation has been
done in my head way before I sit down in front of the computer.
The same is true with courses that I teach. When I create a new
course, it isn't that I sit down in front of the computer and think,
oh, I'm going to create a course on I don't know. Communicating
with Crows like the one I did not long ago, that evolved and morphed
and changed and was written in my mind for a long time before I ever
sat down and wrote it out exactly. It all starts there first, Yeah,
it really does. And you know, when we can have that belief
in ourselves, we can have that belief in our connection to that flow of
universal energy and trust that we can step into it and do than we do,
that's when the magic happens. That's right. Booom boomp, okay and
tell us about Okay. So I'm so excited because we the first time around,
when we were creating these episodes about magic, I didn't spent I don't
think I spent any time on Merlin because we were so focused on other folks.
And I realized that in my mind, we haven't talked about the big
person in the world of magic. For me. Most of you know that,
because I've talked about him so many times over the years that i lived
for eighteen and a half years with a cat whose name was Merlin. His
whole name was Merlin the Magic Cat, and he was and he was named
after Merlin the Magician. Now I know that there are many, many classic
versions of the Merlin story. I know eb White's version, I know set
the ones in Future King, the Walt Disney versions, But the versions that
resonate for me personally the most is the series that was created by Lady Mary
Stewart of Scotland and Lady Mary's do It Else the Arthurian legend through the eyes
of Merlin, and she makes him at both extremely magical. His ability to
do magic and connect with universal energy is breathtaking throughout the whole series of the
books, and yet he is also very human and I love the way that
she does that. Where do we get this notion of Merlin the Magician?
Well, there's some interesting historical pieces to the puzzle, but one thing we
don't know whether or not Merlin was a name like Bill or Susie, or
whether it was a title as in the Merlin and even there, and we
don't even know if King Arthur was real. But that we'll get to that.
But let's take for a minute the idea that the Merlin, the concept
of this magical person comes to us from a much older story. It comes
to us from the Ledgwin and Her Cauldron. And I think that when we
had Christopher hughes On, he talked about that, but in a nutshell.
At some point the young man who was supposed to have been stirring Carodwin's cauldron
for her messed up and chased all over the place, and bad things happened
to him, and eventually he became Tolesen, who in some legends was the
father of Druidry, and his title was the Merlin. He was that magical
person. But the way Mary Stewart approaches it is that Merlin is a real
person, not a composite of people, and that he lived somewhere around four
hundred and fifty AD, mostly in the area of Wales and Cornwall. And
the way we get the date for fifty a d comes from the Roman occupation
of Britain at that time, and at Tintagil, which is the theoretical place
where King Arthur was born. There is, and I've seen it, a
piece of pottery with the word Arturo and the date written on it that came
from Tintagil Castle, which historians don't necessarily believe was true, but there it
was anyway. So that's about when we date this story I'm telling here around
four point fifty AD. Lots of turmoil going on. Romas had basically packed
up and gone home, and the land was being besieged on all sides by
saxons and picts and angles and Irish people. And two brothers whose father had
been a petty king in that western part of Great Britain and who was killed,
led the charge to rid the country of invaders. Ambrosius and his brother
Uther and Dragon, and these two brothers set out on a mission to save
Britain and to make it whole. Somewhere along the way in that process,
Ambrosius met a lovely young woman whose father was a kind of a warlord,
and they had a child together, and that illegitimate son was hidden away by
his mother, the British noble woman, and Ambrosius went on to do his
battle work with his younger brother Uther. Well. At some point, that
young son, at about twelve, manages to escape a death plot against him
by an uncle and goes off to find his father, and he does he
finds Ambrosius, who accepted him. Accepted this twelve year old boy into his
home as his son, and not only raised him as his son with nobility,
basically, he was also allowed to learn engineering and medicine and more.
And Merlin absorbed everything he could learn in those early teen years like a sponge,
including his visits up into the hillside to learn from an old wise man
who lived in a cave. And eventually, after that old wise man died,
that cave became Merlin's home. Now fast forward here to his early twenties,
and we find that Ambrosius is dying in Ireland. Actually, this legend
tells us that he died in Ireland, and Merlin somehow magically transports his father's
body to Stonehenge with a stone to lie on top of his grave. If
you've ever been to Stonehenge, there is indeed what is called the Kingstone in
the center of the circle, and this body buried under there was it Ambrosius.
We don't know, We don't know, but we do know that the
Kingstone is there in the middle of Stonehenge, and legend is that Merlin put
it there. Well, when Ambrosius dies, his brother Uther becomes king,
and Uther and Ambrosius are as different as two siblings could be. Where Ambrosius
was a statesman and a careful war lord and a strategist for preserving and putting
together this wonderful country. Uther was mostly a party boy, and he begins
to lust after the wife of the Duke of Cornwall. Her name is your
Brain. And in dreams, Merlin begins to realize that, even though he
does not want to do this, he has to help Uther reach his dream
of wooing Lady of Grain, because the child that will be born from that
union will be the king who will knit Written together. And that is exactly
what happens. He helps Uther meet Lady of Grain, her husband has killed
in a battle somewhere else, and that child becomes King Arthur, who is
the right wise born king of all of Written and whose job it is is
to knit the kingdom together. Merlin has spent some years and the Mary Stuart
legend, living not in his cave, but in a kind of a chapel
near where Arthur was being hidden by another family, so that he could learn
from Merlin, so that Arthur could learn from Merlin how to be a king,
how to rule a country, how to read a map, how to
read write, how to do all sorts of things, how to govern his
people. So Merlin not only was a magician in many ways, but he
had the ability to be an excellent teacher for what a young nobleman who's about
to be king also knows and needs to know. And in the midst of
all of this, there is this sword, the Great Sword of Massion,
who was the Emperor of Britain before the Romans came. The sword had been
lost for many generations. Merlin finds it. He hides it away, waiting
for Arthur to be old enough and brave enough and in the right circumstances to
take the sword from the stone and proclaim himself the King of England, which
he does, which he absolutely does. So Merlin worked so much magic.
He worked magic in disguising Uther to go and find your grain. He worked
magic in bringing fire when it was needed. He hid the sword and the
stone. His feets were amazing that he was able to accomplish not for himself,
but for the good of his country. That's the way Merlin saw what
he was doing. He very much loved Arthur as if he were his own
son. He in fact they were cousins, if you think about it that
way. But also because of his love for the hope for peace in his
country. And that's one of the things that Mary Stuart stresses in that series
of books, The Crystal Cave, The Hollow Hills, The Last Enchantment,
The Wicked Day, and it tells the story of Merlin's tutelage of King Arthur.
I love that story. I can't tell you how many times I have
read those books. I think they initially came out in the maybe the late
sixties, I'm thinking, I'm not sure about that, but I've read them
many many times. I started in high school, and I think we read
them two times or three times since then. I love all her books.
I do too. Ooh touch not the Cat we golf on Mary Stuart Dangent,
couldn't we? But I keep The Hollow Heels next to my bed.
I love that legend, and I love the wisdom that Merlin imparts. So
for me, he represents that innate ability to do magic when it is needed
for a positive purpose, and I think that's really important to me. To
be both aware of the world around us and aware of what's internally us.
To become aware of our breath, our heartbeat, our muscles, our thoughts,
are emotions, what we can see here, touch, taste, and
feel, and to be aware of our connection to the bigger cosmos out there
beyond us, lend seek. Merlin was willing to be used by he calls
them his gods. Merlin was able and willing to be used by whatever energetic
force. It was so that the will of finding and nurturing this man who
was going to bring peace to his country was important to him. That's what
mattered to him, and he saw himself as a part of that universal energy
flow, not as an observer, but to really be a part of that
flow of energy. So my first thought is it, before we can do
anything magical, we must first observe, and we must first be aware of
who we are and our place in that flow of energy. We have to
be focused and concentrated and still so that we can listen not only to our
own thoughts, like you were saying, but also to the thoughts that the
universe is trying to bring to us, because we're always trying to be co
participants, co creators with the universal forces around us. Let's pause a minute
to take a quick break and hear from our sponsors, and then we'll discuss
more of what magic actually means and how we can do it and start working
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at deboen dot com. So welcome back, everybody. Let's talk about what
it means to do magic. To do magic is to put ourselves in sync
with the flow of universal energy. To do magic is to be aware of
the rhythms of nature. When is the moon full, When is the next
eclipse? When does the vernal equinox arrive. When we align our energies with
the flow of universal energies, we become magic. So, for example,
if you work with moon energy, it's important to know the phases of the
moon, so that you're working with the flow of energy as the moon is
waxing towards fullness or as it is waning towards new If you work with Earth
energy and you're getting ready to prepare for your garden, then you need to
know when to plant, and how to plant, and how to tend what
you're planting, and when to harvest it, and how you work with plants
that work with each other or not. So think about that. You know,
for example, in the world in which I live, the flow of
the tides matters a lot, and I can tell you at any given time
what the tide is. I can tell you if it's moving towards high,
if it's moving towards low. And that's a part of that ebb and flow
and connection to the rhythms of the land in which I live. Being able
to do this connecting with Earth energy, connecting with Moon energy, connecting with
the solar rotation, and when the next eclipse is, for example, or
when the vernal equinox is coming up. It just takes a little bit of
concentrated efforts and a really good calendar, and eventually you'll be able to feel
that shifts in the phases of the moon or the flow of the tides,
for example. Let nature be your teacher. Pay attention. I know one
of the things I love the most. I have a fascinating tree in my
yard that's not very common anywhere that I know of here. It's called a
Carolina bass linden tree, and as we're recording this podcast episode, of course,
it's cold and it's winter, and the leaves are gone. It's absolutely
bare. And there will come a day where I will look up at the
branches of that tree and I will see just these tiny little buds, just
this almost a shadow of green. And I know that if I watch closely
enough, it's almost as if I can watch those leaves unfurl and become this
beautiful canopy over the yard. And that, to me is a part of
the awareness of my connection to the magic that is nature. That's why I
don't think I can explain which of the definitions that we've been talking about is
the right one for magic. I think they all have a part of the
definition within them. Cooking is magic to me. Here's an example. I
am not a good sweet cook y'all. I really am not. Now,
Samantha Dolly King that gal makes some good sweet stuff, you can, I
cannot. I mean a box of brownie mix is about the best I can
do. And I am one of those people. I bet you're not,
Samantha, but I am one of those people that when I make a pan
of brownies and I'm putting the stuff together in the bowl and I start to
stir around. I have to count to the fifty strokes because I know that's
important. I don't know why, but it says so in the box,
so I do it right. That's magic to me that I can take that
brown, powdery stuff, put in some egg and oil and stir it around
and put it in the oven. And if I've got this wonderful stuff,
that's not me, it's true. And you know to I just read something
that I thought was so interesting. When Betty Crocker first came out with cake
mixes where you just in the og cake mix, they think, I'm assuming
it was the late forties, early fifties, you just had to add water
and they came out great. They tasted wonderful, but they weren't selling that
well. So they went and did some market research and it turned out that
the woman when they served the cake, as you know, traditionally in the
fifties, it was the woman doing the cooking. And when she put the
cake on the table and everyone was like, oh wow, Betty, this
is a great cake. Good job, how'd you make it, she didn't
feel pride in it. So Betty Crocker. The company went and remixed their
their box mixed cake so that you had to add butter and oil and an
egg. Suddenly they're flying off the shelves because women felt more proud that they
had participated in the cooking of the cake. Well, is it that an
interesting idea? And it's probably true. Yeah, I don't doubt that story
a bit. You know. I think it's called the Ikea effect because,
you know, market researchers are trying to understand, like why people love Ikea
furniture when it's you know, not the best quality and you need I don't
know, aspirin for migraines and an engineering degree to put it all together.
But they found out that just because you had to basically build that piece of
furniture for yourself, you love it more than the expensive, well made piece
of furniture you might have gotten at a you know, at a highly regarded
furniture store. So there is something about being a co participant with magic that
I think is very very relevant in all areas of our life. The other
thing I want to say about a brownie mixed up, I have the newest,
funnest thing. Well, it's new to me. You take a brownie
mix, you mix up the brownies and you get you know, those little
tiny soup fle pots. If you're going to make a lava cake or a
little tiny individual soufle dessert. You put half the brownie mix, you know,
you divide it into your soufle things. You then unwrap two truffles like
I did, the linden Hurst, whatever truffle you like, and you put
two of those in the little soufle cup, and then you top it with
more brownie mix, bake, serve with ice cream. It's to die for.
Well, now listen to you, see, y'all. This is what
I mean. Samantha is the better magician than me. Because I got all
excited because I had bought at Christmas those Andes mint chips. You know,
obviously they packaged the leftover once ahead, right right, and I had sprinkled
those on top of my brownies, and I thought I would span there fancy.
That is fancy. It's as much as I can do. Trust me,
this is easy and fun and delicious anyway, So yeah, I do
think there's there is magic in all of that. And you know what else
this is making me think about listening to you talk. I wonder if okay,
Because to me, part of being a good psychic is learning to suspend
your need to know why, Ye like, I know what I'm trying to
do a reading. If I get too much in my head with like why
do I know this? How did that come to me? What's happening here?
If I can put all of that aside and just let the information flow,
I have a really good reading. And I wonder if it's the same
with magic, where we have to surrender the need to know why why do
the highestins bloom in the ground in the winter. If we can just suspend
all of that, why does this brown powdery stuff turn into this ooy,
gooey, delicious brownie? I wonder if that's you know, crucial is learning
to you know, just suspend I guess your left brain, thinking, your
logical mind. I agree, because I don't need to know why. About
the chemistry, I really don't even care. Actually, I just do trust
that whatever that alchemy is between me and the box and the egg and the
oil and the oven, it's gonna be all right. And I also know
that there is magic in the emotion I put into making those brownies. I
truly believe that part of the magic of good cooking is the intent of the
cook. What's the Scott Cunningham book? I always talk about the magic of
cooking or the magical Kitchen. I don't think that's Scott Cunningham, No,
it is. It is. I got it from our library. And he
talks about how you should always cook with intention and think loving thoughts for the
people who are going to eat your food. And he talks about how you
should always stir clockwise. Yes, that's true. Yes, I know about
that. I think he well, absolutely, I think it's true. I
think the food cook with the intent of love tastes different than food cooked out
of obligation. I truly believe that. I do too. And you know,
part of the thing to think about with this, And I know we've
been laboring the brownies here for a long time, but let me just add
one more thing and they'll quit. I noticed that often when I try to
work on a magical situation with factors that are already in play over which I
sometimes have no control, things are different. For example, with the brownie
mix whatever all that stuff is. It's in that powdery stuff that I probably
don't even want to know what it is. But all that's already in control,
it's already a part of the process here. And sometimes I just have
to trust that what I'm adding, the egg, the oil, my stirring,
the intention that I put into Oh won't this be lovely? I'll have
some friends over for brownie's and coffee or whatever that matters. That's that's my
part of the magic. And sometimes there's magic that's being happened that's already in
progress that I didn't have anything to do with. Ex Wait, can I
add something real quick? Sure? I just looked it up on Amazon.
It's called The Magic and Food by Scott Cunningham, and it's out of print
because it is sixty eight dollars wow, but free at your local library.
So there's that. There you go. I think Temper Blake has a book
on magic in the kitchen. I think she does too. Oh and the
other thing I want to add, then I'll keep quiet. Don't use water
in your brownie mix. Do not do it. Use whole milk if you're
not lactose intolerant, makes it so much better. Have we exhausted the brownie
mix of we can move on for the brown I think we can move on.
Let's move on to talking about rocks. Golly yeah. So for me,
the notion of magic and mystery go and in hand. For example,
while there is indeed scientific research that explains the metaphysical properties of crystals, just
ask Joel, there also is within us a magic that allows us to hear
and feel and sense our connection to the stones. I think that's one of
the best pieces of magic I can talk about, is that I know that
connection between me and some of my rocks. Try this experiment, and I
bet you've done this, Samantha. Gather a few tumbled stones that you own
that are about the same shape and size and put them in the back.
Just close them up in a bag that you can't see through, and leave
them for a few days, and go on with your doing whatever you're doing
for a few days, and so that you don't remember exactly which stones you
put in it and what are there and their exact shapes and size. And
then, in a quiet space and time, close your eyes, take some
deep breaths, and with your eyes closed, reach your hand into the back.
Don't look, just reach your hand into the back and let each stone
speak to you and tell you who it is, and I think you will
just be amazed at your ability to connect with the details of what you're holding
in your hand, because you can't. You may not be able to tell
the difference between I don't know, a tumbled tiger's eye, for example,
and a tumbled a red agate. But your psyche can tell the difference.
You know what I'm talking about, Samantha. Surely you've done that. Oh
yeah. And it's a great way to develop a relationship with your crystals as
well. Absolutely it is. But there's something magical about that trusting that connection.
See it comes back to what I was saying about relying on your intuition.
There's something about surrendering to the unknown, yes, you know, and
being uncomfortable giving up the why and just going by what you're receiving, picking
up and feeling, and so exercises like that can help us become more comfortable
with surrendering the why. The house Yeah, I think so too, you
know. And as much as I love crystals and I love stuff, one
of the questions that I have come to ask myself over time is do I
need tools? Do I really need tools to do magic? And I don't
know. I remember being in a store in England many years ago, and
I had my my first day in the city, in Glastonbury, and I
had my arms filled with stuff. Oh it was pretty, it was beautiful
and I needed this. It was just great. I can't even tell you
what. I had my arms that and then I thought, what am I
doing? This is the first store I've walked into. I haven't been here
fifteen minutes. I am I gonna schlip all this stuff back across the pond.
What am I doing here? And so I went and I put it
all back, and I thought, you know, I'm going to spend the
week here. There's a lot of options. I'm going to see what I
really speaks to me by the end of the week. By the end of
the week, when I went back to that store, I bought a little
black pouch on which had been painted a lunar hair that I paid five pounds
for. I think that the time that was the equivalent of about seven dollars
and fifty cents. The only thing I bought because I realized I didn't need
anything. You know, years ago, Joel made me a beautiful wand from
a branch of a dogwood tree that in his yard that had been struck by
lightning. And I have feathers that I've been gifted from birds and shells,
seashells and crystals, of course, But my idea of working with tools and
this is for me. This may not mean for you or for you,
Samantha, is working with tools is about what nature gives me. I don't
need except for maybe candles. I'm not a good candle maker. But I
don't have any need right now to buy stuff for rituals and altars, although
there was a time I did. So when I think about doing magic for
me, really goes back to that notion of connection to nature and my intent.
You want to weigh in on that, Samantha, Well, I get
confused by that because I agree with everything you just said. And yet if
we think about magic as being a co participant with the universal forces of good
all around us, then I feel like we do need tools to represent those
invisible to us, elements that are working with us. Yes, So I
don't know, Oh, I think it's I like I like my crystals,
I like my touros. I don't know, I like getting all that stuff.
I do too. I'm not saying I don't like it because you know,
could I give it all up what's here already that I have? Probably
not easily. I'm grow when you're right, we could, and we and
we don't. We don't need it. But I don't know. Remember on
another show you were saying, like, what would you do if you went
into a Catholic church and there was none of the stuff there? Right?
You know? I thought about that, like, oh, that would be
different. So jury's out for me on that one. Well, just think
about it. It's you know where And I think I think that the line,
if there is such a thing as a line between what you need and
want in terms of tools and what you really need or want, varies and
depends. I mean, there's some thing wonderful. You and I have been
doing this for years, So something wonderful about creating a crystal grid, for
example, to set intension with someone, or to pull out representations of the
Four Directions and put them in an altar when you're doing some kind of ceremony.
Is it's wonderful to do that? And it could and it feels good
because you have that visual connection, but is it really necessary? And I
don't know the answer to that. I think sometimes it isn't. Sometimes it
isn't. Maybe it's depending on me and how magical I feel. So one
of the most important questions to ask yourself is can anyone be harmed by magic
you're planning to undertake that includes yourself? And this is really important and it's
hard to answer this question. What are the potential, unseen and unintended consequences
of your actions? It is beyond important that your magic work never take away
someone else's free will. For example, it's great to invoke magic to bring
love into your life. We all need lots of love, but it is
never okay to invoke magic to ask to bring a particular person to love you,
because doing so might take away that person's free will. You just never
know what that person's free versus life plan is, and it may not include
you. So it's great to bring in love in general, but not love
and specific. I have to be really careful with that. So, so
deciding what you're going to do if you need to do some kind of magical
activity really also needs to entail Yikes, what's the worst thing that could happen?
How might this be unpleasant or in some way unhappy for me or for
someone else? So that's one of the reasons why I'm such a firm believer
in that if you do in magic, you do it for yourself or only
for someone who is working with you with their permission. This is one reason
why I've never done magic. I think about The Monkey's Paw and I think,
like, oh, if I did a spell for money, I'm always
worried that the money would come to me from like I don't know, you
know, a settlement from a car accident. I got it, you know
what I'm saying, Like, Oh, nope, if you all have never
read that short story The Monkey's Paw, don't terrifying. It is terrifying.
I will. I think I read it in the seventh grade. It is
a terrifying story. And it's true though you never you really never know.
So yeah, and that's true with any kind of manifesting. I think,
Well, I don't look at manifesting as magic, do you know what I
mean? Like, to me, it's a part of magic, but it's
not like a spell and a ritual and you're saying words or calling on deities.
To me, manifesting is about aligning your intent, concentration, focus,
in request with the Universe's intent for you. That's my definition of magic,
right. But I'm talking about if you're you know, if you're doing like
like a magical spell like you read in a grim WAW, that's always kind
of freaked me out. I like studying it, I like reading about it,
but I don't know. I'm smiling as as I'm listening to you talk
about that, because I think we do magical spells all the time and don't
conceptualize them that way. For example, when you're driving down the road and
you're coming up on a traffic light and you know that you're running out of
time before that thing's going to turn yellow, right, you just know it.
What do you do? No? No, no, screen green green
green green, stay green, stay green, stay green? Right right right?
Are you sending out magical energy? And you bet you are? Yes?
Are you trying and manifest a green light? You bet you are yes.
But that's a green light I'm talking about like in some of the grim
was we had to read when we were doing our research on that, it
was like, do it on Friday, the day for Freya and call on
her or the goddess Venus and light this green candle and use Basil and say
these words and wear this color robe. And I was like, ooh,
it was just a step too far from me. Okay, I hear what
you're saying, and yes, that is one branch of how folks look at
magic. But that also sets the stage for intent. The more the more
focused you are on pulling those pieces of the puzzle together, the more energy
you're sending out to the universe about something you want to have happened. Nothing
wrong with that, nothing scary about that. You're right, You're right,
It's just it's just me. You can take the girl out of the Catholic
church. But and so that brings me to all those next questions exactly.
I mean, there's so many factors involved here and what you're going to do.
Does the moon phase matter, as I suggested earlier, what astrological sign,
what time of day, what day? What month? Are you really
in line with universal energy? You know? And let me say this before
I go on with the litany of list here. Sometimes there is a need
for that connection. Whether you call it meditation, whether you call it manifesting,
whether you call it prayer, where you call it spells, whatever you
call it, sometimes there's a need there that all of those factors, the
green dress and Friday and the moon phase and all that stuff just has to
be put aside and you have to just say, this is where I am
at this moment. I need this to happen. But always ask yourself,
is there another way to do this? Is there another method, another answer
that we'll get the same results without being dramatic about it, And the answer
is often yes. Actually, sometimes the answer is don't do anything. Sometimes
answers to just to sit down, shut up, and wait because the universe
will take care of it. And how do you know when that is?
You don't always, but sometimes that is the answer. So honestly, think
the universe tells you when that is. When you're setting out to I don't
know, make a vision board or a goalbook or write it down, make
it happ and type stuff. And every time you sit down to do it,
you get interrupted. Your phone pings, you get an email, the
doorbell rings. It's telling you now's not the time. I think. I
think often we will get subtle, covert signs like that from the universe that
we have to pay attention to. I think that's true. I agree with
you, And sometimes you know you don't do this all alone, although you
need to be very careful with who you're asked to work with you I think,
I mean, here's here's a litany of some of the things that you
could do when you're doing this work, in addition to paying attention to moon
phases and days and so forth. Where are you going to do this indoors?
Are outdoors? In a public place? A private place? Will you
need to leave a space where what you're creating, like, for example,
if you're creating an altar, can can it be or does it need to
be left for a period of time? And for how long? I mean,
I have a crystal grid that's been up for more than a year about
a particular thing. Who will work with you if you need someone? And
how do you decide who that will be? What kind of tools do you
need if you decide you need them, how will you clan them and sanctify
them for use beforehand? How will you create that sacred space? Where will
you create it? How will you prepare yourself? Will you take a ritual
bath or wear particular clothing? You know? Back to Scott Gunningham with my
favorite Scott Gunningham stories. If somebody asked him if he had ritual clothing for
when he did magic, and he said, absolutely he did, and he
knew that the person he was talking to was expecting him to talk about this,
you know, star covered robe or this, that and the other.
And Scott said, I have a particular pair of jeans and a white T
shirt that I set aside that are always my ritual clothes, and I just
I just love that, you know. So there you go. Will you
write this down what you're doing? Is it safe for you to do so?
Do you have a place where it might be okay to keep what you're
writing down? I find that writing out a ritual or a chant or writing
out prayers is really very helpful to me, and keeping a record it helps
me to be able to look back on what I did and what I might
do differently if I need to do this again, what I learned from it,
what was the timing of it? But it's all said and done.
However, with all these various questions, is that the more thought and emotion
that I put into whatever kind of ritual or alter I'm creating for a particular
intent, is that that thought and that emotion or what connected me to the
intent that I've set out, And for me, that's I think that's the
important piece of this. What am I trying to accomplish? Why am I
trying to accomplish this? And how did I do that in a way that
was respectful and connected to the world around me? And if nothing happens,
you can do all this and nothing happens. By the way, or at
least nothing happens in the time you think it showed or you want it to.
It doesn't mean you didn't do something wrong or not enough. We forget
this. Sometimes the answer to a question that we send out to what I
always send out is no or not now, or that really isn't for your
highest good. And I think one of the hardest lessons for us to learn
is that the way bigger than us, energy knows way more than we do,
and learning to trust it is the hard part. That is the key
to everything is learning to trust that. And I think you have to trust
yourself and know yourself. So I think one of the reasons, just sitting
here reflecting listening to you, that I'm more hesitant to do traditional magic versus
manifesting is because I know myself and I know that if I did something like
that, I would bring my preconceived notions and my fears into that intent,
and I don't want to do that, So I focus more on the law
of attraction and manifesting, and I think this is just another way of manifesting,
I think, and I think you're probably right. I don't know.
I don't know that I always am. And ultimately, what we really have
been inviting folks to do in this episode is to be aware, to pay
attention to your own natural rhythms and your own connection to the world of nature
around you, pay attention to what you can explain, and enjoy that process
of connecting to the magical world around you. It really is a lovely universe
when you have that connection to magic. And we hope you'll try some of
these suggestions and have some fun with them. That's again about bringing the intent
is you do want to bring respect and seriousness and knowledge and focused determination,
concentration, imagination, all of that to it, but you also want to
have fun with it and have fun recognizing and observing the magic that is within
you and all around you. Absolutely, goshall, we hope you've enjoyed this
episode and We're going to be more of them, so love to hear what
you think about them. One way of course to do that is to shoot
us an email. We're happy to hear from you on email. Yes you
can. You can always connect with us Psychic Teachers at gmail dot com.
Don't forget to follow us on Facebook Psychic Teachers, and if you like the
show, please tell a friend or take a minute to hit the like button,
subscribe, leave us a review. It really really helps to support the
show. Thank you guys so much for listening. Please remember, as always,
to be the light for yourself and others. Take care everyone. Thank
you for listening to Psychic Teachers, your podcast for seekers, light workers,
mystics and magical thinkers. If you like the show, please tell a friend
or leave us a review wherever you listen to your podcast. For more information,
check out our Facebook page Psychic Teachers or our websites Samantha Fay dot com
and Bowen dot com. I have a new book out called The Awake Dreamer,
Lucid, Dreaming, Astill, Travel and Mastering the Dreamscape. You can
find it wherever books are sold. Thanks for listening and have a great week.