Do YOU believe in magic?

I have been having the most AMAZING conversations with one of my best girls, Sandra Carrington-Smith, lately, about magic/magick and how it comes to be.

Some people call it prayer, some people call it casting spells, while other people refer to it as the power of positive thinking. Still others refer to it as “The Secret,” or the “Law of Attraction.” To me, it seems to be different strands of jute from the same macramé plant hanger, if you will. All of the strands come (more than likely) from the same roll of materials. (Yes, that would be the tree hugging hippie coming out to play, yet again, LOL!) Each section is separate, but meet again at the bottom. The end result is a strong, unique way to keep that amazing piece of

All together, then separate, then together again.

nature off the ground and hanging from the ceiling for all to appreciate and enjoy! (Whatever happened to the fine art of macramé, anyway? I think we should bring it back with a vengeance! 🙂 ) That said, that is what tonight’s blog is about. Whether you call your higher power God, Legba, Allah, Buddha, or Goddess, the end result is all the same; it boils down to the emotion and belief that you hold in your system of belief.

I was born, baptized, and raised a Catholic. I went to catechism once a week when I was a kid. I experienced the Sacraments of Baptism, First Communion, and First Confession. I will admit, I jumped ship and went the born again Christian route in high school, and completely by-passed the Sacrament of Confirmation (watching many of my cousins get whacked in the head by the Father kind of freaked me out). I don’t think my parents were too impressed with my decision, and initially, I only went to Youth Group on Tuesday nights to meet boys…and did I EVER! As time went on, I ended up in summer camp, and I was bowled over by the astute realization that God was real, and that it wouldn’t kill me to re-dedicate my life to my higher power. I was baptized again by our youth minister in the Russian River in NoCal when I was sixteen. Daddy was not thrilled. Mom wouldn’t talk about it. In the years that have passed and brought me to my current “here and now,” I’ve explored many different paths. My core belief system has held fast, but now I am a hybrid, of sorts. I don’t like labels, therefore I won’t label myself or anyone else mentioned in this post.

Sandra walks a different spiritual path than many of my friends, and I absolutely love and respect her for it. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that she is an amazing teacher.

We talk about magic(k) on a regular basis. Earlier this evening, while discussing a particularly bumpy spot in my personal road, she mentioned the veil that keeps us from actually seeing the blessings that we have right in front of us. She compared it to turning out the lights and sitting in our darkened living rooms. We cannot SEE the items that bring us the comfort of modern living, but we know that they are there. Turn on the lights, and the shadows have no choice but to disappear, and there they are, in all their glory, the items that make our modern lives comfortable and easy. Just because you can’t immediately see your blessings doesn’t mean that they aren’t there.

So where does magic(k) come into this mix? That’s simple. Prayers are granted because somehow our higher powers come through for us. Things that we meditate upon happen. Spells that are cast? Somehow, they come to take a life all their own. How? It’s the energy that we throw out to the higher power of our choice, or the universe, for those of you a little more drawn to earth-centered religions.

That’s where the macramé plant hanger comes into play. We all have our own systems of belief, but we all basically believe in our higher power, which brings us together in the beginning, and while separated for the bulk of the journey, it brings us together, once again, at the end.

That said? Please find tolerance for those that follow a belief system that is different than yours. As a woman brought up in a Catholic home, to hear someone tell me that Catholics are going to hell because they aren’t saved? That upsets me. The finger pointers don’t know whether said Catholic is saved or not. It’s between the Catholic and their higher power, who happens to be the same, more than likely, as the speaker’s higher power.

Judge not, lest ye be judged. Live and let live. Just be KIND to one another, in spite of whatever spiritual/religious differences you may find that you have. Love each other for who you are, not how you believe, because no matter what the magic(k), like the plant hanger, we call come together in the end.

Till Next Time…