Thursday, November 9, 2017

Magic Should Be Practical

The practice of magic is and should be practical. It should be a part of daily life: practical, prosaic, pragmatic, and all but unnoticeable to the untrained eye if you do it right. Don't get me wrong--I love all the pomp and circumstance of big magic rituals as much as the next practitioner, but as a daily affair magic should be practical enough to fit between going to work and running errands.

Magic should be small enough to be done on the way to a big meeting with your boss at work without anyone looking at you funny, yet powerful enough to create the effect you want at the big meeting.

After all, what's the use of magic if you have to have a cloak and dagger, not to mention a literal bag of magical tools, before you can do any magic?

Practical Magic Can Be Done
Magic is made practical by daily practice. Practical and practice, now those two words are related! Practical magic can be divided into two categories: private and public. Private magic rituals are the ones that you do at home, before you set off to work or after your kids have gone to bed. They are the rituals that you don't want observed or disturbed by others. Public rituals are the ones that you integrate into the parts of your day that you spend around other people. Some practitioners do public rituals with panache, while others integrate public rituals subtly and beneath the notice of others.

Regardless of if they are public or private, one thing is definite: daily rituals have to be kept simple or you won't have the time or perseverance to practice them daily. Simplicity is the key to successful practical magic.

Some Private Daily Magic Rituals
Private magic rituals are the acts of power you do to start your day, reaffirm your personal power, recap your day, or pay into your magical bank account. Here's a list of some simple rituals you can do in private that can have a powerful effect:

- meditation (even a 5 minute sit has magical properties)
- burn a Sun Candle (to brighten energy or call something to you)
- Navajo Beauty Way (a way to connect wit higher beings)
- a "card of the day" (pull a Tarot or Medicine Card to give your day a magical theme)
- ask for a sign from the Universe (practice in calling for and seeing signs makes perfect)

The list of daily magic rituals you could do is endless (learn more rituals and how to create your own in our Daily Rituals ebook), but the goal is to select one or two that you do every single blessed day as a way to keep your feet firmly planted on the magical path. Even 5 minutes a day of ritual practice can greatly increase your magical force over the course of a year.

Public Daily Magic Rituals
Private magic rituals are in some ways easier, since you don't have to deal with the prying eyes of curious coworkers or friends. Of course, if you don't mind practicing magic in public (I don't) then public displays of magic are really no big deal. But if you prefer a more subtle route, there are plenty of ways to do magic in public without anyone noticing.

One of my favorite magic rituals that you can do in public without anyone noticing is the consistency exercise. As the name implies, the aim of this ritual is to help you develop inner force through consistency.

The Consistency Exercise
For this exercise, pick a very simple act to perform at the same time every day. The act could be scratching your nose, touching your thumb and forefinger together, making a mark on a sheet of paper, or rolling your eyes in a clockwise direction. It doesn't matter what the act is, so long as it is simple and you can perform it in public.

Next, choose the time at which you will perform your act every day. Since this is to be a public magic ritual, pick a time during the day when you are likely to be around other people, such as during working hours.

Finally, commence to do your daily ritual act every day at the appointed time. You are definitely encouraged to use cell phones, pagers, or sticky notes to remind yourself to do your magical act. This isn't a memory test ... it's a reminder to come back to present time and remember that you are a magical practitioner. Do your act every day at the appointed time for 40 days straight. If you miss a day, start over again with day one. Forty days of doing the consistency exercise does two things: it helps you build enormous inner force and it helps you learn to practice magic in public.

Sounds like fun, doesn't it? What kinds of magical acts do you know of that are practical, prosaic, pragmatic, and can be done in public? Do share!



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