Where Magic Begins

My eldest daughter, Samantha, believes that magic begins in a place where one can humble the ego, and marinate oneself in the energetic fields all around us. Things happen in this space that go beyond human willpower and manipulation alone. This begins with listening. Noticing. Believing.

From that place, the emerging desire to breathe life into a positive, beautiful world around us grows. We then engage in life in ways that plant seeds of beauty and kindness throughout the journey. “Personally,” she says,”I speak love to plants, encourage them in their growth and let them know how incredible they are, bringing nutrients into the world in their own unique and beautiful ways—and they respond.” Attention, intention, receptivity, humility, witnessing... these are some of the things that enhance presence and magic.

There are things that stop the flow of magic, too:

• Fear stops the flow—or at least blocks our perception of it. Magic is still there waiting for us. • Busy stops the flow. After all, playing and daydreaming, creating, full belly laughs, and finding whimsy require a little spaciousness. • Isolation can stop the flow. • Unsupportive company stops the flow. Too much hanging around with people who don’t share this aspiration to love and enchantment.

Conversely, when we gather with people who share this frequency, it increases flow. People who will pause in appreciation, maybe because they suddenly perceive the ocean currents sloshing around the earth, keeping it perfectly in check; or who will look up from their cooking or writing and see how the light is coming through the screen and catching dust motes, making the air more tangible and glittering. People who will catch in their awareness thin slices of the sublime: a back-lit dandelion, a child in sweaty play, air moving across the plane’s wing, an 80-year old Honu swimming in the bay, or the dawn chorus.

Look for people who have the gift of exquisite noticing, or who are interested in developing this. When we revere something, we pay attention to it. Attention is love. And if we’re paying attention, it’s all sort of enchanted. When we engage in rituals, and ceremonies, we are deliberately slowing time, making meaning, making space to connect, create and feel. We fall in love. We are enchanted. 

The above is an excerpt from our book "Reverence: Creating Ritual in Modern Life."