"Celebrating the Earth's Cycles awakens memories deep within us
that help us to regain our commitment to Love, respect and
honour the Earth. Through following our own unique spiritual path we learn to find inner stillness, so that we can listen to the land and our hearts once again." - Glennie Kindred, Earth Wisdom

Magickal living is skillful living. Modern life is filled with distraction. It is easy for one to become disconnected in this modern, indoor age. It is easy to lose track of your days, your months, yourself. So wake up. Do not live like a zombie. Aspire to live a magickal life! Step out of your routine and slow down. When we slow down, and come awake to acknowledge the natural world, something big begins to happen. We become aware of the interconnectedness of life. Life takes on meaning. Adopting the slower, more harmonious rhythms of nature opens a portal and allows contact with the something so much bigger.

The magickal path is a path of self-discovery. It is the path taken by shamans, Taoists, nuns, druids, and witches. It is a path that requires study and dedication, a path that affords one the ability to tap into the powers of the earth, the mind, the body, and the spirit, powers that healers have tapped into for thousands of years. It is knowledge applied to gain understanding of the workings of the cosmos. It is a bridge that furnishes the connection we all long for. It is stepping out into the world alive and awake. It is noticing, observing, applying, and appreciating the power of the cosmos and its daily workings in and through our lives. The magickal life opens our minds.

Life is a journey from foolishness to fulfillment. By nurturing the Divine inside us we not only develop a deeper connection to all that is sacred in the world, we cultivate within ourselves: gratitude, empathy, understanding and confidence, traits that allow us to become more godlike. When one consciously chooses to connect with and nurture the Divine spark within, the ego quiets and the spirit, or higher self, is giving voice and our existence is transformed.

By adopting a magickal mindset we open to the possibility of so much more. Arthur C. Clarke wrote, 'One man's magic is another man's engineering. Sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." And our minds, our subconscious mind, has a powerful hand in the creation of our reality. We each have the ability to visualize an idea and manifest it into reality... You first create a mental image of the result you wish to produce then design a spell to achieve that purpose using sympathetic energies to align your goal. One uses intent to focus on the desired outcome then raises, directs, and releases energy to that purpose and Voila! You have just cast a spell.

Doreen Valiente wrote, 'What traditional witchcraft is really about on its practical side is the hidden powers of the human mind.' Working magic is the art of manifesting. The underlining principals can be summed up by the old phrases, 'for every action there is a reaction' and 'what is Above so is Below.' Magick is about directing energy. It is about finding links to the power that generates and maintains our universe.

BUT how does Magick work? What is first conceive in the mind, and believed in the mind, becomes reality. Before something can come to existence someone first must visualize it.... "Attuning and working with these energies in magic not only lends you the power to affect dramatic changes in your life, it also allows you to sense your own place in the larger scheme of Nature." ~ Scott Cunningham, Earth Power.

Magick is the act of creation. We perform magick every time we put our energy into creating something. Magick is the art of accessing the hidden powers of the human mind and finding the links that echo through the Universe. For every spellcaster knows that there is a truth that is greater than he can see or comprehend, but that by acting on that which he can understand he may perhaps influence other things associated with it.

Magick is the focus of energy, shaped by intent, and directed with will. Thoughts are energy and when we center and ground and link our thoughts with the energetic energy of the earth then what we think, feel, and visualize embodies the energy giving it structure directing it to flow into the new form our thought structure wills it to create. With thought we shape the energy. With our breath, our words, with emotions, with our voices, with our movements, we raise the energy and move it so that what we will feeds into the infinite possibilities that are listening. Part of this becomes possible by living in harmony with the natural world and syncing our energy with its natural tides.

To early people nature and its resources equaled the source of life. They saw its transformative power as spirit. Through seasonal celebrations, they established bonds linking their community to the land. From this relationship not only were their physical needs met, but their spiritual needs as well so that they were able to build a culture that celebrated the activities of the flesh and the spirit not separate but fused together into something visceral and real.

The modern spellcaster still strives to connect to this natural energy following the natural progression of the agriculture year as it falls into four quarters based on the movements of the sun at the solstices and equinoxes. Reflecting seasonal changes in your own personal practices, will allow you to calibrate your energy to the energies of the natural world. Celebrating these ancient rituals is a way to attune with the magical tides, to recognize the rhythms of life, death, and rebirth.