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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Personality and the Dark Side of the Moon

Most people are pretty familiar with the zodiac sun signs. When someone says they are a Sagittarius, it's a pretty good bet that they love to travel and they have enough curiosity for ten cats. The sun sign part of a person's personality is the easy part.

The part that's harder to fathom is the hidden side of the personality, the darker side, the side that is defined by a person's moon phase.

Moon Phases and the People Who Wrote About Them
William Butler Yeats wrote a lot about moon phases, as did Richard Elizabeth. It is said by both that people who are in harmony with their moon phase are happy and well-adjusted people. People out of harmony with their moon phases are neurotic, aggressive, depressed, or variously unhappy with their lives.

The problem is that most people are unaware of their moon phase, which makes them unable to determine whether they are "in-phase" (in harmony with their moon phase) or "out of phase," meaning not fulfilling the destiny of their moon phase.

Luckily, it is possible to calculate your own moon phase. The best resource for that is the book "Phases of the Moon" by Richard Elizabeth. In his book he gives a formula for calculating your own moon phase. Yeats' work on moon phases is far more esoteric, and less likely to be understood by the modern generation.

What Your Moon Phase Will Tell You about You
Your moon phase explains all those things that you can't explain about yourself. It often brings to light the reason for inexplicable desires, afflictions, fears, habits, and behaviors. One's moon phase can also explain the role one plays in one's family or in relationships.

For instance, my wife's sun sign is Aquarius. The obvious qualities of Aquarians are loyalty, humanitarianism, free-thinking, intelligence, and highly inventive. They can also be rebellious, changeable, and possessed of extraordinarily long memories. No problems there. She fits all of those characteristics.

Moon Phases Explain Extremes of Personality
However, she can also take rebelliousness to an art form at times. She has been known to go where angels fear to tread when it comes to cultural and family issues, and her personality goes far beyond changeable. It's very often downright turbulent. And she's got ambition to spare. That's where her moon phase comes in.

She is Phase 10, also known as "the image breaker." This phase is one of the most turbulent of all 28 phases of the moon, so it's no surprise that my wife has a turbulent personality. She has been known to scare people even when she's smiling cheerfully.

In addition, Phase 10 is one of the most ambitious phases when it comes to self-growth and spiritual evolution. Finally, Phase 10 is all about being "a purging force to destroy and replace obsolete forms of every conceivable variety-from outdated laws to old buildings to antiquated traditions," to quote Richard Elizabeth. No wonder she charges in to break up old cultural archetypes when others would run.

My own moon phase, the Fool, is equally enlightening. You will probably find yours to be as well. Note that your moon phase, as referred to in this article, is different from that calculated by most "moon phase calculators" online. I wish I could find an accurate online resource for this, but Richard Elizabeth's book or "A Vision" by William Butler Yeats are the best sources I have found for this.

If you're interested in discovering more about the darker, less rational, yet no less powerful side of your personality, it might be time to explore your moon phase.

Enjoy!

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Do Desperate Times Call for Big Whopping Magic Spells?

Sometimes, but not always. Without a doubt these are desperate times for a lot of people, whether financially, emotionally, physically, or mentally. But casting big magic spells in times of desperations isn't always the best solution. In fact, it's usually not the best solution.

The Big Whopping Magic Spell: Why Not Use It?
The answer to this one's simple. Just ask yourself this question: "How clearly do you think and plan when you feel desperate?" If you're honest with yourself, then you probably have to acknowledge that you are not at your best when you feel tired, worn-out, desperate, or hopeless. And guess what? For big fat whopping magic spells to work, you've got to have all your wits about you.

Life-changing magic spells, or even world-changing magic spells, take a lot of planning and thought. You have to do divinations to figure out what needs to be changed, and then plan the best way to achieve that change. And no, writing and casting a spell to win the lottery ain't gonna do the trick because there are way too many people doing that already. The magical side-bands associated with winning the lottery are huge. Not going to happen.

What Magic Rituals Should You Do in Desperate Times?
If life sucks right now, don't pull out the big magical guns. Instead, go for the 10% solution. Go for the simple magical fix, the simple magical ritual that is easy to do. Instead of casting one giant magic spell, choose one way to change your life magically ... and then do it for 30 days. Any simple magical ritual that will make you feel just marginally better every day is worth its weight in gold. And keep it simple, otherwise you won't do it. Think about it: if you already wake up tired, depressed or desperate, will you feel like doing some complicated magic ritual? Probably not.

So stick with simple magic rituals and spells that you'll look forward to doing. Here's a short list to get you started:

- Light and Charge a Sun Candle
- Do the Navajo Beauty Way
- Throw away your troubles everyday with voodoo magic
- Make a gratitude list of 10 things you appreciate about your life
- Cross crawl (move your body to move your mind)
- Hire an angel every single day
- Do the Consistency Exercise

And that's just a short list. There are literally hundreds and thousands of magic rituals that you can use every day to help you move, inch by inch, from a place of desperation to a place of excellent karma. Really. If you want to know more, check out the free resources on our website or our ebooks, which offer detailed instructions on many simple magic rituals.

Free Magic Resources
Magic Ebooks

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The Magic of Running Water to Remove Negative Emotions

Once upon a time, when I felt quite depressed and "stuck" in my life, a wise shaman and magical practitioner told me to walk in the rain by running water. She told me that the running water would carry away my depression and negative emotions. The rain would bring fresh emotions and insight to me. One rainy day in Boulder, CO I did walk in the rain by a fast-running creek. The combination worked and I felt immediately better: refreshed and positive.

I recently got to try that experience again, in Zion National Park, where we just spent 2 weeks playing in the wonders of nature. Twice we hiked the Narrows (that's me in the picture), a hike that took us up the Virgin River through towering canyon walls. The water was clear, fast, and purifying. We hiked 3 miles upstream, then came 3 miles back downstream. When I emerged from the Narrows, I felt spiritually refreshed, as if I had just done a walking meditation. I wasn't feeling particularly negative before I hiked the Narrows, but even so I felt the magic of running water to refresh and rejuvenate.

What's the Magic of Running Water?
The shaman who gave me the advice was quite accurate from a magical point of view. Magically, the element water represents emotions, which are the language of Spirit. In addition, moving water has the ability to carry the elements air and fire. The element air magically represents thoughts, while fire represents will and action. So, by walking in running water and consciously "letting go" of negative thoughts, tension in the body, and negative emotions, you have a magical outlet for unwanted "gunky" energies.

One magical caveat here is that for this to work, you need to have running water, not standing water. Standing water is stagnant, and therefore doesn't do a great job of carrying negativity away from you. Standing water can receive negative energy from you, but it requires a lot of effort on your part to push that energy into the water.

Using Standing Water to Clear Negative Energies
There is, however, one way you can effortlessly use standing water to magically clear negative energy. Put a  glass of water on your bedside table before you go to bed at night. During the night, the water will absorb any thoughts and emotions your release during the night. When you sleep, you are more open spiritually, which allows the standing water to more easily absorb your negative energies.

When you get up in the morning, dump the water down the drain. Do not drink it, as you will just reabsorb all the energies you released during the night. Many people find that using this technique 21 nights in a row is an effective way to clear negative energies and create sacred space.

Learn More Magical Self-Healing Techniques
There are dozens of other ways you can use basic things in your environment, like a glass of water, to heal yourself. Discover the multiple ways you can use everyday items you find in the grocery store for self-healing and other types of magic in this Kindle book or our ebooks:

Energy Healing for Self and Others
10 Magic Quick Fixes for Your Life
Daily Rituals for Attracting What You Want in Life



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There is Just No Rest for the Whiney People of the World

There really is just no rest for whiners. Think about it for a second from a magical point of view. If you like to whine (and who doesn't?), then what are you doing?

You are attracting yet more of whatever it is you are already whining about. And that means you will have to whine some more about the same stuff.

See what I mean? No rest for the weary and whiney!

All jesting aside, this is, of course, true from a magical perspective ... from the perspective of the Law of Attraction. And it's not that I don't want people to whine. Whining is a Universe-given right that we all have as planetary citizens. Nope, wouldn't, couldn't, shouldn't take that away from a single planetary citizen.

Whining Also Has Its Good Points
After all, if no one whined, then we'd all be the same, living in an insane happy-go-lucky world, and that might drive some of us around the bend. And as Abraham likes to point out, this world is all about contrast, not sameness. So thank heavens for whiners because they keep the contrast alive in this world.

So whining is a good thing. More power to the whiners! And they're gonna need it, because as we pointed out there is no rest for the whiney.

And, just in case you are a whiner and you are terribly tired because you whine all the time and more stuff just keeps showing up for you to whine about, I have good news for you.

You can stop. Really. Anytime.

Magic can help, even if you are quite addicted to whining. Magic does funny things, like uplift our spirits, change things in our lives that we would normally whine about, and bring us events that leave us speechless so that we have no words with which to whine.

Hmmm ... that sounds pretty good to me, and believe me, early in my life I was the world's best all-time all-around whiner. I could whine longer, better, and more nasally than anyone in my neighborhood. But I've since gotten too weary for that and taken up magic instead. It does certainly make for contrast.

So if you are a whiner and would like to be a reformed whiner, maybe consider checking out a couple of these magical doo-das:

Basic Magic Courses 
Magic Ebooks (instant download for instant gratification)
Magical talismans and amulets

Or else, enjoy your whining. Go for it! Gotta love it!

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Photo credit:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/38494596@N00/ / CC BY 2.0