Spirit Magic

We are wrapping up our series on the Elements in Magic, with a discussion of the element of Spirit.

Each of the five elements (Earth, Air, Fire, Water and Spirit) may be called in when doing ritual work or magic. It’s a question of understanding what each of them does, what they serve, and how they can best support your efforts. However, the element of Spirit is present in all your ritual or magic workings, and in all aspects of your life.

The Element of Spirit is closely aligned with many of the Major Arcana in the Tarot, including the Magician, the High Priestess, the Hierophant, the Chariot, the Wheel of Fortune, Death, and the Tower. When you pull one of these cards in any Tarot spread, you are asked to look to a deeper and higher meaning than just the obvious lifelong pursuits and struggles.

There are no astrological signs associated with Spirit, but all life and all matter everywhere has Spirit infused. We are made up of stars, of substance, and of Spirit.

You will often hear me refer to the Divine Source and just to be clear, I am talking about God. There is no God but God, no matter what name you give to them, to him, to her or your choosing. We may not all recognize the same god but the same god recognizes each of us.

The Element of Spirit is often symbolized by an infinity symbol, the number eight turned on its side. There are other symbols too, but the figure 8 of infinity can be spun in any direction. It hovers above us, like a halo. And it connects us to the Divine Source. Our whole life is a pursuit in expressing our own divinity and becoming more divine. We become more Divine by becoming more connected to God, or Divine Source.

Tonight, we will talk about some of the ways that we do that.

PRAYER: Our connection to God is strengthened through a daily practice of prayer and thanksgiving. However you choose to pray – whether it be in a church, a temple, a mosque, the great outdoors, your own peaceful home – whatever way you choose is right for you, because Spirit is in all things and everywhere. I would call prayer the active act of speaking to God with intention, expressing gratitude, making your offerings, and when you feel called upon to do so, asking for Spirit or God to share their guidance with you.

MEDITATION: The companion to prayer is meditation, which is passive communication with the Divine Source. If prayer is you speaking to God, meditation is you listening to God. You can certainly set an intention with your meditation – to focus on health, or harmony, or something more specific, but it doesn’t have to be a specific plea or prayer. It is you being open – open of heart, body, mind and spirit – to the answers that the Divine Source may provide. Those answers are very rarely clear, usually something more subtle like a thought or image coming to you during or after meditation. But the more one meditates, the clearer and stronger those answers seem to be for many of us.

REIKI: All living beings everywhere are part of the universal life force, known as ki or chi. When we are aligned with ki, we are in flow. What is in flow tends to be healthy, strong and pure. Think of a gently flowing river – the water is clean and clear and in harmony with the world around it. When our energy flows at the same pace as the universal life force energy, we too are in flow. Living beings in flow with ki tend to be healthier and stronger, and often happier. It is when we or parts of us are not in the same flow and rhythm as ki, that we tend to become out of balance. This is when injury or illness, depression and anxiety, and other difficult experiences can feel overwhelming to us.

Reiki is the realignment of our energy with the universal life force energy. Anyone can do reiki for themselves, however many people will benefit from sessions with an attuned and certified reiki practitioner, like myself. We set an intention, and together help to clear the blocks to your flow of energy so that you can feel empowered and in sync with the universe again.

STARGAZING: That beautiful sky above us holds the vastness of all things beyond our small planet. It is good and even necessary to check in with the stars on a regular basis, to remind yourself that you are but one living being in a vast universe, and to know that God sees you just he or she does all things. Whether you do this at night before dark skies with bright stars and constellations or you do so during the day, cloudbusting, is your preference.

DIVINATION: I spoke briefly about divination in a previous blog, when talking about scrying or seeing into tea leaves or reflections. Part of our own divinity is our ability to see and understand. Divination – whether it be through scrying or tarot or oracle cards, or listening to your guides, not only offers you the chance to understand the universe a bit better but it also is a critical part of your own personal practice of raising to your own most divine self, and connecting to the Divine Source or God. That is truly the purpose of magic. Not to cast spells, although some choose to do so, not to make potions, although they are certainly very beneficial at times, not to exert power even though in our own small ways we each want to feel more powerful. The purpose of magic is becoming one with Spirit. We do not attain that becoming in this life, but we must pursue it all throughout our life.

You know the expression – famous back in the Aqua Net 80s’ – the higher the hair, the closer to God?

Well, the more one works with magic, the more one becomes magic and the ultimate magic is Spirit. Each of us has God within us, and each of us is within God.

Here are some additional ways that you can realign and reconnect with the Holy or divine Spirit:

YOGA, intentional movement and breathwork

VOLUNTEERISM, the sharing of your precious time

GRATITUDE JOURNALS, the acknowledgement of your life’s gifts

DISCOVERING  YOUR SPIRIT GUIDES AND DEVELOPING A RELATIONSHIP WITH THEM (We will talk more about this in a later blog)

HONORING AND CONNECTING WITH YOUR ANCESTORS

REFLECTION AND PEACE

Spirit may be the most elusive of all the elements but it is the most important one to include in all practices. I do a ritual that was gifted to me by one of my teachers called the SEVEN RAYED STAR. In this ritual I connect my spirit and my matter – the divine part of my self and the physical part of myself – in a powerful and transcendent way. I also always include the ritual of PAROKETH in my workings. PAROKETH which translates from Hebrew as VEIL, is the intentional act of opening the veil that obscures the most divine parts of myself and my life and my magic from me. I open the veil, I step through, and when I conclude my ritual workings, I close the veil again.

I want to mention the term SUBROSA here. You’ll hear it frequently in the world of magic and mysticism. It literally means “beneath the rose” and is a reference to the early days of Christianity, and even before, where Roses were painted on the ceilings or above doorways to sacred temples and spaces. It infers secrecy. I mentioned in a recent blog that your most magical tools were not meant to be shared with the world. Your most powerful, most magical, and most used tools should be kept subrosa and hidden from view of those who would not understand and those who simply have not earned the right to see them.

Much of your ritual and magic workings that directly involve spirit will also be kept subrosa, or hidden. Their power lies in their connection to you, which can be lost or minimized by putting it own display.

My own personal clients in ritual work understand that when I utter the word SUBROSA, they know that what I am about to share with them is not to be shared with anyone else, ever. The ritual of the SEVEN RAYED STAR that I mentioned earlier is one that while it can be learned, it won’t be from me. Working with spirit closely and daily and carefully means that in time you too will understand what is most sacred and intended only for your eyes, ears, and understanding.

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