Practical magic
Do you believe in magic?
What is magic? To me, it is just something that is a little bit extra special that doesn’t have a definite thing that I can say caused it. To me, magic can define a moment as well as an action. If I walk under a canopy of light that takes my breath away, man or God created I call it magical. If something is so special that it literally glitters and gives me goosebumps, it is magical. To me, magic is the special sauce, the little extra something something.
It is magical when eyes meet; when babies laugh; when a touch calms; when any unexpected, not understandable action occurs.
Things can look like magic if you don’t know how they are accomplished. There are magic tricks. Magicians are truly talented in slight of hand; but in the end it is just simple trickery and once you know the how’s you aren’t fooled. Mothers can seem magical when they fix a boo boo with a kiss, or break a fever with cool clothes and heal with chicken soup. Nurses are witches with their touch of pressure to the wrist to stop nausea, and their rub between the eyes and calm voices to soothe the agitated. Grandmas are perhaps the witchiest of all. They make yummy things out of ingredients that don’t seem to go together. They create love out of thin air.
The true definition of magic is about using spells or charms to have supernatural power over natural forces. Being God-fearing most likely means you know there are dark forces out in the world and that magic falls into their realm.
Is all magic dark? Evil? Of course not. Are there witches and warlocks? Probably. Can they actually cast spells or charm things into being? Possibly.
It’s that time of year, all things ghosty, goblin, and goolish are on display and thought about more than other times throughout the year. But if you are intrigued by these things in ernest, it isn’t just Halloween that makes you aware of the bumps in the night and the shifts you see out of the corners of your eyes.
I remember reading my first Alice Hoffman book (author of countless books, Practical Magic being her most famous). I was smitten in the first chapter and I have read everything she has ever written, some more than once; which, if you know me, I do not do. I love the bits of magic and other worldliness she puts into all of her books. It is so entertaining and so easy to imagine.
Whenever I read something about witches I always end up wondering how humans can be so inhumane to each other. Supposed witches were burned at the stake, hung, drowned, run out of town usually because of nothing other than a rumor, but always because of a wish to blame bad things happening on someone. Fear makes people behave very very badly.
So whether you believe in magic or not, is up to you. As for me, I like knowing there are things out there that will make me smile, make me shiver, and make me throw spilt salt over my left shoulder, keep rosemary by my garden gate, plant lavender for luck, and fall in love whenever I can.