​It's important to take stock of the little things and appreciate them, as there is magic in the joy that these seemingly insignificant experiences bring to our lives. The small delights in life matter so much more in the big ones, as they help us to process the more substantial events and hold strong through them. This year, I am thankful for good friends I can communicate with over a great distance, for my wife and our two dogs. Each give me something to come home to at the end of the day and living life with each has its own rewards.

These little connection should be celebrated. Small successes that you would otherwise pass by and ignore should be appreciated and toasted, as each is a triumph against the odds. Share the joy and cheer others as they succeed… Celebrate and remember every little thing that's gotten you through all this. It can be as simple as a thank you card or a genuine note. Give offerings and say prayers for the sources of those blessings as well, as the more goodwill you can create, the more benefit you can expect to experience. It's a give and a take in the more we give, the more we receive in turn. Even if thoughts, prayers, thanks and a bit incense smoke are all you can offer, offer those. 

Every successful day is a gift. Every triumph of the world is a development of the soul and a step towards greatness and further fulfillment. 

Be blessed,
-Chris

Hail folks! Hope you each are doing well!
Today, we're going to try to tackle something as weird as it is abstract, as this lesson is core to the nature of magic and magical practice as a whole. We're here to talk about understanding fully the innate essence of a thing.

This practice is a foundation of magic & magical practice as a whole, as this awareness of the underlying forces that bind the universe together that allows us a kind of true sight. Its this cognizance that eventually affords us the influence necessary to create change by plucking the right threads and playing the right notes at the correct times. Let's dive right in!

All things are the sum of their individual moving parts, and any given situation can be seen as kind of machine or machine function unto itself. All experiences are made up of a number of combined elements and influences at play, and each work to impart some manner of structure to the status quo. As these influences congregate and collude, we find that they bring together and construct complicated arrangements that we then experience as life events.

If Bob and Janet are in a relationship, they've come to this point of being more or less on purpose. Whether or not they intended for their situation to look or behave the way it does, they've made it so with each and every choice that's occurred to this present date. Every interaction they choose to have becomes a piece of the puzzle, and the emotions that they bring into the space become the framework from which a relationship is built.

With this in mind, every piece of the puzzle that is their relationship is in some way necessary to the greater whole. Without all of the pieces, the picture is incomplete, and each puzzle piece has its own makeup. The elements you see pictured in each puzzle piece acts as a contribution to the narrative, and these small details can sometimes be changed in accordance with our wishes to change the greater whole as it is assembled. There is, however, a rather careful consideration to be had here: every puzzle piece has only so much wiggle room before the narrative showed by the assembled puzzle begins to change.

And so it is that these tiny details each contribute to the greater whole. If we start by changing these little details, we start to modify what the big picture looks like. Any such attempt seeks to modify the status quo.

This is where magic comes in. Magic is the act of changing the little details in a way that is helpful to the overall structure of the relationship or experience that you're having. As we make these tiny edits, we're trimming off and refining extraneous details in this puzzle that's being assembled, and each of the pieces need to fit when all is said and done. 

This is where a comprehension of the individual moving parts matters. You need to be able to look at a situation and understand how the pieces fit if you're going to change them around any.

If Bob and Janet are in a relationship and they want to improve upon their sex life, then the first place to start is in figuring out what their sex life looks like. What's in this picture of the bedroom and how did it get that way? Is the portrait one of contention and difficulty, or is there trust and mutual desire? How is Bob's love shown and understood? What of Janet? Does it look like there's spice and vibrancy in this picture, or is it rather dull and bland by comparison to the other still life shots of the rest of the home?

The interactions that you witness and their tone give you some insight into what's made this snapshot what it is, and so you can then make changes to introduce some color to the mix. Adding a spark here and a dash of vibrancy there would change the way that Bob and Janet connect with one another, so you're effectively analyzing any relationship like you would an art piece. If this were your life, what would you change and how?

Consider those changes and their magical analogues. Use this abstraction to come to this place of understanding and stage of awareness through deep contemplation. Learn to access this "big brain" state intentionally so that you can later do so by reflex. Take note of each of the puzzle pieces and where they lay before then contemplating what small details need to change. What needs to be accented or have attention drawn away from it? Consider the nature of these fundamental influences and the forces themselves, and you'll then have a mindset which can be applied to a growing understanding of herbs, spices, resins, sigils, etc. and how they each contribute to the greater whole of this puzzle you're looking to break apart and rebuild according to your liking. 

You'll be amazed at what you find, as every situation consists of behavior floors, behavior ceilings, flows, and patterns. Each of these things contribute a splash of color to the mix, and change the overall tone of the picture others have of you and your experience. Awareness will rock your world, so try to apply this when looking at your life.

I hope this rather confusing topic now makes a bit more sense! It is absolutely crucial to understand this if you want to do anything magical & make it work in a way that doesn't burn the house down. Literally or otherwise. 

Blessings,
Chris 

​Hi folks, welcome to November! This past weekend was Samhain/Halloween, and it was INTENSE. 30 hours of trance and more than a dozen rituals later, I've made offerings, ferried spirits across & said my goodbyes to those spirits I was charged with helping and caring for as the Veil was thinnest. 

In exchange for my efforts, I was given a look ahead into what's coming. It's that information that I've been inspired to share here:

These runes that you see were drawn attached to a question I asked: "what do we have to look forward to in the coming months?"

The first photo represents the initial cast of the bones. The second shows that which was face down with the exception of Wunjo, which is only pictured in the first reading as a kind of "standing stone". We are making ready for the way ahead, and as we do this there are many changes afoot. Our foundations are changing, the way we interact with one another are changing, and the way that we connect with ourselves is changing. Each of these laborers are paving the way forward, allowing us to chart a way through this kind of mountain pass that stands ahead of us, and so it is that we cannot see the joy ahead until we are there and made ready to enjoy what we've been working towards. 

For now, it will feel like a gamble, and the things that we invest in now will have a major effect on our future to come. We cannot see the road ahead clearly, but it is still there & I see a great need to trust the process and put one foot in front of the other. Knowing this, know that this process is slow and steady. It will be agonizing at times and incredibly frustrating at others, but  we are approaching major changes & this memo has been echoed so loudly that I've been inspired to share what was intended to be a personal look into what's ahead. 

Blessings,
Chris