What the fuck is magic?

April 2022 Reflections

Hi my bbyz, how you doing? I'm writing this to you with frozen fingers from under a pile of blankets and hoodies as blazing sunshine streams through my window and snow falls in furious flurries outside. What, and I say this with the greatest respect, the fuck?

As sure as Spring is coming bounding into our lives, it seems that Winter fancies giving us a final embrace. Weird as hell, but I don't exactly hate it. I hope you're able to navigate the seasonal to-ing and fro-ing with optimism and ease... And failing that, I hope the energy companies who are hiking up their prices today gently show themselves into the bins of morality where they belong. <3

Updates

Availability Change
Long story short, I said 'Yes' to the Universe and the Universe said 'Fuck Yeah!' right back - so from April onwards, I'll be involved in some very exciting work and projects, which will affect my availability. Going forward, 1-1 Sessions will be available on specific set hours and days of the week. This may change monthly, but I'll always let you know in advance.
N.B. Despite gold-dust levels of limited availability, prices currently remain the same.

Events 
I will be offering my semi-regular mini-readings at Bistrot Walluc just off Brick Lane on Sat 23rd April. If you're London based and fancy a magical addition to an evening of delicious food and drink, then by all means, book yourself in.

April: what are the cards chatting about? 

When we encounter a spread like this, where the Magician is flanked by two cards that represent supposedly opposite states (heartbreak, sorrow, shame, anger vs. joy, love, connection, celebration), a person might ask: 'For real tho, which is it gonna be?? Is April gonna be full of sadness and despair??? Or am I about to live my best life??'

I am 100% guilty of yearning for these simple, hardline answers myself - straying into the rigid territories of black and white thinking. But, just as all of life and existence is delicately and infinitely connected (note the Magician's infinity symbol, more on that in a moment), so too are the concepts of anguish & jubilation. 

The chances are that right now, if you think hard enough you can think of at least a few things in your life that spark pain, sadness, shame, or anger. The Magician speaks of transformation and mastery and power - so here lies a clear invitation to begin the process of transformative work in relation to the lousy shit. What tools do you have at your disposal? A support network, disposable income, lateral thinking, time, sheer willpower, faith, emotional intelligence, self-soothing -  these are all examples of tools that can be used for transformation.  

You might ask, ‘Okay but how???’ And tbh, the Magician answers simply with: magic.
At this point, if I was you and I read that line, I'd want to throw my phone/laptop/ipad out the window whilst rolling my eyes. SO BEAR WITH ME. 

What the fuck is magic? I dunno. I can't express it properly, and every time I try, I say something different. I've told some people about synchronicity and coincidences and 'gut feelings'. To others I've spoken of transformation and alchemy and process in one breath while banging on about love and connection in the next. Magic is all of these things, I think, and also none of them. Illusive in its nature, and always open to cynical 'whatabout'ery, the ONE thing I know about Magic is that it's something to do with potential and change. 

And this is where the answer to the question 'okay but HOW do I transform bad shit into good?' comes into play. What changes are you making? What action are you taking that’s subtly (or dramatically!) different to what’s come before? What thoughts, feelings, or reactive behaviours are you altering or gently subverting from the way it's always been done? This is what your tools are for. They can help you enact incremental change. And change is what opens the door of potential, allowing shitty things to shift closer to the realms of joy, connection and understanding. 

Something that might help you along the way, might be to remember that no state of happiness is eternal, just as shitty feelings won’t last forever. Can you let yourself be open enough to receive the good knowing it cannot last forever? And can you stand up tall enough in your own power to receive the lousy, knowing that it too shall pass?

There is immeasurable personal power up for grabs, incredible potential waiting to be fulfilled - if only you are unafraid to usher in change in order to make it so. And if only you are able to accept that, just as life cannot exist without death, so too, joy cannot truly make sense without also knowing pain. 

The Magician in Tarot is rarely depicted without the infinity symbol. The meaning of the little sideways 8 symbol is very much in the name: infinity. Forever. Limitless potential. The symbol is said to be derived from the one for Ouroboros: a snake in a circle, apparently eating its own tail. The vibe here is very much that a circle has no beginning and no end; one is all and all is one... I.e. All those dual aspects of ourselves and our lives that seem utterly incompatible? They are part of a whole. Everything coexists, and all states of being can be changed and transformed into something else.

Seems like now might be a good time as any to start that process, no? 

From ilayda

x