Teaching Children the Craft: Growing Up With A Magic(k)al Worldview (Part One)

"Disbelief in magic can force a poor soul into believing in government and business." - Tom Robbins

Recently, I was having a conversation with my Faery teacher about "magical thinking". To me, it is a positive thing. Having a magical mindset means that you understand that your actions and words have a great impact on the world(s) and that you can affect change. It means cultivating the ability to make that change count- doing your Work in the world. But she reminded me gently that term is used by those that would use my religious worldview against me- to call me crazy and even use it to thwart my autonomy. (Crossing the line too often in public or challenging the status quo with my worldview could wind me up in an institution!)

There are others in this world who have defined this phrase, "Magical Thinking" for me- and it is not a flattering picture. As one can imagine from a definition used by Richard Dawkins (and the rest of the fundamentalist atheist movement) and the warped psychologists who created the DSM (the very same folks who demonize trans gender expression and gate-keep its treatment; the same folks who until very recently classified homosexuality and bisexuality as a mental disorder; and the same folks who classify perfectly consensual sexual behavior among adults that is unusual as a type of "paraphilia"), "Magical Thinking", in their view, means that I suffer from delusions:

Magical thinking: A conviction that thinking equates with doing. Occurs in dreams in children, in primitive peoples, and in patients under a variety of conditions. Characterized by lack of realistic relationship between cause and effect.

Yaqui Deer Dancer

Anyone else see huge gaping problems with this definition? Shall we start with the overt racist/xenophobic bias against every indigenous religion on the planet?

Or that this definition is so overly broad that it encompasses any religion that believes in prayer or god(s)? (Hear that, Abrahamic religions? It's not just the crazy witches that they are after!)

We should probably acknowledge the paternalism (gendered word selected intentionally here) of (outdated) science run amok as well.

When I say outdated, I mean it. The folks who write the DSM are like Isaac Newton in their scientific view of the world*, whereas my religious tradition, Faery Witchcraft, is more like Steven Hawking.  There is nothing so far in quantum mechanics/physics that has contradicted my religion’s theology. And it turns out that many shamanic cultures and worldviews are finally being vindicated by this science. If anything, Faery is just a more poetic expression of what these scientists are discovering for themselves (because they were not going to take my religion’s word for it!). 

When I read physicists like Neils Bohr, Nikola Tesla***, and Werner Heisenberg , they do not contradict my religious worldview, quite the contrary.** Not all of them are as poetic as Albert Einstein though:

"Everything is determined, the beginning as well as the end, by forces over which we have no control. It is determined for insects as well as for the stars. Human beings, vegetables, or cosmic dust, we all dance to a mysterious tune, intoned in the distance by an invisible piper."

A card given to me by Eldri Littlewolf, a Feri elder.

That is not to say that my religion has all the answers. But unlike the old Newtonian scientific worldview (that rejects what it cannot see in order to prove), the new scientific view  and one of Faery embraces paradox.

So... how does this all tie together into a coherent theology that I am transmitting to my son? For that, dear reader, you must stay tuned for part two!


 

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*(Although I know many "hard scientists" (biologists and chemists) who complain that psychology is a "soft science" at best, non-science at worst. And don’t get them started on when those soft science psychology folks try and bolster their arguments with hard science without doing proper research! Man, do biologists HATE evolutionary psychologists! I was married to a biologist for 10 years; so I have been privy to these discussions, believe me!)

** In Newtonian physics, particles - like billiard balls - were seen as hard, individual objects, specific to a particular space and time. On the other hand, waves - such as ocean waves or sound waves - were spread through space and time, blending and interpenetrating with each other. The two, particles and waves, were seen as completely different concepts.

This common-sense notion got turned on it head by quantum physics, which developed at the beginning of this century to account for the behavior of atoms and light. What was found then - and has since been confirmed by almost a century's worth of experimentation - is that the basic building blocks of the physical world (such as atoms, electrons, protons, light) behave in some situations like waves and in other situations like particles. The inescapable result is that in some mysterious way, they are both.

*** Did you know that most of Tesla’s amazing discoveries and inventions came to him, verbatim, in dream? How very shamanic!

Teaching Children the Craft: Etheric Anatomy, Energy Work, and Three Souls

In this new ongoing series, I am sharing insights and making proposals regarding teaching children the Craft. My hope is that you, the readers, will join me by using the comments section. Please make comments, ask questions, and engage is dialogue with me and each other in this section. My hope is that fruitful communication will benefit us all in the form of a Craft curriculum for kids of witches everywhere.


Teaching a baby about Etheric Anatomy, Energy Work, and the Three Souls:
My son is less than a year old, and I am already "teaching" him concepts in the Craft. Given that he doesn't understand very many words yet, the concepts are rudimentary and are mainly shown, not told.  Basically, I am teaching his Fetch through experience. What exactly am I teaching? Energetic work- how to use parts of the etheric anatomy to serve you and your loved ones.

Rowan's Talker is not yet fully developed (visually, it is pretty misty and freeform- it often extends towards things he is interested in, rather than staying around him) and he relies upon mommy and daddy to encompass him in their Talkers to shield him from undesirable situations. His talker has not created hard boundaries yet.

Often, I will use breath or energy to change his auric field and show him that I am doing this intentionally. I'll smile really big when he first notices the energy shift (babies are hilarious and cannot hide anything that they feel) and laugh to show him it is safe and OK. Sometimes, I'll just send a energy band of color his way. Sometimes, I'm a sneaky mommy and use it to get him to (finally!) sleep.

He has started to ask for this kind of shielding when we are in situations that he does not like (sketchy people, people on drugs, etc.). It's amazing to see when a non-verbal lesson pays off so early. More on teaching Rowan and other children Craft lessons soon!

For more information on Etheric Anatomy (and the words Talker and Fetch and what I mean by those) and Feri, I suggest the books linked here (50 Years in the Feri tradition and Etheric Anatomy).

Learning About My Son

This post is from my previous, now defunct blog.
Original post date: Sunday, May 9, 2010

In most of the religious traditions that resonate with me, deep and meaningful spiritual practice depends on “being present”: living in the moment, realizing that THIS moment is really all we have. This practice of mine used to be so much harder than it is now. My son has helped me to remain present more often than a daily sitting practice ever used to.

When we are together, I am constantly checking in with him emotionally and energetically to suss where he is and what he needs in that moment. And while I may have “plans” for my day or evening, if my son “derails” them, I am not as upset as I have been in the past when someone else has derailed my schedule. Being present in the moment is my main priority and goal for the day, everything else takes a back seat. It has meant opting out of some fun things, taking an incomplete this semester (in which I am struggling to catch up as we speak), and looking a lot more flakey than I ever used to (and man, do I hate flakes!). And you know what? It doesn’t matter. What does matter is that my son is well loved, attended to and learned about each and every day.

My attentiveness has been rewarded. As his personality is unfolding, I am learning more and more about this tiny human and what he will be like.

My son is shy. He prefers small intimate gatherings to large boisterous ones. He is curious, but only so not when overwhelmed by stimuli. He likes meeting new people, but usually one at a time and he likes to have mama or daddy nearby when it happens. He likes staying at home and exploring things slowly.

He is energetically quite sensitive, and picks up all sorts of things from people. When confronted with people with crazy, tweaky, or angry energy, he moves inward. His eyes unfocus and he retreats. He uses this coping skill in large crowds as well. He has learned to go internal when facing uncomfortable people or scenarios- where did he learn that? I always thought these tendencies (as well as being an extrovert or introvert) were socialized, learned behaviors. But these appear to be “how he is”, as if he were born that way.

These things make him appear rather boring to the large crowds that have met him at Beltaine, Pagan Pride, and PantheaCon. But nothing could be further from the truth. While he is still developing who he will be, I can assure everyone he is fascinating, quite smart, and engaging. You just have to meet him on his terms!