20 Questions for Discovering Your Own Magic
Llewellyn is not my favorite New Age publisher, but they are based right here in Minnesota and they do often have some interesting and thought provoking articles. I came across this one recently from acclaimed author, Tess Whitehurst, with this list of twenty questions about discovering (or rediscovering) your magical self.
I've considered myself a witch off and on for more than a decade. Depending on my energy levels, the alignment of the stars, how active I've been in the witchy tumblr communities - my practice waxes and wanes. For the past few years I haven't really done much, preferring to simply lurk academically or do the odd tarot spread.
When you feel the pull, you feel the pull - and I'm feeling it. So what better way to dip my toes back in the water than with a simple thought exercise on where I stand? See below for my answers to all 20 questions:
- When have you had a psychic experience? What was it?
I used to have them often, dreams that seemed incredibly real and then, strangely, pieces of them coming true. It used to be little things, conversation enacted in dream that played out verbatim a week later in the waking world. I also experience deja vu and deja vecu quite often.... - What cultures and myths call to you the most? What attracts you about them?
When I was young, there was something about the mystery and dark romanticism of ancient Egyptian religion that fascinated me, but Kemetic Paganism never really felt right with me. Instead, it was the beings of myth and legends in the misty green of Ireland that demanded my attention - what calls me are the things that are unseen and unknown, shrouded in conflicting mythology and hidden somewhere behind the veil, just out of reach. I also like ghost stories.... - What is your favorite flower? How does it make you feel? Why do you love it?
Orchids, lilies, and chrysanthemums are often associated with death and mourning. They are given as tokens of sympathy at funerals and cultivated by those who have lost loves one to remember them. I enjoy the deep symbolism of such things and as I'm not one for flowers anyways... - When have you felt most connected to the Divine?
My belief in deity, God, the Divine, etc is...agnostic at best and non-existent if I'm being truly honest with myself. The universe feels more like a primordial chaos soup than something unified by a single divine being or consciousness. I have though, felt very tuned in to the element of chaos and unpredictability.... - What is a compliment you have often been surprised to receive?
It never ceases to amaze when people accuse me of being empathetic - because I don't feel that I am. I've developed my emotional intelligence and I'm proficient in the delivery of compassion, but feeling someone else's pain, joy, sorrow, etc as though it were my own doesn't happen to me. Maybe I'm just really good at faking it? - What everyday moments or experiences can fill you with a sense of wonder?
The way the full moon shines through wispy clouds. The whistling of long grasses during a strong wind. The meowing of the lonely cat in the apartment down the hall. The slow swirl of cream in a fresh cup of coffee. The reflection of the trees in a rain puddle on the street. Dark clouds rolling in before a major summer storm. The first few drops of rain on a window. The hazy color the sky becomes at sunset in August.... - What is your favorite animal? Which of its qualities do you most admire?
Corvids - crows, ravens, magpies...they're clever birds with advanced communication and the ability to utilize tools. They remember, they pass information to their fellow bird, they live in family groups and bicker like families too. Check out this article for more awesome facts about these wicked smart death omens! Oh yes....crows are often depicted as less-than-desirable messengers or omens of death in various cultures around the world. - What is your favorite tree? What do you love about it? How does it make you feel?
It was always my dream to live on a property that possessed a weeping willow. They're very elegant in look and feel and there's something both somber and soothing about relaxing beneath one. They're also messy and prone to disease, akin to crying and sadness, so I guess they live up to their name! - If money weren't a concern, how would you spend your time?
Honestly, it'd be a 50/50 split between roaming the halls of a dilapidated castle with a cup of tea in one hand and a good book in the other, while 100 cats trail after me AND traveling the world to see and taste new places, fueling my desire for knowledge and propelling my inspiration to continue writing. - Have you ever had a dream that felt like it was a divine message, or a message from the beyond? What was it?
They didn't FEEL like messages "from beyond" - they were. My grandma would visit my dreams on rare occasions after she died, but I haven't had a vivid dream conversation with her in years. - What places or spaces feel sacred to you? What is it about them?
I am drawn to liminal spaces - the places in between. Walmart parking lots at 3 am. Highway rest areas. A stopped escalator. The closet beneath a set of stairs. Hospital waiting rooms. Playgrounds after dark. Abandoned stores. Rooftop at dawn or dusk. Deep forests. Mist or fog covered bridges. Waterfalls. ANY HARDEES/CARL'S JR. on I-94. ~ These places are thresholds - doorways to other places or times or dimensions. They feel charged and full of perilous potential. I love it! - When you were a child, what were your favorite things to do? How did you like to play?
I feel lucky that I grew up during a time before every household had the internet. Before Wifi, even. As a child I would play outside - in the woods and in the dirt and on abandoned train tracks (liminal space!) and behind the garage. Any place where my imagination would come to life unhindered and I could (probably did) interact with beings that adults definitely couldn't see. How many kids have imaginary friends with pointed teeth and elf ears? - What songs transport you to another realm? What are they about, and what feelings do they give you?
This is going to throw some of you - but EDM and a lot of Dubstep really takes me there. A compilation of simulated sounds with bass drops and twinkling interludes, oftentimes haunting augmented vocals...I get a very charged and altered sensation from them. - Who are your favorite characters in fiction (movies, graphic novels, or novels)? How do you identify with them?
Goblin King Jareth from Labyrinth. Darkness from Legend. Billy Butcherson from Hocus Pocus. Nuada from Hellboy. Thranduil from The Hobbit. Anck Su Namun from The Mummy. Lydia Deetz from Beetlejuice. Daria. Tifa from FFVII. These are characters who defy convention and are just so unapologetically THEMSELVES. There's something very inspiring about that. And if they waver from accepted understandings of morality, all the better. - At what moments in your life have you felt the most magical? What happened?
The calm before a storm breaks - when all the hairs on your body stand at attention. After grounding and centering - when everything in the universe stills and hangs on your next breath. Nothing happens - I let it pass by un-tethered. If I have no intention to send out, I let the energy flow.... - Have you ever felt connected to deceased loved ones? Who, when, and how?
Hi, grandma. I'm sure you're disappointed. You never did like this witchy stuff. >_< - If you had to guess the name, appearance, and personality of one of your guardian spirits or spirit guides, what would you guess?
I could never in a million years tell my mother this, but sometimes I think her younger brother Steve stops by to pester me. I'm sure, if I were able to tune in properly and comfortably, he and I could have some fun conversations. He died in his early twenties.... - What are your favorite kinds of landscapes? Forest? Desert? Ocean? Meadow? Somewhere else? Why, and what feelings do they give you?
The vast, open emptiness of deserts make me feel wary and uncomfortable. The ocean is her own goddess, so full of potential - to gently give or to violently take life away. Forests are comforting, but the fear of disorientation and the lurking of things that desire to get you lost make me cautious. Meadows are open and inviting - but if I can see you then you can see me - and I don't always want that. No, I am most at home in places where different landscapes meet - seaside cliffs, the foggy border between the woods and the field, the edge of a swamp, upon a hill overlooking misty moors, etc. Thresholds and liminal spaces are becoming a theme here, I'm sensing.... - Do you feel particularly alive during a certain type of weather pattern, such as rain, wind, snow, or sunshine? Which one(s), and why do you think that is?
You know, I thought perhaps we'd covered this already. I love storms - the moment before they break, the initial unleashing of the fury, and the soft and healing rains that often follow. It feels like the very essence of life and chaos exist within a single perfect storm. Blizzards do this to me as well, but the intensity of feeling is dampened by the fact that I hate the cold. Fog is amazing - anything could be within it. - When do you feel the most alive?
When I stop to notice that I am, in fact, still breathing. Usually the moments following something terrifying - like nearly getting steamrolled by a car in the parking lot this morning. Or after clamoring off a roller-coaster. When something breathes on the back of your neck in the dark. Brushes with death (or perceived death) remind me of how fleeting existence is and how lucky I am to have persisted this long....
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