How Magic Can Save the World

How Magic Can Save the World

Author:   Tess Whitehurst 

The world appears to be in dire straights. The environment is suffering, species are becoming extinct at an alarming rate, in many parts of the world food and clean water are scarce, and, to top it all off, humans are killing each other. And for just about every imaginable challenge, there are people scrambling to help. We’re recycling, petitioning, protesting, studying, raising awareness, preserving, debating, and donating.

But how can we work holistically toward positive change? How do we get at the cause of all these imbalances, rather than jumping headlong into the mad dash of damage control?

Simple. We do what magical folk do. We shift consciousness. Interestingly, our magical perspective is exactly what the holistic health practitioner ordered. To illustrate, here are some basic magical precepts that can help heal the world.

•Everything is connected, and everything is divine. If everyone very deeply understood that every single thing is interwoven in a complex web of existence, and that all of existence is a part of the divine, there would be no one engaging in activities that caused plants or animals to become compromised or extinct.
•The Earth is our Mother. To us, this is literal, not figurative. Imagine how lovingly our Mother would be treated if everyone understood this as we do.
•Whatever you send out comes back to you multiplied. What you do to someone else, you do to yourself. Mass acceptance of this precept would actually (finally!) give peace a chance.
•We are empowered to change our consciousness in order to create positive shifts in our own lives. When everyone really and truly realizes their true power, they will no longer chase the imaginary power promised by things like greed, violence, hatred, or exploitation.

In the early 1970’s, James Lovelock, the scientist who formulated the Gaia Hypothesis, summarized what people like us already knew: that Planet Earth is a complex, living, breathing organism. Peter Russell took it one step further in his book The Global Brain when he proposed that while rainforests are the lungs and the atmosphere is the circulatory system, humans are the information processors, or in other words, the brain cells.

The brain cells in a fetus or an infant are the same as adult brain cells. They just have not yet formed as many pathways or connections between each other so they cannot function efficiently as a unified whole. Then, little by little, they build connections and begin to redefine themselves as not only one small part of a brain, but as one small part of an entire organism. Similarly (Peter Russell notes) , humans are beginning to form more and more connections and pathways between each other. For example, with one Facebook post, we can communicate instantly with our entire, perhaps global, circle of friends. Or, with one YouTube video, we can conceivably reach several million people within a matter of months.

So, from a macrocosmic perspective, the global brain (AKA the human race) is rapidly evolving to the stage when it can more easily recognize itself as the consciousness and nerve center of a living, breathing, and harmoniously self-sustaining organism. This evolution, if it moves in the most positive direction possible, is what Albert Einstein was hoping for when he wrote:

“A human being is part of the whole, called by us ‘universe, ‘ a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separate from the rest — a kind of optical delusion of consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us.

Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty…We shall require a substantially new manner of thinking if humanity is to survive.”

At this stage in history, it’s easier than it ever has been before for us to create a “new manner of thinking” by setting in motion a magical tsunami of consciousness shifting. But how?

First, we walk our talk. We purify our motives so that they are about love and service. We meditate, we purify and shield our energetic bodies, and we perform ritual and engage in prayer in order to connect with the Divine. We spend time in nature to remind ourselves of beauty, of the rich and vital inner lives and personalities of plants and animals, and of our connection to the whole.

We forgive others and ourselves as we bravely work through old issues and limiting beliefs. We release rigidity of belief and embrace flexibility, openness, and inclusion. We send the energy of love out into the world through our thoughts, feelings, and visualizations. We pray for world peace and perform rituals for planetary healing.

And then, from this place of deep love and integrity, we give gifts to the world from our hearts. We ask our hearts: “what do you want to give?” It might be a painting, a movie, an article, a status update, a specific type of volunteer work, a compliment, a smile, a speech, an idea, or a new way of doing things. We give freely every day, in every situation, as we feel guided, dedicating every single gift we give to the Goddess (or God, or patron deity) and to the healing of the world.

We generously shine our unique light, perspectives, and ideas into the world, knowing that as we do, we are not only increasing our own joy and prosperity (because whatever you send out comes back to you multiplied) , we are also shifting the tide of energy, bringing the cells of the global brain into harmonious unity, and channeling our collective magical energy toward saving the world.

“If powerful men and women
could remain centered in the Tao,
all things would be in harmony.
The world would become a paradise.
All people would be at peace,
And the law would be written in their hearts.”

-The Tao te Ching translated by Stephen Mitchell