We recently received an inquiry from a member of our community on whether or not we create and sell spells, in the form of charms or otherwise, for others.
We recognize that most people are attracted to magic because of its promise of power – the power to bend reality to suit our wills and meet our material needs. Deep down inside, everyone longs for the power to heal the wounds of the world and to make their dreams come true. And that is often what people focus on when they think of magic –this supernatural ability to wave a magic wand or say an incantation and make all of our dreams come true.
In the Ara Tradition, divine magic is an integral aspect of our spirituality yet what we practice is not childhood abracadabra.
In our experience, real magic is not something we do to control the world or manifest our desires.
Magic is what happens when you have encountered the Divine. Real magic is your relationship with immanent divinity … and making magic is a dynamic process by which you co-create reality with divinity. Magic, in our tradition, is the life-altering experience of connecting to the divinity that dwells with yourself and in the world.
The sacred magic of immanent divinity is a direct, personal, and objective experience. Our system of practices – our ways of making magic—enable you to take off the blindfold and see the Sacred in the world clearly. You know the world is numinous and alive because you use your spiritual practices to sense it, engage in dialogue with it, listen to it, and most importantly, to learn from it – because you are awake to it. And magic, real magic, takes place right here in the midst of divine daily reality. You know it isn’t just some random coincidence that something is happening.
Magic is not just something you do or make. It isn’t something that one does TO the Universe; magic is what a living universe does with you once you have awakened to its divinity. It is the sacred dance we all share.
To that end, we view spells as forms of personal, creative, religious ritual. They are divinely inspired expressions that help you co-create reality with the Sacred.
In our tradition, ritual and spell craft is a profoundly aesthetic experience as religious rites are intended to be. Spells and rituals are a form of spiritual expression and, when done from the right heart space, they are charged with divinity and creativity.
However, the function of fruition or manifestation – which is what attracts most people to witchcraft – is actually is the final stage in an intuitive process. It is the part of the journey when we start to see signs of the energetic seeds we have planted beginning to appear. The truth is, a spell or ritual is a life-long process of discovering and expressing the deepest truths about the world, and yourself, through the highest human faculties – our aesthetic and divine sensibilities. A ritual or spell is the art of transforming ourselves and the world into something sacred.
So do we sell spells or spell kits?
In a word, no. Instead of doing the work for people, Temple of Ara Elder Clergy help our community members create their own magic by helping them develop a relationship with the Immanent Divine, supporting them on their journey toward spiritual maturity, and by equipping them with the tools needed to manifest their life missions.
We do this through our initiatory prep program, spiritual counseling or coaching that is empowering or it could be as simple as directing people to a useful book that is in line with the Temple’s values.
Assistance could also come in the form of helping our community members create their own spells through a private ceremony which includes communication with our spirit guides – whether through shamanic journeying or other type of divination – to understand the truth of the situation and to ensure that the goal is for the greater good of all.