Enchantment

We often think of the word enchantment as a sort of spellcasting or altered state imposed upon us by something beyond us. Perhaps through romantic love or even a witch.;) Instead, it's a way of life, a conscious directed by the soul, a state of mind fueled by connection and purpose. Something we can choose moment by moment to notice and take in.

For most modern, Western people our conception of the universe or Earth conjures a mindless void full of lifeless objects. And this mistaken thinking often leads to deep-seated loneliness and disconnection from the cosmos. My life purpose is linked to re-enchanting others and myself with existence. Experiencing the vast and endless beauty of being alive. For me, the things below are my entryways into enchantment. My hope is that they inspire your own or perhaps resonate for you as well.

Earth :: Favorite Planet

As a witch, I feel deeply rooted in the Earth as a fierce protector of the many ways humans have harmed it.

Many times female pronouns are used with Earth and I disagree as Earth is beyond a human binary of gender. Even thinking about the magnificence of a flower...many of them have reproductive organs of staminate (male, pollen-producing) and carpellate (female, ovule-producing) parts. The birds and the bees pollinate the two sides of both and all, it gives birth and creates new life (egg) and also generates and activates (sperm/seed).

Above all else, the Earth is our relationship to creation itself, which has two forces--activation and allowing. Everything on Earth came from these two energies and it continues today as evolution flares forth.

Ether :: Venus Synodic Cycle & Lover's Light

While the entire cosmos delights me, nothing quite so much as the planet of love and beauty and Earth’s twin planet…Venus. To me, it is a symbol of the ultimate lover.

I often think of Earth and Venus as lovers, their dance evoking beauty and sacred geometry (see image at top of page). One of my graduate school professors, cosmologist and philosopher, Brian Swimme, who has lots of Venus influence in his chart, describes gravity as a force of love, the energy that pulls and holds cosmic bodies to each other. Venus' orbit relates the most to Earth and I often think about the reason we come to Earth is to learn about love thanks to this marvelous, cosmic relationship. READ MORE HERE

Eros :: Intimacy with Self

Few things enchanted me more than the inner workings of my own psyche. I think of myself as a soul spelunker who enjoys exploring the depth and complexity of my being. I find it endlessly fascinating to understand why I do the things I do an attempt to reveal the parts of myself I don’t yet know through the unconscious. I am deeply mal-nourished without this part of my being and connections are uninteresting to me without it. My desire for self-depth is more than food, spirit, anything.

This need to know myself is an obsession, the place in myself I feel most nourished and fed. This work of unveiling the layers of self to connect with our deepest essence is to me is the unending initiation and journey of being human. I’m constantly amazed and in awe of new places within myself, that I can be such a mysterious stranger even myself. Yet the places I don’t know are still scary no matter how many times I find myself in the dark, unchartered territory of my innermost core. READ MORE HERE

Etymology :: Word Magic

Researching the roots of the word "desire" inspired my entire Master's thesis called "Stargazing: Re-enchantment Through Language." For as long as I can remember I have been fascinated with words. As a logophile (word lover) I makeup words, look for words within words, and sometimes spend hours with the Oxford English Dictionary for fun.

I feel something in words…while many people may just see letters, I see magic and sacred symbols. English is not often thought of as a “sacred” language such as Sanskrit or Hebrew, though it contains the same roots and base symbols. The holy form of the letters exists today as English and the alphabet evolved from Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and Teutonic Runes. READ MORE HERE