Magical Living in a Mundane World

Like most people, I spend most of my day mired in the mundane world. I work at a corporate-type job, where I spend several hours a day hunched in front of a computer, working with lots of people I have little in common with, people whose beliefs and interests are totally alien to me. I am expected to dress in a uniform that is unappealing to me, and this means I spend a generous chunk of my not-so-generous salary on clothes that I loathe so that I am "appropriately dressed" for work. I spend hours a week commuting to and from this job. More hours a week are spent in worry over job issues and money issues due to my not-quite-adequate salary for this way-overpriced area of the country I live in.

Photo by Cassandra Wolf

In short, I spend a great deal of my time and energy on mundane things, and not nearly enough time and energy on appreciating and exploring the magical world around me. Out of exhaustion or apathy, I let the magical world slip away and spend what little free time I have on mind-numbing activities that are designed to keep herd folk quietly entertained.

I am not a herdling nor do I want to live like one. I want to stretch my senses, and touch the magical world that surrounds me, and then I want to reach beyond, into the otherworlds. I want to anchor myself so firmly in the magical world that my mundane activities cease to dominate my life.

I want to pursue Magical Living in a Mundane World.

It will not be an easy process, and I expect it will be challenging. I'm also pretty sure that there will be failures along the way, which will hopefully become learning experiences to guide me along the way...lanterns to light the path.

Photo via Flickr - Creative Commons license

I want to pursue this lightly, thoughtfully, playfully. I want this to become like a game, a game against the system. A game to see how much magical living I can draw out of a mundane day.

For too many years I tried to bury my magical self and conform to the mundane world around me. Now I would like to try to see how much of my magical self I can bring into the mundane world.

I plan to begin this experiment formally at the Thornish holiday of Harrownight (31st October - 1st November), which mark the founding of the Thornish traditions and the beginning of the new year for Thornish pagans. I would like to share this journey with you through blogs and updates. I'll try to post journal prompts, experiments, and fun things to try along the way.

I invite you to join me, either within your own traditions or by following along with the Thornish way. Try it for a day, or a week, and see how it works for you.