What is magickal – the practitioner or their tools? Perhaps we can find magick in toys. Each of us experiences and practices magick differently, because each of us is different. Some people use hand crafted tools, some don’t need tools, and some use professionally created tools – they may even find magick in toys. The reality is that the tools aren’t necessarily magickal, but that the tools help the practitioner to focus their own magick.
After my mother died, my father was struggling with his health, much worse than he already was. I guess one could say that she was keeping him alive. This is not an uncommon phenomenon from what I’ve seen. Our lives become so intertwined with our significant other, that we fall apart without them.
I got a phone call from my brother. My father has been admitted to the hospital, in intensive care. Naturally, I dropped everything and headed down to visit him. I visited my father every day after work, although he was not awake due to sedation. His condition got worse with each day. The nurses were caring and helpful through his visit.
One day, I arrived and as soon as I stepped into his room I knew things were worse. The color of his skin and the fact the ventilator that was added a couple days prior was switched from bipap to an assist mode. In this visit, I put the chair next to his bed and I meditated. Meditation is something which I’ve struggled to be successful, but concentrating on what I have learned through the Temple, I was successful.
In meditation, when I reached the mighty oak that represents the world tree in my meditations, the pathway that usually appears in its trunk did not appear. So a sat on the ground and leaned back against the tree. In the distance I saw a man approaching. I stood and walked towards him. When I got close enough, I saw that it was my father. He was substantially younger than that day; probably in his mid-twenties.
He didn’t speak, but I sensed his thoughts and feelings. This is probably the strongest empathic experience I have had to date. I told him that I know he misses Mom and it is okay for him to let go here and be with her. We embraced and then he left. I walked back to the tree and thanked it. I then left the meditation. I visited with him for another hour and then went to see my brother to discuss next steps for our father.
While talking to my brother, I picked up a Magic 8-Ball. Most people are familiar with this toy – they still make it. It is a large black ball with the number eight, similar to a number eight billiards ball. Inside the Magic 8-Ball is a multi-sided die floating in a dark blue dyed liquid. The die has phrases on it that are intended to answer questions with a positive, negative or neutral response. The user holds the ball with the number eight facing up and asks a question. They then turn the ball so that the clear panel at the bottom now faces up. The die presses against the clear panel to reveal a random answer.
So here I am holding the 8-ball and I ask it if I successfully meditated with my father. The answer revealed was a corner of the die. None of the answer surfaces were presented. I hadn’t seen this before. Nonetheless, I turned it back over and asked if my father was going to die tonight. The answer from the ball was “It is decidedly so”. I put the ball down after staring at it for a moment. Before I could open my mouth to say something, the telephone rang. It was the hospital calling to let us know that Dad had passed.
Magick in toys … well, the Magic 8-Ball is not a magickal toy, per se, but a practitioner can empower it through intention to be magickal.