Pat Taub
During a recent visit with a woman minister, she described being called to the ministry by a woman she barely knew, who approached her with a vision of my friend as a minister. In exchange I related the time I was in Crete and wandered into an olive grove, where I felt strong vibrations, provoking tears of familiarity, as if I were revisiting another lifetime. After relating our stories, we sat quietly, deeply moved by our memories of magical moments.
An olive grove in Crete overlooking the ocean, reminiscent of the grove I visited
What is magic?
I think of magic as a reality-defying occurrence that catches one off guard. Surprise often accompanies magic. It can feel other-worldly, giving off a “twilight zone” effect. I experience magic as a divine gift that has the power to awaken my soul. Its imprint is powerful. My olive grove experience occurred in 1994, almost 30 years ago! Yet, it remains one of the most vivid memories in my life.
A magical experience is frequently described as feeling like a divine gift
Wanting to understand how others experience magic, I posted this request on the WOW Facebook page, “Tell me about a magical incident in your life.” Here are some of the responses:
LINDA:
A few weeks after my sister passed away, I started finding dimes in odd places. There were never other coins involved. Just a lone dime where you wouldn’t expect to find it. After half a dozen, I concluded that my sister was reaching out to me. Maybe just letting me know that she is safe and has a consciousness of some sort. All in all, in a couple of months, there were about eleven dimes. It has been four years and I still treasure them.
CAROLINE:
I was blessed by a Lama from China on my 62 birthday. Couldn’t sleep for two nights, the glow from this blessing made the room light up both nights. I also felt a buzzing inside my body.
Caroline posted this image of the Lama who blessed her
EMMA:
In grad school in the 70s, I was honored to co-present a “paper” in NYC with my mentor. Part of it was an experiential exercise with a roomful of folks. My mentor regressed them back to infancy and we then, with helpers, went to each person and sang and rocked their heads and shoulders if they wanted it. Extremely powerful and the whole group felt this amazing connection.
Riding to the airport after the event, I continued in this altered state of consciousness and could grasp/feel the impact of sections of the city, the Bowery, tenement buildings, the West Side. It was an out of body knowing. It was a deep sense of knowing others and what they were experiencing. It was an amazing blessing and a sacred experience.
DEBORAH:
I delivered hundreds of babies, and while they were all magical, one stands out. It was a girl baby, who at birth actually made eye contact with me and then both her parents. It was quite startling. She seemed to really know what was going on. Like surveying her new gig.
A midwife delivering a baby, reminiscent of Deborah’s experience
DOREEN:
Many years ago, I was riding in a cable car in San Francisco. I was coming back to work from lunch. During that time, I had a very strong daily meditation practice. I remember very clearly feeling transported to the roof of the cable car and enjoying the view of the city. I remember the hardness of sitting on the roof and being close to the car’s overhead wires and feeling I was so lucky to experience this fluid feeling of levitation.
Each of these women was comfortable in situations that were out of the ordinary. They received magic with gratitude, as if they recognized they were being blessed.
When we can suspend the need for a rational explanation and be in the moment, magic has room to appear.
Magic doesn’t have to be as dramatic as in the above examples, but it requires paying attention. Every day offers an opportunity for magic. Magic arrives in a pink-filled sunset, a stranger’s smile, or an email from a long lost friend. Magic enlivens us. It’s our reward for being open to the unexpected. It’s a portal to the spiritual realm.
