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The Magickal ARTS

Move with the Flow- The art of Dance (Part 1)
My first magickal experience occurred as a dancer performing at the age of 10 or so.  I did not at the time realize I was setting up the gateway and intent for magick to move through me.  My only intent was to connect so fully and deeply that I would become the persona of the role I was portraying and lose my human nature in the process. The desire was to transcend human form and become something more.  The intent was powerful enough and the music and rhythm acted as the keys that opened the gates to the other realms through movement and motion.  I became the swan flying high above the earth. I was the beautiful being that was shot through the heart and gracefully fell to earth, wounded and in the throes of death.  A final arch and curve of beautiful elongated neck, gentle flutter of white feathery wing and the final lifting upwards towards eternal ascending flight as death welcomed me into its soft sleep.  The music stopped and I once again returned to the land of human and living; applause awaking me from this deep connection forged as the gates of magickal working closed until called forth again.
When we dance, we embrace the flow of energy as a kinesthetic quality.  We engage the breath inhaling the prana of life and exhale out offering up our consciousness to ecstasy and joy. This practice has been used since the dawn of humanity as devotion, celebration and more. The movement of the Whirling Dervishes is used as a tool of meditative connection.  The Dances of Universal Peace of the Sufi’s is used to set a tone and rhythm of gentle flow into the aethers; setting the cycle of cause and effect into motion. The classical dance of India, in particular the Kathak engages the art of storytelling.  Those artists who performed this style of sacred dance incorporate music and mime as they brought to life the myths and great sags of the Indian pantheons and sacred Texts.
Every time we engage in any activity, we are in essence dancing . We are moving i response to what stimulates us and that flow of movement changes and affects multiple outcomes. So, let’s begin by slowly changing our perceptions of what we think dance is.
Self-Inspired:
For this month’s exercise the focus is on movement. It doesn’t matter whether you consider yourself a dancer, think you have rhythm or are self-conscious. Everyone can move! Swaying from side to side is movement. Walking is movement. tapping your foot to the beat is movement. All of these actions engage you with the flow of energy that surrounds and sets you in sync with that energy.
Find a place where you can move freely and won’t be disturbed. Start by simply moving without any background sound or music as support. Try to hear the internal music that is created as you move. Do this for some time and then sit and make note of how your body is vibrating in response. This may present as an increase in heart rate, rapid breathing, etc.
Next. select a favorite piece of music and repeat the above. This time try to focus on the sounds you are hearing and move in whatever way you feel expresses that sound. Do this for a long as you are able. Sit down and again make note of your body’s physiological response.

Next Post: Universal Choreography- The Art of Dance (Part 2)