Phone Magic
When you think about your favorite magical tools, do you ever consider the telephone? Here’s a few ideas which may make a common household object seem very, very magical!
Focus and Direct Energy:
Focusing and directing energy is a basic principle of magic. That’s exactly what you do when you make a phone call. You are sending your intent via waves of electricity going through copper wires. In some cases you are using pulses of light going through fiber optics. But in either case, you are directing energy exactly where you choose.
Bells:
Many use bells in magic to project energy through sound waves. Why not use the ringing of a telephone? When you call someone, you fill their home with the ringing of a bell. This could easily be used to send someone a house blessing. In fact, with their permission, you can “attach” virtually any kind of blessing to your phone call. A simple wake-up call could be a wish for a good day; a call to a sick friend could direct healing energies. You are limited only by your imagination!
Answering Machines:
Many spells involve “charging” an item, or storing energy within something to accomplish a specific purpose. Is this storage of energy all that different from recording sounds on a cassette tape? When an answering machine stores a message, it can also store the magical energy someone wishes to attach to their message. Callers are creating a charm of sorts. Ever sense something out of the ordinary before you play back a message? When a caller leaves their voice on your machine, they are charging a physical, tangible item located within your home with a bit of their energy. When you play the message, the energy is released. You can use this in several positive magical ways. For example, the message becomes a bit of that person, so it enables you to better touch them magically, the way a possession or piece of clothing would. You can also use your own message greeting as a protective device, stored within your machine to safeguard your home from incoming negativity.
Color:
Magic in color? Phones come in many colors. Own more than one phone? Which of the phones in your home best fits your intent for that specific call? Perhaps the red one? The white one? Another aspect of color in phone magic are the four colored wires that all phones use: black, yellow, red, green. Now that you know this, try using them to suit your need. Which one works best for you?
Cords:
Some people use cords in magic; they believe its knots & tangles store energy. Why not the phone cord? You could wrap it around an object you use in the spell. Or you could recognize the knots and tangles in your phone cord as a part of your own daily life. Over the course of the days, little by little, the cord slowly took its twisted shape. As you untangle the cord, you can untangle the tensions or knots in your own life.
Sympathetic Magic:
Is there a person you want to (literally) hang up on? Just disconnect them from your life? See this as a magical event the next time you slam down the phone!
Crystals, Gems and Metals in Magic:
Phone wire is made of copper. Its circuitry is made of tiny silicon chips; silicon is a mineral found naturally as a common stone, like quartz. Properties of these items can easily be found in magical reference books. How are these metals and minerals special? How do they work for you?
Numbers:
Some people use the magic within numbers. What could be more personal than your phone number? While many people share your birthday or your age — your area code/phone number is never, ever, duplicated anywhere in the world! It is truly unique. You can even interpret a phone number as a means of divination. Does your spell involve a person? Use their phone number. Does it involve a place? Use its area code. Have a magical name or special magical word? You can now pick your own vanity number, using the new “500” area code, available for as little as three dollars per month.
Cordless and Cellular Phones:
Many use a wand or athame to direct the energy they send forth. Is this any different than the way an antenna works for a transmitter? For a receiver? A cordless phone fills the air with waves of energy radiating throughout your entire home. Cellular phone waves go for miles! Why not use their energy release as a means to carry your intent?
A Personal Touch:
Many use personal items to help in magic (like a lock of hair, a bit of clothing or photo) as a means to help their magic reach another person. The person’s unique essence left within this item helps become an addressing mechanism to aim the intent of the spell directly at that person. This “address” helps direct your energy, like a blood hound hot with the scent! Why not have the person you are working with on the phone during the spell? A phone conversation is actually a two-way exchange of energy. Use their essence this way.
Linkage to All
The phone network is the perfect analogy to how all things in the universe are connected and interwoven. It is a physical link connecting you to others. When you hold your phone in your hand, you touch your neighbor — whether next door or around the world — through a physical link of telephone cables, usually made of copper. Recognize this connection and use it to enhance your magic. (You may even notice that one major “Telephone & Telegraph” company even uses a logo that shows a round blue symbol of the Earth — entirely linked by lines of communication.)
Other “Ordinary” Household Items:
A very accurate definition of magic calls it “things not understood by science — yet.” Remember that magic doesn’t necessarily exclude the things that are understood, things that you touch everyday. Now that you see the phone in a new way, what other everyday items in your home can be magical tools? Can you see the pilot of your stove or furnace as your perpetual candle flame? Can pondering your electrical outlet help link you to new sources of energy? Can the hot and cold knobs on your faucet help you understand balance between opposites? Again, you are limited only by your imagination!
***
author bio:
Link (Anthony)
6538 Collins Avenue,
#255 Miami Beach, FL 33141
USA
People often ask me why I chose the name Link. One important lesson for me this time around is to understand how all things "interconnect" — like noodles in the same cosmic broth. (Okay, I also wanted a really simple name that would not raise eye-brows in a mundane setting. Something like RunningBuffaloMoonFeather just doesn’t fit me…)
Most of my writing focuses on how ordinary parts of everyday life can be sacred and magical. Being ordinary makes them no less special! I try to erase the lines that separate spirituality from the rest of life. I don’t spend too much time in elaborate ritual, but rather see nearly every action as a magical event, from slicing an apple to licking an envelope. I often encourage readers to not blindly follow traditional spoon-fed teachings, but to discover what feels right for themselves, and for the moment. The most important Book we could ever find is written deep within ourselves, and within nature — and every day we turn a new page!
I grew up in a small suburban NJ town, the youngest child of two hard-working parents. I survived 12 years of Catholic school, which helped shape my "everyday" spiritual views (With the nuns of Saint Mary’s School, everything was a religious experience – from lunch to recess to taking tests and doing homework.) While I shed much of what I learned there, I think a few things stuck.
I began learning about alternative religion, divination and magic in the mid-1970’s, but did not really become active in the Craft until 1993 (what I call reaching "Spiritual Puberty"). My first teacher was a dear friend and neighbor, a Gardnerian 3rd Degree, who was killed in a car accident in 1984. (Great guy, lousy driver…) In 1993 I became a member of a small Tradition with only a few members spread out around the US. This gave me the opportunity to spend time with/learn from elders well-recognized in the Community. I have also been a member of Covenant of the Goddess, Pagan Federation International, Earth Spirit, Circle Network, Free Spirit Alliance, Pagan Federation International and ADF. I am legally certified as clergy with both Covenant of the Goddess and ULC (for whatever that means). My work has been published in many places throughout the US, plus Canada, England, Ireland, Holland and Australia.
Jobwise, I have worked for/with large international telecommunications companies since 1984. (Again, a lesson in how things connect…) I hold a bachelors degree in Communications/Journalism, and a masters degree in business and government policy. I moved from New Jersey to Miami Beach, Florida on August 1, 2001 and enjoy Miami’s internationally diverse culture, with a Latin spice!
Fun? I enjoy good food and good wine, bad humor, camping, gardening, traveling, almost anything Brazilian, the Ocean, SciFi, and sleeping late at least once a week.