{"id":10407,"date":"2014-11-01T01:10:48","date_gmt":"2014-11-01T06:10:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/paganpages.org\/content\/?p=10780"},"modified":"2014-10-30T05:57:35","modified_gmt":"2014-10-30T10:57:35","slug":"spellcrafting-spells-and-rituals-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/2014\/11\/01\/spellcrafting-spells-and-rituals-4\/","title":{"rendered":"Spellcrafting: Spells and Rituals"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Magic of Your Smile<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Merry meet! <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

When making magic, we think about instruments, ingredients and incantations along with an infusion of intention. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Magic, however, is not something to be made; it already exists and it\u2019s everywhere. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>It\u2019s energy. It\u2019s the essence of creation. It\u2019s our connection to all the universe. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

It is joy and laughter, wonder and truth.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s natural.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s simple.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s real.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"3\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Perhaps the most simple and natural way to get in touch with magic \u2013 to feel it\u2019s very real power \u2013 is to smile. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Researchers and spiritual teachers both agree that a smile can transform you and the world around you. It\u2019s an instant mood changer. It reduces stress. Smile and your blood pressure lowers, your heart rate drops. Smiling brings about a sense of relaxation. Pain lessens \u2013 and it\u2019s not just a matter of \u201cgrin and bear it.\u201d Smiling triggers the release of endorphins (a natural painkiller) and serotonin.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s difficult to hold a negative thought in your head while smiling. You can\u2019t be overcome with fear when you have a smile on your face. The same goes for anger, anxiety and frustration.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

While a smile does not have to be genuine to work, it is more effective when you \u201cfeel\u201d the smile and get those eye muscles involved. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Try taking a deep breath while smiling and, like me, you might come close to swooning.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"4\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Like me, you many also notice that <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>when you smile at the world, the world smiles back. People who smile are viewed as younger and more successful.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Somewhere in my travels, I read about a smile meditation during which you let the energy of a smile move through your body, flowing like a waterfall of happiness and love. When I tried it, I could feel it caressing and changing me. Similarly, send a smile to any part of the body that feels tension or dis-ease to transform the negative energy into something light and vital.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s quote by Thich Nhat Hanh that has stayed with me: \u201cSometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I urge you to test it for yourself.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The last full moon, a sister witch and I were standing around a fire pit and the wood was smoking. The smoke was drawn to her. She smiled and the smoke began to move toward me. I smiled and it avoided me, too. She moved to where the smoke was and smiled. It moved again. Later, I had it coming right at me; I put a smile on my face and the smoke parted and flowed to either side of me with a few wisps moving over my head. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I was plugged into the source and positively giddy.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"5\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Consider becoming more aware of what happens when you smile, and feel the magic flowing.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Should you need help putting a smile on your face, below are some of my favorite witchy cartoons. For more, see my Witchy Wit board on Pinterest.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Merry part. And merry meet again.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\"goddesslaughter\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Magic of Your Smile Merry meet! When making magic, we think about instruments, ingredients and incantations along with an infusion of intention. Magic, however, is not something to be made; it already exists and it\u2019s everywhere. It\u2019s energy. It\u2019s the essence of creation. It\u2019s our connection to all the universe. It is joy and laughter, wonder and truth. It\u2019s natural. It\u2019s simple. It\u2019s real. Perhaps the most simple and natural way to get in touch with magic \u2013 to feel it\u2019s very real power \u2013 is to smile. Researchers and spiritual teachers both agree that a smile can transform you and the world around you. It\u2019s an instant mood changer. It reduces stress. Smile and your blood pressure lowers, your heart rate drops. Smiling brings about a sense of relaxation. Pain lessens \u2013 and it\u2019s not just a matter of \u201cgrin and bear it.\u201d Smiling triggers the release of endorphins (a natural painkiller) and serotonin. It\u2019s difficult to hold a negative thought in your head while smiling. You can\u2019t be overcome with fear when you have a smile on your face. The same goes for anger, anxiety and frustration. While a smile does not have to be genuine to work, it is more effective when you \u201cfeel\u201d the smile and get those eye muscles involved. Try taking a deep breath while smiling and, like me, you might come close to swooning. Like me, you many also notice that when you smile at the world, the world smiles back. People who smile are viewed as younger and more successful. Somewhere in my travels, I read about a smile meditation during which you let the energy of a smile move through your body, flowing like a waterfall of happiness and love. When I tried it, I could feel it caressing and changing me. Similarly, send a smile to any part of the body that feels tension or dis-ease to transform the negative energy into something light and vital. There\u2019s quote by Thich Nhat Hanh that has stayed with me: \u201cSometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.\u201d I urge you to test it for yourself. The last full moon, a sister witch and I were standing around a fire pit and the wood was smoking. The smoke was drawn to her. She smiled and the smoke began to move toward me. I smiled and it avoided me, too. She moved to where the smoke was and smiled. It moved again. Later, I had it coming right at me; I put a smile on my face and the smoke parted and flowed to either side of me with a few wisps moving over my head. I was plugged into the source and positively giddy. Consider becoming more aware of what happens when you smile, and feel the magic flowing. Should you need help putting a smile on your face, below are some of my favorite witchy cartoons. For more, see my Witchy Wit board on Pinterest. Merry part. And merry meet again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":210,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10407","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/210"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10407"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10407\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}