Introduction

last updated 9/6/97

First I want to thank Magdalen, whose coauthored page, Our Present Darkness, gave me the courage to reclaim my magic

The magic is a world in the unconscious (but extending well beyond the individual unconscious) where my soul survived during the abuse. Many of the most frightening feelings got stored there.

I have written two pages about the magic. The Magic: From the Inside tells about the magic in its own kind of words. The other, The Magic: From the Outside, tells about the magic in somewhat more everyday terms, though it uses the language of Jungian psychology, not the language of science.

Except for a few naysayers, my system is excited about rediscovering the world of magic, which faded from conscious thought years ago. We believe it is a great gift. We fear that people will think we are choosing dissociation, or even choosing madness, but we believe that we are called to somehow find a way to hold together and value all of the experiences of our system.

The Magic From the Outside

last updated 9/7/97

When I say magic I do not mean those things that are called paranormal--ESP, channeling spirits, astral projection. Those are attempts to bring the world of magic into the everyday world, and I do not follow that path.
Rather, when I say magic, I mean a particular world that lies below the individual unconscious. I experience two separate but interpenetrating worlds beneath the individual unconscious. One is the world in which everything is connected to everything and everything has meaning. This feels to me like Plato's concept of a reality in which the everyday world is a shadow. The other is the world of magic, the world in which everything is possible (within God's design). Below those two worlds is the ground of all being: God as "knows all."
I think the world of magic is experienced only as an individual, though it may be translated into fantasy that may be shared in the everyday world. It is not about power--that is a distortion of magic. It is about being able to experience anything. I can soar among the stars, fly with a great bird over the dark ocean, or sink into the earth until I vaporize. It is the world of the deepest and most wondrous dreams.
The world of magic is not far away, but rather, if I am open, I can get glimpses of it peeking out from behind everyday life. A plastic frog winked at me--I am more likely to get messages that way than from angels or fairies.

The Magic From the Inside

last updated 9/6/97

You have to have died three times and lived to tell the tale before you can enter the world of magic. But once you do then you know they can never kill your soul. Because once you enter the world of magic your soul doesn't live in your body any more, it lives in the world of magic.
Your body, of course, still lives in the "world of everyday occupations," and if you forgot they you will find yourself in unpleasant circumstances pretty quickly. But once your soul lives in the world of magic you can be much more than the body.
The magic lies beyond the inside world of walls or houses. It is not something I can divide up or control, because it is not inside me. But in the world of magic I can walk through walls, and I can fly.

next: Integration?!