Unused Rites of Magical Passage

Under foot, over head, and between.

(telal o punro, opral o šero, thaj maškar)

This is the first phrase I heard and it repeated for over a decade afterward. Not necessarily a chant in any fashion. But more like a reminder. A turn of phrase that needed to be burned into my brain. Kinda like the ritual phrase in a lot of other pagan belief systems that goes “as above, so below”. It reflects the ongoing of ‘threes’ throughout the graduation of stature within the family practice.

Aside from the herbalism and superstitious stuff. There were a blinding assortment of rituals, casts, and remedy teachings. I only fully understood the reasons and meanings of why they existed much later on in my adult years. The “magic” stuff mind you. Not really understanding in my youth what my mentors meant when they said, “Spells and rituals train the mind to act a certain way. So, when they become second nature. Their stories will become as common to you as breathing.” I had always thought that it meant a really pretty way of memorizing. But no. Scientifically speaking, the way of thinking changes how the brain works. Neural pathways become solidified once the brain and body stop developing/growing. Essentially “casting spells” becomes a train of thought (Why, in my culture, learning all this stuff was necessary for a child to start learning into adulthood). So all the ‘old words and phrases’ along with the spooky hand waving becomes obsolete. The only things remaining are the vibrational frequencies, elemental contributions, and most importantly ‘pure will intent’. There is always math though. No matter how often I struggled with it. I never could escape it creeping in with everything. Anyway, the whole “curse arena” and the like, is the same thing. Think of it as the opposite of blessing. The intent being hatred instead of love. Surprisingly to me this was also taught. Though I had no inclination for it since my mentors always iterated that whatever one puts out in the world/universe, it comes back to you. So pretty much fear was my teaching motivation to not do any of it. Whatever does come back maybe not the same way or manner. But a lot of the times, it is more intense than when it was released. One example that stuck with me was when my older cousin told me that our great uncle once cursed a man that insulted our family. Then about a month later our great uncle got his head cut off by a turning forklift. My cousin got a hand to the back of his head from my grandmother for that. Then I got the whole, “always take the higher road” morals speech from her.

So amidst all the Hocus Pocus learning, mixed heavily with folklore and mythology. Was the herbalism. Nonstop biology, herbology, and earth science books with horticulture texts new and old. Stuff I wasn’t even able to learn in school at the time. Memorizing every useful plant and flower. Along with quite a few extinct species and their counterparts. What really kicked my little @$$ was remembering the “true names” of each plant and animal. Along with their corresponding binomial nomenclature names.

Half way through my learning of everything, I had the choice to begin a less practiced rite in the family; mithridatism. Making one’s self immune to certain poisonous plants and tinctures. This is where I was way too practical with my common sense. I passed on it. Obviously! I figured if I was learning about all the bad crap along with everything else. I would know what to avoid. This didn’t stop me from learning how certain things worked back in the day with poisons and the like. However I was quite fascinated on how many poisonous species are used in healing practices.

There was also the music side of everything. In my culture, music plays a huge part in almost everything we did. This aspect was no exception. Almost every word spoken had to have a corresponding melody or harmony. Be with one’s voice (most of the time) or with a specific instrument. I actually liked this part of it. The music made things easier for me to remember. And I also learned how to play a few instruments in the process. There was always singing though. Some of the really important stuff wasn’t even in English, Greek, or Romani. Which kinda made me scoff at it during the beginning. But I was told that the sounds were the important part. Not necessarily the words. Again, the math of music struck again. Or as they used to say it, cymatics.

Needless to say I didn’t become a chemist, a musician, or a scientist in my adult years. My family was NOT to encouraging about me wanting to be a professional artist. Despite my wining, I eventually caved and went into the field of architecture. For a while anyway. I changed my majors a lot and decided, why not learn about everything I was interested in. I ended up being an artist in the end. After 10 years of higher learning. I got many a stink eye.

So, I would say about 80% of everything I learned outside of school during my childhood and early adulthood has been useless to me. BUT. This is a big one. What I learned and how I learned not only gave me a very deep connection to my culture. It also birthed a rabid curiosity for exploring and figuring out how things work/worked and why things are the way they are now.

When I do see tv shows and read books about magic, I immediately get shuttled back to my childhood. Because it was nothing like what the media portrays. Most of it was boring mind-numbing tedium. For me, nothing in reality compares to the magical fantacy and awesomeness that people’s imaginations have conjured. And that right there is real magic to me.

The whole “what if”.

Yes. I still have talismans. I still perform simple life rites and ceremonies. I still have a belief system that in modern times would be considered “crazy town”. But it is what makes me happy. It connects me with a kind of love one doesn’t just find by serendipity, or luck. I don’t have to owe my ancestors my devotion. They are already a part of who I am today. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I could do without the voices in my head though. Those a$$ clown maniacs can suck it.