The Magic of Storytelling
Since this is my first blog post, I figured it would be appropriate to introduce myself before talking about my spirituality philosophies.
Call me Phoenix Pan-Neptune, or simply Pan. My given name is Matthew. In my life, I have been many things: a devoted conservative fundamentalist Christian, an anarchist agnostic, and a politically agnostic spiritual Warlock, all while exploring and questioning the spiritual spheres of "Otherness." More importantly to this post, I have used storytelling to manifest my will in all of these seemingly incompatible systems of energetic working.
For instance, as an atheist, I assumed the story persona of a gangster and used only a burrito (yes! The Bomb to be exact!) to fight two skinhead punks brandishing two-by-fours. It didn't matter that I was never a gangster and I didn't have a gun. I pretended it was true as if my life depended on it (and it did!) I played the story so well that I forced the opponents to abandon their weapons and flee. I slew the proverbial dragon by altering the story they were telling themselves; which was that we were easy targets.
As a Christian, I remember manifesting a tech job while living in the country from a town with the population of a family gathering. Following that, I manifested a nice piece of property and a house to put on it. This is not an exaggeration. The manifestation happened when the interest rates were at their lowest. We, my wife and I, manifested these things while neither of us could find a job. (Obviously, I manifested a programming job, so I did end up with one, which is how I manifested the other things.) We were telling ourselves and others the story that God was going to give this to us because he wanted us to raise our kids in the country, and so He was going to make a way for the improbable to happen. Those people prayed out our story every Wednesday and Sunday night. And those prayers were answered.
But how were they answered? Was I using Magic? Did I pray to a god who delivered on a promise? Yes and yes...sort of. I realize now that Yahweh is a made-up deity. But that doesn't matter. The power was in the story, which was our intention. And the power we summoned to go to the universe along with the intention is the Story Magick. It's something that can be done without knowing you're doing it. Even if Yahweh was made up long ago, He is now real. Or at least, the story of him is part of the power that is manifesting reality. We created the gods and now they're real because magick is a force of nature.
Atheism and Christianity are opposing belief systems (or lack thereof). However, the one synchronicity between these two radically different life philosophies was that neither one accepted Magick. How does it work, then, if I didn't believe in magic but was utilizing it? Easy. For it to function, one does not have to believe in gravity, and she does not have to believe in magic either. Magic simply is. It follows universal rules, not man-made ones.
This brings us up to speed and to the point of this essay. In short, Magick doesn't care what system you use; the energetic principles are agnostic to our systems. What matters is not what you believe but how you interact with the energies already in play.
I left agnosticism when I had a spiritual experience, and I accepted someone else's interpretation of that experience to embrace Christianity. But after years of such devotion and study, I came to realize that "The Holy Spirit" was not guiding believers "to all truth."
In fact, just like everyone else, Christians I knew were manifesting their reality in greater part by the narratives they shared. Their prayers did not, in fact, have to align with biblical principles to be answered. And so I came to realize that the spiritual path described by the Bible was false, but I could not deny the power shaping people's lives, including mine. At that point I became a spiritual explorer. I had to figure out why the specific religion or philosophy didn't seem to matter.
I realized it has always been, since the dawn of time, that mankind has told these spell-stories and crafted the realities of all time. The practice or system of weaving fate is almost not important except for the energetic structures and direction. If I use a ritual from a grimoire, it can work as well as a prayer to Yahweh, Gaia, or Pan. I could even employ a more atheist expression of Higher Self or the practices of Self-Help Success Gurus. These are all different stories we use in order to access the Source to change fate. All of them sorcery at their core.
I practice a spiritual witchcraft that seeks to work with the Universe by tapping into the original source of creative power: storytelling. In a sense we created the gods and gave them life, but they are real now. There is a very real power in stories, even folklore, myth, and fairytales, and so I practice a magick using the art and power of the Muse. This is why my chosen warlock name is deeply rooted in the Faerywise Magic of Fables and Folklore. Through song, story, art, and dance, we whirl around the fires of the Universe, acting out our story-spells. And this is how we manifest our reality.
Within the human experience there is an energetic potential we can tap into that is described by nearly every philosophy and religion. We may be talking about prayer, positive affirmations, meditations, or spellcasting. These are essentially stories, or more accurately, story magic. In every case the goal is the same; we want to shift reality towards a specific result. And in all of these traditions, there are confirmations that this form of storytelling works.
The practice of this kind of storytelling is called sorcery; the outcome is the manifest will of the alchemist or sorcerer. Although there are many ways to invoke the Universe in this way, some are more enlightened and can take us further. But one does not have to practice witchcraft or pray to a god to manifest their best life. All we need to begin the journey is a story and a belief it will come true.
But manifesting something and maintaining balance are not the same. I would argue that although it doesn't matter if you practice Faery Witchcraft vs. Christianity as far as the ability to wield power, it does matter that certain energetic principles are observed, or your magic might implode on you.
What we don't want to do is tell lies. We've heard of "The Big Lie" that worked for the likes of Hitler and Trump. But just as Hitler saw the implosion of his life, so too will those who tell "Big Lies" as Story Magick, because this is akin to cashing a check when the account is empty. Defrauding the Universe will eventually bankrupt the sorcerer's energy, and that is not going to be good even after it kills him. (Unless his goal is to begin his next life in deficit.) And so being authentic is a protection spell in its own right.
Having built the case that stories can be a kind of magick, we also considered that misusing story magick can have dire consequences. And this is really why there are systems of working with the energies that storytelling intuitively taps. We are not bound by the story, prayer, or spell; these are merely tools. A better tool can be easier for a beginner but does not make a master. The Sorcerer is YOU. And so, you will get out of the Universe what you put in. If you write a spiritual check you know will bounce, you're not going to get very far, and it's going to hurt when the universe collects.
"When all your worst fears materialize. Will it be worth it?" -- Stabbing Westward
And yet there are better and worse systems of energy work. There are religions and atheist systems that might work well or not. And no one can tell us this. That's the catch. I can't tell you what spiritual path to take. We're all astral explorers, and none of us has attained mastery. But we can help each other with authentic truths and ways that work for us. And because of this, my best advice is to follow the thread of what resonates with you and leave behind whatever doesn't serve you.
Blessed Be.
Intuition Stock photos by Vecteezy