Ember Grant - Mythology for a Magical Life

Llewellyn Publications

Woodbury, Minnesota

Copyright Information

Mythology for a Magical Life: Stories, Rituals & Reflections to Inspire Your Craft 2021 by Ember Grant.

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First e-book edition 2021

E-book ISBN: 9780738763200

Book design by Samantha Peterson

Cover design by Shira Atakpu

Interior art by Llewellyn Art Department

Llewellyn Publications is an imprint of Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data (Pending)

ISBN: 978-0-7387-6310-1

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Manufactured in the United States of America

To Jayme:

Our collaboration and shared love of
myth helped make this book possible.

Contents

: The Magic of Story

: The Magic of the Soul

: The Magic of Beginnings

: The Magic of Wildness

: The Magic of Change

: The Magic of Creativity

: The Magic of Opportunity

: The Magic of Courage

: The Magic of Balance

: The Magic of the Shadow

: The Magic of Acceptance

: The Magic of Sacrifice

Introduction

Myth is the foundation of life; it is the timeless
pattern, the pious formula, into which life flows
when it reproduces its traits out of the unconscious.

Thomas Mann

Welcome to a world of myth and magic! As a practitioner of the Craft, this is probably a place youre familiar with and already comfortable. Id like to invite you to take a year-long journey to rediscover myths and how you can use them to inspire your magical life. If youre new to myth or magic, thats fine too. Theres something here for everyone. People have long looked to myths, fairy tales, and folklore to gain insight about the world and themselves. Why? Because these tales offer a deep connection to the human experience. They console us, make us laugh, sometimes scare us, and give us hope. They can also inspire us. Myths, like fairy tales, put us in a magical frame of mind. They get us out of the ordinary, back to a more childlike, free, and imaginative statethe realm of fantasy, where anything is possible. This, too, is the realm of nature, the spiritual, and the divine.

In recent years Ive noticed a lapse in my personal magical practice. After a couple decades, first as a solitary, then a member of a coven, and now back to solitary again, Ive seen my practice wax and wane. But lately I found myself forgetting sabbats and full moons; I felt scattered and ungrounded. I wanted a way to rekindle my magic, but everything I tried felt forced and artificial. Then I turned to myth. As a lifelong lover of storiesespecially myths and fairy talesI have valued them for their timelessness. I wondered if they could help inspire my magic. Thats why I decided to write this book. I needed a reboot, and the myths that I love offered the perfect start. And so this book is intended to serve as a framework to add depth and inspiration to the practice of magic.

What is Myth?

You may already understand myth as the spiritual stories of a culture, used to explain the origin of the world, the afterlife, natural phenomena, and more. They help us understand our world and ourselves, and often stimulate awe and reverence. We may regard myths as ancient tales from the past, but we must remember that some myths still play a vital role in living religions. They can serve a spiritual function, but can also guide us through life by allowing us to ponder the big questions about who we are, why were here, and where were going.

D. H. Lawrence once stated that myth is an attempt to narrate a whole human experience, of which the purpose is too deep, going too deep in the blood and soul, for mental explanation or description (1995, 49). This, I believe, is a key feature of myths. They defy rationality because they speak to us on a deeper level. They create a sense of mystery, a concealed knowledge that is available only in story (Kane 1994, 45). Like myths, folktales and even fairy tales can offer us more than mere entertainment. Starhawk and Valentine, in their book The Twelve Wild Swans , say that these stories are more than just encouraging and inspiring [t]hey are also templates for soul healing (2000, 25).

Each of these expressions illustrates our human need for stories. Myths and folktales speak to us in metaphor and this, in turn, can engage the imagination needed for successful magic. This is why myths are so often used in psychological approaches to self-help. Stories speak to us on a deeper level than literal reality. They use symbols that reach something we may not even realize or initially understand. Magic speaks to us on a similar level.

Magic

Before beginning this journey, it will be useful to revisit your definition of magic. This is important, as it may change over time. You may not have the same perspective that you did when you first started practicing the Craft. In fact, its a good thing if you have changedwe need to keep learning and adapting to grow as individuals and practitioners.

What is magic? Is it science we dont yet understand? Is it linked to religion or belief in the divine? Is it ones personal power? I propose that its all of these and more. Your personal conception of magic will drive how you approach much of this text.

Wiccan author Scott Cunningham described magic as coming from three sources: personal power, earth power, and divine power, and that both personal (our energy) and earth power (the energy of nature) are aspects of divine energythe universal life force that created all things. His definition is: Magic is the projection of natural energies to produce needed effects (1999, 19).

In his book The Magicians Companion , Bill Whitcomb says magic can be considered as a pragmatic approach to changing the human psyche and, through it, the surrounding world (1999, 56).

Margot Adler offers this definition: Magic is a convenient word for a whole collection of techniques, all of which involve the mind. She goes on to explain that these techniques concern issues of will, confidence, imagination, visualization and the ability to understand how other beings function in nature so we can use the knowledge to achieve necessary ends (1986, 8).