Maia Toll - The Night School: Lessons in Moonlight, Magic, and the Mysteries of Being Human

To see it and the effects it has on your life,
change the way you perceive the world.

To harness it,
change the way you interact with the energies around you.

To know it,
change the way you think.

To live it,
remember the lessons of the Night as you go about your day.

IMAGINE FOR A MOMENT THAT YOURE SNUGGLED INTO A window seat, enjoying the nights lights as your plane descends into your favorite city. Maybe its Paris and you can pick out the golden blaze of the 336 sodium floodlights that adorn the Eiffel Tower. Nearby you see a string of smaller lights that ignite your imagination with images of people chatting and laughing in the Left Banks sidewalk cafes.

This is the magic of the modern world, Firefly. Its a beautiful magic, full of convenience and ease, but its so well-lit theres little room for mystery. The night, with the advent of the electric light, has become as illuminated as the day.

But in the time before streetlights and headlights the Night was something else: a place of speculation, myth, and metaphor that could be accessed simply by stepping outside and blinking on your Night vision. This is literal: your eyes actually have Night mode! But if youre like many North Americans and Europeans, you probably rarely use it. With the prevalence of electric lights, most of us have forgotten how to switch on our Night sight and have simultaneously lost the soft wonder that comes with it.

But beyond the glow of electric lights, the evening hours become what theyve always been: a breath of mystery, a time when reality tastes different on your tongue. As daylight fades, its possible to step into the mystic and know the many shades of gray that make up both the universe and your own psyche.

Welcome to the Night School, Firefly.

Youve been chosen, through your own rigorous self-examination, to matriculate into this esteemed program. If youre here, youre ready to see the universe for all its beautiful complexity.

The Night is not a place of absolutes. As you slide into these pages, dare to question your daytime truths and what you think you know or believe. Ask yourself to avoid the linear: think instead in circles and spirals and shooting stars. Every question you ponder will lead you closer not to the truth but to your truth.

At the Night School, youll learn about the lure of ancient symbolism and how it speaks to your individual spirit, while simultaneously nodding toward a shared universal experience. Youll explore your internal cycles and those of the world around you. Youll follow threads of inquiry back through the ages, tracking thought forms through time and connecting the dots for yourself , so you can craft your own kind of magic.

Best of all, none of this needs to make sense by the light of day. The logic of light has nothing to do with the dream spaces of Nights darkness. The Night School curriculum is full of gentle magic and the lore of the mystics. Dont think too hard. Simply follow the strands of intuition and inner knowing. If you find yourself jumping up from reading a lesson to rediscover a photograph you havent looked at in a decade or to read a poem you remember from college, youre on the right track. If you suddenly need to understand the imagery of snakes or how fire has been used in rituals around the globe, your studies are progressing stellarly.

By diving into the unknown youll find not only yourself, but also the lost magic of the world and the place where serendipity lives.

Your Night School lessons are delivered in bite-sized bits perfect for pondering in the evening hours. Challenge yourself to study by candlelight so you can experience the liminal spaces where the light and dark commingle.

(Dont be a modern romantic about this, Firefly: a zillion tea lights all over the house are a good way to burn it down. Your great, great, great grandmother used a sturdy glass lantern for a reason.)

Many lessons contained in this book have homework: something to dream on or look up, a list to make, or a passage to read. At the end of each unit youll find additional resources. These are longer journeys: you cant make it there and back in a Night. Sprinkle some extra credit into your studies as you see fit. Theyre the marshmallows in the cocoa, sometimes adding depth and richness to the flavor, but at other times turning something that had been tasty into sugary goo. Use your best judgment (always).

Lets discover the rhythms of your own inner knowing. Fuzzy slippers are encouraged, and mud masks are allowed. Read no more than one lesson each evening, giving yourself space to dream on the images, symbols, and concepts youll encounter.

Its time to sip the Moon Juice!

Bea Marlowe, The Night Mistress

This is the most important lesson, Firefly.

This is the lesson that stitches together all of the teachings to come. Its the foundation for everything that will follow in your Night School curriculum, so write it out, tape it to your bathroom mirror, and read it every morning and evening while you brush your teeth.

Ready?

Magic is everywhere.

To see it and the effects it has on your life,

change the way you perceive the world.

To harness it,

change the way you interact with the energies around you.

To know it,

change the way you think.

To live it,

remember the lessons of the Night as you go about your day.

This mantra is your starting point. If you get stuck as you work through your lessons, return to this precept. Meditate on the words and allow them to open you back up to the mystic.