Experimental Magic: The Evolution of Magic

Experiment with your magical practice by learning how to apply art, pop culture, neuroscience, psychology, and other disciplines to your magical work, as well as exploring fundamental underlying principles of what makes magic work. You'll never look at magic in the same way!

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My spiritual pilgrimage Day 1

On the first day of my spiritual pilgrimmage, I drove out to the chief Timothy Park. It's the one site which most resembles what Lewis and Clark saw on their journey to explore the west. It's also the beginning of the confluence project. When I got there, I walked this path to site of the confluence project memorial, which is this place where 6 stone layers are set into the land, with writing that describes the significance of the site as well as the ritual done to commemorate the site.

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This was the path I walked and what was fascinating about the walk to the memorial is that all of these grasshoppers started jumping on the path as I walked. As a result I took a slow, measured pace, because I didn't want to step on them. This only happened as I walked to the memorial and it felt like what as really happening is that they were a message from the land to honor it and the life on it. I took that to heart.

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As I walked I felt the wind, the water, and the land speak to me. The water was a confluence of the Snake and Clearwater rivers. When I reached the memorial site, the listening theater I stood there for a while and just listened in the center. I listened to the land, the water, the life. I took in this place into my heart and let it speak to me and then I knelt and touched the land and allowed myself to just be with this place. 

Afterwards I drove west to Sacajawea State park which was the next site. There I found seven circles which told the story of the confluence of the snake and Columbia rivers. I also learned more about Sacajawea who had been the guide and translator for the the Lewis and Clark expedition. 

And for a time I just listened to the land, touched the river with my hands and feet and acknowledged how much this place had been changed by human hands for their own ends. Even the ecology of the park is reclaimed desert, turned green with grass and trees that before would have just been high desert scrub and bush. 

After that I found a place to crash. Visiting both sites and driving around Eastern Washington was a rich experience and I was certain there would be even more the day.

Read day 2 here

Read day 3 here

*Pictures copyright Taylor Ellwood 2018

Taylor Ellwood has been practicing magic since he was 16 and writing books about magic since his mid-twenties. His books include Pop Culture Magick, Space/Time Magic, and The Process of Magic. When Taylor isn't experimenting with magic or writing, he enjoys swimming, weight-lifting, traveling and gaming. To learn more about his latest projects, or read some of his other articles please visit Magical Experiments.

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Taylor Ellwood is the author of Pop Culture Magic Systems, Space/Time Magic, Magical Identity and a number of other occult books. He posts about his latest projects at Magical Experiments.

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