The magic wand - Befriending to unknown to reanimate the world

Handle with care

I did not think that a magic wand would be an item for me to regularly carry, but well here I find myself.
In today’s day and age, being in the possession of a magic wand and actually using it in all seriousness is considered having gone off the deep end, and to some degree that’s justified.
Here I want to present an epistemological framing of the usage of magic, that goes beyond the polarity of esoteric bullshit and reductive rationalism: a framing that might open up a sense of real participation for being in the world.
But before we dive into that, I’d like to go over the story, symbolism and personal meaning of the magic wand.

The story of the magic wand unfolded last summer and can be read here: The Garden: a fertile ground for the seed of Fateweaving. Crafting it was part of integrating that experience.
Before jumping into the specific symbolisms, I want to present a framing about symbolism.
Because symbols are in some sense inexhaustible and can’t be fixed to a certain interpretation.
Even after working with a symbol for a long time, it can suddenly reveal new qualities, therefore surprising the interpreter.
Symbols live in the space between self and world. They mirror the inner workings of the interpreter but only in recourse with the external world.
There are personal as well as collective symbols, but I believe that in some sense all symbols are at their core of collective nature. Personal symbols have a veneer through which they become accessible to an individual. That means that the interpreter of a given symbol can’t randomly pick and choose any kind of meaning. Instead, it’s a game of assuming and assigning identities based on the nature of the relationship between self and world, which is constantly in flux but also grounded in aeons worth of evolutionary history.
Symbols therefore possess a sort of life of their own, but also become animate through the guise of an interpreter.
If this artefact would have grown out of your stories, it would have a different symbolism, but even then, it would move in the same archetypal space of the collective unconscious.

Now I will present the symbolism of the piece leading into how its usage is intented.
The wand is made out of sculpted antler and bronze on the ends. Connecting them is a reed stabilized with an incense resin from a desert tree which is wrapped first with silver, then copper wire.
For me the piece of antler symbolizes, what has expressed itself to me as the white fountain: a force that radiates with serene nurturing qualities, an ethereal self-contained energy revolving around itself. It is pure potentiality holding space for things to unfold in.
The piece of bronze symbolizes the flame of life: it is the initiating flame, wanting to express itself to the outside with passionate energy, therefore making everything actual.
The two poles could also be viewed as the two sides of the divine feminine, nurturing and striving towards embodiment. But also, for the two sides of the masculine, a protecting and a boundary pushing force.
Poetically speaking it is either the female womb, giving birth to a male impulse to conquer the stars, or the protective masculine impregnating the feminine soil so that it can fully blossom. Both need each other.
For me the symbolism expresses itself mostly as the white fountain understood as the masculine principle, the impregnating force, inspiring new form. And the flame of life as the feminine principle as the manifested actual, that which receives, embodies, and expresses.
So, what appears as masculine or feminine depends on the level of perception and the direction of relation.
The specific attribution can invert but the dynamic stays the same, potentiality holding space and actuality expressing emergence.

The reed, fragile, sprinkled with warm brown and blackish dark spots, is the bridge between the poles, making the conversion from potentiality to actuality possible. The reed therefore is the magic ingredient of the wand. Magic in the sense of making transformation possible by blurring the lines between worlds. It was given to me by a powerful but ambiguous figure, and this reflects how it should be used. With care, discernment and a stance of active not-knowing.
Because of its fragility but also to contain its powers, it is stabilized with incense found in the desert. The incense symbolizes a cleansing, benevolent spirit, rooted in wisdom and agape-like love, cultivated in a space of internal reflection.
Lastly the silver- and copper-wire act as conductors channelling the tension between the poles.

The “mechanism” I like to imagine, is that the user holds the wand in the middle with the thumb on the connection between the silver and the copper wire with the flame of life pointing forwards, speaking into the white fountain. The attributed meaning then enters into a possibility space, wraps itself around the reed connecting inner and outer space, to fuel the flame of life, thus initiating a birth into a new actuality.
Since it is a magical item, it must not be used as a weapon in the form of curses. In the magical realm the boundary between inner and outer is porous, a spell happens in the intercourse between caster and his aim. Therefore, every spell cast bounces back onto the user.
I use it to add ceremonial weight to social rituals, as a personal talisman that can hold space for private reflection and intention setting, lastly to cast spells in the form of blessings.

I have given an account of what the magic wand is made of, how the symbols express themselves to me, and how it should be handled within that symbolic framing. Now I want to give a cognitive account of how a symbolically charged artefact can influence better decision making, intention setting, and more potent social rituals.

We are always confronted with big and small decisions that oftentimes reflect an internal tension. The magic wand can help to navigate that tension by projecting it into the symbolic structure of the magic wand as it incorporates a complex interplay of principles. It provides a symbolic arena in which to act.
Once the tension has been mapped out, I can finalise the decision by setting an intension, “casting a spell”. With that I already made a meaningful embodied action in contrast to be stuck in my head which often times leads to overthinking and overthrowing the decision countless times.
Since the magic wand came out of a personal story, it’s meaning is intimately familiar to me. I see the patterns that led to the story, reflected in a condensed and complex way in the artefact. It therefore is an embodied piece of my own cognition, helping me to what Socrates inspires us to do: “know thyself”. By cultivating what cognitive science, terms “metacognition” I’m able to navigate my experience and behaviour with more finesse. But since it comes out of a story it also always inspires new stories in that it enables the story to express itself.
Lastly, I want to touch on social rituals. I try to be cautious of “playing around” with it, because it is an unusual object and people tend to raise their guard or expect “magic tricks”, also there is a danger for me to lose the integrity with which I want to approach these topics.
But it’s unusualness also opens up the opportunity for situations to enter a liminal space, in which actions carry symbolic weight.

I hope it became clear that the magic described here, does not arise out of the materiality of the object, nor out of pure abstractions.
Rather I view it as bridging the gap between the abstract and the material. It inhabites the space between inside and outside and therefore allows us to use that very space as an interface to interact with reality in play- and meaningful ways.
And to be honest, isn’t meaning, play, and a little bit of magic, grounded in wise relation, what we crave for most in our times?
Now dear people: craft your purpose pencils and cast you spell! May its echo reveal your calling.