Relationship is Magic is Relationship
As a single mother, I work most often with everyday magic — not massive rituals or ceremonies. I engage with it with the intention that my magic brings about more life-sustaining actions for myself and others in the world. I believe that magic is one, very real and powerful path towards the dissolution of capitalism.
This is because the essence of magic is relationship. And as brilliant liberation culture worker Kristianna Smith says all the time, “relationship is the most abundant resource on Earth”. Which means that magic is abundant — it is everywhere.
Magical relationship is the acknowledgment that everything is alive, and manifests when we can be present to give and receive from any relationship.
When I engage in magical relationship, no matter who I am interacting with — be it tree, human, dirt, rain or my dinner table — I feel connected and powerful (the kind of power that Starhawk defines as “power with” rather than “power over”).
The more I engage in the relationship, the stronger it becomes, the more powerful it becomes.
It is because it is relationship that magic is so subversive.
In current capitalistic society we are isolated from other humans and the rest of the non-human world. Capitalism teaches that the world is not alive but a dead thing to be exploited. It teaches that other humans are resources to be used rather than unique and glorious miracles that need to cherished and honoured. It teaches that the individual, alone and isolated, is the ultimate unit of humanity and seeks to keep humans in that isolated state.
By challenging capitalism’s narrative through magical relationship and the re-enlivening of interconnected entanglement, capitalism’s power is dismantled. Every time I recognize a tree as my kin, every time I am super present for another human, every time I welcome the rain as a friend, I am saying “I am not alone and you matter to me. We have a place together, where I am equal to you”. When I receive the blessing of their presence, I am reprogramming my nervous system towards empathy, connection and understanding. I am connected to a stronger power-with, rather than power-over.
Magical relationship prevents disposability culture (that’s a whole other post!) which is so prevalent in capitalism. Magic breathes meaning into relationship and creates the conditions for deep connection that nourish and, literally, transform our brains.
May it be that this magic invites you in, to challenge individualism, to re-enchant your relationships and to tear capitalism down through the magic you create in your relationships.
If you appreciate this work, please consider becoming a paid subscriber, for the cost of a fancy coffee a month.
If you think someone needs this message, please share it!
With care,
Amelia