Performing Magic in the Natural World
Friday, July 8th, 2022
Sky Pilot by Heather Ifversen
Magic is a fluid, self-actualized activity. It’s best when magic can be performed in the natural world, rather than inside. The natural world interacts with us when performing magic, giving signs and clues to the origins of the act and the intensity can even be measured by these signs.
Let me give an example. My friend, Mary Singing Bear, recently built a green man for burning with her husband and others who wanted to partake of the ritual.
The burning of the green man is a traditional ritual performed at or around Summer Solstice. First, one must build the green man out of sticks that are ready to burn. Then, the magical practitioner will bless and anoint the green man, in preparation for ritual burning. This whole activity is performed outdoors. The animals can see everything. They feel the energy too. The plant world and trees are witness to the activity as well, and the trees give up their dead branches to build the green man. All of this activity creates a stir in the natural world, one that is felt and reverberates in the general area. Once the act of magic is put in motion, all of nature responds, whether it is seen or unseen. This makes the performance of magic extra special, because there is a response, sometimes dramatic.
Response from the natural world can be as quiet as a light wind passing through the area, or a sudden rain storm that erupts with lightening and thunder. Leaves may drop from the tree, or flowers may expand their blossoms in anticipation. Sometimes nature is subtle. Yet the natural world is alive like us, and aware that energy is being shifted.
In the case of the green man ritual burn at Summer Solstice, Mary Singing Bear first saw an eagle flying high over the ritual space. The eagle is a special symbol in the Native American ritual, signaling high magic is taking place. Flying above the green man prior to burning it, the eagle was a welcome sight. Mary Singing Bear most likely acknowledged it by calling out to it or in burning some incense. The call and response by nature is so critical to the magical act.
Not long after the eagle circled, a snake appeared in the ritual space and came in close to the green man. This was once again a sign that high magic was underway and the snake was blessing the circle prior to the burn. Mary Singing Bear also lovingly acknowledged the snake, welcoming it to the ritual. Now the fire was set and ready to ignite, it was just before the burn the snake came. The snake symbolizes a rebirth in the act of ritual, washing away what is past and cleansing and purifying the space for what was to come.
The green man was finally ignited. And in the circle, a sacred pentacle was drawn in the dirt, to symbolize infinity and the repetitive motion of the green man burning ritual enacted each year, in various ritual spaces. The ritual ties together other pagans, those who walk the Red Road and Wiccans and worshippers who use it to honor the day – the longest day of the year.
The magical act is seen by nature, acknowledged and blessed by the animals and plants. This is why magic performed in the natural world is so extra powerful and it sets up an energy that is in motion. Even after the burn, the animals that visited carry the energy of the ritual with them. The people in attendance and even those nearby carry the energy of the ritual, too. It’s an important act that is noticed by all, because energy is raised and released.
Nature can encompass and contain all of the energy raised and released in ritual. It is not coincidence or happenstance that the natural world responded. To the one practicing magic, seeing the animals partake is a gift from the Gods and Goddesses. It is a signal that the magic is being received by the natural world. It is a marker of sorts to the practitioner, that the work is good, it is intense and it is loud.
Performing magic indoors is sometimes necessary and is just as powerful. What is lacking is the call and response from nature, that’s all. For the practitioner there is no greater thrill and joy then the response from the world of nature to come and join in the performance of ritual.
— Elizabeth Kirwin
