– Artwork © 2022 Jan Ketchel
The Shamans of Ancient Mexico discovered that by performing a specific sequence of physical movements, which they entitled Magical Passes, the embodiment of an intention could be supported and realized. An example would be achieving a state of Inner Silence, through performing a specific set of shamanic bodily movements.
In actuality, all of our physical movements are dense energy constructions of intents we may or may not be aware of. For example, if we approach a social encounter with mental trepidation our bodily movements will express this mental/emotional state. Sensitive people will easily detect someone’s true inner state by reading the physical energetic configuration they enact.
Ultimately, all there is is energy. Hence, the physical world is made up of infinite, unique patterns of flowing energy that give structure and movement to all objects in the world. One of those unique patterns of energy is you.
Did you ever notice that you need only the slightest hint of a person’s movement to recognize them? Each individual has their own unique pattern of energy, which is reflected in all of their bodily movements.
Though we cannot alter the unique energetic essence that we are, we can shift its configuration. For example, the psychoanalyst, Wilhelm Reich, discovered that people’s emotional defenses resulted in a character armor, which physically embodied in postures of rigidity and muscular tension.
Through the practice of a prescribed series of physical movements, called bioenergetics, patients are able to change their defensive energetic configurations to experience joy and pleasure.
The magic of a magical pass is being able to stir our latent ability to re-assemble our energetic essence in new, creative, and fulfilling ways. This is the true definition of change: having the fluidity to shift our energetic essence into new possibilities. The challenge to achieving our coveted changes lies in our habitual attachment to our familiar, energetically encrusted, state of self.
An alternative to focusing on the rigid mental definitions of self, to break up this energetic encrustation, is to change the current magical passes one performs on a daily basis. For example, rather than conform to a specific sleep/wake routine, break the mold. Go to sleep one night at 8 pm, the next at 11 pm, etc. Rather than type the usual texts to friends and family, withdraw into reading a book. Notice what new possibilities of feeling and creativity present in this void of routine.
If you have a breathing practice, do it many times throughout the day. The alpha breathing pass of a count of 8 inhalation, 8 holding, and 8 exhalation, followed by a no-breath pause of 4, can be introduced spontaneously throughout the day.
One may come to observe that interrupting the habitual shallow breathing pattern, or holding of breath for long periods of time, shifts one into a deeply calm reset of the central nervous system. This might actually generate its own trepidation, as the familiar definition of one’s self as a nervous person is severely shaken. We discover why we tend to cling to what we call bad habits, as we understand how they fortify our security in an unchanging personality, with known bodily movements that rigidly uphold that unchanging self.
To really become the full magic of you, observe the habitual patterns that have defined you. Focus especially on the physical movements that actualize these patterns. Change the movements, change the self.
No attachment to outcome, just persevere with light abandon. As Carlos Castaneda would excitedly express, “See what happens!”
From the magic of me, to the magic of you,
Chuck
