Magic School?

There is an opinion I occasionally come across in the online magical spaces I move in, that strikes me with equal parts perplexity, sadness and annoyance. And I’m not easily ‘triggered’ so I know this bears reflecting on (Shadow-work 101. 😉)

The opinion is summed up by these quotes, which are both paraphrased and direct:

‘Nobody is qualified to teach magic.’

‘Magic should be a solitary practice.’

‘Anyone trying to sell you a course on magic is a grifter.’

I’m sure you get the drift. The jist is that there is enough ‘information’ out there both online and in print for people to be able to find magical learnings on their own without being shown magical learnings. The jist is also that anyone selling magical courses is a charlatan, a snake-oil salesman or a chancer. And there is that prevailing, outdated air that magical studies are somehow entirely different than any other area of learning and development in that you must study magic alone, maybe even in secret and under the cover of darkness.

These ideas smack of the following to me:

1. A deep misunderstanding of the way that humans learn, assimilate knowledge, and develop new skills, abilities and habits.

2. Limiting beliefs around energetic exchange, and the value of teachers, trainers and coaches to real progress in self-development.

3. Snobbish outdated ideas about the ‘top-shelf’ nature of magical and arcane knowledge.

So to answer these points - I have been in the field of Learning and Development most of my adult life, and the importance of what I learned during my own training about the about the way WE learn as humans has been underlined to me time and time again.

We DO NOT learn best how to effectively carry out new skills from a book. We DO NOT always learn best how to practically apply knowledge by just reading about it. Knowledge does not automatically translate to practical application and ability.

We all as individuals have very different learning styles and preferences, some of us auditory learners, some visual, some kinaesthetic, some read/write oriented. Many of us prefer a blend of the styles. All of us must pass through an ongoing learning cycle where we first must receive new information, then we must be allowed to contextualise that information and relate it to our current knowledge and past experience, then we must be allowed to test that knowledge with challenge and questions, then we must be allowed to practice what we have learned until the learning is fully absorbed and habituated into a new skill, ability, or part of our accessible working memory.

I started out my career as a trainer with a national environmental charity. At the time, the charity was funded in part by a relevant government department. When a new compulsory government measure was brought in, requiring councils to carry out regular surveys, the government department made the decision not to fund a training programme concerning how to carry out surveys. ‘There is a manual available.’ I believe was the opinion at the time. A manual can tell you everything you need about how to do the job, right?

Well, we had our doubts, so we developed a course for councils that covered the essentials of survey practice, including materials to satisfy all the different learning styles, with opportunity for delegates to individually move through the learning cycle until they had the confidence and ability to carry out surveys effectively. Councils had to pay for the course of course, given that it wasn’t funded by government. Did this stop them from attending? Absolutely not. It became the most popular of all the charity’s courses and remains popular this day, with many attendees coming along numerous times through their careers to ‘refresh’ their survey knowledge and confidence in performance.

This is because the best council leaders know what I believe with all my heart. People do not learn best from manuals and books alone. Some individuals, due to their personal learning style, will NEVER learn effectively from books alone.

So is selling magical courses ‘a grift?’ Well speaking for only myself and my own services, absolutely not. Why should the study of magical practice or spiritual principles be any different to any other area of learning and development?  As a learning and development professional it is my area of expertise to be able to take a body of knowledge, or a practice, and to break it down in a way that makes it accessible for people to learn and apply to their own lives. Why should magic be any different to the ‘muggle’ topics I teach, such as environmental management, Breathwork, conflict management , and communication?

Is it because magic is somehow ‘separate’ and ‘special’ to all other life skills and professions? In my opinion that’s absolute rubbish, and snobbery at its best. With one caveat. If a person is neither qualified nor experienced as a trainer, teacher, or coach, then seriously consider their ability to teach others. Just because somebody has experience doing a job, or hobby, or sport, does not automatically give them the ability to effectively teach that skill themselves. It is the study of how humans learn that gives us the ability to reframe information in a way that makes it absorbable and usable for all learning styles that is the key.

For me, learning and development has always been one part information and one part inspiration. As a trainer it is my job to ensure that information is accessible to you, and easy to question, test and contextualise into your own life. As a trainer it is also my job to inspire you. Inspire you about the topic. Inspire you about your own ability. Inspire you to USE what you have learned and do so with flair and confidence.

My husband, a legendary coach and author, has an excellent saying: confidence breeds competence. That is a perfect summation of the learning and development journey for most.

Some people may read a book, let’s face it especially the old grimoires or some of the higher-handed spiritual texts, and feel overwhelmed, small. ‘I could never do those things.’ ‘That’s beyond me.’ But with someone to take their hand, guide them up the hills and round the bends, do some practical experimentation, they find that they CAN do those things and NOTHING is beyond them.

Before I started my magical teaching journey this year I re-read an old channeled favourite of mine, ‘The Allatori’ by The Order of the Key, a quirky little biography of the experiences of an Order of ceremonial magic friends based out of San Francisco and their experiences channeling the embassies of the Allatori spirits. At one point, they ask the Allatori, ‘What is our task as magicians?’ And the Allatori reply; ‘speak to muggles about magic like it’s a normal thing.’

That really struck a chord - magical practice is so life affirming and complementary to self development that it’s a crying shame that it is kept out of the grasp of people who are unfamiliar with magics. There really are no muggles, see, only people who don’t make their own magic because they’ve been hoodwinked into believing that many of the ideals are silly, weird, pretend or for children.

So needed or not, grifter or not, I’m here to teach magic to those who are unable to, or prefer not to, walk down new paths of learning alone. Feel free to reach out for your magical learning journey.

Take my hand, and let’s see where we end up. 💛