If you yearn to melt your magic, look towards nature.
In a culture where left-brained logic rules systems, structures, thoughts, and ways of being, believing in fairies (let alone having a real, down-to-earth relationship with them) might seem… well, way too out there. After childhood, there isn’t much encouragement or permission to lean into the imaginal, to the magical, to the streams of blessings that generously pour through intimacy with nature.
Sometimes, it feels way too vulnerable and scary to name and claim that the magic you sense is real because… what will people think? I’ll be called names! I’ll be disowned by xyz… I’ll be (insert your worries here)…
There’s a reason you feel that way. It’s by design.
As children, we come into this world knowing the truth: that we are magical beings having a human experience, that the wisdom of our bodies is trustworthy, and that nature nourishes belonging. All of us have a part inside that not only believes in magic, but knows it to be true, experiences it, lives it, breathes it, becomes it.
But that’s a threat to machines of modern society that need us to place our trust in things outside of ourselves. From political leaders to employers to tech companies to consumer products that are made to make us feel that we lack something so that we’ll keep giving our time, attention, and money, the mundane is prioritized over the magical, and therefore, it is largely accepted as The Rational Thing to Believe.
Your fear to “come out” as a magical person also has roots in history. Look back to any witch hunt to see how magic has been demonized, especially for women, and with it, nature as a feminine system of creation
So if your magic has been lying dormant in a deep inner freeze, know that this is okay and completely understandable given the societal prejudice against it. Magic can remain safe and hidden for as long as needed… for 10,000 years even! I am not writing today to change or shame or blame or even shout the magic awake. I hold a deep trust in the body’s timing and in the timing of life that holds the soulful mysteries of birth, death, and rebirth of thoughts, ideas, lifetimes, and ways of being.
And — I want to validate the experiences of magic you have. They’re real. The ways you’ve been taught to doubt them are real.
One of my teachers, Rachael Maddox, says, “The blueprint is always stronger than the brokenness.”
Meaning: no matter what you have been through, the blueprint of your true nature will always prevail. No matter what. Like dandelions through the concrete – no matter how buried, hidden, lost, or faraway your magical self might feel right now, this part of you exists, and it likely peeks its head into your life from time to time, hidden in plain sight.
If you were a child who looked for fairies in the woods and had tea parties with them with tiny flower cups (anyone else?), that dynamic, creative part of you is still alive.
In the context of Fairy School: for the mundane-driven parts of us, diving head first into the realm of fairies may seem too out there. Yet, if the blueprint is stronger than the brokenness, I want to show you some doorways to the Fairy Realm, to the imaginal, to the miraculous magic that is your birthright. I want to spark the joy you may have felt as a child with eyes to see it, the part of you that is still capable of wonder and awe.
Doorways to the Fairy Realm include:
Loving and relating with animals
Pesticide-free gardening
Nature-based practices and professions
Flower arranging
Energy healing with nature
Making and drinking tea
Cooking
Comedy
Music
Making art – poetry, writing, painting, coloring, exploring
Dance
Spending time with nature – including, but not limited to, houseplants, trees, rivers, streams, walking in the woods, sitting under a tree, cloud-watching
Ecstatic experiences (laughter, love, joy, experiencing an epic concert)
Singing/Toning
Daydreaming
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I’m reminded of a story shared by one of my dear friends Joe Patitucci, who is the co-founder and creator of Plantwave – a plant music device that translates the frequencies of plants into music. Around five years ago, Joe curated an interactive exhibit at a museum for people to experience the enchantment of hearing and witnessing plants play music. There were various plants set up throughout the room, all with their own sounds and songs.
Throughout the day, Joe started to notice something. When certain people went up to the plants, all of a sudden the plants’ notes picked up with more range, as if they were delightfully responding to the person showing up before them. Joe decided to introduce himself to the people he noticed this happening with and said to them something like, “I noticed that the plants’ music picked up, changed, and had more range with you – do you know why?”
No one seemed surprised when he asked. Every single one responded with something like:
“I’m an herbalist.”
“I’m a Reiki healer.”
“I’m a florist.”
“I garden!”
Every person the plants perked up for had a relationship with energy and nature.
Here’s the thing about magic: we don’t have to believe in it for it to find us because there’s no separation between magic and nature. Magic is just another word for nature.
I teach Fairy School because learning about fairies is an easy, accessible, fun way to feel more connected with both. Do you love plants? Trees? Rivers? Fairies are woven through all of these things – think of their energies as embodiments of the elements.
If you’re someone who worries about climate change, the teachings in Fairy School may be a comfort, balm, and activation. Nature’s blueprint is stronger than the brokenness. As we saw during the pandemic, nature started to regenerate at an extraordinarily fast rate given a chance to do so. Integrating the energies of fairies in your life creates touchstones for you to take the action needed to help the Earth heal and regenerate.
Fairy School has range – it is truly designed to meet you where you are, even if where you are is, “I would never in a million years tell anyone about this.”
I’ve heard from so many people, “You’re so brave. How do you openly talk about fairies and mermaids and angels and not be called ridiculous?”
Who said I’m not called ridiculous? I’m sure some people think I am.
I think it's ridiculous that we’re encouraged to believe in magic as kids then expected to turn that off when we’re adults.
The experiences I’ve had with fairies, mermaids, and angels are as real as my fingers typing on the keyboard to you right now. As real as the sun rising and setting each day. As real as the breath that sustains my body.
I share about the elementals because I know they exist, and I don’t need you to know that, to believe what I believe, or to have the experiences I’ve had to access your inherent knowing, too. To turn towards the wild, magical places that live inside you with delight, joy, and curiosity — even if you choose to keep this exploration to yourself! You don’t have to share all of your experiences; sometimes they are just for you.
Fairy School is an invitation to deepen intimacy with the magic that lives inside of you.
To remember yourself as a part of nature.
To resurrect the magic of nature from the inside out.
What happens when you not only believe in magic but embody it? Miracles happen.
The miracle of Findhorn’s garden.
The miracle of restoring seemingly barren landscapes.
The miracle of roadways being rerouted due to elves.
The miracle of wolves restoring Yellowstone.
The miracle of a woman planting millions of trees.
If you want to believe in magic, look to nature. No matter how close or far away you feel from the magic that lives inside of you, nature will meet you where you are, as you are, without judgment. As Lao Tzu says, “Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”
If you’re called to nourish and restore your true nature with Mother Earth’s tiny angels, I invite you to Fairy School. We begin next Friday on the new moon, May 19th.
With love,
Madeline
