March 12 The Hero's Journey

The Innocent comes through the journey and finds peace. The Magician comes through the journey and provides healing for the self and the world. The Magician goes beyond ordinary reality.
We can see the Magician in champion athletes who play with elegance and grace, without apparent effort. They achieve this grace only after years of discipline and practice. But once in the game, the baseball pitcher doesn’t think about every detail – the wind speed, the curve of his arm, the position of the batter. Instead, he lets go and lets his body do what it knows how to do.
The traditional Western warrior fights directly against the opponent, perhaps using a battering ram to break down resistance. But Magician warriors use Eastern martial arts such as aikido. In this style of combat, they do not fight against the challenger but instead turn around and move in the direction the challenger is going. The opponent then becomes unbalanced and falls.
Just as the aikido practitioner aligns with the force of the foe, the Magician harmonizes with the forces of nature. The Magician physician understands the wisdom of the body and its natural ability to heal, and plans treatment that will enhance this ability. Balance is important for the Magician. Just as in the martial arts, where grace and balance are more powerful than brute strength, our bodies and lives need to be in balance if we are to heal.
The Magician does things we think are impossible. But this is partly because they are willing to try. Certainly more people could do “impossible” things if they were willing to make an attempt, and then had the patience and discipline to perfect their skills. Sometimes magic is in believing you can do something and then doing it. To be a Magician, we must go beyond apparent boundaries and give up self-imposed limits.
Magicians understand that we are all connected. They know that we are all children of the Creator and that truth wears many faces. Magician Warriors have respect for their opponents and see divinity in them. For the Magician, the world is too small to have enemies. The goal is wisdom, harmony, and peace.