I heard from a friend recently, an author and a teacher who had an awakening two decades ago who told me that the flow of magic had abruptly dried up in her life. By this, she meant the gifts of self-remembrance ( synchronicity, ease, intuitive knowing and mini-miracles) had come to a halt just as if someone had turned off the water faucet.
What happened? Did she fall back asleep? Was there an expiration date on her magic? No. What happened was two things.
First, she had simply entered into a deep ebb phase—because all magic happens in ebbs and flows. This is the Law of Rhythm, and it is not escapable if you live in space-time. Simply said, what goes up, comes down. When magic ebbs, patience and faith are called for. Who are you in the middle of the off-phase is what matters the most. Can you step forward in blind trust that even if you can’t feel or see the hand of the divine right now, you are still connected and you are still being guided?
I hit a patch like this only two weeks ago. It was as if I kept walking into no-flow walls and tripping over my own seemingly chaotic choices and poor discernment. Yet I knew that this was an ebb (it only lasted a few days) and instead of panicking, I chose to relax into it and laugh at myself. (Because some of it was so calamitous I could only laugh).
The second factor in dampened magic is when you abandon the Master Key of your Attention. What are you attending to in your life? Are you actually PAYING ATTENTION to the grace that is happening? Are you willing to see and acknowledge the miracles and synchronicity happening in your life?
When you are in an ebb, your Master Key of Attention matters the most. There will always be a trickle of synchronicity even if the full flow has been turned off. Look for the smallest signs and the bread crumbs of the miraculous. They are always there.
One example. This teacher friend who told me about her dilemma happened to reach me while I was in Mexico by FB private message EVEN THOUGH the wifi-fi at the hotel where I was staying that day was cutting out constantly and barely working. She was the only person who managed to reach me that day online and I was able to at least touch base with her to let her know that all is well, that this ebb will pass. Her getting through to me was a mini-miracle, plain and simple.
So today, whether you are in an ebb of magic or a torrential flow, harness the Master Key of your Attention. And let me know, what do you notice? How is your attention working for your magic? (Hint: Your attention is an amplifier).
PS: Curious about this whole magic and awakening thing? I am teaching a fun and transformative four week online course starting February 1st, 2017 called Awakened Magic: An Enlightened Approach to Radiance, Love, Power and Purpose. If you’d like to be on my invitation list for this course, just click HERE.
And until next time, Be Magical!
The Awakened Dreamer 
Freya Watson
Hey Lori, I’ve been enjoying your writing as always. I’ve been in an ‘ebb’ for a while now and the way I’m reading it is that if there was something more important for me to be doing other than the simple fact of just putting one foot in front of the other on the path I’m on, then I’d be aware of it. When it’s really mattered in the past, circumstances have conspired to make sure I was aware of what I needed to be doing. If nothing is jumping out at me right now, then I’m in a phase of integration – grounding my last ‘growth’ phase. I find myself chomping on the bit every now and then, wishing there were more of the ‘bells and whistles’ type of magic happening and I keep having to remind myself that its a gentle magic right now.
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Lori Ann Lothian
Yes, i agree that there is a gentle magic that comes with integration. The trick is to know the difference between this phase and being in a cul-de-sac. That discernment is essential….
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ssanjean (@sandyhames11)
I always enjoy your writing, thanks for what you pay attention to and share.
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ourworldinmotion
Often, it is our own minds that interpret whether we are in the flow… or not. Much of what happens is based on past action (karma). As you say, we can choose to relax, and not take occurrences in the phenomenal realm so seriously. If I choose to play the ‘victim’ to occurrences instead, we interpret them as bad when they seem to be to our detriment. As A.C.I.M. states: “I am not a victim of the world I see.” Let us be the Witness, and ‘synchronicity’ is always present.
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Jurgen
There is a Chinese saying which says:
The ordinary man seeks holiness in the miraculous,
the holy man finds the miraculous in the ordinary
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Lori Ann Lothian
The ordinary IS miraculous. It is the perception of this ordinary magic that refines with holiness.
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Jurgen
Yes, absolutely, just as the constant and deepening awareness of stillness, of the moment which is unendingly new and without repeats, gives rise to new potentials and possibilities which fill us with awe and anticipation. Looking for something out of the ordinary would almost disrupt the experience of this miracle of “being”, unless we incorporate the “extra ordinary” or what may be perceived as “miraculous” as part of the natural manifestation of “being”.
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Amit
Hi Lori,
I have been following your blog for several months now and have found you to be a witty, charming addition to the Enlightenment/Spirituality/Non-Duality marketplace. I love the fact that you make spirituality seem “normal” and perfectly compatible with regular human experience. Your attempts to demystify the whole domain is particularly appreciated.
However, as a spiritual seeker myself, I am somewhat confused by this this stress on “magic”, “synchronicity” etc as a concomittant of awakening. Now I may be wrong since I am speaking purely from intellectual understanding rather than first hand experience, but isn’t “awakening” essentially about freedom from self-concern and a deep abiding peace that embraces all experiences, good or bad ? If so, then how does the ebb or flow of “magic” impinge on the quality of the awakening itself? Isn’t this emphasis on the miraculous feed the (in my view erroneous ) notion that enlightenment makes you lucky rather than sane ?
Would love some clarification.
Amit
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Lori Ann Lothian
This is a question that I will take some time and stillness to respond from. You are pointing at the heart of why magic matters in the context of awakening.
Stay tuned. I would like to share how it appears to me, in some depth.
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Davidya
Hi Lori!
Great post. I agree there can be ebbs and flows. But I would add that sometimes an ebb can be a call to go deeper, to get more subtle. When it’s time to start working from a still-deeper level, if we’re not “getting it”, the flow can ebb to call us further so we can step into an even deeper flow.
There’s a progression of subtlety as the physiology refines and our capacity to function there comes online. This can begin prior to awakening or after but it certainly accelerates after.
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Lori Ann Lothian
ah, good point Davidya! I agree completely. Sometimes the ebb can be that call for deepening. Thanks for reminding me.
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Michael
Hi David!
Great and very important addition!
I would add that it can also mean a cleaning out, meaning that when the flow seems to subside it is meant to trigger some old karmic patterns within us (emotions like anger, fear, guilt, shame, grief etc. or control patterns). Once the patterns are cleared the flow comes back online and even more powerful.
best
Michael
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Wayne Wirs
I have a saying, “What you focus on, you become,” and at first glance that looks identical to what Lori Ann is saying (and it is), but it is also what Davidya is saying, that if we focus on our “problems” we become the problem, yet if we focus on the deeper implications of awakening (the Vastness, the Divine Intelligence, the Love, etc.) then we naturally go “deeper.”
Regardless, this topic points out that even though we can dissolve into the One Thing at will, we still must play in the world of Separation and that requires some pro-active participation on our part. 🙂
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