Sources of Enchantment

In researching for this post, I came across countless quotes, poems, and photos – my own and those of others. Throughout the process, I became deeply enchanted with the thoughts and feelings that were arising.

Looking up and around at my world after interacting with these made me breathe easier…and see what I was seeing before in a way that danced just a bit more.

So instead of trying to rephrase everything, I thought I would just share what I found – and hopefully allow you to have the same experience.
 

“Incidentally, the world is magical. Magic is simply what’s off our human scale
…at the moment.”
– Vera Nazarian, The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration

 

​The enchantment that something as simple as my daughter’s feet brings…

 

For ages you have come and gone
courting this delusion.
For ages you have run from the pain
and forfeited the ecstasy.
So come, return to the root of the root
of your own soul.

Although you appear in earthly form
Your essence is pure Consciousness.
You are the fearless guardian
of Divine Light.
So come, return to the root of the root
of your own soul.

When you lose all sense of self
the bonds of a thousand chains will vanish.
Lose yourself completely,
Return to the root of the root
of your own soul.

You descended from Adam, by the pure Word of God,
but you turned your sight
to the empty show of this world.
Alas, how can you be satisfied with so little?
So come, return to the root of the root
of your own soul.

Why are you so enchanted by this world
when a mine of gold lies within you?
Open your eyes and come —
Return to the root of the root
of your own soul….”
-Rumi

 

Oh, the magic of what is right at our fingertips…

 

“So, I said, when does enchantment start? We were sitting side by side, facing the mountains. “It started when the earth was born.” Her eyes were closed. Her face was golden in the setting sun. “It never stops. It is, always. It’s just here.”
– Jerry Spinell, Stargirl

 

It is always here. We just need to see it…

 

“The birds have vanished into the sky,
and now the last cloud drains away.
We sit together, the mountain and me,
until only the mountain remains.”
-Li Po, translated by Stephen Mitchell

 

​”​Still friends, consider stone, that is without the fret of gravity, and water that is without anxiety.

And the pine trees that never forget their recipe for renewal.

And the female wood duck who is looking this way and that way for her children. And the snapping turtle who is looking this way and that way also. This is the world.

And consider, always, every day, the determination of the grass to grow despite the unending obstacles.

I ask you again: if you have not been enchanted by this adventure–your life–what would do for you?

And, where are you, with your ears bagged down as if with packets of sand? Listen. We all have much more listening to do. Tear the sand away. And listen. The river is singing. ​”​
​ -Mary Oliver​​”​

 

Listen….

 

A few additional resources:

An online paper on enchantment, studying from personal and psychological perspectives

A beloved book by a favorite author of mine, Thomas , The Re-Enchantment of Everyday Life, can be found here

You can read an excerpt of that book here