Magicians of the Written Word: The Writer's Power

My brother and I have a special kind of friendship. He’s in California in the mountains of Tahoe and I’m in a magical part of Florida just minutes from the water in every direction. Not that long ago Eli and I read a book together. Daily, we’d get on the phone and discuss our latest reflections on King Warrior Magician Lover: Rediscovering the Archetypes of the Mature Masculine - a potent, classic book that had helped inspire the men’s movement of the NIneties.

Somehow as we delved, processed, and analyzed, it changed us in powerful ways.

Eli is an engineer. From as early as I can remember he was building things. His vast collection of LEGOs was a testament to this passion. It came as no surprise when he went into architecture.

For Eli, the role of the magician guides his life. It always has. He takes ideas from his mind and translates them into big, amazing, tangible things; in his case gorgeous multi-million dollar homes!

I have always been a lover. I feel the world. I connect, process, and experience my world on an intensely sensorial level. This lovership has been both my greatest strength and my greatest weakness. As a kid (and an adult) I aimed so hard to please and to make others feel safe and loved that I lost sight of what it was to be me. I was a lover who had no idea how to love herself.

As Eli and I adventured into this book together I started to claim my solidity. I realized that I am not just one identity, but a beautiful blend of all four of these archetypes. (Plus several feminine archetypes that I’ve created for myself - but that’s another story!)

I am now beginning to claim the magician aspects of myself.

As building has always been part of Eli’s life, WORDS have always been an essential part of mine. I discovered early on that through speaking and writing my truth, I have an immense capacity to heal. Not just myself, but others as well.

Those of us who identify as poets, storytellers, songwriters, performers, actors, and scribes are magicians of the written and spoken word. We take that unnamable, mysterious vastness within and express our truth through the building blocks of words. We are translators of the inner mystery, bringing to life the unnamable pieces of ourselves through metaphor, symbol, and story.

The greatest thing about words is that one need not have special training or expensive tools to use them. We all have access! With even just a basic grasp on letters and sounds, we have the ability to connect with this amazing most magical tool.

For the past two months, I've been receiving submissions of stories and poems on the theme of an anthology titled Resilience How We Heal. These submissions aren't just from folks who have degrees in English lit, or have sold vast numbers of books. They are people like you and me who have stories to tell, emotions to express. What a gift to receive such magic in my inbox!

I'll keep you posted on the progress of this little book. I'm anticipating a release date in mid-November and planning a big release party here in Northeast Florida.

Submissions are closed for this anthology, however, If you happen to have some writing on the theme of healing, please send it my way. I would like to keep this thing going. Not sure quite how it will manifest, but I want to keep sharing these voices - our voices. We all have a story to tell.

I love you!

Thank you for reading.