Book Review/Heather Seggel

Everyday Magic

A few years ago, I bought a zine out of idle curiosity; getting my order total closer to a good deal on shipping may also have been a consideration. When the package came, this particular item was surprisingly small — the size of a business card in fact—and a mere eight pages long. Titled “Your Highest Form,” it was one of a series called One Minute Happiness, written by Sage Liskey. I opened it feeling a bit burned at having spent money on something so tiny, then had my mind blown. What a lot of new age books spin out over 250 pages, this tiny pamphlet cracks open in a blink. When I learned there was in fact a longer book touching on the same material, my curiosity won out. “You Are A Great and Powerful Wizard: Self-Care Magic for Modern Mortals” (Microcosm Publishing) is physically lovely and full of insights, but sometimes upstaged by its own smaller forebear.

“Wizard” is a compact hardcover with endpapers — it has the look and feel of a grimoire, and feels nice to hold. The topics Liskey covers, which range from dealing with depression and addiction to forming healthy relationships and even facing the inevitability of death, are described in terms of wizardry. The conceit behind this approach is that a wizard is defined as “someone who changes reality.” We are all agents of change in our own lives and those of others, and who doesn’t look good in a cone-shaped hat with moons and stars? It feels like there are two ways to approach writing a book like this — dead serious about spellcraft and magic, or a more exaggerated “woo-woo” new agey quality — but Liskey has found a third path. He uses the language of magic, but in an entirely laid back, straightforward way.

Examples include his description of people regardless of profession as “wizards.” Not “New York Times bestselling author Charles Duhigg,” but, “Wizard Charles Duhigg.” It’s jarring for about 10 minutes and then becomes the norm, subtly removing hierarchies of talent. Illustrations by Barbara Counsil frequently depict the natural world and magical themes, but her drawings of people are varied and inclusive, another reminder that wizards don’t just look like us, they are us and we are them. One drawing of a small group of people includes a few animals up on two legs and wearing clothes, so our plushy friends and any exceptionally gifted pets are also clearly welcome in the clan.

There’s a section in the book derived in part from the zine “Your Highest Form,” but it is somehow both expanded and smaller. Rather than five questions for self-assessment, the book has seven, but the zine included an extensive, wide-ranging list of ideas for consideration that is not in the chapter. Reading the book in its entirety will steer readers to comparable ideas, but I missed the brisk wake-up that the shorter form provided.

At the end of each chapter there are personal questions to answer under the heading, “Life Mapping.” Readers can answer along the way — keeping a notebook while reading is recommended — or begin with a short roundup of similar questions at the end. The goal is to honestly assess where you are now, describe your ideal self if no barriers stood between you and that goal, then to assess any barriers and begin figuring out how to dismantle them. Of course there are ethical considerations — taking what you want without consent is problematic at best and potentially illegal — but there are guidelines for that here, too. Building goals and plans into day to day life can infuse it with new energy, and tying them to a life plan can make mundane tasks important, or even — wait for it — magical. A daily multivitamin seems a lot cooler when you remember it’s actually a potion.

“You Are A Great and Powerful Wizard” has much to teach, and doing so in the realm of fantasy makes the very hard work of self-care fun in much the same way gamification works. It’s a good reminder that every single day we are still breathing presents opportunities to move toward things we want and away from those that don’t further our growth, personally and societally. It would be fun and enlightening to read with a group and discuss, and a good tool to use with groups to help establish shared values and build relationships, all things we need dearly right now.

Heather Seggel is a writer living in Northern California. Email heatherlseggel@gmail.com.

From The Progressive Populist, August 1, 2020

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