Magic is in the air

Spring has sprung here in Canada where I live, and it's the time of year when magic seems its most possible. New life, new birth, and the awakening of things long dormant.

The Ancient Egyptians seemed to have a real handle on the idea of rebirth...something I don't think people think about as much these days.

Every year, the Egyptians would watch the scarab beetle delve into the sand, only to re-emerge, months later, in the spring. This became the basis for their life's work...being buried (in caves and pyramids instead of sand) only to re-emerge in the spirit world, later. Even the scarab's food (the scarab's other name being 'dung beetle') reinforced this idea of life-from-death.

Once you discover this theme...nature seems to just back it up...from the rising and setting of the sun, to the phases of the moon (which appears to birth, grow, and then die as the new moon, only to come back to life again.) Here in Canada, the trees appear dead all winter long, buried beneath snow instead of sand, emerging fresh and green in the months of April and May.

This, of course, is but one of the faces of magic, but a powerful one: the magic of renewal.