My daughters are listening to one of the Harry Potter books on audio - I can hear Harry crying out 'Expecto Patronum!', the spell that summons a protective guardian energy.
Many parents have been as caught up in the magic and mystery of their children's fantasy books as their children, but how many have considered teaching their kids how to create magic in their own lives? Real magic?
I've long been struck by the fact that our children's choice of fiction is either fantasy, in which characters straddle dragons or broomsticks and possess magical items or supernatural abilities, or faction, in which characters deal with real-life dilemmas like divorce and drugs and death.
But what I hadn't ever come across was a book for kids that offered the possibility of magic in everyday life. So I wrote one. The Mastery Club, an imaginary story about five kids who form a club to support each other in achieving their goals and dreams. They learn about universal laws and develop practical skills like goal-setting and visualisation and treasure-mapping. And they learn that the most important part of transformation is taking responsibility and developing a strong character - one that can deal with obstacles
and disappointments.
They learn all of this from a 12 year old girl called Nina whose own personal motto is 'Master Yourself and You Can Master Anything'. She teaches the other Club members 10 Lessons, beginning with the understanding that our thoughts are creative. What we feed grows, whether we're talking a human, a plant, an animal or an idea. Teaching children to become aware of what they are focusing on is an important first step in the development of mastery; it's Lesson #1 (It's all Divine Substance and we're the sculptors).
The next step (Lesson #2: Goal-setting) is to choose the goals you would like to achieve. Just waiting for things to happen is not nearly as exciting as deliberately choosing a goal and working towards it. Encourage your children to reflect on what they would like to achieve in all areas of their lives: school results, family relationships, friendships, sport, hobbies...
Then explain to your children that scientists have found that there is no difference to the brain between something that is real and something that is imagined. Many sportspeople and musicians, for example, have achieved measurable improvements in their skills just by closing their eyes and visualising themselves achieving the results they wanted. (This is Lesson #3: Visualisation.)
Here are some examples of children who have practised these principles:
* An eight year old girl won two Firsts, one for swimming and one for running, after visualising these successes at her upcoming school Athletics Carnival.
* A young boy, concerned about who his next teacher would be, drew a picture of himself with the teacher he wanted - and with the classmate he wanted. He described everything he wanted in order to have a great year and visualised this through the summer holidays. It all eventuated.
* Another girl has been able to apply the principles to help her deal with bullies - she is now more relaxed and happy.
Setting a goal and visualizing a few times is not enough, however. You also have to take action on your goal, so teach your children to identify what they can do to achieve the thing they want. (Lesson #4: Treasure Mapping).
* A fifteen year old girl achieved top of her maths year when she changed her thinking from negative to positive and took action on her goal.
* An eight year old boy made detailed plans and treasure maps for a computer, visualised regularly, started saving... and achieved it.
It's critical to recognize that every lovely goal has a 'hard work' side to it; the magic is not in having things fall into our lap without serious commitment, because the whole point to this kind of magic is the growth. (Lessons #5: First Force, Second Force, Third Force, and #6: The Law of Polarity...)
Becoming a master, a magician, a wizard is more important than scoring a new toy, because when you know how to transform your circumstances you can do it over and over. You will effectively be holding a 'magic key'. Our ability to manage our own emotional state determines what we attract into our lives. (Lesson #7: The Law of Resonance & Vibration.)
Your children will know that those fantasy-book characters are set tests and challenges that they must overcome; wizards face trials and most fantasy heroes have had to go on a quest and face all sorts of obstacles, even terrifying things. The obstacles and challenges are part of the process of becoming a master. (Lesson #8: You have to Become a New Person; Lesson #9: They're Not Just Ideas, and Lesson #10: Don't... Give... Up.)
Positive self-talk combined with visualization have empowered numerous students to achieve high marks in music and academic exams. The 'side effect' is greater confidence in general. If you teach your children to speak encouragingly to themselves you will have given them the most important and most powerful tool in existence today. Our words are our wands. What we tell ourselves and believe is truly the most influential
force in our lives, for good or bad, so living by example as a parent who speaks appreciatively toward yourself and positively about difficulties, will be the greatest gift you can give them.
Teachers can use these principles in their classrooms also. Imagine a group of students beginning the year deciding how their year is going to go - the academic results, friendships, growth, sporting achievements...
The imagination is the most powerful force we have. It is far stronger than the will, as various famous figures, like Albert Einstein and Emile Coué have stated. What if your children apply their imagination consciously and deliberately to create the results they want in their lives?
That sounds like real magic to me.
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