How to magically spell your words

by Lian Brook-Tyler

A vital aspect of the work that we do at Be Mythical - both in our own inner work and the work we do with others - is about making conscious the words used to create ourselves and our world.

As Terence McKenna once said…

“The syntactical nature of reality, the real secret of magic, is that the world is made of words. And if you know the words that the world is made of, you can make of it whatever you wish.”

Over the years, I’ve seen there are five stages that we go through on the journey of fully discovering this secret of magic, usually these stages flow in the order below, though sometimes 2 and 3 are switched depending on the path one has taken, and also many of us have echoes of previous stages still showing up in certain areas of our lives, even though we’ve largely moved beyond them.

As you read, see if you can recognise the stage you are in, and any echoes of previous stages - and importantly, without making yourself wrong for it. There’s always a good reason that we are where we are, and knowing and accepting where we are is the paradoxical opening to changing and moving forward.

STAGE 1: Unconsciously using words to create unconsciously

In our modern culture, this is the most common way words are used - we unconsciously use words to speak into being the very world we claim we *don’t* want.

You can recognise this stage when your words revolve around lack, limitation, inevitability, and absolutes, for example:

“Nobody ever appreciates me!”

“It never works out for me.”

"I’ll always struggle with this."

“They always treat me like this!”

At this stage, we are caught in a self-fulfilling prophecy, recreating the same patterns over and over - blaming the world, unaware that we are the ones casting the spell of our world.

The Invitation: To awaken to the power of your words and take responsibility for the world you are unconsciously creating.

STAGE 2: Consciously using words to create unconsciously

At this stage, we begin to learn some of the magic of words, maybe through NLP, affirmations, the Law of Attraction, or mindset work. We begin bending words to our will, consciously using words to create the world we say we want.

But what if the will doing the creating isn’t truly yours?

This is often how people create seemingly successful lives that tick the society-approved boxes but leave them feeling hollow. It doesn’t feel like they’re living their “right life”.

What’s missed in this stage is that much of this creation is happening at the behest of scared parts, often the inner child, that are operating from conditioning and wounding, and really just want to feel safe and loved.

If we haven’t examined who or what is doing the creating then we are still at the mercy of unconscious forces.

This stage is like setting off on a journey into a dark forest, taking a wrong turn because you’re spooked… And then adding a jetpack so you go the wrong way faster.

Words work whether what’s being created is truly right for us or not.

The invitation: To look beyond surface-level creation and question who is speaking these words into being - Fear, or Love?

STAGE 3: Unconsciously using words to create consciously

Here, we’ve set foot on a spiritual path. We glimpse something beyond the seemingly separate, scared self of Stage 2. Maybe we’ve had some experiences of oneness, divine connection, or a deep sense of homecoming.

At this stage, we intend to create from Love - in other words, consciously - and yet, we can become so enamoured with the wordless truth that we can be dismissive of the dualistic nature of words, and therefore lose the ability to use them consciously and powerfully. We might say:

“Words are illusions. Stories are just constructs. Labels are limitations”

And while there’s truth in that, this rejection of words is itself a story. If we dismiss language, we lose access to one of the most powerful tools for healing, transformation, and creation. This can be a tricky stage to move beyond, so seductive is its illusion that we’ve finally seen through the illusion, and therefore there’s no place to go from here.

The Invitation: To honour both the vast, wordless mystery and the power of words as sacred tools of healing and individuation.

STAGE 4: Consciously using words to create consciously

Now, we are in the realm of true magic. At this stage, we’re aware that we’re here for the real work, the deep work… The Great Work.

Words become poetic, mythic, an offering to the divine.

We understand the opportunity that life presents is to heal and liberate ourselves from the stories we’ve outgrown and maybe were never really ours to begin with, to unite with the deepest, hidden aspects of ourselves, and to write our soul’s mythical story across the pages of our lives.

Here, words are returned to the domain of art, because we see that our life is art.

The Invitation: To become a master of the word, using it as a vessel for Divine Will - the unique expression of life moving through you.

STAGE 5: The Silence beyond the Spell

Here, words fall away. Not because they have lost their magic, but because their spell has been completed.

This is the domain of saints, sages and beyond, those who have transcended the need to create, resting instead in the pure, unspoken essence of what is being created in every moment. Some, like Meher Baba, have taken vows of silence - not as a rejection of words, but as a recognition that the deepest truths cannot be spoken.

Exceptionally few will reach this stage. But those who do become living myths, their very presence shaping the world.

Which of these stages are you journeying through? And will you accept its invitation?

The spells you’ve been casting - the ones that shaped your world, the ones that bound you, the ones that set you free - have all led you to this moment.

Are you ready to go beyond the old stories and into the one only you can write?

If so, a quest is calling you…

Join us in ‘Word Quest: Commanding the Magic of the Word’ in our Academy of the Soul, UNIO. We begin the quest with our community ceremony on Tuesday 4th February at 3pm (GMT).​

All the details for the ceremony can be found here

Will you wield the magic of the Word with intention?

Step forward, and let your quest begin.

All my love and blessings,

Lian ♥️

Art: The Sorceress - John William Waterhouse, 1913

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