Word Up

Words can be magical.  I’m not talking abracadabra magic.  I mean magic in the stories they hold.  Powerful magic.  Words can hold meanings deeper than we can fully grasp at times.  There are words in other languages that just cannot be translated cleanly into English.  There are certain notions that for whatever reason cannot be fully expressed using the words we know.  These words hold a special magic to me.  They hold doors to alternate viewpoints.  They may contain concepts my cultural experience does not value; concepts that I once felt alone in pondering until I found the words from another culture.

Take for instance, one such magical word I recently discovered, the Sanskrit word “lila”.  It is related to the English word “play” but is actually much much deeper.  “Play” in English is something we do to amuse ourselves.  Adults generally play to compete (sometimes taking all the amusement out of it!)   For adults, playing for fun can be seen as a fantastic waste of time.  Kids “play” by nature.  They play to explore, to learn and to create.   This childish play is more akin to “lila” only “lila” is not childish at all.

Lila is the play of the Divine.  Lila is the free play of the creative force of life and the world we see is the result of this play.  And as beings of the Divine, each with that creative life force flowing within, our life experience is a continuance of this creative play.  Through each unique body, from each unique point of awareness, the Divine creator gets to experience this world, its creation through us.   And when we actively join in this Divine play, we become co-creators of its evolution.

I can’t help but wonder how differently I would see the world if, as a child, I was taught that play was divine.  That my imagination was linked to the creative force behind the manifestation of the universe.   And while I can never know if having this different understanding as a child may have changed my journey, I can know what it is like to journey from here with a childlike openness to the adventure before me.  That is just one magic created by a word.

I gained this fresh perspective on life all from a tiny word that doesn’t translate.  New stories arise in my mind’s eye inspired by the grand concept this tiny word conveys.  Worlds I have no doubt I can make manifest in some way from understanding the meaning rooted in arranging four letters in just such a way.  And it is just one word of many for me that holds the promise of fresh magic in my life.

Yes.  Words are truly are that powerful.  Our words create our stories.   It is no coincidence we call the practice of writing words spelling.  Think about it.

What old spells have you been using to weave a holding pattern for yourself?  What old stories do you keep telling that no longer serve you?  And what new spells await your mastery?  Find new words and create a new story that speaks your truth as it stands today.   You are the creator, you hold that magic.