Postcard: Shelter

No. 004 - on the origins of magic.

Postcard is a weekly curation of things I think are beautiful or interesting. Each postcard will be named after a word and contain something to listen to, something to look at, and something to think about. I welcome you to share any thoughts in the comments. Thank you!

Postcard: Shelter

shelter:

• (n.) A structure affording protection from rain, wind, or sun; in wider sense, anything serving as a screen or a place of refuge from the weather.

• (v.) To be or provide a shelter for. To screen or protect from rain, wind, cold, the sun, etc. Chiefly of a thing; rarely of a personal agent.

†Meanings from the Oxford English Dictionary (OED)

Something to listen to:

Something to look at:

I recently rewatched Spirited Away. There is such a special and ethereal quality to this movie. It feels like every time I watch it something is shifting, moving around in my memories. Like revisiting a dream, it is never the same twice.

I wasn’t expecting to find it particularly relevant to my thinking about the default culture and happiness, but I was struck by the fact that, in the spirit world, work is literally the most important thing for humans to do (it prevents them from being transformed into an animal by the evil sorceress Yubaba). It is a message that resonates in both directions: if you do not work, you will become something you do not want to. Something less than human. But living in a culture of fear, a culture where work is something you do for mere survival and nothing else, is a nightmare too. The human characters in the spirit world are not thriving. It is not their world.

The moral clarity of the youthful characters is also striking. The entire conflict of the movie, the quest for Chihiro to rescue her parents, could have been avoided if they had trusted her instincts about refusing to walk into the abandoned tunnel that leads to the spirit world or eating the food that they stumbled upon in the unattended shop. As adults, it is too easy to reflexively dismiss children when they are often much more closely attuned to how the world actually is rather than how we think it is.

Anyways… here’s to the joy of being spirited away:

Everything that happens stays inside you…

… even if you can’t remember it.

Without your real name…

… you’ll never find your way home.

Something to think about:

Google’s AI-generated summary—the highest authority I could find on the matter within two seconds—describes alchemy as “a medieval pseudoscience and philosophy that aimed to turn base metals into gold, discover a cure for disease, and extend life.” In the modern world, we often think of alchemy as a marker of the ignorance of the dark ages. “Look at how foolish they were! How primitive their methods!” Yet I am struck by the fact that each of those goals is extraordinarily good: the creation of wealth, the elimination of disease, the preservation of life. How foolish could they really have been if what they were focusing on was so wise?

While alchemists may not be granted much respect or credit by our modern standards of scientific progress, I am grateful for their efforts and would like to celebrate them more. Earnestly doing things “the wrong way” was a direct and necessary step to figuring out how to do things “the right way.” Alchemy, then, may have performed its greatest act of alchemy on itself as a field, transforming our first probing experiments on matter and the rules of reality into the frameworks of chemistry and medicine that today have unlocked almost unfathomable prosperity and longevity for the world.

Even without all of that, though, it’s just a lovely word and family, isn’t it? Alchemy. Alchemists. Alchemize. Mmm. It conjures an association with magic. It evokes transmutation and state changes. Alchemy is a powerful word, practically vibrating with meaning and energy. I love words like this.

On the topic of alchemy, I have a story to share about magic and where it comes from. Earlier this year, I became interested in the idea of tarot decks as a way of prompting one’s intuition. So on a random chilly evening in January, I tweeted, “putting out an invitation for the universe to provide me with my very first tarot card deck ✨” (yes, sparkle emoji included. Obviously). I was not expecting anything to come of this. I had about 100 followers on Twitter and they do not know where I live (this is necessary for my protection because as an insane person, I mostly attract other insane people).

Anyways, several days later, I was over at my parent’s house for dinner when my dad checked the front door for packages. “There’s something here for you, Matthew.” I raised an eyebrow as he handed me an Amazon bubble-wrap envelope. I will occasionally ship something to my parent’s address since it is more secure than my apartment complex’s mailroom, but I couldn’t remember having done so recently. Hmm. As I opened the package, I could tell there was an interesting weight to what was inside and that it wasn’t a book (I am the type of person to order books for myself and forget having done so. Like a wizard). Imagine my surprise as I reached into the envelope and this is what I pulled out:

It turns out a friend of mine, Michelle, had seen my message and using the dark arts of modern financial processing she divined my address. She carefully picked out a deck that would match my personality, my interests, my overall vibe and sent it off into the void, where it found me.

It is a lovely gift. I still vividly remember that feeling of mystery, intrigue, and delight when I first pulled the box out of the envelope and held it in my hands. It was a special moment and memory. I took my time to familiarize myself with the deck before using it, looking at the cards many times and just appreciating the art, the messages, the potential stories contained within. Such a beautiful set:

When I finally used the deck—candles lit with Enya playing in the background—the messages I received felt profound, laced with the weight of prophecy. It gave me much to think about and offered guidance through the season of life that lies ahead of me. To say I am grateful would be an understatement. Thank you, Michelle! <3

There are two lessons from this story: the first is that it doesn’t hurt to ask for or even just joke more about the things you want. You never know when the universe will surprise you by winking back. Expressing your desires is a first step towards having them fulfilled.

The second is that magic can be created, not just by witches or wizards but by people seizing opportunities as they present themself and stepping through them like portals. We can all be looking harder for these types of moments so that we don’t miss our own windows to practice alchemy. They are an invitation to transform something ordinary into something delightful, and to create constellations together.

It doesn’t need to be complicated; after all, a constellation is a recipe requiring just two ingredients. Shining objects, and someone sharp enough to notice the pattern.

✨ Shapes and magic; there are constellations everywhere for those with the eyes to see. ✨

A book on constellations, rescued from a curbside box and blessed by the presence of my cat Eleanor.