But everything is a spell. Your words and thoughts are spells. Science is just another system that tries to discover what certain spells cause certain effects. Usually, of course, scientists don’t understand magic any more than priests do; and they all get caught up in their own complicated methods.

There isn’t much basic difference between muttering a lot of different phrases or drawing magic circles to protect yourself against illness, and taking handfuls of pills given to you by doctors. Both methods work if you believe in them, though the practitioners of one method will never agree that the other way works at all, of course. And unfortunately, neither side really understands magic, which is behind all of the spells and methods and formulas.

Spells work if you believe in them; only you don’t need spells at all. Everything happens by itself. You happen by yourself, so does the world. And the principle behind it all is magic. And magic is the beingness within and behind all things.

The Body and Creaturehood

Within your creaturehood, you have all kinds of freedom. And all of the freedom you can ever enjoy in your lifetime must come through your creaturehood. Some people spend a good deal of time trying to ignore their own bodies, or trying to pretend that they only have minds, or that minds alone are important. Some people even try to ignore their bodies almost entirely in an effort to be more spiritual, or to be “better” people, which is like a bird trying to fly better than any other bird alive … all the time refusing to use its wings, or pretending that they weren’t there. He’d never get off the ground. A bird would never think of such foolishness, of course, and often other creatures are smarter than people.

In fact, whenever you’re in trouble, it’s a good idea to watch the animals, for they bask in their freedom and don’t worry about their limitations. A cat or dog can teach you a lot. A cat really enjoys its catness, just as you should enjoy your creaturehood. Even a fly buzzing around the ceiling loves its own reality and is free in it. If it stopped to wonder whether or not it could really fly—well, it would fall down in a minute or never go fast enough to outwit your mother’s flyswatter.

So, trying to be religious or “good” or “‘better” by ignoring your body doesn’t make much sense either.