Tribes of magic
In our day
and age the old tribal awareness, once rooted in genetic and ethnic
connections, is changing, people feel a tribal connection based on common cultural
patters, shared expressions like music, literature, sports or just common
interests. The internet and its social networking opportunities enhances this trend. So there are tribes of people
interested and active in this or that hobby, activity or subject.
A special kind of tribal awareness, and one that has deep roots in many
indigenous cultures, is the shared feeling that a tribe shares a magical
understanding, a sacred and to some extent secret core. We can call these the tribes of
magic.
This magical
feeling goes beyond the religious, it has to do with
the spiritual connectedness to the all, with nature, the earth, with the notion
that we are all one. Anyone who has experienced the deep connection of
indigenous and sometimes age-old tribes understands this, but magical tribes
have also developed in our modern world. In many forms, sometimes diametrically
opposed to current values, like the Cathars then and
the Hell’s Angels now, sometimes hidden in remote locations like the Essenes then and religious sects nowadays.
What
matters is to acknowledge the magical, apart from ethical or moral values, to
honour the sense of connectedness, with each other and the wider all.
Especially as this sense of connectedness is suppressed, antagonized, often
deemed illegal or criminal, this sometimes leads to resistance, revolution or
deviant behaviour. Tribes of magic in
that sense are often repressed and deemed anti-social and their members
prosecuted and worse. This polarisation
- and history is full of examples, the Cathars
are but one example - actually enhances the tribal feeling and group cohaesion, a common enemy unites like nothing else.
The value
of the tribes of magic is that they often, not always, preserve deep knowledge
and wisdom and maintain a connection with the past, with traditions in danger
of disappearance, with perennial understanding lost in our material affluence.
Magical
tribes are the salt of the earth, and there are many different salts! The
Christiania people and the Ruigoord folks, coming
together in July
A meeting
of the tribes of magic, not aimed at convincing each other or the world, but
just celebrating the diversity, respecting the variance of beliefs, rituals and
worldviews is a great way to spread the message of tolerance and respect the
world needs, today as ever.
It can also
help individual tribe members to learn from others, to widen their view, to
become a global and yet tribal human being. The quality and influence of any
tribe depends on their common good, but also on the level of awareness of the
individual members.
L.Sala
June 12st,
2008