There are many magical paths. Some of them are easy to walk on our own. Others require guidance from more experienced practitioners.
No matter what magical path you choose, and however knowledgeable your advisor is, you are always the person who knows best what you need to do. You know what is working well for you and what isn’t working out.
That doesn’t mean that we have nothing to learn, or that we can’t learn from another person. A particular teacher may ask us to take something on faith for a period of time to try out a new skill or to push beyond our comfort zone. It does mean that if someone asks us to do something that violates our ethical standards, or asks us to give them more than we are willing to pay for our lessons, we can and should say no to them. Magical teaching doesn’t have to be painful or expensive – it should be interesting and fun.
If your magical instructor isn’t providing you with more information than you had when you started, leave! Find another teacher. If the book you are reading doesn’t seem to help you, put it down!
Most importantly, listen to the inner voice pointing you in a particular direction. The best gift we can give ourselves is to cultivate our own intuition and tap into the wellsprings of wisdom in all of us.
Affirmation
I am my own best teacher.
Write this affirmation on a sticky note or 3×5 card and put it where you can see it every day. Repeat the affirmation every day for a week.
Practice: My teachers
For your next journal entry think about your favorite teacher. This can be a teacher from school or college, a private tutor, or someone giving informal classes through a college extension, bookstore, or even in their home. What did you learn from that person? Was that person a good teacher for you? What techniques did they use, and how did they approach their students? Write a list of the actions and characteristics that they used in teaching you.
Now think about your least favorite teacher. What did you learn from that person? Did you learn as much as you did from your favorite teacher? What techniques and approaches did they use? Write a list of the actions and characteristics that person used in teaching you.
We can learn from teachers we don’t like. Was your favorite teacher your best teacher? Most of us learn most comfortably from instructors whose teaching style matches our learning style. A teacher who works well with one student may not be the best teacher for another.
These journal entries can start you thinking about how to evaluate the people who teach you to make sure they are right for you.