I Sing the Body Electric

Magic is Real. As real as you are. And me. And no, I'm not talking about that magic(which, too, is also very real).

The Magic of the Everyday. Of Breath, and Wind, and Fire.

The Magic that is the Body as well.

For me, personally, the body is the Key that unlocks the Door.
I'm not looking to transcend my body. I'm looking to move further and further into it. To meld with it. For me, this is Magic.

That Blood Courses through my veins, with no conscious thought of it. That as I sleep, I continue to Breathe. That I wake up, each morning, still here. Breathing. Alive. And that these acts aren't things that I even have a general thought about having to do. This, to me, is deep, deep Magic.

My body has it's own wisdom that seems entirely separate from my conscious brain. My conscious mind.

I've learned over the years, as I've become wholer and wholer, that my body-and listening to it- is the Key. My Unihipili. The One Who Holds Memories and Instincts.

I'm not talking about the part of the body that holds traumatic memories. Fears. Angst.

But that Deeper part that takes the step, walks forward. Turns the right corners. Reaches out to the right people. Bumps in to the appropriate 'strangers'. Gets on that airplane, despite my anxious aversions to flight.

Conversely, it's also the same Deeper knowing body that recoils from dangerous people. That tries to save you from some of your stupider mistakes. That delays you from getting on the wrong train, the wrong bus. That keeps you from Harms Way.

Magic.

And what of the seeds and the stars? That I plant this tiny, tiny hard thing into soil. Add water, place it in sunshine, and some inner force, some inner fire (all five elements, if you look, are present here) compels it to grow. To 'germinate'. Crack it's shell. Push up. Up. Through the soil, towards the light.
And me being a Gardener, understanding the Science of it, doesn't take away even one iota that this is a Miracle. That Magic has occurred(and is occurring), every time something grows. ...or 'dies' (transforms).

For me, true Science, and true Magic are One. They enhance one another, not negate each other. They are In Love. Two sides to the same language, that creates the Third, and makes up the Alchemical Dance.

Knowing how and why air pumps through our lungs, blood flows through our veins, makes it more magical to me that it happens at all. Not less.

* * *
I was very lucky as a child in many ways. Where I went to school -elementary through high- I had some amazing teachers, that cultivated the arts in me(both big and little 'A'). I fell in love with Shakespeare and drama, via my junior high school English teacher, Mr. Keningston. Who also taught us poetry via Phil Ochs lyrics(!). I was introduced to Kate Bush via our substitute band teacher-also in junior high- who simply went by the name of 'Les'. Boy, was Les Cool.

And the songs we sang in elementary school and junior high were radical! Radical in their romance. Their Optimism. Their Hope. A lot of which, apparently, I would never have learned, had it not been for the great Pete Seeger.

I leave you now, with a song that popped into my head as I was watching my favorite movie late Saturday afternoon(the movie which inspired this post). 'I Sing the Body Electric', from the movie(and television show) Fame. Which incidentally is also the title to a rather famous poem by Uncle Walt(Whitman, that is). Who, I am only now in the past few months really exploring the amazing Poetry of. And I wonder if the person who wrote the song, named it after Uncle Walt's poem, as he too was an extreme and supreme Exalter and Lover of the Body(and all her/his Wisdom) as Magic.

Remember to Keep your Awe. Keep your Wonder. Keep Your Magic.

- (c) Ayanna H.


I sing the body electric
I celebrate the me yet to come
I toast to my own reunion
When I become one with the sun

And I'll look back on Venus
I'll look back on Mars
And I'll burn with the fire
of ten million stars
And in time
And in time
We will all be stars

I sing the body electric
I glory in the glow of rebirth
Creating my own tomorrow
When I shall embody the earth

And I'll serenade Venus
I'll serenade Mars
And I'll burn with the fire
of ten million stars
And in time
And in time
We will all be stars

We are the emperors now
And we are the czars
And in time
And in time
We will all be stars

And I'll serenade Venus
I'll serenade Mars
And I'll burn with the fire
of ten million stars
And in time
And in time
We will all be stars

(anyone know for sure who penned these lovely lyrics? Saw 3 different possibilities when I googled it. Thanks :-)