The glamour spell?
Glamouring is a powerful magic and you need a strong defence against it or it will control your life, this is not an anti-witchery diatribe, in general I am in favour of witches, good people, but some practise the dark arts. They might hide themselves by using different names such as advertising executives, marketing professional, lifestyle coach but make no mistake they are using glamouring on you, they are creating a feeling of what processing this thing that they are selling you will be like when you have it, and it is always amazing, life changing and absolutely necessary for your happiness. Just because you never actually feel like that when you do have the thing, does not matter as there is always the next glamour, the new things, the upgrade that will definitely give you that feeling this time, that is what is being sold to you, the promise of a feeling.
Against such a promise you need real defences, you need a plan, prastise and memory, recognise that we are all susceptible to glamouring, we share a hope that life can be better and that is the promise that is being sold to you, it starts with agreement, the problem is with the method, that you can buy happiness like a loaf of bread. Money helps with happiness but how you spend it is more important than just having a lot of it, though it does eliminate negatives that cause unnecessary suffering, a roof over your head, food, fancy coffee, time not working with friends and family, these are all wise investments. What you can not buy is feelings especially the feelings that glamouring uses, that sense of completeness, that you have solved life's problems and that you are finally going to get the grand prize of bliss and happiness.
That is your first defence and warning that you are being glamoured, that you are feeling something when you think about your next purchase or desire, that warm glow that you might have found the answer, a perfect solution to a nagging problem, a hat that makes you feel stylish at last, an egg cooker that will give a runny yolk every time, a car that gives you unlimited freedom whilst saving the planet, these are all illusions. The hat will still annoy some people, you will forget the egg timer and end up with a hard boiled disaster, and you will still be late and stuck in a traffic jam in your new car, life always ends up in the way, that feeling only exists before you buy the thing. They might help a little, there are useful tools but none of them finish the puzzle of life, there are always things that are going to be unsatisfactory, has anyone ever got to the end of their amazon list by buying their way there, the only way to reduce that list is by deleting items to stop chasing your desires and reassessing them.
When you really need something life will tell you, it will give you problems that require a tool that you do not have, it can be fun to try and find a solution that does not require buying something, that will do until you find a better answer. The world of making do is fun, using the world in a creative way brings real delight, that is not to say you do not make a considered purchase that solves the problem in an elegant way, but knowing why you are paying for something, why it has value to you is so much more satisfying than just paying a lot of money for an immediate solution. It is the difference between learning how to cook or at least understanding the process, and paying for every meal in a restaurant without any appreciation for the skill of the chef.
That is why we need our memory in fighting the effects of glamouring, we need to remember how we felt before buying something and afterwards when we actually own the thing that was going to complete us and give us eternal happiness. The feelings are never the same, things can make us happier but never as much as we think, a hobby does not mean we are never bored again, no matter how much fun it is for a while, it fades, we require new interests, not just the same one repeatedly, collecting appeals to the same kind of completeness but no collection is ever complete or finished. Holidays, experiences, great days out are certainly the spice that makes life worth living, but you can not eat spice alone, instead a little is better than a lot, what is important is the boring everyday, carrots and potatoes of life, better quality basics make for a better soup than any fancy herb that you can add to it, and yet we do not dream of them it is the special ingrediency that excites our feelings. That is why feelings without the experience of managing them is so dangerous, it is exactly how an infant acts, only interested in chocolate and ice-cream whilst crying at the thought of a parsnip, we have to grow into being an adult by cultivating an appreciation for the simple things. That is the shift that has to take place within us to truly battle the magic of glamouring, we have to know ourselves which takes time.
The real defence against glamouring is remembering the experience of falling prey to those that would use it against us, and it is so important as we only have a limited amount of time, money and attention to spend in our lives, so do not make the same mistakes repeatedly. When we are looking for a direction in life, our purpose and meaning, it comes down to the fundamental question of what do we want, and I hope it is obvious that if you are under a glamour the answers to those questions is distorted. If your answer is full of feeling it does not automatically mean that it is true, your feeling can be distorted, it is the mark of the mature consciousness to be aware of what glamours are operating in your life and refuse them power over you, so that you can make your choices based on what actually brings you happiness, it not just the pursuit of any feeling, especially those that someone else gave you, the answers lay in what your inner self tells you is true, that silent voice inside you is a better guide than anything anyone else can tell you.
It is only with repeated experience that we gain the practise of resisting the glamour of what we should want according to others, that we learn to trust what feeling really lead to our happiness. When feelings have a self-centred element to them it almost always lead to disappointment, on the other hand when we have the feeling of lovingness, that flows from the internal outwards, the giving, sharing kind of feelings, they are the ones that lead to greater happiness than anything else, however do not believe me, try it and observe it in your own live, and remember the contrast between the two, that is the only way to defeat glamour because it uses our own immature feelings against us. It is up to us to grow up and use your experience to make better decisions both for yourself and others, that is why it is fine to forgive ourselves for our learning period, being glamoured is part of becoming an adult and learn to defend yourself is the mark of a change and a transition to a better you.
