cover photo features someone wearing a zip-up jacket, fuzzy trapper hat, and goggles, left fingers placed thoughtfully on their chin while contemplating a luminous sparkler held in their right. © Matt Palmer

MUGGLE STUDIES

Hidden Powers (of Non-Magic People)

“We do not need Magic to transform our world. We carry all of the power we need inside ourselves already.” – J.K. Rowling

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{ MODULE #3 }

Power of Courage

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” – Winston Churchill

It’s all well and good to show up and have a positive attitude, but it’s another thing to actually get the job done. This month’s lesson addresses follow-through and responsibility. Using your personal willpower to accomplish whatever it is that you decided to put your energy into.

Someone who wants to work on their physical fitness isn’t going to accomplish this by sitting at home all day without getting any form of exercise, nor will they see results they’re looking for by completing a single workout. Yet by disciplining ourselves into coming back to the goal over and over again, it is possible to achieve a great many things. Where would we be if the sun didn’t continue to rise every day?

This Power is represented by the balance between Pride and Shame, for humility plays a large role when it comes to Courage. Sometimes we can avoid trying new things to avoid looking silly or out of concern for failure, missing out on opportunities to discover new skillets and interests.

Courage can be very playful! A child doesn’t get overly caught up in how good they are at something when they’re making believe, they simply enjoy being in the moment and pretending that they’re a variety of different roles. By “acting as though” they can try out different scenarios and relationships. As adults, we encourage this kind of imaginative fun, however don’t always feel comfortable offering this same level of support when it comes to be playful in our own lives.

Concern for embarrassment can cause many to shy away from trying out a new role, so it is courageous of us when we are able to be self-encouraging toward our interests and don’t give up on what strikes our fires of passion. Fire being the primary element of this energy! Rather than comparing ourselves to how somebody else may be performing, we can boldly enjoy the adventures of our own lives.

I don’t have to feel “less than” just because I’m not able to do certain things the same way as someone else, nor am I “greater than” anyone if I seem to have more of a grasp of something than they do. We are all gifted with strengths and struggles that give us a place and purpose to work with and teach us many lessons. The power of courage is associated with the color Yellow, held primarily in the Solar Plexus and linked with the concept of judgement. How do we put ourselves above or below one another?

Finding balance and moderation is a lot like trying to manage equity between people. We are all different, and therefor have different needs. Sometimes we may receive more or less of something in order to maintain a certain sense of fairness. You, then me. Like taking steps forward left, right, left, right, rather than hopping with both feet to get around. That would not be entirely practical, and is inevitably more exhausting than simply strolling down the road one foot in front of the other. I enjoy the equitable analogy of three people (one tall, one short, and one in-between) standing next to three crates near a fence and wishing to see what’s on the other side. The short person needs to stand on two crates in order to see over the fence. The person who is in-between in height only needs the last one. The tall person doesn’t need any at all in order to catch the view, and all are able to see perfectly what’s happening across the way. This is how “equality” can often times not be the most fair or equitable outcome of any given situation, for if each of these people received only one crate, someone would have been left out for no reason.

“Done is better than good.” There may always be a time and place to leave things off, but to continually move on from things that are partially finished is an example of how this energy can be under-active in our lives, while being an over-perfectionist, nitpicking all the time to the point of constant anxiety or spreading ourselves thin taking on too much or not being able to say “no” to others demonstrates an over-activity.

This decisive energy is about discerning what we say yes to and what we say no to. In order to moderate ourselves, we must be able to discriminate against what doesn’t serve our goals. What kind of foods to we consume? Where are we putting our money? We vote with our time, attention, and dollars, and every little bit adds up. Are we making conscious decisions about how we behave or mindlessly giving our power away? It would be silly to mix red and blue paint together and then get upset when it creates purple when we were hoping to create green, but if we aren’t being mindful of utilizing correct combinations to support the outcomes we desire, these are the kinds of unsatisfactory results that we’ll be met with.

When we pay attention to the choices at hand, whether we like the options or not, we are embracing the fact that we do have a say in our own lives and the courageous power to influence the future by dealing in the present now. We cannot blame somebody else for what we say and do, or the opportunities we choose to let pass us by, or choose in favor of another. We cannot always control the world around us, but we do have the ability to control how we respond. Courage is controlling ourselves with humility, rather than letting our pride or shame rule how we posture ourselves.

What kind of posture do you take in your life? Both in how you hold your spine/the rest of your body, as well as how you conduct yourself. To posture yourself as “weak” or “no good” will be presented as such to others, while taking on the character of someone with a humble yet brilliant disposition will make people want to get to know who that soulful individual is. Never feel so ashamed that you hide that amazing self of yours away from the world! You are as luminous as all that lights up the sky.

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{ ASSIGNMENT #3 }

30 points

please submit all work to hiddenpowers@mugglestudies.org with the subject “Module #3 – Your HOL Name

Meditation (10 points)

“Half Scroll” / 50 words

Spend some time in reflection of this month’s lesson. Rather than actively thinking about the topic, find stillness and simply notice. What comes up for you? Don’t get too hung up on any particular memories, images, concepts, or feelings that arise, but do take note. Each time something pops up, acknowledge it, then return to centering yourself. Perhaps following your breath with each inhale and exhale as you re-anchor into the quietness. We can tend to have easily active Monkey Minds that want to jump around a lot, and we call it a meditation “practice” because over time it can become easier and easier to calm our inner chatter, as well as doing so for longer periods of time. Some days are more overactive than others, but just because we keep becoming distracted doesn’t mean we’re doing anything wrong. It’s like any muscle, the more you work at it the more you see the strengthening benefits in other areas of your life. After you’ve spent five minutes or so seeing what bubbles up, spend another five minutes jotting these things down. This can be listed as short bullet points with or without addition details, essentially in any brainstorm style you prefer. The goal is to quickly write out as much as you can remember, however seemingly insignificant, or any last minute ideas to get it all out of your head without worrying too much about how cohesive your notes are once written down. You may include anything that has to do with preparing for, practicing, and wrapping up your meditation experience if you’ve used any music/props/scents, and such.

Monologue (15 points)

“Scroll-and-a-Half” / 150 words

Consider what you’ve written down from your brainstorm. What jumps out at you that’s wanting to be explored a little more deeply? Come up with a topic based around these meditations and write an essay about your personal perspective on the matter. This could be a single aspect or multiple elements from your list. In addition to sending in via e-mail, you feel like sharing with your peers go ahead and post this to the corresponding “Media & Monologues” thread at the Class Forum with or without including your “Meditation” and/or “Mindfulness” responses added in together. This is voluntary and will not effect your points one way or another, however it will add to our community vibe and could stir up conversations or contribute toward any “Mining” points others may wish to accrue over time.

• Mindfulness (5 points)

“Quarter-Scroll” / 25 words

In what way(s) is this month’s Power currently in- or out-of-balance in your life? Is there anything you could do, communicate, or adjust that would help either regain or maintain this balance, and/or in what ways might you already be doing this, whether you’ve fully realized it or not?

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{ EXTRA CREDIT #3 }

30 points

Choose any TWO of the following prompts.

Extra Credit options may NOT be used in place of Assignment work.

In addition to submitting via e-mail, you are encouraged to please share these publicly in the corresponding “Extra Credit” thread over on the Class Forum wherever comfortable. While this will not effect your points earned, it will encourage interactions by providing additional ways for people to connect. Particularly those who take part in the “Mining” portions of these exercises over time if they enjoy or relate to your work and choose to touch base on something you may have shared within their own writing.

Manifestation (15 points)

“Scroll-and-a-Half” / 150 words

Write some kind of a Short Story or Poem that revolves around this month’s Power. Let those creative juices flow! Please note that regardless of number of lines, even poetry submissions must adhere to the 150 word requirement for full credit.

Memory (15 points)

“Scroll-and-a-Half” / 150 words

Share a story from your past that reminds you of this month’s Power. This may be from your real life (keeping privacy rules in mind), and/or experiences you’ve had here at HOL.

Media (15 points)

“Scroll-and-a-Half” / 150 words

Based on your reflections from this month’s lesson, choose one piece of media you find in any way to relate to these concepts floating around. This could be a book, television show, movie, musical album, etc., and doesn’t have to be something completely new to yourself, so long as it speaks to you as connecting to the vibe you’re associating with this energy. Perhaps you’ll go into detail about why you chose this in particular, along with what aspects correspond most appropriately with your sense of this month’s power. What’s your general opinion of your selection’s strengths or weaknesses? Anything unexpected or enlightening come up along the way? Include whatever you feel compelled to share!

Mining (15 points)

“Scroll-and-a-Half” / 150 words

Head over to the Class Forum and explore. If you find something written in a previous post that in your mind relates to this month’s power in any way which inspires you to further expand or reflect upon, you can use this as an option for Extra Credit here. You’re welcome to poke around or ‘mine through’ the past years of work shared from previous members of the class to find thoughts, concepts, theories, or stories that strike a chord in you and help point toward something you may wish to write about here.

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++ Please Note: in accordance with official HOL School Timelines, NO EXTENSIONS are permitted past end of semester deadlines. “Muggle Studies: Hidden Powers” is a One Term ClassAny Assignment, Extra Credit, or Exam MUST be received by 11:59pm HOL-time on January 15th (for Fall), then June 15th (for Spring) in order to qualify for House Points or a Quill unless a minimal grace period has already been granted. ++