What calls itself magic isn't. And what does not call itself so actually relies on magic.

During a recent stay at an AirBnB, I was in a house with an extensive collection of books - including this one that caught my eye.  I was so fascinated that I ordered the book from Amazon within minutes. This book isn't about magic as you normally think of it. But it is about magic, the magic called religion. It is about Paganism, about wizards and about witches. This book was my first insight into Paganism. And, my attraction was due to the fact that the book could very well be describing Hinduism. The sections are: 1) The arts of the ritual, 2) By the light of the Sun, Moon and Stars, 3) The Symbolic Tools, 4) Marking the Cycle of the year, and 5) Developing super senses.

Given that Hinduism and Paganism as so close to each other, that it would not be inappropriate to classify the two together.

Like Hinduism, there is emphasis on rituals, and on nature around us - positions of stars, planets and moon, time of the year, "elements" like fire. And on gemstones and chanting. And on meditation.

There are differences too. Most practitioners of Hinduism believe in its magic, yet, will bristle if you use the term magic. Paganism calls itself magic.

Pagan magic is done through rituals. In my brief introduction through this book, I see that most Pagan rituals are mindful activities - each ritual has a specific meaning that the performer needs to pay attention to. On the other side, most Hindu rituals (not all, mind you) that I have had the chance to experience have been done mindlessly - you do what the priest or the text tells you to do without knowing anything about the why of it.

It is time we tried to understand Hindu rituals - by asking questions before doing them. They all have deep meaning - it is just that the meaning is lost. Lost because priests performing them either did not want the masses to know, or they themselves did not know. I suspect it is the first one that led to the second one. That is what makes it magic. And we need to make it practical magic rather than blind one.

Family Values, Spirituality and Rituals

Of family values, spirituality and rituals, what is most important in the upbringing of children? If you answered "all three," you would be right - at least in my book. Of course, others have their own views.

(Why call them family values, why not humanistic values - yes, indeed they are humanistic values, but they are more often than not imparted in the family, and may relate to individuals as well as society.)

We need a balance between these three - and that balance is something very difficult to achieve.

This difficulty leads to "outsourcing" or "delegation." People don't want to teach their children family values themselves, so they take shelter in the so-called spirituality - "go learn what is spiritual and you will be fine." Even that is difficult for some people - they say - "go do the rituals, and you will be fine." Unfortunately, religion in India is full of these rituals, with no thought to spirituality and values, rendering these rituals totally meaningless. And there are enough people in India who peddle these rituals, creating cults around themselves. These cult-masters build a culture of obsequiousness where everything is outsourced to the master. People do what the master tells them, without regard to spirituality or family values or even thinking for themselves. The net is that there is much harm to the society.

Religion being the opium of the masses, it is the educated people who need to lead the way by showing balance. If they too fall into this easy path of - don't need to teach family values or spirituality, because rituals are everything, then you have to worry about the society.

Not every ritualist is non-spritual and not every spiritual person lacks family values. Clearly, there are balanced people in the world. And, we need more of them, not people who emphasize rituals over everything else.