Tapestry of Faith: Faithful Journeys: A Program about Pilgrimages of Faith in Action for Grades 2-3

Activity 5: Defining Magic

Activity time: 5 minutes

Preparation for Activity

  • Read the description of this activity to ground your understanding of what "magic" means in a pagan Unitarian Universalist context.

Description of Activity

Gather the group in a circle. Ask the children what they think magic is. Take a few answers. Then say, in your own words:

Many people think magic is tricks, like pulling a live rabbit out of a hat or making a quarter disappear. But some people in our Unitarian Universalist congregations believe in a different kind of magic. They believe magic is something people can do and there are no tricks to it. Magic can happen when you bring all your attention and focus on one intention, something good you want to have happen, and you raise energy, like we did in the spiral dance earlier, or like Aisha did in the story when she banged cymbals and chanted about Lammas at the peace rally.

This means you can be a magic maker when you think of something positive you want to do and you create some energy to help make it happen.

Magic has consequences. A good consequence was when Aisha found the courage to speak in front of the crowd. But a bad consequence could happen if your focus is not on something positive, or if you create lots of energy with no purpose. It is really important that you create magic for good, by focusing on intentions that hurt no one and are healthy and good for everyone.