If you haven’t seen the Harry Potter movies, come out from under your rock and watch them. I admit I’m a huge fan and have spent many hours watching the movies, readings the books again, and having long discussions with friends about it. I confess. I’m a nerd. One of the many things that struck me about the books was when Harry found the Mirror of Erised. I was clueless in not recognizing that erised is desire backward. Then I wondered what would show in the mirror behind me. I have pondered this question for years and could never think of anything.

Of course, I could come up with superficial things like a new car, bigger house, vacations, etc. Then I remembered that the mirror would only show our deepest desire. The obvious answer would be money. Everyone knows that when someone has a lot of money, things are easier. No one with a brain would ever say that they didn’t want money, but I believe that most of us don’t care about money itself, but about what it can do.

I was reading a book called Instant Magick by Christopher Penczak. In it, he talks about doing spells for whatever you want to happen in your life. I borrowed the book from a friend not knowing why I did. I stood next to her bookshelf looking for books, and it jumped out at me. I took it home along with a few others, and it was one of the last books I read. It was interesting and the information was accessible. If anyone was willing to put in the effort to grasp what he was saying, they could immediately begin to work spells in their lives.

I had a lot of takeaways from the book. The main one being that when you do a spell, think deeper about what you want. He gave the example of doing a spell for money to get medication. He said instead of asking for money, ask for the medication. If you only ask for money, you block the universe from manifesting the medication for you in another way. There might be another way for you to get what you need, but you’ve blocked that avenue by only allowing it to come to you in a certain way. 

That was an eye-opener. I consider myself to be a person who is open to however the universe wants to hand me something, but that’s not necessarily true. I, like most people, have a tendency to think small when I need to be thinking bigger. Esther Hicks and Abraham always say things like, ‘think about what you want, not about what is.” Unfortunately, there are days when the “what is” is kicking my butt. It consumes my time and limits my creativity and optimism as well as all the other good things that could help elevate my vibration. It stops me from changing my current “what is” into a better one.

Taking into account what Mr. Penczak said about digging deeper to find what you want, I had to really give it some thought. My end result has always been money because of what it can do. Then I asked myself, what is it that I want money to do? What is the thing that I want that money can buy? That is the thing that I want. That is what would show in the Mirror of Erised.

Once I thought about it, I realized that what I want are safety and security. I don’t know what that would look like in front of the mirror, but what it feels like is the satisfaction in knowing that anything that happens financially will be covered. To know that I could have anything I wanted, from trips to trinkets and I wouldn’t be in over my head. 

I’ve never been a “Material Girl.” Yes, I’m old enough to have been alive when the song was released. I don’t dream of mansions and fancy cars. I dream of comfort surrounded by family and friends, a trip here or there, and sitting with a cup of tea and a book. If something breaks, I can pay for it outright without worrying that I will have to do one of those “rob Peter to pay Paul” kinds of things. No more juggling or timing everything just right to avoid overdraft fees. The moment that clicked in my head, I felt a sense of calm come over me. That was it, the ultimate goal.

I don’t know what it will look like in the end, but at least I know what I’m aiming for, and I have a direction. Any spells I choose to do in the future would be to achieve that end and I’m making sure that the universe has plenty of room to hand it to me in the fastest and most convenient way possible. I also feel different because I’ve obtained a sense of control over my situation. Not that my circumstances changed the minute I got it, but I did. Once perception changes, everything changes. Ask yourself, what is your erised?