Author: Michael Tino

Magic is a gift that I hold on to in this place, because it helps me hold on to the core value of love. I have experienced a lot of hardship during my time of incarceration. It is only through my exercise of magic that I feel able to survive the dark times that I’m going through.  I have to use my magical powers every day to not give up. I use magic to refrain from succumbing to the darkness and to hatred for the people who continuously seek to bring out a demon that I buried a long time ago. -Jonathan Hayes (a CLF Member incarcerated in IN)

When have you relied on forces you did not understand to help you through hardship?

Have you ever made cooking magic? Sometimes, all it takes is a pinch of salt or a teaspoon of lemon juice to alter the chemistry of an entire dish. A little instant decaf coffee in your chocolate cake, maybe, or an eighth of a teaspoon of cardamom in the blueberry pie. It’s science, and art, and magic, all wrapped up together.

When have you experienced surprising cooking magic?

My internship supervisor used to take note when things were working in ways that no one could understand or explain to bend the universe towards connection. “UU Woo Woo,” he’d note, dryly, and nod. He meant nothing derisive by this, and I came to learn that if we keep at it enough, we can bend the universe towards connection. Maybe just a little bit, but enough to notice. Enough to make a minister somewhere nod, knowingly. -Michael Tino (CLF)

When have you experienced a connection that you could not explain?

“Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.” -The Great and Powerful Wizard of Oz

Sometimes, what seems like magic is just an imperfect human trying to hold on to something that is not theirs. And sometimes, that imperfect human is also beautiful, and worthy of compassion.

When have you unveiled magic to find something worthy of compassion?

Mushrooms to me are magical. Not the kind that one takes to take trips on the couch (though they are magical too), I’m talking about the ones that support trees through the underground root system. According to current scientific understanding, mycelium, the network of fungal threads, acts as a way for trees to “talk” to each other by sending chemical signals through the underground network they create, essentially allowing trees to communicate and share nutrients with one another; this network is often referred to as the “wood wide web.”  While science explains this, to me this is nature’s magic. -Aisha Hauser (CLF)

Appreciate a mushroom or a tree today.