Learning from my A, B, C’s
I took to words like a bird to the skies and began my literary flights of fancy early in my life. Particularly enchanted by rhythm and rhyme, palindromes, puns and other ‘electro-poetic’ linguistic phenomena, I announced to my parents with absolute certainty at the age of three or four, “I bet I now know all the words in the English language.” My mother said, ‘I bet you don’t,’ and spoke a word I’d never heard before. Taken aback, I asked her, “What language was that?”
I was one of those children who believed that ‘L, M, N, O’ was actually one letter—pronounced ‘elemeno.’ Years later, I came to look upon both the Alphabet—and myself—as literally ‘elemental,’ which I like to spell ‘L-M-N-tal.’ Given that the word ‘literal’ means actual and factual as well as pertaining to the Alphabet, I feel justified in this assertion.
By six, I was questioning the Alphabet’s origins: “Who said, A, B, C, D?!” I wondered suspiciously to myself since there was no one else to whom I could pose what I thought must be a very ‘stupid question’ since no one ever made mention of it.
Letters and words became my favorite plaything. I was delighted to discover that L-E-V-E-L is a level word; that PARALLEL has three parallel lines, and OP-PO-SITE begins with opposites. I found other such words with spellings that reflect their meaning and have never ceased to be excited by a new linguistic ‘discovery.’
Gamboling on the AlphaBet: In grade school, when studying the Conquistadors, I remember wanting to be an explorer and feeling disappointed that all of the continents had already been discovered. Now, I like to joke that ‘they’ saved the ‘consonants’ for me. As for the vowels, though I haven’t fully deciphered them all, I have noticed that they’re ‘out-of-order’ and wrote a piece called, Rearranging the vOWLs in Poetical Order, to address that problem.
I began looking more closely at the Alphabet as a teenager. First letter to arrest my attention was L, for it is all that stands between the WORD and the WORLD. I also saw how L instantly turned GOD to GOLD, which so many worship as God on Earth.
Could L be God of the Alphabet? I wondered. I found other interesting permutations wrought by the letter L and remembered as well that in Hebrew, ‘el’ is an abbreviated reference to God—as well as being a representation of the masculine in Latin languages. From there, I moved on to the Letter T, the sign of the Cross.
Once I had a dream that I had signed up for a class on the Biblical origins of the English language. I was so excited to enter the tall wooden tower on the palisade above the sea where the class was to convene. But I was surprised to learn that I was the only person in attendance.
Don’t you find it ironic that though the Western world generally considers symbols to be ‘the language of the unconscious,’ we are mostly unconscious to the significance of the most prevalent set of symbols on the planet—our 26-letter Alphabet?
My own rather limited decoding of the esoteric Alphabet has rendered what I am certain must be ‘the definitive exegesis of the Letter S in verse.’ This piece, entitled eSoterica by Laurel Airica, is not as yet available on YouTube or in written form.I only share it in performances.
Another of my Alphabet poems deals with the ‘two eyes’ in the Alphabet and shows how they relate to our lower and higher selves. It is called the Aye that is Oui. My AlphaBet poem on L.O.V.E.’s Letters currently sits unfinished in a file cabinet.
ReDiscovering Ancient Wisdom
I began writing poetry at the age of seven and plays at nine. Though I grew up in an extended family of visual and musical artists, my parents did not encourage their children’s artistic pursuits. The upside of this situation is that it caused me to isolate myself and to focus deeply on my ever-present playmate, the English language. And that’s how it is that I came to look so deeply into words for a sense of the source of the ideas that have driven us crazy.
The insights I gained into language and life, as a result of peering into puns and the ‘cymbals’ of the alphabet from such an early age, turned out to be compatible with a perspective that was held by leading philosophers in ancient cultures of the East and West; namely, that
- Words speak for themselves in ways that both reflect and affect the cultural assumptions we mistake for reality and the innate wisdom we possess as humans;
- Creative wordplay can enhance literacy, turn a punster into a pundit, and lead us back to a primal recognition of the power of The Word to impact the quality of our World.
In addition to rendering a number of illuminating discoveries, my intense fascination with the English language has also helped to soothe me under the intense lunar pressures that can make mystics and lunatics of us all. It is my hope that by exploring this website, you, too, will feel liberated to embark more fully on your own creative flights of fancy that lift you out of this world while also directly Earthing you into it—so that you can expand in your own awareness and effectiveness in sharing your essential gifts with the world.
Once I had a dream that I was either listening to a linguist speak—or perhaps I was reading his manuscript. Regardless the source of the knowledge, he explained that once human beings upgrade the English language, the children who incarnate will not have to undergo the forgetting process of who they are and what they’ve come here to do.
The Birth of My Verse
In the 80s, I wrote a prose manuscript on all that I’d discovered and surmised about the language. However, the editor at the publishing house to which I took it—though enjoying my perspective—told me that without a Ph.D., it would never get published.
About a decade later, I wrote a poem while a student of Rev. Michael Beckwith at the Agape International Spiritual Center. Shortly after performing it at a public event, I was contacted by the founder of an award-winning New Age record label. He became the generous patron of my art enabling me to turn everything I’d discovered about words into verse. In the process, I turned myself into the ‘Metaphysical Mother Goose.’
Now, I sometimes like to describe myself as a Diction Recovery Specialist—using the definition of diction that relates to an elevated level of language usage in the selection, arrangement and clarity of words. In my view, being able to speak with clarity and eloquence adds to one’s pleasure, self-esteem, and powers of persuasion.
Years ago—long before WordMagic—a man asked me what it was I wanted to do with my writing. And before I could think the words emerged, “I want to set the Fire on page.” And one day, I had the realization that it must be possible in my poetry to orchestrate light and sound in such a way that while the mind is occupied by the contents of the poem, the flicker frequency awakens soul identity memories. I knew I couldn’t consciously make that happen. All I can do is set the intention and be open to it occurring.
Now, in David Wilcock’s 6/18/16 blog on divinecosmos.com, I learned that “This ‘flicker frequency’ effect has been widely known to insiders for some time.” However, as we might expect, it has been largely used for negative purposes. My intention with WordMagic’s flicker frequency is to create what I call Ascension Lightning—an awakening energy that literally ‘elevate the frequency of consciousness.’
Here are a few comments from the Audience:
“You were great!” Spoken in 1998 by a 7 year-old girl after hearing a 15-minute danced performance of WordMagic poetry, accompanied by drumming
“For the child, it’s hypnotizing – the sound and play of words. And for a scholar, there are so many different levels. You have a genius and it is enormous. This work deserves to have an influence in the world.” G. Katzman, MFCC
“How did I hear Thee? Let me count the ways: I was challenged intellectually, tickled with the humor, charged spiritually, and charmed and entertained all at the same time. That is quite an accomplishment! What a difference it makes when the message is infused with the joy of life.” Gary Madden, computer systems manager
“Am still blissing out because of being with your fairies, spirits, loving, light, talent, humor, wisdom, beauty, generosity… Have never experienced such intelligence, information and education, as well, regarding language! GENIUS!” Bea Ammidown, Yoga Instructor
“I felt so much more awake after you performed. … It’s absolutely incredible work—like fourth-dimensional poetry. … It was extraordinary. …. And it’s amazing to see what happens in the audience.” Terri Crosby, seminar leader
“It’s fun to watch your audience. People’s jaws drop.” Magi Myggen, Transformational Interior Design
“Everyone was so into it – astounded, ooing and ahhing. You had the place riveted. It was just so beautiful.” Victoria Walters, sports trainer