Photo by midlman

Austin is a beautiful city, with a thriving outdoor culture. It’s no surprise, then, that the Capital City has ranked as the #1 fittest city in Texas for years. Visitors to Austin often comment on how healthy and happy everyone looks, and it’s true. Living in a town with pleasing outdoor spaces makes you want to get out and experience them, move through them. Being surrounded by a populace who take care of themselves has an effect on you, and it often doesn’t take long for new residents to take up a healthy lifestyle of their own.

Photo by Todd Dwyer

So what does this have to do with magic? Plenty, as it turns out. Historically, of course, occultists and magicians have been *ahem* not the most athletic bunch. We were often mired so deeply in philosophy and meditation that even thinking about working with our bodies never entered the picture.

This kind of neglect not only creates an imbalance between the parts of the Self, it leads to more significant difficulties in all areas as we age. More and more scientific studies are proving the importance of the body/brain connection, showing how vital it is that we care for, maintain, and challenge our bodies in order to keep our brains at optimal function throughout our lives.

Photo by Jason Dean

We’re now beginning to see more black magicians who understand the importance of Working with their bodies, the value of physical challenges, and the real need to maintain bodily health. After all, your body is your home from birth until death, and can never be replaced. It makes perfect sense that, in order to create a more perfected Self, we should start with caring for and ordering that home.

Photo by Kid Clutch

Establishing a solid foundation of physical health is an investment of time and energy, which will pay significant dividends towards your overall well-being. It teaches discipline, focus, and will. It transforms your inner world, while making your outer world more beautiful. It creates new avenues and possibilities.

Xeper is not only concerned with altering one’s inner landscape, or with creating change in a person’s outer life (such as that new job/car/girlfriend). Xeper can happen anywhere. It might be in a gym (or your living room), alone at 5 AM, testing your own limits. Creating change in your body by force of will.

Like magic.