DIY Magic School

Do It Yourself Magic: Learn to Unlock Your Unlimited Creativity

with Anthony Alvarado

A one time, in-person class taught in Portland, August 2023!

This class will teach you to reach deeper levels of creativity with techniques from magic, artistic and spiritual traditions. It’s a modern and playful take on inspiration, designed for artists, creators and anyone who wants to be more creatively engaged with the world around them. Innovative creators—Salvador Dali to David Bowie—have long used unusual and magical ways of thinking to approach inspiration. Each class gives you three new unusual and fun tools for tapping into your unlimited creative potential. All students will receive a free copy of the book DIY Magic by Anthony Alvarado.

Thursdays, August 3, 10, 17, 24, 31 || 7:00 – 8:30 pm

Grover’s Curiosity Shop 1410 Southeast Clinton Street Portland, OR, 97202 United States

Five weeks || $125

Together, we will explore…

·       Tools for finding inspiration and playful creativity.

·       Creating talismans, spells, and tapping into your higher power

·       Finding inspiration in surprising places: dreams, card games, and your own body.

·       Using magic to create positive lasting change in your life and the world.

To enroll please RSVP – r.anthonyalvarado [at] gmail.com

Venmo $125 tuition – @Anthony-Alvarado-86

Limited to first 10 students

Week one: Magic & Unlimited Inspiration

Learn how to get out of your own way and tap into infinite creativity. We explore how to turn off our inner critic and connect with our inner muse. Explore tricks from improv theater, fun writing exercises, and techniques used by artists like Salvador Dali and David Bowie.

Week two: Embodiment and Expanded Awareness

Using exercises from meditation, Alexander Technique, and qigong we explore how the mind/body are connected and how that connection is a powerful tool. Learn how to use techniques such as breathing, visualization, and body language to affect your mood, charisma, and self-confidence. We will explore some of the many states of awareness that are available to us, including daydreaming, journaling, trance, self-hypnosis, and expanded awareness.

Week three: Divination & Luck

A look at ancient techniques of insight and idea generation: including Tarot cards, the I-Ching, bibliomancy, and Dadaist parlor games. Trace the history of the cut-up technique from the Surrealists and Dadaists to William Burroughs and modern chaos magick. We will also talk about how to create and harness luck!

Week four: Mystery & Dream

We look at the unknown, including Memento Mori, the idea that an awareness of mortality can actually be inspiring. We will discuss dreams, including dream interpretation, lucid dreaming and the power of conscious day dreaming. We will also talk about how to see glimpses of the supernatural in everyday life, all around us.

Week five: Practical Manifestation

We will discuss how we can take the sometimes ephemeral idea of magic and use it to manifest tangible and powerful change for the better in our lives, our world, and ourselves. We will learn how to use magic as an aid to taking action and getting things done.