Anthony Rella is a practicing psychotherapist, a spiritual teacher, and an author. In his book, Slow Magic, he describes a type of magic that is focused on real transformation rather than instantaneous results.
In this interview, we talk about those concepts and how they inform his therapy practice — as well as how his training in therapy has informed his magical practice. We also discuss his background and quite a few concepts from his book.
Buckle up, y’all. Here are the highlights.
Background
Anthony grew up Catholic, but he says his family, especially on his mother’s side, was very mystical and into Mary. Although spirituality and religion were very important to him, he was unable to connect to the church. In college, he met some pagan friends and began practicing and studying with them.
Anthony Rella (picture from his website)
One of his first teachers, T. Thorn Coyle, taught about Feri and the Reclaiming Tradition, which gave him the deepness and structure he had been craving. This eventually developed into the Morningstar Mystery school, where Anthony has served as a mentor and teacher.
During the Great Recession (2007 – 2009), Anthony returned school for his graduate studies. He finished a Master’s Degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Antioch University Seattle and has been a practicing therapist ever since then. His experience in counseling includes LGBTQIA people, homeless youth and adults, people with chronic mental illness, and people who have been incarcerated or sentenced for criminal charges.
On his website, Anthony lists the following statement:
“I affirm our innate right to determine our sexual, romantic, and gender identities; to choose the relationships that affirm us; and to explore our sexuality, romantic love, and friendship needs through consensual, loving, conscious, and mature connections. We have an innate right to autonomy in creating a life that reflects our experience of self, and experiencing coercion in any direction disrupts that autonomy. It is not my job to decide for you what is your gender or sexual orientation—that is for you. My job is to help you explore your thoughts and feelings, as well as your options, and determine the best path forward.”
I think it’s important to have open-minded and accepting therapists.
Anthony is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and a member of the American Counseling Association. He currently practices via telehealth out of Seattle, Washington.
Slow Magic
As the cover of his book (and a good deal of the discussion in this episode) would suggest, Slow Magic is exactly what it sounds like. It’s magic, yeah, but it’s achieved slowly.
Why would anyone want that? Why wouldn’t we just want instant results? In many cases, that’s just not possible. As Anthony explains in the interview, if you can have all the things you want tomorrow, great, but most of us are going to have to put real work into it over a long period of time. He also warns of getting caught up in the “traps” of false results. This book is basically about the opposite of all that — how to make real change in our lives.
One thing I really appreciated about the book is that it’s written with an almost scientific approach. Anthony’s training as a psychotherapist really shines through here. He doesn’t just give you a bunch of wishy-washy, neo-pagan mumbo-jumbo… he gives you actionable items and then explains exactly how those actions impact your mind and your thought process.
Slow Magic by Anthony Rella
The book is filled with reflective and meditative exercises, most of which require nothing more than just some quiet time and the intention to better yourself.
This type of magic is all about self-improvement and lasting transformation. It’s not the kind of stuff that happens overnight.
What is Magic?
Anthony writes that “magic is the art of living joyfully awake and ferociously vital.” I love reading other people’s definitions for magic(k), so I asked him how he arrived at that conclusion.
He explained that the magickal teachers he’s been drawn to always felt more “alive” than other people. He believes that the process of performing magick draws more of that vitality into ourselves. Anthony also told me that he finds the concept of “will” in Western magickal systems to be unique, something that reminds us all that we are awake and participating in this world rather than just experiencing it.
Speaking of will, Anthony differentiates three concepts: will, longing, and desire. If you’d like to hear more about that, grab a copy of his book or listen to that section of the interview.
Concepts of Time
Three chapters in Slow Magic are dedicated to discussing different perspectives on time.
- As a Line: Basic, linear time that moves in a straight line
- As a Cycle: Seasonal time that moves in a circle
- As a Spiral: The way we actually move through the universe — planets in elliptical orbits around a star that, itself, has a trajectory
The concept of spiral time is such a powerful reminder of how we progress in our lives. Yes, there are cycles, but we’re completely capable of changing how we react to them — and that’s where the linear movement comes in. As a very practical example, Anthony talks about Spring and allergy seasons.
But the idea of repeated cycles goes way beyond just the physical. There can be emotional, mental, or even spiritual cycles. Maybe you get caught in a loop of seasonal depression. Maybe you regularly hit a spiritual plateau. Luckily, spiral time gives us the ability to look back on previous iterations and gain a certain degree of insight from the past that will allow us to better our reactions. We can see that the present moment is different from a past moment, even if they’re both at the same points of a cycle… because we’ve [hopefully] gained new experience, new tools, and new skills.
As we make changes, it’s also an important reminder that setbacks are normal. It isn’t all progress all the time. Cut yourself some slack!
Tarot Exercises
Like many therapists, Anthony sometimes uses a deck of Tarot cards as a tool with his clients.
What’s the story here?
As a basic exercise, he might have them draw a random card and simply explain what is going on in the picture. Sometimes clients will immediately connect with a message and sometimes they’ll even point out random details that he has never noticed before. Either way, they’re telling a story.
And in that sense, it acts almost like an inkblot test. There’s no wrong or right answers. He says “the story you’re telling illuminates something that’s happening in your psyche.”
Personally, I’m all for this. Although it might not be everyone’s cup of tea, I always get really excited to hear about anywhere that spirituality might overlap with things like science or psychology… and I believe that Tarot is a powerful tool for magick, realization, and self-transformation… not just divination.
Don’t miss out. Here’s what’s coming up…
Finding Anthony Rella Online
If you’d like to learn more about Anthony, you can find him online in plenty of different places…
- Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/anthonyrellapllc/
- Website – https://anthonyrella.com/
- YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@anthonyrellapllc
- Substack – https://substack.com/@anthonyrella
He also has an online course you can take called Circling the Star. And while you’re at it, you should probably grab a copy of his book, too!
Music and Magic
Anthony curates personal playlists. He says it started when he was young with mix tapes, but now they’ve become Spotify playlists. When he wants to embody or work with a particular type of energy, like Mars planetary energy, he’ll make a playlist of songs that, to him, express those feelings.
I asked Anthony how he chooses — that is, what exactly elements of music stick out to him to represent those energy types. Is it the lyrics? Is it the types of instruments? Is it the rhythm?
Well, to hear that answer… you’ll have to watch the interview!
Conclusions
I had a really great time chatting with Anthony and reading his book. I’m always encouraged when I meet people (or just hear about people) who hold positions as therapists and are both open-minded and friendly. The world needs more acceptance!
I hope you’ve enjoyed this episode, whether you read these highlights or watched the full interview.
You can check out Anthony’s book, as well as all of the other books that have been featured on this season of M3, in this convenient Amazon page, by the way.
Hello there, dear reader. You have come to the bottom of this page. Thank you for reading this entire article. Now I must give you the following disclosure: there are Amazon links on this page. If you use one of those links to make a purchase, Amazon will pay me a small commission. Carry on!
Aerik Arkadian 
Leave a comment