Making Magic

On the medicine of Hippo and how loving containers and boundaries create the structure that help us blossom and grow in beautiful ways.

Hippopotamus, Watercolor & Ink, Nona Jordan 2023

Kafue River at sunset is magic.

It was late afternoon, and we were taking a sunset tour of the river - a tradition the evening anyone arrives at KaingU Lodge. The water was high, and we explored an area that wasn’t usually accessible by boat. Heading into a narrow passage with large boulders on either side of us, Clara, Kali, and I enjoyed the warm air and the river's quiet - noisy with sunset birdsong and the cacophony of insects. 

Unexpectedly, the most gigantic hippo head popped out of the water right in front of the boat. Sitting in the front of the boat, Clara and I instinctively leaned back and looked at each other with wide eyes. Beyond her, I saw two more hippos. Looking back over my shoulder, three more. 

We had inadvertently stumbled into a pod of submerged hippos.

Hippopotamus, your powerful medicine is welcome here. 

We lived to tell the tale, but in those moments when facing down the hippos, I am not exaggerating when I say I wondered if we would make it out alive. Thank goodness for Kali, who expertly maneuvered the boat to get us out of the very sporty (as they say in South Africa) situation. 

Highly territorial and fiercely protective of their own, hippos are the most dangerous animal to humans in Sub-Saharan Africa, killing up to 500 people per year. (By contrast, sharks kill about five people per year.) Hippos gather in pods (or bloats ←- isn’t that just the best?) and are highly communicative both within and between pods when in the water, which is all day, every day. 

What is surprising about hippos is their sheer mass and the very small legs that propel them through the world. On average, they weigh 3,300 pounds. Did you get that? 3,300 pounds. 

Hippos have adapted to the limits of their bodies.

Spending their days in rivers and lakes, they hold their breath for up to five minutes when they submerge themselves. Because of their density, they cannot swim, but they can run—yes, run underwater at 5 miles per hour—faster in the water than on land. They push themselves up to the surface to breathe as needed. They leave the water and graze on grasses at night when it’s cool. You will know by the smell if you are in a tent next to a river where a hippo comes to graze next to you. And you will stay in your tent until the hippo wanders back into the river, I promise. 

They have not only adapted to the limits, but they remind all creatures on the river and near them that they ARE the limit - do not stop, do not pass go. 

In Human Design and the Gene Keys, the hippo is associated with Gate 60, the gate of magical realism. When I first heard about Gate 60, the hippo, and how this gate is related to making magic in the confines of limits, boundaries, and containers, I was a whole-body hell yes. As my sun gate, it feels like I’ve been learning this and living it my whole life (because I have). It instantly made sense to me why the hippo is the animal associated with the gift energy of this gate.

I went on my first diet when I was 13 years old. 

I was initiated into the school of bad and good foods and healthy and unhealthy choices at a young age, which started the spiral of diet mentality that ruled my life for years. Then, in my 40’s I turned my eyes away from dieting and began the elusive hunt for “eating in moderation”. I spent thousands of dollars on intuitive eating programs and coaches, only to end up heavier, but worse than that, I was pre-diabetic and teetering on the edge of high blood pressure medication. 

The expert intuitive eaters insisted that my body was recalibrating (years into the experiment). I will tell you that eating all the cupcakes in the world (which is what my body intuitively wanted) never led me to a place of, “Oh, my body now craves chicken and broccoli.” That was what “they” said would happen, but it never did. I’m not saying that doesn’t happen for people, but it didn’t happen for me. 

At this point, I gave up. I just accepted that I was going to end up a diabetic with high blood pressure. I felt so shitty physically - I was in pain, I was lethargic, I often felt I couldn’t even think straight. 

It was miserable living in my body. 

I felt awful, and when I, almost daily, would start eating the cookies, or pasta, or cupcakes, it was like waking up an insatiable monster inside of me. But I was also completely married to the idea that moderate eating was possible for everybody, and that was the path I must pursue - no limits, no guidelines, no guardrails — to become an intuitive, moderate eater. I wanted that so badly. I think of this as a perfect example of the famous quote, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” I had hit a hard limit — repeatedly.

Magic happens when we surrender to what is true.

“The first rule of magic is containment.” -Julia Cameron

One morning, I was sitting at the kitchen counter and admitted that moderation has never worked for me, but I had been working hard to be a moderator. I so wanted moderation to be true for me, but it was not. I asked myself what I would do differently if I just gave up on my many, many failed attempts at both dieting and moderating. I wanted and needed some limits—a container of devotion for how I would eat. 

A friend had introduced me to a program (which I thought was CRAZY the first time I read through the materials), but I was so desperate that I made a deal with myself to try it for 30 days. Just 30 days. 

Within four days of just following the guidelines, some miraculous things happened. The constant chatter in my head about my body (which hadn’t changed yet) just stopped. I felt a tremendous sense of relief. The fog cleared from my mind, and my energy started to improve. For the first time, I heard about food addiction, and I felt validated. I felt relieved to know I was not alone as people, talking about their own struggles with food, described me and my behavior. There was nothing wrong with me, I just needed to eliminate the foods that make me crazy, namely sugar and flour. 

It’s been four years, and I haven’t looked back.

Limits crafted lovingly from knowing ourselves, are magic. 

Like Hippo, we have innate limits that we must live within - gravity, death, and taxes being three limits that we cannot escape at this time on earth. The rest of the limits we may face are all flexible - they aren’t necessarily hard limits, and we have a choice in how we approach them. There have been many places where I have found freedom in having limits, or containers, for myself - a disciplined daily practice, a structured schedule, choosing to let something go, and following a plan not out of punishment or restriction but love. And within that structure, I have been able to blossom and grow in unexpected ways.  

Contemplate Hippo for yourself.

If Hippo has popped up in your life today, take note. You are being asked to evaluate your life's limits, containers, and boundaries - real, perceived, and non-existent. Do you know that you need to create a beautiful limit  in some aspect of your life (but you can’t bring yourself to do it?) Hippo is asking you to take a deep breath and be honest with yourself in the best kind of way - what boundaries would create a container of growth for you? Ultimately, Hippo is asking you to be honest with yourself about where limits will support you and act accordingly. You can choose the limits that deeply serve your best life. It’s your choice to make magic.