Posts Tagged ‘meditation’

Life is a journey. And it is important that in life, we take journeys; that we experience the world actively rather than passively. That we connect with the energies of places near and far in order to draw them in and make them part of our own.

Whether you call it a journey, a pilgrimage, or a quest, it need not be long or perilous: it need only be fulfilling and leave you with a sense of accomplishment.  Set out to see the sights of the world and you will see them: you just need to get out there.  Go take a walk around the block or through a city park. Go to the nearest beach, river, or meadow. Chances are the spirits of these places have been imbued with power or worshiped in the past, and if they have not, then your active energies may just perk up the local nature gods and bring them to your aid. One of the biggest rewards of these jaunts is to commune with nature, to connect with the positive energy of the landscape and incorporate it into yourself.

The focus of this first edition of Sacred Pilgrimages is something I like to call ‘water communion’.  Flowing water, like a river, any river, be it a big famous one, or your local meandering creek, is a great philosophical symbol for the life journey you are traveling. The river meanders, it grows, it takes unexpected twists and turns and faces rock-hard obstacles before finally freeing itself into a wider source of water ~ symbolic of us finding a wider understanding of the universe in life and death. Rivers, streams, and creeks are also active purifiers which can help you wash away negative energies.  Your assignment: Go visit a local water spot. Revel in its beauty and bring home part of its spirit.

I recently found myself on one of the oldest popular pilgrimages to water known to modern man:  I visited the River Jordan and Dead Sea in the Middle East. For millennia it has been a site of worship and devotion, pagan and monotheistic alike: all mankind has recognized the power of this lively river flowing through the desert landscape. Revered from its spring (most notably by the cult of Pan at Baniyas), downstream (think John the Baptist or the later Crusaders), to its endpoint in the Dead Sea, the Jordan River is a potent symbol of life which flows through the dead landscape into the underworld. For me, it was a personal family quest: one of my ancestral names is Giordano ~ Italian for ‘Of the Jordan River’ ~ a name taken by Italian Crusaders who had been baptized in the river during their misguided quests in the Middle Ages. And while living in the Middle East it seemed most fitting to take a day and revel in the ancient landscape.

My journey to the river was two-fold. First I went above the river, to Mount Nebo in Jordan, (incidentally another sacred site of Christendom) to view the river from the heights and witness its endpoint in the sea. Then I went down the mountain and went swimming in the Dead Sea. And my-oh-my, what a bizarre otherworldly experience! The buoyancy from the high salt content defies common sense and you can literally walk on water for a bit.  The salt leaves everything a bit sticky when you come out but at the same time I felt entirely purified and highly recommend the benefits of Dead Sea Salt in your baths at home. And if, on your own local journeys, you can swim in your local river or at your local beach  ~do so. Or at least put your feet in the water or let it flow through your hands. But whatever you do, be aware that while beautiful, nature is also dangerous, and mind the local safety rules and regulations.

I did a bit of meditation in the Dead Sea, with the sun setting and the crescent moon rising. I left an accidental offering to the spirits of the place: the bone necklace I had purchased at the local gift shop fell off and into the water while I was floating. I bought a new one from the same shoppe, but consider that first one a toll paid to the water gods for the offering I rightly should have made them during my visit.  And I collected a sample of the water to take home with me. A keepsake yes; but more importantly, a powerful ingredient to be used later in rituals or simply placed on my household altar as an amplifying focus. I used a plastic water bottle to fill up and tote it through customs and back to the states, but have since transferred it into a series of much more dignified potion bottles.

Pilgrimages, journeys, quests, water communion, whatever you like to call your experience,  it need not be as extreme as this distant trip of mine. Just as interesting as it is to see faraway places,  it is even more important to be familiar with, and be a part of, your local landscape. There is much beauty and glamor all around you if you choose to see it. So go.

Go this weekend, go on your next day off. Find a quiet little space near the local creek or along the lake shore, a spot on the river beach or by a pool and take a few moments and really breathe. Look. Experience. Touch it if you can. And bring a little bit of it back home with you.

Learning to read tarot can be an intimidating prospect, especially for someone who is really new to the idea of tarot.  78 cards with deep meanings and many images and symbols on each card can seem like something that you might never get a handle on.  It can be a lot easier than you may think, but it’s important to keep in mind from the very beginning that the truly great tarot readers spend their whole lives studying and working with the tarot.  It’s not just a matter of memorizing upright and reversed meanings for 78 cards and then you’re done.  It truly is a lifelong mystical path all on it’s own that can add a great deal to the path of a Wiccan or Pagan.

In a future blog we’ll talk more about the ins and outs and history of tarot but for today we’re going to look at a simple exercise for getting started with a deck.  Many people pick up a deck and just want to start reading and working with the cards and this is a simple way to do it.  When working with this exercise you can do this with any tarot deck, and it can also be used for oracle decks suck as angel cards and the like.  It’s also something that you can start and keep working on and adding to for months or even years to come as you explore your deck more.

All you’ll need is a large notebook or journal, ideally with 2 pages for each card in your deck, and then of course your deck of cards.  Begin by placing a title on each page, or every other page, for each card in your deck.  So you’ll have a pages titled “0- The Fool”, “1 – The Magician” and then others like “Ace of Wands”, “2 of Wands”, all the way through your 78 cards.  If you have pages left over at the back you can designate some of these pages for specific kinds of notes along the way by doing things like titling pages “Relationship Spreads” and writing down details on relationship related spreads that you enjoy using, or a section titled “Daily Cards” where you can track daily card pulls (which we’ll talk about in a moment).  In the end you should have a book that almost serves as a tarot specific Book of Shadows almost.  You can also opt to do this as a general, overall book, or you can do what I do and make a new one for each new deck that you start working with.  Since different decks will give you different messages and impressions this is a great way to get to know each new deck you start working with and how to really keep track of what you’re doing with your cards.  If you decide to work with books for multiple decks I highly recommend using a large three ring binder so that you can keep the notes for more than one deck in a single place, something that just makes finding your notes and information easier as time goes on and your practice grows.

What you’ll do next, and how you do it, is somewhat up to you and how you would like to work with your cards.  I personally go through the deck in order and do a handful of cards a day.  You might want to do them in a random order, do only one a day, or spend a few days working through the whole deck.  What you want to do is take time to sit and really look at your card and observe it as though you’re inside the card.  What does it feel like to you?  How does it make you feel emotionally?  What stands out?  Are there colors or symbols, items or people that you find your eye and your mind automatically being interested in and looking at when this card is in front of you?  If there are, what do they mean to you?  Write down all your thoughts and feelings about the card on the page or pages in your book titled for that card.  Do this without referring to any books or notes that came with the deck.  This helps you to develop that key element to tarot reading that separates good readers from great readers; the ability to read intuitively with confidence.

After you take time to make your notes based on your intuitive feelings about the cards, go back and look at the information in the book.  Often times different tarot authors and different tarot artists will have specific takes on things in their own deck that might differ from other decks.  Sometimes these will be things that may make sense to you and other times they may not.  Go with what you feel, intuitively, is right in your readings.  If there are certain things in the book that really seem important to you that you want to incorporate in your card interpretation, make notes about it on the page.  You will be surprised to see just how many things you might have picked up on before doing any formal research into your cards.

Different cards will also take on different meanings when they pop up next to different cards.  You might want to make notes about this as you use the deck to help you just with getting to understand how the cards work together.

Meditating with your cards is another way to get more insight into the messages that they have for you.  Each day set some time aside to sit down in a quite place where you can focus and meditate with your deck.  Shuffle the cards and when you feel ready, pull one from anywhere in the deck (some people like pulling from the top others like to pull from somewhere at random, while yet others will fan the deck out in front of them and take one that just draws their attention; use which ever method feels best for you).  When you get your card, turn to the page in your book for that card and then take some time to just consider the card.  You might want to soften your eyes as you look at the card and just take a few deep breaths and relax, letting the information come to you.  If there is anything you feel that you need to add from this to your notes on the card, add it now.

Then turn to a blank page at the back of your book and mark down the date and the card you pulled.  Note any specific messages that you feel the card has for you for the day (or the next day if you’re doing this in the evening).  For example if you pulled The Fool, it could be that today you need to approach things with a sense of adventure, optimism and maybe even with a sense of naive wonder.  But do you feel you need to cautious as well?  Maybe you need to also be aware of any warning signs that you could have your head in clouds today as well.  Whatever you’re feeling, intuitively, that the card is saying to you for the day, write it down.  At the end of the day come back and look at your comments and notes and see how it fits in your day.  Make some affirming comments or maybe journal about how the day went and why the card didn’t fit for you.  Sometimes, and quite often, you’ll find that in doing this other meanings for the card that you didn’t think of at the time suddenly reveal themselves to you through the events of the day.

Working with your cards shouldn’t be a chore; you should be excited to do it and each day should bring you a new experience with your tarot deck.  By taking your time to work through the cards like this, getting to know them and building your own intuitive confidence with them, you’ll find that you’re not having to memorize, you’re simply listening to the cards and what they have to say to you.

Some excellent tarot books that can help you getting started can be found in the Sacred Mists Shoppe!

Heart of Tarot: An Intuitive Approach by Amber K

Rachel Pollack’s Tarot Wisdom by Rachel Pollack

21 Ways to Read a Tarot Card by Mary K. Greer

Today we’re going to look at something a little different, something that I tend to classify as more of a “new age” practice within the confines of Wicca and Paganism.   As many of us who are eclectic in nature and are often evolving our practices as we find new things that seem to call to us, I hope that this craft and prayer/meditation practice will be useful for some of you, especially if you are going through a particularly difficult time in your life.

For centuries in various cultures the use of prayer boxes, often in the form of jewelry, has become an honored tradition.  The use of community prayer boxes is a well known tradition in the Catholic and Christian faith where people of a congregation are able to write out their need for prayer and add it to a box which either a few individuals or a whole prayer circle will work on for those in need.  We can create a variation of the prayer box to fit our needs, either as individuals or for covens or circles.  You can call it a prayer box, petition box, or as I’ve always called it, a Goddess box.  It depends on a few variations of how you craft it and your intentions when crafting it.  As I share this process with you, if you decide to work with this, make the changes that you feel you need to for your own beliefs and traditions.  I will be addressing this from the perspective of working specifically with the Goddess, so if you wish to work more with the God or just the Universal energy, you can make those changes.

A Goddess box is a physical box, one crafted with intent, designed to be a place to drop written prayer petitions.  Petition magick, as we’ve talked about previously, is a wonderful way to work simple spells of intention, and the Goddess box becomes an aid to petition magick, as you’ll see through the process.  So we’re going to start with talking about crafting a Goddess box.

You’ll need a few items to get your started:

• A plain wooden craft box.  These are available at arts and crafts stores all over or you can use an old cigar box, an old jewelry box, or anything of the sort.  We’re going to be completely changing it’s appearance so be sure that whatever it is you wont mind stripping it down, painting it, etc.
• Paints, markers, and related supplies.  We’ll talk about colors in a moment.
• Stickers, stamps and craft paper.
• A piece of parchment or other paper.  Pick something that you find visually appealing but something that you will be able to write on where the writing will stand out.
• A small sachet of offering herbs.  We’ll talk about this in a moment.
• An image of a Goddess.  If you’re working with a God, than an image of whatever God  you wish, or other spirit or entity that you wish to call on to work with you.  This can be an animal spirit guide that you pray and meditate with, or even an otherworld entity that you work with in this way.  The idea here is that whomever you dedicate this box to is someone that you have worked with before, either in prayer, meditation or magick, who you are completely comfortable in going to with requests for help and aid.
• A stone or crystal.  Again, we’ll talk about that in a moment.
• A small stack of slips of parchment or other paper and a pen.

First let’s talk about our intentions.  The purpose of this box is to create a place to hand over certain problems, cares and needs to either a specific Goddess, God or spirit ally that you are confident and comfortable in working with through prayer, meditation and petition work.  What you’ll be doing with your box is writing down your needs and placing the slip of paper within, along with speaking words of prayer and offering, to your chosen deity or spirit, asking them to help you find a way to resolve your problem.   What we’re doing here is asking for a door to be open, a way to be shown, and in a sense laying our problem in the lap of the Goddess and asking for her guidance in gaining a solution that may be eluding us.

Keep this in mind while crafting your box and also keep it in mind when deciding who, if anyone specific, you wish to dedicate your box to.  Consider this intention when picking out your colors and images for the box as well as when picking out the stones and herbs for the small offerings that we’ll be keeping within the box.

Creating an offering sachet – This is a simple step in the process of making the box and one you can either do first or last, it’s up to you.  Gather together either a white spell bag or a small swatch of white cloth and white string or ribbon for tying it close.  Pick two or three herbs that you can place inside that are used for offerings or that have the properties of thanksgiving.  A few suggestions include tobacco, blue corn, desert or white sage, copal, cedar, or lavender.  If you’re going to be working with a specific deity or entity that you know prefers something specific, then use that in your bag.

Fill the bag with the herbs and tie it closed.  Hold it in your hands for a few moments, directing white light and your intentions of blessings and thanksgiving into the bag.  When you feel that the bag is full with energy, you can set it aside.  It will be going into the box when it is completed so keep it in a safe place in the meantime, like your altar.

Picking stones -  Again, keeping in mind your intentions and the purpose of the box, we want to pick a stone to keep inside that is associated with something such as prayer, meditation or even directly problem solving.  The way that I personally work with the stone is that I place it on top of the petition slip when I place it inside the box.  You can do this if you feel so drawn to, or you can just leave the stone in the box as an aid to the work being done.  A few suggestions for stones to use include quartz (clear or rose), danburite, fluorite, amethyst, or lapis lazuli.  Take your time in picking a stone and really decide what energy you want the stone to add to the box.  For example with the lapis you can call on its properties of truth and awareness to aid you in seeing the truth in a situation and clearing seeing the solution, where as you can use the powers of transformation and intuition held in danburite to help your prayer needs.  

Once you have picked out a stone and acquired it, properly cleanse and charge it with your specific intention and then place it on your altar with your sachet until it is time to add it to your box.

Crafting the box – This is the part where you get to really be creative.  You do not need to be a great artist to do this; this is part of why we have stickers and printed images to help us.  If your box you’re working with is something that is going to be recycled from a previous incarnation, take the time to do any stripping of paint or finish that you may need to.  Some things you can paint right over, but if you have something that has a shiny or varnished finish, you’ll need to strip it first otherwise your paint will either not hold at all or will chip quite easily.

Take some time to pick out colors that either reflect on you or your ally you’ll be dedicating the box to.  You can use colors appropriate to specific deities, use the colors of the elements, or just use some off your personal power colors.  Paint the box in whatever way you personally desire.  There is no right or wrong way to do this, so be creative.  Paint the inside as well, either using a solid color or do something that you might find personally magickal and empowering, like painting sigils and symbols inside it to protect and empower your work.

Allow the pain to dry overnight before moving on to adding any stickers, paper or printed images.  Depending on the type of paint and the surface of the box you may wish to add extra glue to stickers since the adhesive may not hold.  Add a picture of your chosen deity or ally to the top of the box and embellish as you see fit.  A written dedication will be going on the inside of the box top, so you don’t need to add anything like that on the outside unless you wish to.

When you are done, set the box aside and again give it at least overnight to ensure all glues and adhesives have dried.

Writing your dedication – On a piece of parchment paper, in your own handwriting, you are going to create a dedication that will be placed on the inside cover of the box.  This can be a prayer, chant or blessing that you will recite each time you place something in the box.    The following is a modification of what I have inside my Goddess box.  You will want to modify this to fit your specific box.  Write out your drafts and get your wording as you want it on notebook paper first and when you have settled on what you wish to say, write it on a piece of parchment cut to fit the inside lid of your box.

I dedicate this, my Goddess box, to the Lady of love, mercy and healing.  Whatever I place inside this box I place at the feet of the Goddess.  I ask the Goddess to nurture my needs and take care of me in my time of struggle.  Within this box I place my hopes and fears, my dreams and anxieties.  When I close the lid I know that they are now in the hands of the Goddess and she will guide me and show me what to do next.  With this box I put trust in my inner knowing and in the Goddess.  With this box, I foster a connection to the Goddess within and without.

So mote it be!

Once the paper is dry, do any additional decorative steps you wish with it (e.g. aging the edges) and then firmly glue into the lid of the box.

Dedicate your box – For this next step you may wish to wait for the full moon or you can do it any time you wish.  Gather together your box, slips of parchment and pen (these items will be kept inside the box at all times for easy and quick access), your crystal and your sachet.  Bring them into sacred space and lay them out on your altar or work space.  If there is a specific deity that you will dedicate the box to, evoke them into your space letting them know you are dedicating this special magickal prayer object to them and you wish for their blessings up it.  You may wish to smudge the box with sage or cleanse it with all the elements and present it to the four directions as well to ask for their blessings as well.

Once you have presented the box to the deity/ally it may be dedicated to, or to the archetypal God/Goddess aspect, add your sachet, presenting it as well with words of intention, and then add the stone, again with words of intention.  Add in your paper slips and pen.

Where to keep your box – You can keep your box anywhere that you wish, but try for a place where it will be out of reach of children and pets and where it will also be out of reach or sight from prying hands and eyes.  This can be a great items for those of you that may need to keep your items somewhat hidden because of issues with family or roommates and it can easily blend in with other trinkets, decorations or jewelry boxes depending on how you have chosen to adorn it.  You can always just keep it on a corner of your altar if you wish.

Working with your box - If you have a specific need right now, take a slip of paper and write it out.  Hold it in your hands, sending your intentions, desires, hopes and worries into the paper.  Recite your dedication/prayer for help to your ally.  Place the paper in the box and then pick up your sachet.  Hold it for a moment and draw on some of the energy of offering and thanks from it and then direct that energy to your ally, then return the sachet to the box.  Close the box and leave it in it’s special place.

Once a solution to your need has been found, or things have worked themselves out, say a thank you to your ally and either send energy from your offering sachet again or leave another appropriate offering on your altar or at the box.  Take your slip of paper from the box and, using a fire-proof container or cauldron, again say thank you, solidifying that your ally helped you and that you are thankful, and light the paper.  Toss it into the container, allow it to burn down to ash, and then toss to the winds knowing that your problem is solved, resolved and gone from you.

Maintenance of the box – This box will become a living magickal tool for you if you use it regularly.  You will want to recleanse and recharge the crystal periodically and you’ll also want to replace the herbs from time to time as well.  When you do this, allow this to also be a time to change these items as well.  If you want to try a different stone, do it then or use different herbs in your sachet.  Listen to your intuition or even ask your God/Goddess/spirit ally what they would like.

This is a wonderful and simple tool to work with and one that you can really personalize to express your love of your specific patron deities or your closest of magickal allies.  Make it more than just a place to put your problems, but an expression of your dedication to your path and the change that you desire to see in your life when you work with it.

Here are a few pictures of my own box from when it was originally crafted several years ago.

We talk about ritual tools quite a bit, especially when we’re getting started with magick and ritual.  Everyone is looking for the perfect wand or athame, but the most important of all ritual items is something that we all possess already and which costs no money at all, but certainly needs some polishing and preparation before we can really put it to use.  Our mind’s eye.  It’s arguably the most important of all tools a Witch has because without it, the true power behind our work may not be harnessed.  And let’s face it, no wand in the world can make up for the lack of ability to ground, focus and visualize our intent and send energy to our goal.

When you’re just getting started you hear a lot in books about the mind’s eye.  You’ll see a lot of phrases like “Visualize your desire in your mind’s eye” or “See the elements in your mind’s eye”.  A lot of people get a little confused, unsure of what and where the information that the mind’s eye calls on is going to come from.  In the simplest of terms, the mind’s eye is your imagination.  When we work in meditation, trying to envision something coming to us, or something happening to us, we are working to “see” with “eye” in our mind (aka the mind’s eye).  For some people it can help to have almost a physical place to focus on when doing this; if you’re one of those people imagine that the there is a large movie screen or white board in your mind right around where your third eye is located.  When you’re eyes are closed, imagine that this eye then opens, and when it does you can now see this screen or board through this eye.  This is where you can call up any image or any energy you desire.

If you have ever read either Laurie Cabot’s book “Power of the Witch” or you have read Christopher Penczak’s Inner Temple books or listened to his meditation CDs, then you will be familiar with a countdown meditation technique that can help to develop your mind’s eye as well as help you reach that lower brainwave state that helps to bring us into deep, magickal levels of meditation.  The teqchnique that both Cabot and Penczak have used as a reference point is called the Silva Method or Silva Mind Control.  This is a technique developed by José Silva, a parapsychologist and founder of the Silva Method, which were developed to help reach higher levels of mental function by naturally bringing the brain to a frequency of 8 to 13 Hz, also known as alpha state.  Here the brain could be trained to and programed to open up the psychic senses, specifically helping people be able to learn remote viewing and develop lucid dreaming skills, as well as help people raise their overall IQ and increase their personal well-being.  It is basically self-hypnosis and it helps to open up, train and work with the mind’s eye.  (You can learn more about the Silva Method here.)

Some people, when hearing the word “imagination” in relation to Witchcraft become a little uncomfortable, feeling that the deeper work of magick and ritual are being relegated to nothing more than a play thing.  Imagination is really nothing more than allowing the mind to wander while calling up and creating images that aren’t physically real but that can be very real within our minds.  This is what we often do within magick.  We sometimes talk about how when we daydream we are actually in a state of spontaneous meditation, creating realities in our minds that we would like to see in reality.  Often beginners will say they can’t meditate or can’t visualize anything, feeling that they will never be able to work magick, yet when asked if they ever find themselves daydreaming most of them say they do that all the time without realizing it.  The work of the mind’s eye while daydreaming is the same as what you would use for visualization and meditation, only in those instances you have more conscious control over it than when you daydream.  So if you can daydream, you can learn to work with  your mind’s eye in a controlled way in order to visualize in magick and meditation.

Creative Visualization is a technique used in just about all forms of magickal work.  It is a way of accessing levels of the imagination where we can create images in a visual in our mind’s eye while also creating and raising energy which can then be used in magickal work.  So for example if you have a friend who is sick and you wanted to help them get well, after lighting a candle for them you might spend some time focusing on visualizing in your mind what they are like when they are healthy.  If you friend is bed-sick because of a chest infection and they can’t breath well enough right now to do their normal activities, you would want to create in your mind the image of them breathing deeply, taking in large, healthy breaths.  You’d want to see them doing a physical activity that you know they enjoy such as jogging or hiking, something that right now they can’t possibly be doing.  While you’re doing this and creating the images in your mind, you also want to really feel them as well.  So you could imagine being with your friend on that jog or hike and seeing them enjoying themselves, being happy and healthy and feeling that joy with them.  Then you can send that energy to them in one of many different ways (e.g. direct the energy into the candle and as the candle burns the energy is released toward your friend or sense the energy forming in the shape of a large balloon in a specific color and imagine it traveling to your friend and giving them the energy when they receive it).  Different traditions and types of magick have different techniques for sending energy.

Learning how to do some basic visualization techniques will help you to grow more comfortable with working with your mind’s eye as well as helping you become more confident with creating mental images.  Learning to ground with creative visualization is a great way to start with this or even to refresh yourself on the basics.  Give this a try.  All you’ll need for this is a white candle and stone of either onyx, black tourmaline, hematite, jet, obsidian or smokey quartz in any size.

1.  Sitting either on the floor or in a comfortable chair, light a candle.  Make sure your feet are on the ground if you are in a chair so that some part of you is physically connected to the ground or earth.  Take up the stone with both hands (if you’re using a small raw or tumbled stone, place the stone in one hand and cup with the other).

2. Begin breathing slow, rhythmic breaths and close your eyes. Take the time to feel yourself comfortable and solid in your physical position.  Then begin to visualize that thick tree roots are growing either from your feet if you are sitting in a chair, or from your spine if you are sitting directly on the ground.  See them going down into the earth, cutting through the earth’s crust, through the soil, and moving down around rock and stone below.  As you do this think about how strong tree roots are but also see the tiny, vain-like roots that grow from the larger ones.  These roots help to connect to the soil to gather nourishment and to help anchor the tree.  Feel those roots as well as the larger ones and visualize your roots moving downward, toward the center of the earth.

3. Turn your mind back to your breath again, but still sensing the tree roots.  As you exhale, visualize the roots move deeper, going further toward the center of the earth.  Take the time on your inhaled breaths to feel what the roots feel under the earth.  Are they damp from hitting ground water?  Are they gritting with rock and sand?  Are they getting warm as they reach the molten center of the earth’s core?  When you exhale feel the roots moving, see them move through the rock, dirt, and water.

4.  When you get to the point where you can feel heat, or where you feel or see heat, imagine that you roots come to a hault.  You are at the center of the earth.  Being to feel that warmth come up through your roots, up all the way through to your feel or spine, up your body, down your arms and out the top of your head through your crown chakra.    See it as a bright white light, of if you can, visualize it the color of the molten core of the earth.  Feel it heat up and energize your roots and your body.

5.  When you have this feeling running firmly through you, being to feel the energy withdraw back into the earth.  Imagine closing a hatch over the crown chakra and the energy retreating down your body.  Feel your body cool as the energy retreats.  Feel it flow back down your trunk, your legs and feet, down into the earth through your roots.  When you see and feel your roots have released the earth’s energy, begin to bring your roots back.  See them retreat upward just as you saw them move down.  Feel the tiny roots release from the earth as your larger roots return back to your feet or spine.

6.  Once you see the roots completely return to your body focus back on your breathing, relaxed breaths in and out.  While you are doing this, if you feel there is any left over energy that may make you anxious or nervous, visualize that energy running down your arms like drops of water and collecting in the stone in your hand.  The stone will ground the energy for you.  Gently open your eyes and come back to waking consciousness.

Some other simple ways to practice include visualizing a piece of fruit, like an apple or orange, hanging from a tree branch in front of you.  Imagine picking it from the tree and taking a bit.  Taste the fruit, smell it, feel the juice in your hands and on your chin.  As you advance, another way that you can work with visualization that can also help you with your psychic development is to work on visualizing a friend who is not with you at the moment (they can be anywhere else, even if it’s just in another room) and imagine what they are wearing.  If you are in the same location when they leave the room you’ll want to ask them to change a piece of their clothing.  When you get a strong visualization of what they have on either call them on the phone and describe what you see, or in the case of being in the same place you can simply ask them to come in the room and you can tell them what you are getting but don’t turn to face them until they give you some feed back.  Practicing things like this helps with not just creative visualization and being able to create solid images in your mind but you’ll be able to slowly develop the psychic senses, especially remote viewing.

The mind’s eye is your most critical magickal tool.  Learning to develop it from the beginning of your practice and taking the time to give it regular tune-ups along the way is key in being able to do successful magick of all kinds.

For more help with creative visualization, check out the classic book “Creative Visualization: Use the Power of Your Imagination to Create What You Want In Live” by Shakti Gawain.

The act of daily practice in this path is one that is woefully neglected by many practitioners.  I’ve been surprised to find people that claim they follow a Wiccan or other neo-Pagan spiritual path yet they never meditate, never work directly with the Gods, and do not fully understand the concept of devotional work or the reason that daily practice is such a benefit.  Could it be that it’s not understood or that there is an overall misunderstanding of what it involves?

Let’s start by looking at the word devotion.  It dates back to the 13^th century and is defined as

1. a) religious fervor, b) an act of prayer or private worship, c) a religious exercise or practice other than the regular corporate worship of a congregation

2. a) the act of devoting [devotion of time and energy], b) the fact or state of being ardently dedicated and loyal [her devotion to the cause]

3. the object of one’s devotion

We can always look at the word “devote” in the way that we use it in our day to day speech.  We say things such as “I devoted a large part of the day to housework” or “I’m devoted to ending hunger in my community.”  In these cases the word “devote” shows that the thing we are devoted to has power in our lives and means something profound and special.  In a matter of a few simple words, “devote” means “to vow”.  So by doing devotional work each day in a sacred sense you are renewing your sacred vows to the Gods.

When we talk about our devotion work as Pagans we are talking about taking the time to acknowledge and work with our God and Goddess.  We might also wish to take the time to work with Spirit Guides and other entities as well, but our focus should rest in making sure our connection to the Divine is strong.  Daily devotions, even if they only last a few minutes each day, help to create that bond that can be so important in our work later on.

The way that I have always related it for those who are new to the Craft is like this.  Let’s say you find yourself in a difficult position with your rent one month.  For whatever reason times are tough and you’re short on the cash you need to meet your rent for the month and you know that if you don’t pay up your landlord will have you out on the streets regardless of the reasons for your situation.  You take a few minutes to try and think of who you know that would be in a position to spare some money for you and a specific person comes to mind.  You haven’t really spoken to this person more than a passing “hello” in the last few months, but you were once close and you know this person has always been the giving type before, so why not now?  You call up your friend and casually ask for the money you need expecting this to not be a problem.  But when you friend sheepishly says no you find yourself a bit surprised.  Why?  Why should you be surprised that this person you have no real connection with isn’t willing to go out on this limb for you?  Should the Gods be any different?

We learn early on that the Gods have personalities and digression just like we do.  They will always be there willing to hear what we have to say but they might not always be willing to help.  Sometimes it’s because we’re asking for something that they know isn’t right for us or they know we’ll miss out on an important lesson if we get what we’re asking for.  But sometimes they may decide not to work with us because they don’t know us and we haven’t connected to them.  It’s like if you told your friend that in the above example “trust me, I’ll pay you back in a week”, there is no way for this person to know if you will really pay them back because you don’t have that connection with them.  The Gods will look at you the same way.  Just because you tell them you are going to follow through with something doesn’t mean they know you will for sure, especially if they haven’t had the chance to work with you, get to know you, and learn what you’re truly like.  Are you a person of your word or are you a person “of the moment”, someone that says what they need to in order to get what they want?  This is where taking this time to spend with the Gods each day, adding energy to our work with them and creating that connection, becomes so important.

Getting started with a daily devotional practice is always the hardest part.  What should you do, how should you do it, how long should it take and when is the right time of day for this sort of work?  Everyone is going to be different and everyone’s devotional work will be different, and that is as it should be!  Remember, this is a very personal sort of work and one that should be created by the individual as an expression of love and devotion to the Gods.  It should never be something done by route and it should never be something that is a chore.  It should be approached with love and care.

First let’s look at the “what”.  What you do for your devotional practice should be rooted in the idea of showing love and respect.  For many people the physical acts taken in devotional practice as the keys to opening the spiritual gateway for this work.  So take a moment and think about what physical acts you perform in your other rituals, such as Sabbats and Esbats, which really mean something for you.  What things really bring you to a place of sacredness or that open yourself to feeling that magickal energy around you.  For me, the act of lighting a candle, lighting incense and smudging the space always makes me feel grounded and centered for spiritual work.  These are things that always are part of my personal work that I do for my devotions.  For you it may be casting a circle, chanting, or simply sitting in silence at your altar or in a sacred space in nature.  Whatever it is find your “trigger” for this sacred point of separation from the mundane to the sacred and make this part of the opening and closing of your work.

How you do your work will be based on several things.  Are you someone that likes a lot of ritualized actions and words, things that are planned out ahead of time and follow a format?  Or are you rather someone that needs to just be able to be free, doing things as they come to you?  Decide how you want your devotions to go as far as how rigid they should be or how free-form you will make them.  I am a ritual type person.  I have always been more drawn to things such as ceremonial magick, the use of lots of tools and props, ritual drama and the like.  Because of this I always including certain words with my candle and incense lighting, I cast banishing pentagrams in the four directions as well as above and below before starting to act as protection during any deep meditation work I may do, I also find that opening and closing with a specific set of words helps me to feel “plugged in” to what I’m doing.  From there I am much freer with my work.  I call to whatever God or Goddess I’m working with at the time , or the archetypal “Lord and Lady” and either give thanks for things, offer prayer or ask for assistance.

The length of daily devotions is always a big question and can be quite debatable.  I personally feel that you should always allow yourself a little more time than you may think you need.  When we get into meditation or in a ritual mindset, time becomes non-linear.  Something that you think will take you 5 minutes might have taken 45 minutes.  If you’re someone that is planning your devotions at the beginning of the day the last thing you want to do is be late for work because you didn’t time your meditation and devotion correctly.  The other thing here is that you don’t want to rush.  Rushing isn’t doing either you or the Gods any good; it will leave you feeling unsatisfied and leave the Gods feeling that they are just a pit stop along your busy day.  For this reason many people that do have busy daily lives with full time jobs, kids to care for and the like may find that doing this work at night, before going to bed when you might be able to get the most peace and quiet, will be the best time to work.

And this brings us to the issue of the time of day.  Again, everyone will be different.   I personally like to start my day off with my devotional work, but this is because the fact that I work from home under my own terms and hours, I can do this without any need to rush.  If I were still working in the corporate world, I would be doing my devotional work at night like I used to.  Back then I had experimented with both morning and evening devotions and found that doing the work in the morning never felt connected for me.  I would have to wake up earlier than normal in order to get the time in before having to rush off to work.  When I did it at night, while I might be a little tired from the day, I was at least able to relax and focus more than in the mornings.  The best way to find your right time or day is to experiment.  You might find the middle of the afternoon when the kids are at school is the best time for you!  Try some different things and do what feels right.

Here are a few simple suggestions for daily devotions:

1. Purchase a daily meditation book and read from it at your altar during your devotions.  Ask the God and Goddess to guide you in your reading and your reflection on the material.  Some books that are available for this include “Celtic Spirit” by Caitlin Matthews, “Celtic Devotionals” by Caitlin Matthews, “The Real Witch’s Year” by Kate West and “365 Goddess”  by Patricia Telesco.

2. Open your devotion by calling to the elemental spirits for their aid in your day.  Decide either on a standard format or pick a different quality each day that the elements and elementals can bring to your life.

3. Create a devotion candle.  If you have a specific deity that you are going to work within your meditations and devotions, purchase a large pillar candle that is in a color that relates to your deity; for example white for Brighid, black for The Morrighan, green for Danu, etc.  If you are able to purchase your candle in a glass jar you can decorate that jar with images of your chosen God or Goddess and other embellishments that speak to you of their power and presence.  Anoint the candle with an oil blend dedicated to your deity or a simple oil of frankincense and myrrh (if your candle cannot come out of the jar simply anoint the top of the candle).  Charge and consecrate your candle to your deity and place it on your altar for use in your devotions and meditations with your God.

4. Make an offering on your altar for the Gods.  Some people will do this daily, others once a week, and yet others will do it twice a week.  I like to do it twice a week, once on the first day of the week and again at the end of the week.  I use a different offering for each one; at the beginning of the week I might use wine or mead and at the end of the week it might be herbs.  Place your offering on your altar as part of your devotion and leave it there for whatever length of time you feel is needed for the Gods to take its essence (typically anywhere from 8-24 hours).  Return your offering to the earth when you are finished.

Always keep in mind that this is something that should be an act of joy and pleasure.  Think of it as being your personal, private moment each day to check in with either your patron deities that you work with often or a chance to get to know someone new.  When you do it, you will want to be relaxed, open and ready to receive their messages as well as give your energy to them.  This is your time every day to renew your sacred vows to the Gods, so make these special times and make them part of your everyday life.

When people talk about living in the moment, there is often this misconception that this means we need to let go of the past completely and allow the future to unfold at will before us without our involvement.  There is this idea that the only thing we should concern ourselves with is what is happening right now, today, in our lives and leaving everything else up to Deity or the Universe.  When we give in to the idea of complete surrender we, especially as Witches, are giving up our power in many ways.  Our power is one that can change the world around us.  By saying “I give to you to do what you wish” we are letting go of some of the basic things that define us and our path.  We can still live in the moment while honoring our past and preparing for the future.

Living in the moment is about fully embracing where you are now.  The difference in living in the moment as opposed to living in the past or future is that, while we accept that the past has made us who we are, and that the future is where we are headed, we are mostly focused on the experiences we are having now and how they are shaping us today rather than worrying solely what in our past got us to where we are now or what we’re going to do later in our journey.  This can be really hard for people who feel that they made some sort of horrible mistake in the past that will impact their future or people that have had an event of some traumatic measure in their lives.  For these people, working with someone in a professional context can help to put their focus more on the present, but for those that aren’t at this level, and especially for those that work magickally, living in the present and using that as a tool for healing the past and moving into the future can be a great way to shift their lives.

Before you can really be in the present you must be able to close the door on the past.  As always journaling can help with this; take some time to sit down and make a list of all the things that still come back into your mind from your past from time to time that seem to have some measure of hold on you today.  It can be anything from and embarrassing childhood memory to a breakup last year.  Whatever it is that you feel you still carry from the past, or what some may feel “haunts” them, list it out.  Once you have completed your list reflect on each one and find the ones that really stand out to you, the ones that really bother you to most.  Cross out the ones that are not as important.  As you cross them out, you are closing the door on the past with that item and you’re throwing away the key.  Say to yourself as you cross out each item: “I am no longer bothered by (say the thing you are crossing out).  I accept what it has taught me and I accept that is part of who I am, however it is not part of who I will be.” When you have your list of big ones, take the time to write and reflect on those.  Take your time and let the emotions come through fully and then release them in the same way as you did with the small ones.  If these items take you a few days, a week or a month to say goodbye too, that’s OK.

Now it’s time to think about the future, but in small terms.  When we’re going to live in the moment we don’t want to focus on every minute detail of what we want for our future but we do want to know where we want to head.  We need a general direction to go in, so to speak.  Take the time to decide what areas of your life need direction and where you want to go.  Does you career need to be driven in a certain direction?  Is your marriage or relationship in need for a solid path?  Are you in need of refocusing your spiritual commitments?  Whatever it is, take a page in your journal to write about what, in general, you want to see your results be (a happier marriage, a more satisfying career, a more spiritually driven live).  Putting it in your mind and into the Universe what you’re after will help you to see the signposts along the way of where to go to get there.  But from here on out, you’re going to look for the signposts, creating them yourself when the opportunity arises, but you aren’t going to make it your main focus.

Now you are ready to live in the present.  Now you can live for today and be fully aware of what today is trying to teach you, what it wants to give you now, and what that can do for you later.  Daily meditation, even for five minutes, will help with this.  Many Buddhists participate in walking meditation which helps with present mindfulness.  Find a place outdoors where you feel you can safely walk and meditate without having worry or distraction.  Prepare in your mind your walking course, like around the perimeter of a park.  You’ll be looking down as you feel while you walk, walking one foot in front of the other in mindful, paced, steps.  Move slowly in a pace that you feel is best at the moment, and be focused on the feeling of walking, breathing the air around you, feeling the ground beneath your feet and feeling the sun and breeze on your skin.  Do not let any other thoughts come into your mind, only focus on what you are doing while walking.  When you have completed your meditative walk you will have spent that whole time in the moment experiencing only what was happening at that moment.

If you’d like to work with some affirmations or daily thoughts to help you with living in the moment and live for today, you can work with the Reiki Principles. If you are already a Reiki practitioner but do not work with the principles on a daily basis, now is a great time to start.  If you are not familiar with Reiki, you might want to check out the Sacred Mists Reiki course for more information.

I – Just for today, I will not be angry.
II – Just for today, I will not worry.
III – Just for today, I will be grateful.
IV – Just for today, I will do my work honestly.
V- Just for today, I will be kind to every living thing.