Magickal Exercises — Directing Your Own Energy

The body of energy, comprising primarily of the aura and the chakras, can be used for many things, such as the casting of spells and the performing of rituals. In simple terms, this is done by simply releasing the energy of the body toward a specific goal However, before you can begin working true magick, you must first learn to consciously direct your own energy.

Work With a Friend to Develop Your Magickal Skills

If you have a friend to help you, this exercise can be easy and enjoyable. You can both take turns practicing, and help to monitor each other’s progress. However, you’ll have to be honest with each other during this exercise. Center and ground your own energy before you begin.

Start this exercise by having your friend sit down, back to you, stripped to the waist (or removing as many layers as you’re both comfortable with). With your palm down and fingers together, extend your arm, straight out, and point it as your friend’s back. Keep your fingers at least an inch away from his or her back, or your friend will be able to physically feel what you’re doing.

Slowly move your hand up and down the line of his or her spine. Keep your arm straight and focus on sending your energy down your arm, out your fingers, and into your friend’s back. If you have difficulty doing this, focus on the flow of your breath. This isn’t as hard a technique as it may sound.

Imagine that you’re breathing in colored fog (I use purple, but you can visualize whatever color you like). Breathe this fog deep into your belly, about an inch below your navel. Exhale, but instead of breathing the fog out through your mouth or nose, see it flow down your arm and out your fingers, making contact with your friend’s back.

Have your friend tell you if he or she feels anything. This might be a tingling sensation, or the feeling of hot or cold. Everyone feels energy differently, so your energies might be interpreted in any number of ways. In time, your friend might be able to tell you where your hand is. Keep records on this exercise, and practice often.

Practice Magickal Skills on Your Animal Friends

Not everyone has a friend who will submit to this exercise. If you’re one of those people who simply does not have anyone to practice with, consider a pet. Cats and dogs work best for this exercise, and a patient pet is a better candidate. For cats and smaller dogs, rest them on your lap. For larger dogs, you’ll have to sit them in front of you. The principle is the same. Focus on sending energy into your pet, but without physical contact.

Your pet probably can’t talk, so you’ll have to watch your pet for evidence that they feel something. Signs can be as subtle as falling asleep or as obvious as jumping unexpectedly. You’ll have to keep a record of any signs you suspect might be significant, as Fido may keep you guessing for a while. This method takes a little longer, because of the reduced feedback you may receive, but it does work.

If you want to expand and increase your command of your own energies, you have to work at it. There are many various exercises that can help you do this. All of them have value. Experiment, practice, and have fun as you develop your psychic abilities.

Beach Spells for Spring and Summer

As the Spring Equinox approaches and the sun begins to warm the earth, our thoughts turn inevitably toward the beach. The beach is a destination, a place to feel the hot sand beneath our fee, the cool water upon our skin, and the powerful sun upon our backs. But it can also be a place to case some simple spells.

The Magick of the Beach

It is difficult to find a more magickal place than a sunny beach. It is one of the few places on earth where all four elements — earth, air, fire, and water — are present at the same time. Earth is the sand beneath your feet. Air is the wind blowing across your cheeks. Fire is the blazing sun. And water is the cool lap of the ocean or lake against your skin.

On land, only a lightning storm combines the four elements in such a natural way. But a lightning storm is harsh and distracting. The beach is gentle and soothing. The perfect place to work some magick.

Simple Spells for the Beach

Simplicity is often the core of powerful magicks. This is especially true of magick at the beach. You can honor the Goddess and the God, in their aspects as water deities, by tossing bread crumbs into the water while your feet are buried in the sand. Do this at sunset or sunrise to invoke Their blessings. It really doesn’t have to be more complicated than that.

Find a flat area of sand that will remain fairly undisturbed and draw a symbol to represent something you desire. This may be a career, love, a new home, or anything else you can think of. Draw your chosen symbol with a stick, your finger, or environmentally-safe paint that dissolves in water. Infuse the symbol with your intent as you do this. Allow the symbol to wear away naturally as your spell manifests.

The spot where the water meets the sand has great magickal potential and is symbolic of being between two worlds. Take a seat in the sand where the water washes over the shore and meditate. As you do so, visualize your desires flowing back and forth between these two worlds, passing through you to get to each other. This will help your desires to manifest in your life.

If you’re looking for a talisman or ritual tool, sit at the shoreline and ask the deities of the water to send you a gift. Close your eyes, and if you wait long enough, you might find your request granted. You’ll have to be patient and dedicated for this to work.

Alternatively, you can actively seek out things such as natural ritual tools and talismans. Search along the beach for shells, stones, fossils, or anything else you might find useful. You might even find a hagstone, a stone with a whole worn through the center by the eroding action of water and sand. These are symbols of the Goddess, and can be worn about the neck as talismans of protection and fertility.

There are many other ways you can use the beach as a place of power. You might choose to immerse yourself in the water as an act of purification. You could bury your feet in the sand to fully center and ground yourself. The possibilities are only limited by your imagination.

Readying Yourself for Magick — Dedicating Yourself to a Deity

Dedicating yourself to a deity should not be done lightly. When you commit yourself to a god or goddess, you are embracing all that they are. Most gods and goddesses have more than one aspect. For example, Brigit is a goddess of healing, but she is also a goddess of creativity and smithcraft. She should not be chosen as a patron goddess unless you are willing to embrace her in all her aspects.

How to Dedicate Yourself to a Deity

If you are sure that you would like to dedicate yourself to your chosen deity, then you must create a ceremony to express this desire. This ritual can be short or long, elaborate or simple, but it must come from the heart. This ceremony should be unique to you, but there are some common steps that can be incorporated. A general outline for this type of ritual might be:

• Prepare your body and mind by meditating, ritual bathing, fasting, or any other activity that will clear your mind and cleanse the body;
• Dress appropriately, in robes or other ritual garb, or perhaps consider going skyclad;
• Create an altar specifically for your patron goddess or god, separate from your working altar;
• Create sacred space by casting a circle;
• Invite your patron god or goddess to join you in your circle, and introduce yourself;
• Swear an oath of dedication, explaining how you plan to be of service to your patron;
• Thank your patron for his or her presence; and
• Dismiss the circle.

How to Serve Your Patron Deity

Once the ritual is complete and you have dedicated yourself to your patron goddess or god, you may find yourself wondering how you can now fulfill your oath. How can you be of service to your patron? Any action that shows respect and love can be considered a service. Here are a few ideas.

• Create a permanent shrine or altar for your deity.
• Write a poem, song, or story about your deity.
• Invoke your deity during rituals. Perhaps even create an entire ritual simply to honor your patron.
• Create a unique piece of jewelry that symbolizes your deity, and carry it with you.
• Teach a class to the public about your deity, sharing his or her knowledge with others.
• Dance purely for your deity, expressing in dance the personality of your patron.
• Create clothing that is specific to your deity. Maybe this clothing will become your ritual garb.
• Create an astral temple for your patron.
• Go out into the world and do the work of your patron. If he or she is a healer, then heal. If your deity is an artist, then create.

Continue to increase your relationship with your patron goddess or god, for this will strengthen the magick within. Truly exploring the depths of a relationship with the divine can take a lifetime, and choosing to become the disciple of a god or goddess is a personal decision. The closer you are to the divine, the more powerful your magick will be, and the more wisely you will use it.

Readying Yourself for Magick: Connecting to the Divine

A connection to deity is essential to the full practice of magick. This is not to say that one has to follow any particular religion. Any religion or spiritual path can offer a wondrous connection to the divine. However, this connection must be of a personal nature in order for it to benefit magickal practice.

A personal relationship to the divine is one where either you have chosen a particular deity, or that deity has chosen you. Most people have an easier time establishing this connection if they visualize the deity in human form, complete with a name, history, and bursting personality.

How is the Divine Visualized?

No two people share the exact same worldview. This means that no two people see the divine in exactly the same manner, though there are usually similarities between people who share a similar religious background. Often, personal views of the divine change over time. There are many ways in which the divine is visualized today.

• Imaginary beings created by ancient peoples as a way of coping with and explaining the unknown in the natural world.
• Beings that started as imaginary, but because of the energy directed toward them by worshippers, have now become real and taken on a life of their own.
• Beings that existed prior to any humans, and are supernatural and immortal in nature.
• Aspects of the original deity who created the universe.
• Aspects of the psyche of the individual, and not external at all.
• Human beings who were so influential in their time and culture that they became deified after death.
• Imaginary beings created by the priestly class as a way of controlling the masses.
• Unknowable entities that fill a psychological need in the human psyche.
• The unifying force of the universe.

These are only some of the ways in which the divine can be visualized. It is impossible to get into specifics and describe each aspect of the divine, since no two people will see the divine in the same way. For example, not all Christians see God as an elderly gentleman with a flowing white beard. Not all Wiccans see the Goddess in her Triple form – Maiden, Mother, and Crone.

How Can I Connect to the Divine?

The divine is such an all-encompassing idea that it is best if you are able to connect to a more familiar aspect of the divine, such as Isis, Diana, Lugh, or Odin. Choosing an aspect, instead of focusing on a form that is somewhere ‘out there’ and whose nature is uncertain, allows the mind to grasp the idea of the divine with greater ease. This increases the likelihood that you will make a lasting connection to this deity.

Perhaps you already feel the call of a particular deity. If not, feel free to choose a deity from any time or place in history that you feel can help you on your spiritual journey. There are hundreds to choose from, so take your time, do your research, and choose carefully.

Once you have settled on a particular aspect, there are many things that can be done to encourage a connection with this deity. Remember, these are only suggestions. Anything that will enhance your relationship to your chosen god or goddess will suffice.

• Read a book (or many books) about your chosen deity.
• Perform online research to learn as much about your deity as possible.
• Meditate, focusing on your deity and its personality.
• Use your dreams to further connect with your deity.
• Find, buy, or make a statue for your deity.
• Make a painting or collage or your chosen deity.

Building a relationship with a particular deity may happen in an instant, or it may take many years. You may or may not choose to dedicate yourself to your deity, but either way, the personal relationship that is developed with a particular aspect of the divine is powerful and fulfilling.

Readying Yourself for Magick: An Internal Elemental Balance

The practice of magick is a mysterious and complex art. There are many tools and accessories that can be used to enhance its practice, including athames, wands, cauldrons, and ritual robes. However, all of these are useless without the most important tool of magick – you.

The Elements Within

Most people, including most magicians, are elementally imbalanced. There are five elements, and each of these corresponds to a point on the pentagram and certain human qualities. The elements are:

Earth – physical and practical concerns;

• Air – intellect and imagination;
• Fire – passion and will;
• Water – emotion and intuition; and
• Spirit – relationship with the divine.

If you want to be at your best as a magician, then your own five elements must be balanced within you. Very few people are truly balanced, and if you look at your life, you’ll probably see that you are actually lacking balance.

Perhaps you’re obsessed with earning money, but have difficulty with relationships. Maybe you have a hard time getting passionate about anything, but you’re incredibly smart. Whatever the combination, it is important to rebalance yourself for your magick to be at its most effective.

Achieving an Elemental Balance

Finding an elemental balance isn’t as hard as is might sound. With some meditation and personal exploration, identifying imbalances should occur quite quickly. After this, rectifying them is simple enough, though it usually takes quite a bit of time and energy.

Select one elemental area of your life at a time. Don’t try to tackle too much at once, or you might become overwhelmed.Once you have selected one particular area of you life, try the following steps:

• Be very clear about your goal. Write it down.
• Chart your progress using a diary or journal, otherwise you won’t know when you’ve achieved your goal
• Break down your goal into simple, attainable, steps. This will help to keep you motivated.
• Think about what obstacles you might encounter and decide how best to remove them.
• Evaluate the resources you already have, including friends, family, spiritual counselors, etc.
• Set dates for progress, and keep them.
• Look at your list of steps every day, and try to accomplish something, even if it’s only a small thing.
• When you finally achieve your goal, have a celebration to acknowledge your achievement.

Repeat these steps for each area of your life, until you’re satisfied that you are more elementally balanced that you were previously. This balance will enhance the effectiveness of your spells and rituals. Revisit the idea of finding your balance one a year, and you will truly empower the magick within.

Preparing for Magick: How to Cast Spells

Spells are really just the manipulation of energy. This energy must then be sent towards a specific goal, and any excess energy should be released into the earth. This process can seem rather complicated, but as long as you’re centered and grounded correctly, the manipulation of energy can be fairly simple.

The Energy Within — Personal Power

Every living thing is full of power. The magick within is incredibly strong, and ready to be used. All the strength and power you will ever need is within you, including the strength to draw upon outside energies when necessary. However, for most people, these skills have never been used, or were used so long ago that they have forgotten them completely.

Personal power is like a muscle. It strengthens with use, and will atrophy with neglect. Start small, and practice frequently to encourage your personal power to become stronger; there are many exercises you might use to help learn to direct your own energy. Eventually, your own personal power will be strong enough to accomplish what might seem to be impossible.

Using personal power requires intense emotion. It is best to focus on a goal you can feel passionate about for maximum effectiveness. The modern world teaches that strong passions must be repressed and controlled, so you will have to break through these years of conditioning, finding the flame that will fuel your own magick.

Raising Magickal Energy From Outside Sources

Raising energy can be done in many different ways. Some common methods of raising energy are:

• Chanting
• Drumming
• Stomping
• Clapping
• Breathing
• Singing
• Dancing
• Visualization
• Meditation

Many Pagans and Wiccans use ritual to raise energy. This allows for the combination of many methods mentioned above. When raising energy, let the feeling that has been awakened using personal power permeate your entire body; feel the power surge through you.

Remember to draw energy from the earth, the same way you do when you’re grounding. Channel energy from the sun, the moon, a lake, or whatever natural sources are nearby. Open yourself to nature, or you will only have access to your own personal power, and this will quickly leave you exhausted.

One must see the desired goal as real and already accomplished. Experience the feeling of achievement that will accompany success. You will know instinctively when the energy is at its peak. In that instant, it is time to send it towards its goal.

Sending Magickal Energy Towards Its Goal

Raising energy does no good if it’s not eventually sent out to accomplish its goal. To do this, visualize the energy streaming from you into either the object of the goal itself, or a visualization of this goal. For example, for healing, you would visualize the energy entering the person to be healed (following all magickal ethics, of course).

If the person is not sitting directly in front of you, try using a photograph, or perhaps a lock of hair. Even picturing the person sitting in front of you will do. Imagine them as hale and healthy, raise the power, and channel it into them. Keep the vision of them fully healed in your mind for the duration. Avoid distractions during this process.

Some visualizations are not as easy as this. For example, if you’re casting a spell for increased concentration, you may have to visualize yourself studying, or working, or whatever image works for you. See yourself participating in an activity that is associated with your goal.

Releasing Excess Energy Into the Earth

After the energy has been raised and sent towards its goal, you will probably still feel as if you’re vibrating, too keyed up to sleep. This means that there is still excess energy circulating throughout your system. This energy is fine in the short term, but it will eventually begin to have adverse effects such as:

• Headaches;
• Inability to sleep;
• Too much tension; and
• Hyperactivity.

There is no need for this, as the excess energy can be sent into the earth. Simply place your hands upon the ground (preferably the earth itself, but it’s not strictly necessary). Allow the excess energy to drain through your hands and into the earth. As an alternative, you could try sitting on the ground and allowing the energy to drain though your ‘roots’ into the earth. This is the reverse of most common grounding exercises.

Many rituals, especially Wiccan rituals, involve ‘cakes and wine.’ This is a more mundane method of releasing excess energy. When your body has to digest physical food, it can return to its normal state much more quickly. Releasing excess energy is highly important, no matter which method is used, so if simply having a meal after spells and rituals is easiest for you, then do so.

Casting spells is not necessarily an easy process at first. However, with time, patience, practice, and an internal elemental balance, it does become easier, and eventually second nature. Some spells have a long list of ingredients and tools, and while these may enhance the working of a spell, they are not strictly necessary.

Preparing for Magick: Centering and Grounding

The art of grounding and centering is necessary to the successful practice of magick. Before approaching this task, it is important to properly cleanse the aura and the chakras. After this has been accomplished, you should center and ground before attempting any magickal work.

How Do You Know if You Need to Center and Ground?

The easy answer to this question is that you always need to center and ground before working magick. But there are signs that centering is especially necessary. If you pay close attention to how you feel on an internal level, you will notice when you begin to feel off-balance, confused, uncertain, or weak. To successfully practice magick, you must be aware of your own inner state.

If you notice that you feel somehow ‘off center,’ take the time to ground and center, even if you will not be performing magick. You’ll both feel and function better as a result.

How to Center the Spiritual Self

The art of centering is really very simple. Start by taking a deep breath and turning your focus inward until you are acutely aware of your inner state of being. Close your eyes and visualize a point of light approximately two inches below your navel. Feel how solid this point is, and the sense of calm that emanates from it.

This point is the center of your own internal universe, the seat of your body’s energy. If you are truly seated in this point, nothing can move you from it. As long as you remain focused on this center, you and your energy are untouchable. Take a deep breath and relax into your center, allowing its peace to fill you. Remain in this state as you open your eyes and proceed with grounding your spiritual self.

How to Ground the Spiritual Self

Grounding your energies takes a little more visualization to accomplish successfully. If you can, take a seat upon the earth. If not, a comfortable position anywhere will suffice. Visualize the root chakra at the very base of your spine. See your backbone as the trunk of a tree, and allow your root chakra to stretch out as ‘roots’ reaching deep into the earth. Feel them as they penetrate the soil.

Inhale and draw the earth’s energy up into yourself. Allow its energy to flow up the roots, into the trunk that is your spine, and permeate your entire body. Feel the earth’s stability, strength, and wisdom fill you. When you are ready, draw you roots back into yourself, sit quietly for a moment, and then proceed with your magickal work.

Grounding and centering, which are really just a form of meditation, are necessary steps for working any magick, Wiccan or otherwise. When done correctly, you should feel energized, calm, and at peace all at the same time. Once centered and grounded, spell casting and rituals can be performed.