Practical Witchery: Grounding (1/3)

Dear Reader,

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One of the first skills I was taught as a young witch was how to ground and center myself. Grounding and centering are very helpful for managing stress and anxiety in addition to being extremely useful in preparation for magical work. The first steps in grounding are a matter of becoming aware of your personal energy state. This is intimately tied to your mental and emotional state. The more agitated you are, the higher your personal energy state will be.

Now, as anyone with a basic understanding of psychology can tell you, there are two kinds of stress. Good stress is the sort that comes with the excitement of a much anticipated fun event. Bad stress is the sort that comes with things like a dreaded exam in a class you're struggling with. In terms of personal energy state, good or bad stress are neutral and they just elevate your energy levels. Grounding restores your energy levels to your personal baseline neutral.

Grounding can help reduce stress and anxiety through the restoration of one's baseline energy level. It is more effective, however, as a psychological tool where in one learns to let go of the stressors. In either case, grounding is a healthful practice for any witch to learn, regardless of the variety of witchcraft they are practicing.

The method of grounding that I am going to share with you today is a combination of one that I was taught when I was a very young witch and a method of becoming fully present in the moment that I was taught to help me cope with my cptsd. This is a sensory based exercise. Before you do this exercise it is important to find yourself sitting in a comfortable position. This doesn't require full lotus to be effective (indeed if you're not flexible and experienced in yoga, full lotus is going to make this exercise harder to do).

As you are sitting, focus your awareness on your breathing. Draw in a deep breath to a slow count of three. Hold it for a count of three. Exhale to a count of three. Then pause for a count of three. Repeat this process until you are comfortable with it. This can be an immediate quick relief for mild anxiety and partial grounding.

Move your awareness from your breathing (but continue the process as best you can) to your body. Starting at the top of your head, feel the tension in your body. As you move your awareness down through your body, feel that tension softening and relaxing. When you reach your feet, feel the tension going down from your feet into the floor and the earth down below. Continue this process until you are fully relaxed and comfortable.

At this time, your excess energy has been released into the earth to disperse. You are now ready to begin magical work.

Divination: Major Arcana 1 - The Magician

Dear Reader,

The second trump card we encounter in the Major Arcana is numbered '1' and named the Magician. This is both the Fool's teacher and goal. The Magician is in possession of all the tools of his trade (the suits of the Minor Arcana) and has the knowledge of how to use them. 

In the direct orientation, the Magician suggests that one is in a position of power and knowledge. It speaks of an individual who has the capacity to share that knowledge in a masterful way. The reversed Magician warns of a manipulator who distorts knowledge for the sake of tricking others into doing what they want.

Interestingly, this particular deck has a pair of images in the upper corners of the direct oriented card that relates to the trump card in question. On the right side we see the phoenix, a bird of transformation and great knowledge. On the left side, we see an image of Hermes. Hermes is the patron deity of magicians and the occult. Like Hermes, the Magician can be a trickster figure in either orientation. The question is, is the trickster working in your favor or not.

This week's card comes from the Renaissance Tarot deck by Brian Williams and is produced by US Games Systems Inc.

Godspousery Notes: Taboos lifted, now what?

Dear Reader,

The taboo that I have been under about writing in greater detail about my relationships with Loki and Freyr has been lifted. I'm honestly not sure what to write. I mean, how does one explain that the deities spend their time just being themselves around you and stuff? It's like being around another person who has their quirks and habits. In short, it's like any other relationship.

They've been concerned about my health. I've been under a fair amount of stress over the last few months and that has driven my blood sugar levels higher. I'm still sticking to my healthy diet. Apparently stress is just that awful for me. It's frustrating. Frey has been strongly encouraging me to drink more water and exercise more. We did yoga today and it was unpleasant.

I hate doing yoga because I am so stiff due to the arthritis. Frey tells me that will improve with time. We took a walk this afternoon but the weather was pretty awful, so I didn't exactly enjoy that very much. Environmental factors and my joints are conspiring against me finding pleasure in exercise right now. I enjoyed the company but the physical discomfort sucked.

Loki is pushing me to be more social. I have been struggling with this. He's taken to calling me a cat stuck in a tree on this matter. I suppose the description is fitting. The poor health and poor functioning of my brainmeats worked together to make me reluctant to talk and go out. Now I am finding myself struggling with mild agoraphobia. I know it is because I'm afraid that I'm going to have a diabetic emergency while I'm out and have no one around to help me. And because I have always been afraid of getting lost, which has just gotten worse over the last year.

But, Loki has a plan for this stuff. He says that he and Odin have it all figured out. That makes me a little nervous. I trust them but I don't trust myself to not screw things up.

Reading for the Intermediate Witch: Full Contact Magick

Dear Reader,

Kerr Cuhulain's Full Contact Magick (Llewellyn Worldwide, 2002. ISBN 9780738702544 ) is a bit dated but the material hold up well. Mr. Cuhulain received some complaints that his book was a touch on the too aggressive side for many Wiccans. It is my opinion that Full Contact Magick was timely and a necessary addition to the general body of knowledge for the Wiccan community when it came out and remains so even today.

Mr. Cuhulain covers the basics of magical practice with a deft hand. He really shines and shows his experience when discussing the essentials of magical self defense. His blending of practical non-magical analysis of magically threatening situations and the assessment of the correct magical approach to a problem is elegant and efficient. Mr. Cuhulain gives very direct instruction on how to handle magical problems. This makes his work highly accessible to most magical studies readers. He breaks down the more complex ceremonial magic elements of his practices into simple steps that are easily followed.

Rating: 7/10

Curious about the New Books?

To the right is the first volume of The Veiled Witch's Ritual Book.
It is available on Amazon as a paperback (pictured) and as an ebook. This volume covers rituals and rites for the Filianic community. These rituals are based in western European belief practices and are similar in structure to Christian practices.

Included in this volume is a rite to dedicate oneself to Dea, daily devotionals, and an abbreviated book of hours. Also, rituals are presented for recognizing children of Dea as they pass through major phases of their life, instruction upon the matters of setting up and maintaining a shrine, and how to handle offerings to Dea that may be made at public or semi-public access shrines.

Paperback Link: https://www.amazon.com/Veiled-Witchs-Ritual-Book-Filianic/dp/1090888449/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Ebook Link: https://www.amazon.com/Veiled-Witchs-Ritual-Book-Filianic-ebook/dp/B07PP6NGJB


Rose Petals: A Filianic Psalter is now in its fourth edition.  This edition has new prayers for the year as well as a collection of devotional 'songs' in a style similar to that of the Christian psalms.  Rose Petals also contains an abbreviated book of hours, instructions on how to pray the Filianic rosary upon a 5 decade set of beads, and a brief glossary of who the Janyati are and what aspects they govern.

Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1797491695

Ebook: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07NVXJMY9

Divination: Major Arcana 0 - The Fool

The Fool from the Barbara Walker Tarot

Dear Reader,

The first Major Arcana card we encounter in the Tarot deck is numbered 0 and named 'The Fool'. In the image to the right, you see pretty standard iconography for this card. 

The fool is dressed in a jester's motley and carries a satchel on their shoulder and a flower in their hand. They are approaching a chasm with a small dog at their heels and a butterfly before them. The sack they are carrying is usually said to contain all of the suits of the Minor Arcana - the pentacle, wand, sword, and chalice. The fool is not watching where they are going. It is unclear if they are following the butterfly as many interpret it. Or if the dog at their heels are trying to warn them of danger or goad them onward.

In an upright orientation, the Fool speaks of beginnings. It is a card of optimism and hope. In the reversed orientation, the Fool is a warning for the querent to be cautious and carefully consider the situation before leaping in feet first.

In the story of the Fool's Journey, the Fool card introduces the intrepid soul full of potential and adventuresome spirit. The Fool's Journey is the story played out through the Major Arcana that is full of archetypal themes and is considered to be a manifestation of the Hero's Journey or the Soul's Journey through Life.

Godspousery Notes: Have a cookie!

Dear Reader,

Life has been really stressful and challenging of late. I was venting about this elsewhere when I was told by Loki that I should have a cookie and a cup of tea, just a bit of a treat to relax. Being in a mixed episode, I was half ready to start and argument about how a cookie was the last thing I needed because my blood sugar has been high due to all of this stress. Then I stopped and thought about it for a minute. I really hadn't had a chance to sit and relax for at least a week. So, I had a small cookie (no frosting at all for me) and a cup of tea.

Sure enough, I felt a bit better after that. I still found myself spoiling for an argument, but I wasn't quite ready to sharpen my proverbial claws for that argument yet. As I was meditating and doing my best to ground myself a bit later, Loki showed up again. He just sat with me and reminded me to concentrate on my breathing as my kids rather loudly debated as to if I was asleep or meditating right in front of me.

He's been around in the odd moments when the little things that the kids do would have made me flip my lid and pointed out the humor in it so that I was laughing instead of screaming. Tomorrow is the last day of Spring Break. I think we might all survive this intact. Thanks to Loki pointing out that kids are just as funny as they are exasperating. (And at least the boys weren't saying that I was dead when I was meditating.)