博客存档 - Shadow Maven

To Ritual, or Not To Ritual..?

6/24/2024

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As it says in my brief description, I am a non-ritualistic practitioner. All this really means is that I don’t use a lot of, what some might consider standard, ritual elements when doing any sort of witchy work. These might include (but are not limited to) casting a circle, calling the quarters, using all the usual tools (chalice, athame, wand, robes, etc..), chanting, or even preparing well formed, memorized, rhyming spells. I tend to use more herbs, oils, candles, incense, and sigils, and I do it when the timing feels right. As a solitary practitioner I tend to observe the holidays with the same relaxed tone. I do believe that however you practice, you should feel comfortable while doing it. A lot of movies/mass media portray witches as having covens, and performing these great rites with grandeur, but I do not believe that all that is necessary to perform magic, or manifest your desires. Not everyone feels comfortable with the ritual aspect, and for some it can feel downright silly, especially when you are all by yourself…and that’s OK. Ritual is not for everyone, and it doesn’t make you less of a witch, or a less effective witch to not participate in it. While there are ever so many books, classes, and such that outline spell work with at least some ritual aspects, using only the elements that speak to you is best. At least, that is what I have found. What matters is your intent. Whether you feel you need to go all out to put yourself in the right magickal frame of mind, and gather the necessary energy to cast, or you feel you can get the job done with a packet of salt and a little chant, or just your own mind and a quiet space, you are right.
So, my question is, what makes you feel at your witchy best? Do you enjoy immersing yourself in rituals, using all your witchy tools? Or do you prefer the “less is more” approach?

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Most of us are familiar with what space clearing is, and have likely done it once or twice. Usually, we think of lighting sticks of sage and/or other herbs, and going room to room, through the entire house, clearing out the negative energies that have built up over time. Some people also follow up with something like sweetgrass to draw in positive energies. Before the actual cleansing, one can use sound to break up the stagnant, or accumulated energies first. Drums, singing bowls, tuning forks, and tingshas are very helpful for this, though simply clapping also works. If you are allergic to smoke or can’t stand the smell of sage or palo santo, there are alternatives like cleansing sprays. My friend, Rowan Goddess, makes a fabulous Cleanse and Rejuvenate spray that not only smells amazing, but works amazing as well. How often you do this is completely up to you.
While these large cleansing sessions are important, I would like to talk about the smaller, and probably more frequent ones we may not give as much credit to. These are the ones we do before meditation/journeying, before spell work, after a long day surrounded by unwanted/uncomfortable vibes (aka a bad day), etc.. There are many ways we can accomplish this. We can take a shower, visualizing all the “ick” being washed off us and down the drain. We can light some incense like White Sage, Nag Champa, or Sandalwood (to name a few), and waft the smoke over us. Candles are another good cleansing resource. Whether they are rolled in cleansing herbs, or infused with oils/oil blends (like Cleanse & Rejuvenate), or just calling on the element of fire to help cleanse you (fire is an excellent cleanser, but you should limit yourself to a good visualization for this purpose) is your preference. Using a spray (spraying above yourself and letting it fall onto you, or spraying in front of you and walking into the mist are common methods). Visualizations are also popular, and easily done by those with allergies or sensitivities, and in public places. Visualizing whatever colour of light you feel represents “cleansing” surrounding you and removing the undesirable energies. That light can come from within (usually heart center) or from without (the earth or the universe) is up to you.
These are all popular methods. There are plenty more that include crystals, tea drinking, rain, earthing, swimming, salt, and so on. It isn’t so much what you do, as how it makes you feel when you do it. With all of life’s stresses, the amount we have to “people” every day, and how disconnected people seem to feel from one another (which shows in how we treat people, and how we are treated by them), I think cleansing is very important. None of these methods needs to take very long, but that little time one takes for that small, but important, bit of self-care, can make a big difference in one’s day/life. Do you have a cleansing self-care ritual or daily practice? If you don’t, do you think you should/would start one?

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There is a lot of talk about chakras, energy and energy healing these days. I wanted to touch on chakras today. While I will just be going over a basic introduction to them if you are interested in learning more, I highly recommend Llewellyn’s Complete Book of Chakras by Cyndi Dale. It is a (possibly) daunting 1006 pages, but I have yet to find a more comprehensive guide to this most interesting topic.
Chakra is a Sanskrit word meaning “wheel” or “cycle”. They are basically little vortexes of energy located in/on the body that regulate energy. A healthy chakra spins freely and has a bright clear colour. If the chakra is unbalanced, this is where issues can happen, and one’s health may be compromised. When we think about chakras, we generally refer to the most commonly known 7 main chakras of the Hindu system (there are so many more chakras located all over the body).

Muladhara – Root – Survival – Base of Spine – Red – “I AM”
Svadhisthana – Sacral – Emotions – Below Navel – Orange – “I FEEL”
Manipura – Solar Plexus – Power – Above Navel/Below Breast Bone – Yellow – “I DO”
Anahata – Heart – Love – Center of Chest – Green – “I LOVE”
Vishuddha – Throat – Communication - Neck/ Above Collar Bone – Light Blue – “I TALK”
Ajna – Third Eye – Vision - Centered Above Eyebrows – Indigo (Sometimes Purple) – “ I SEE”
Sahasrara – Crown – Spirituality - Top of Head – Purple (Sometimes White) – “I UNDERSTAND”

Each one has other correspondences to elements, sounds, body parts, body systems, and so on. A large part of becoming aware of and working with chakras has to do with healing. These spinning vortexes of energy correspond to different parts of self on all levels. So, whether you need healing on a spiritual, emotional, mental, or physical level, you can work with your chakras to help facilitate your healing needs. This work may include meditation/journeying, or personal energy work. You may seek outside help, such as energy workers, Reiki healers, sound healers, etc.. You can employ all sorts of tools as well, such as crystals, coloured glass, tuning forks/singing bowls, food, and much more.
While the above Hindu system is the most commonly known (at least here in North America), many cultures have their own similar systems as well. These include, but are not limited to, Egyptian, Celtic, Greek, Korean, and even Native American (such as Hopi, Sioux, Mayan, Incan, and Iroquois).
Regardless of what system you are drawn to/works best for you, they are all interesting to learn about. I also find it interesting how so many cultures, with little to no contact between them, developed similar ideas about our energy bodies/systems throughout the centuries. Once again showing that we are all connected to each other in ways we may not realize or understand…yet.
Have you/do you work with your chakras? Have you ever had energy work done? If so, how did it feel? If not, would you be open to it?

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Feelings...Nothing More Than Feelings..?

6/3/2024

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This week I wanted to talk a bit about feelings. We are constantly told that when we do any kind of spell work, how important our intent is. While this is true, I would argue that the feeling behind our intent is what drives it all. I can intend to manifest any outcome I want, but if I don’t put the feelings behind my wants, needs, or desires, it is just a bland statement. How would the universe/the gods/etc.. know I truly want something to happen if I show no emotion towards the making of it or the outcome. This goes back to my previous post about manifesting, and how you manifest through the heart. Much of our healing happens through here as well.
The thing about feelings these days, is that most people don’t think about the full range of feelings they actually express. If you ask someone to describe how they felt about a situation, or how they feel in the moment, you will usually get one of three answers, happy, sad, or angry. While these are all valid feelings, they do not fully or accurately express how we feel. It seems to me that people do not tend to really examine their feelings, and many of us do not feel comfortable expressing our true feelings for fear of upsetting or offending others. I don’t think we do ourselves justice when we do this. Healing can happen when we acknowledge the root feelings of our trauma/pain, and work through them. To do this we need to be able to recognize those feelings for what they are, allow ourselves to feel them (as we often hide from our squash down our feelings “in the moment” as a coping mechanism), own them, and take responsibility for them.
This goes for the feelings behind our intent during magickal workings as well. If you want to manifest something, you need to own those feelings to feel worthy of accepting what you are asking for. Are you trying to manifest something because you think it will make you happy, bring you peace, or help fulfill your purpose? This also applies to when you are banishing or working to release something. If you are trying to let go of a bad habit or negative thoughts/habits, you first have to acknowledge what they are and how they truly make you feel so you can confront them, and properly articulate what you are trying to accomplish and why. Are you banishing something from your life because it makes you afraid, or makes you feel ashamed, or fills you with anger? Are you asking for help to avoid something or to face it and overcome it? Whatever your intended outcome, part of manifesting something is visualizing yourself in the intended outcome, and really feeling how you want to feel when you achieve it. You can’t do that without recognizing and acknowledging a range of emotions bigger than happy, sad, or angry.
This also applies to another post I made about mindfulness. To practice mindfulness, you need to be “in the moment”, which means sitting with those feelings, experiencing them as they happen, and then letting them go and moving on to the next experience. You can do this during meditation as well. Let whatever thoughts or feelings arise; let them happen, and then let them go.
If you want to learn more about feelings, what they are, how to recognize them, and how to make them work for you (instead of against you, as we often feel they do), I highly recommend Brene Brown’s book Atlas of the Heart. It is an excellent read, and particularly helpful if you are interested in doing Shadow Work or any intrinsic self-care. How do you feel about your feelings?

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Shadow to Light

To Ritual, or Not To Ritual..?

Mini Cleansings as Self-Care

Chakras

Feelings...Nothing More Than Feelings..?

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