Author: TheWiseHedgewitch » Fri Oct 01, 2010 12:05 pm
By Bonnie on Tuesday, January 14, 2003 - 06:39 pm:
I would like to offer the following article for folks wondering how to get started & apologize that it is so long. I hope that it will be helpful. It's only one person's point of view.
Where Do You Start?
Many people first interested in witchcraft have asked "how do I get started?", and the answers are as varied as the people asking the question. A lot has to do with who you are, what your interest is, what your previous experience may be. Some are drawn by the religious aspect of Wicca, some by its gentle relationship to Mother Earth, and others by the desire to use magic to control their lives. Many beginners are fascinated with some notion of "the powers" of a witch. We've all been fed the Hollywood version that depicts these "powers" to be greater and more reliable than the reality experienced by your common garden variety witch. Witchiness is no substitute for common sense. The reality is that achieving spell casting abilities is hard work. It requires the ability to control your body's energy, to connect to and channel the Earth's magnetic and ethereal fields, and to align your will with one's concept of the Infinite and Divine. Following are some simple suggestions for inquirers who have a general interest and are just starting out but not sure where they want to go with it. We've all been new at one time.
To breathe, center and ground is a constant routine you should do prior to any witchiness.
Rhythmic, steady breathing is a means of centering which is the easiest method of quieting the mind and body prior to any visualization. Inhale to the count of four, hold for the same count, and exhale to the count of four, hold again to the count of four. Repeat comfortably. It's okay to feel a little light headed, but not so much that you can't maintain your focused intention. Four symbolizes the Four Corners of the Earth and is therefore balancing to your mind and energies.
Centering puts you in touch with your inner self. It's a coming to yourself, quieting and coming back to who you are and what your purpose is. Additionally, there's a soul-spot within each of us that is every-where and every-when in place and time. This quiet spot is the point of connecting to the Infinite. You may associate the infinite with your concept of Deity. It only takes a moment of well-focused intent to connect. You can decide to visualize or meditate at this point. Visualization and meditation are not the same thing and unfortunately the terms are often mingled. For the purposes here, you might think of visualization as sensing or picturing in the eye of the mind and meditation as the fine art of listening with the heart.
To further balance yourself, you should be grounded. This means that you establish that connection between your body's energy and the Earth. This connection is something we have naturally but you enhance it by becoming aware of it. A witch should always be mindful of this basic connection because it provides greater energy and vitality to your body and your magic. Imagine you are like a bead on a string, with the string of light-energy passing through your body, from your head, down your spine, through the souls of your feet and anchoring into the Earth. You can see it in your mind's eye and feel it too. Don't let it stop there. Send that beam of light down into the very red-hot molten core of the planet. Gently call the warmth of the Mother upward along the same beam of light, back along your spine to fountain above your head and spill over to flood your aura (the natural energy field emanating around your physical body). You can do the fountain any time you need to strengthen your shields against the outside world.
Spend some time playing with this energy. Let it come to rest at each of the energy centers of your physical body, moving from feet to head. This strengthens your connection to the earth, and prepares you for magic. It is also good to use for clearing yourself after having worked a spell (some time in the future) as it clears the residue and replenishes your energies. Each center is associated with a color, although these vary with the system being used. Generally, the base of the spine around the gonads is red, the naval area is orange, the solar plexus yellow, the center of the chest green, the throat is cobalt blue, the pineal gland at the center of the forehead is indigo/violet blue, and the crown or top of the head is red-violet, or white/gold. Spend 5-10 minutes daily picturing these colors as you draw the Earth's energy upward and into the fountain of light surrounding your body.
How do you recognize your energy and control it? A simple way is to rub the palms of your hands together, creating friction. Then hold your hands with palms touching and slowly move them apart, then back together several times. You may feel a spongy push like two magnets of the same polarity. You may see a faint brightness between your hands or a blue-white mist radiating around your hands. Gently focus your attention on this pulse. Think of it and desire it to become various colors. Shape it into a ball. Re-absorb the energy into your hands and ground it when done. It's fun to practice this between friends too, holding your palms facing each other. This is the energy you will use to cast a circle and send a spell. When you know this is working for you, you will feel ready to move on to casting and un-casting a circle. (See the article on Circle Casting for more information.)
Controlling energy is done with the Will, and this is associated with the color orange and the naval center. The Will is manifested by desire - wanting something. A well-focused Will is maintained by concentration on the finished, completed outcome of your desire, and not on the means to achieving the goal. The Universe will provide the means, opportunity and path to the goal. An orange candle is good to use to associate with the Will when you practice visualization, and you may want to set up a personal altar or workspace.
The ability to visualize is important to magic. You can work at this by inventing memorization games in which you look at an inanimate object like a pencil, postage stamp, or a photo of a friend. Then close your eyes and picture it in your imagination, on the mental screen right behind your eyes. Then another time, look at an organic or living thing like a flower or apple. Picture this too. You might notice a difference when you work with inanimate versus organic objects.
Another way to feel your energy and the variations of flux and reflux is to sit a few minutes in sunlight and feel your aural field. At another time, sit in moonlight and absorb this light. If you're near the sea, you can sense the tides. Think in terms of the cycles of nature. Nothing is wasted. Life re-cycles. The sun and moon have their own cycles observed in the Sabbats and Esbats. The interwoven dance of life is continuous.
Observe nature around you using all your senses. Listen to the variety of bird-song present whether in the city or country. Grow a plant. Pick up unsightly trash off the street as a way of honoring the earth. Be aware of weather patterns in your area. Connect with the energies of life all around you.
If you have one of the psychic abilities like seeing auras, telepathy, clairvoyance, psychokinesis, out-of-body travel or precognition you can invent fun ways to practice everyday. You can fine tune these talents just like playing a musical instrument.
You can practice seeing your own aura by looking in the mirror. Have dim lighting and a plain background. Let your eyes go out of focus. Eventually you'll see a luminous outline around your head and shoulders. You may see colors too. Practice with friends. The colors within an aura have various meanings, but generally the clean, bright colors indicate well-being & murky colors indicate that something is out of whack. Yellow is intellectual; Green is health & contentment; Pink/magenta affection; Blue devotion, and purple leans towards the spiritual. The aura is usually in motion so it will fluctuate. You can sense the aura with the palms of your hands as well.
Practice telepathy with one or more friends, taking turns being sender and receiver. Set a specific day and time to start and end each practice, but don't discuss the topic ahead of time. Send feelings and emotions as well as visualized images, or even smells. Spontaneous telepathy is very common between friends. You may also find that you and your friends begin sharing dreams.
Clairvoyance can be practiced by making a game of guessing what color car will cross your path at a certain intersection, or which of your friends is silently standing behind you; use precognition to guess what song will play next on the radio. Practice psychokinesis by holding your open hand over a Ping-Pong ball on a flat surface and push it with your aura and will.
Once you've discovered that you've got the power, you are ready to practice casting the Circle, also known as creating the temple. Don't try spell-working until you've gotten comfortable casting Circles and grounding them when done. The Circle protects you and is part of a spell's energy.
Keep some form of record of your observations in a journal. This will help you to judge your progress. Reviewing your notes on those days when you have doubts shows you that you're not just making this stuff up. These notes may become the basis of your future Book of Shadows.
Do things for yourself that promote your best energies like moderate eating, fun, work, sleep and exercise. Everything you'll do as a witch is energy, so it just makes sense to be good to yourself. When you give your word, honor it. Your mind must know that your word is your law to carry out your will. Respect yourself and others. This builds your integrity and strengthens your aural field. No spell-planning Table of Correspondences or auspicious timing can replace rock solid integrity. This doesn't mean you have to be an airy-fairy white-lighter or fluffy-bunny witch. It does mean your Will carries clout within the Infinite.
Further studies.
Good conscience requires me to encourage a vivid interest in continuing to learn and to suggest a life-time "arm-chair scientist's" reading list covering history, archeology, anthropology, mythology, medical and physical science, homeopathic medicine, gardening, astrology, astronomy, geology, mysticism, parapsychology, world religions, and of course, witch craft and magic. Visit the library and used-book stores. Many New Age shops also have a used-book and bargain section.
Along with these physical basics, you'll need to become familiar with the eight holidays and thirteen lunar cycles that witches observe and know to be times of heightened power. You may want to learn about how incense, plants and stones can enhance your spells. Understand the Correspondences to plan your magical work but don't feel you're tied to a paper chart. Be inventive. A study of the God/dess through mythology is a valued and popular means of connecting to the power of Deity. This is one way to connect with the Infinite that acts as the incubator of our Will when we align our goals with the highest good.
Familiarize yourself with the tools used by witches to understand how these represent and manifest the witch's Will. The tools represent air, earth, water, fire and spirit that are the elemental substance from which everything that exists in nature, and all that has been invented by man, is made. What else is there but Sky, Land, Sea, Fire and the invisible Spirit of the Infinite? Tools are symbols of these elements and aid in materializing thoughts into form through sympathetic magic.
Always think for yourself because everything written here could be wrong. The best talent that you can develop is to trust your own sense of when something is right or wrong for you, and then to act accordingly.