The Grimoire - RealPagan- Paganism for the Real World

Help with Candle Reading!

2014-07-25T23:58:35.871Z

Hail and hello!

I have a question for those that are knowledgeable about candles. I'm not into divination using candles, but I did find this certain occurrence interesting.

I use candles at my altar (I venerate Lord Cernunnos). I have no idea why, but this candle burns very brightly, very solidly, with a long and supple flame. I have other candles of this make and brand, and none have shown so brightly.

The object of my interest lies in a strange heart formation that I did not notice until about ten minutes ago. I have lit this candle before and have not seen such a knot formation below.

Here are the pictures: The first two are photos of the flame, and the last two are photos of the formation.

http://imgur.com/bv6NCWo,6lPHbwS,fgAmYKd,KvkJaB3

Can anyone make head or tail of this? Thanks in advance for your time, patience, and kindness. Blessed be.

Ritual: Calming The Storm

2014-01-10T22:04:57.490Z

Calming The Storm

By: Solomon Kato/Morgan Johnstone

Date: 01/07/2014

Introductions

This ritual is here to help you when you feel like your life is out of control and there is nothing you can do to get it back under control. This ritual has been created to reinforce the fact that you can be in control. You will need some accessories to perform this ritual. You will need five candles. If you like these candles can all be white, or you can get color coordinated ones which I will list below. You will also need incense. Use your favorite scent.

Air - Yellow - East

Fire - Red - South

Water - Blue - West

Earth - Green - North

Spirit - Purple - Center

1. Creating Sacred Space

Go around the circle and say something like this:

“With pure thoughts and a pure heart I cleanse this space of all negativity and claim it as sacred.”

2. Calling The Elements

Starting at the East call in the elements to be in the circle saying something like the following. It is really important to have candles at all four quarters. It may help even more to have them appropriately color coordinated. See above for details.

East - Air:

“Guardians of the East, Elementals of Air, I call upon you to come into my circle. Wipe away all negativity and make this space clean.”

South - Fire:

“Guardians of the South, Elementals of Fire, I call upon you to come into my circle. I ask that you heat and light tonight.”

West - Water:

“Guardians of the West, Elementals of Water, I call upon you to come into my circle. I ask that you wash away anything that may threaten this sacred space.”

North - Earth:

“Guardians of the North, Elementals of Earth, I call upon you to come into my circle. I ask that you strengthen and fortify this circle.”

Center - Spirit:

“Spirit of life, the one that binds all creation together, I call upon you and ask that you join me in this circle. Let your essence empower the magick worked here tonight.”

3. Statement of Intent

This is the part of the ritual where you will state your intent. For this ritual, you are trying to calm the storm that is going on in your life and gain some balance and control. You may say something like this:

“Tonight I come before all of creation to calm the storm and reclaim my life. I have called all you here to help and guide me through this rite. Tonight, I will regain my balance and start on the journey to reclaim the life that is rightfully mine.”

4. Grounding and Balancing

In this portion of the ritual you will ground and center yourself and bring balance back to you. Because you do this now, does not mean that you will never need to do it again. In fact, it is recommended that you ground and center on a daily basis if not multiple times a day. I will write this out in steps.

GROUNDING:

1. Start by taking your shoes off and stand with your legs shoulder width apart with your feet firmly planted on the floor. Keep your arms hanging at your sides.

2. Close your eyes and start taking some deep breaths. Imagine the air you breath in bringing in light and love, the breath going out shooting out darkness and negativity.

3. When your body has filled with the light and love visualize roots growing from your feet into the floor and earth. See these roots taking firm hold to where nothing can shake or move you. See yourself pulling strength from the earth into your body.

4. Let this strength move through you and fill you. When you feel calm, slowly start withdrawing the roots back into your feet. Keep breathing deeply as you do this.

5. When you are ready, open your eyes and become fully aware.

This is only my personal way of grounding. I have seen it done many different ways. If this doesn’t feel right to you, do what does.

5. Thanking & Dismissing The Elements

To do this, you will start in the center of the circle with spirit and then go counter clockwise starting at Earth and ending at Air.

Center - Spirit:

“Spirit, essence of life, thank you for joining in this ritual tonight. Farewell and blessed be.”

North - Earth:

“Earth, bringer of strength and fortitude, thank you for joining in this ritual tonight. Farewell and blessed be.”

West - Water:

“Water, you who are both creative and destructive, thank you for joining in this ritual tonight. Farewell and blessed be.”

South - Fire:

“Fire, bringer of light and warmth, thank you for joining in this ritual tonight. Farewell and blessed be.”

East - Air:

“Air, bringing of breath and knowledge, thank you for joining in this ritual tonight. Farewell and blessed be.”

6. Closing Sacred Space

At this point, you can walk counter clockwise around the circle thanking the earth for providing this space.

“Great Earth, my home and refuge. Thank you for allowing me the use of this space tonight. It is sacred and forever will be. I leave you now, and bid you farewell.”

Effective Ritual Work

2012-06-15T23:30:42.808Z

93,

Its clear that the mind has trouble focusing for longer than 6 seconds. We have all driven and zoned out. We read while our minder wonders in thought. We watch TV and don't pay attention to the show. So how in the world can we do ritual and keep our mind focused effectively?

The answer lies in the senses. Sight, Sound, Smell, Taste and Touch all occupy the brain and effect its level of stimulation.

To effectively focus on ones will you need to have

1. visual stimulation - If one wishes to put together a model truck one is so visually focus on the detail of the task. His mind is occupied by the visual accuracy.

2. auditory stimulation - if one wishes to hunt birds, he must listen for their calls in order to discover their hidden location. He is focused on the sound that directs him.

3. scent stimulation - if one makes perfume he must be aware of the subtle changes with the addition of ingredients. Ones mind is focused on the smell of his goal.

4. taste stimulation - A chef must be aware of the taste of ingredients which will effect is final product. He is focused and guided by the taste.

5. touch stimulation - One who works with texture is occupied by the feel of the surface.

If one can apply the degree of dedication involved with the senses above to focus and promote a single purpose, the ability and focus level of the mind will be incredibly powerful and thusly more effective.

Occupy the sight with the decor, tools, robe and other implements.

Occupy the sound with verbal invocations.

Occupy the scents with perfumes, incense and oils.

Occupy the taste with the sacraments.

Occupy the touch with the tools.

Do so and you will find your will unbroken and your determination grounded deeper than ever.

93, 93/93

Self Blessing

2012-06-09T23:44:14.112Z

Self-Blessing
This ritual should be performed during the New Moon (at least when the moon is waxing) , but it is not limited to that phase. Need, not season, determines the performance.

There is real power in the Self Blessing; it should not be used other than in time of need and should not be done promiscuously.

The purpose of the ritual is to bring the individual into closer contact with the Godhead. It can also be used as a minor dedication, when a person who desires dedication has no one who can dedicate him. This self blessing ritual may also be used as a minor exorcism, to banish any negative influences which may have formed around the person. It may be performed by any person upon himself, and at his desire.

Perform this ritual in a quiet place, free from distraction, and nude. You will need the following:

1. Salt, about one quarter teaspon
2. Wine, about an ounce.
3. Water, abut one-half ounce.
4. Candle, votive or other.
The result of the ritual is a feeling of peace and calm. It is desirable that the participant bask in the afterglow so that he may meditate and understand that he has called the attention of the Godhead to himself, asking to grow closer to the Godhead in both goals and in wisdom.
When you are ready to begin, sprinkle the salt on the floor and stand on it, lighting the candle. Let the warmth of the candle be absorbed into the body. Mis the water into the wine, meditating upon your reasons for performing the self blessing.

Read the following aloud:

Bless me, mother, for I am your child.
Dip the fingers of the right hand into the mixed water and wine and annoint the eyes,
Blessed be my eyes, that I may see your path.
Annoint the nose,
Blessed be my nose, that I may breathe your essence.
Annoint the mouth,
Blessed be my mouth, that I may speak of you.
Annoint the breasts,
Blessed be my breast, that I may be faithful in my work.
Annoint the loins,
Blessed be my loins, which bring forth the life of men and women as you have brought forth all creation.
Annoint the feet,
Blessed be my feet, that I may walk in your ways.

Remain...and mediate for a while

Note: Although this is probably as basic as dedication can get, this nevertheless is very useful even if only used for banishment of negativity.

Beltane Ritual

2012-05-01T18:20:15.624Z

Blessed Be, everyone!

I am excited, since I have finally been able to conduct a Sabbat ritual of my own creation for the first time, and I thought I would share it with you all.

Mods, if this needs to be moved, then please do so.

Items required:

2 candles denoting the God and Goddess (In my case, I used 2 stones marked with God and Goddess symbols, and pinned to the candles)

Ribbon

Using wax or glue, attach one stone to each candle (I glued push pins to the back of the stones). Slowly wrap the God and Goddess candles together using the ribbon, similar to a handfasting. While doing so, say:

"Tonight I am here, oh God and Goddess

To celebrate thy union, thy perfect bliss

For by thy union, thy sacred bond

The earth all rejoices in colour and song

And from your coupling comes forth all life anew

And for this gift, I celebrate with you!"

Once you have finished wrapping, light the candles, stand them up, and say:

"As you are bound together as husband and wife

So is all nature, bound together in life and death, and life

The seeds are sown, the Goddess shall nourish,

Life has begun, and nature shall flourish!"

Let them stand and burn while conducting anything else you may do (Cakes and Ale, etc)

My Witches Bottle

2011-12-15T19:28:25.445Z

Ok so I decided to do a Witches Bottle, but I altered it a bit to fit my purpose. Here is a website that will describe what it is so you can make your own. Witches Bottle

So this is what I did. I have a friend who has a kid and so I asked her to rinse out baby food jars so that I could use them for herb storage and such. But instead its been sitting in my room for awhile now going unused. I had an argument with my boyfriend about something and its my fault and I realized I needed cleansing. I took a cleansing shower, and since my parents are going to be gone for a long while I decided to turn the tv off and meditate cleansing every negative feelings or energies I had and let them be washed down the drain while burning myrrh incense or frankincense works good too. Then I decided to cleanse the whole house. I called upon the elements air fire water and earth, (in that order) casted a silvery circle around the house in my mind and asked them to help protect and cleanse my house during this ritual. I started smudging the whole house in sage incense. Then I had this thought to do a witches bottle.

My bottle is more to keep the house cleansed. I put in it an amathyst stone, a red banded agate, a piece or quartz crystal, a banded blue agate, and an earthly green colored stone that I have no idea what it is, but I put it in there for its earth energies. I put in it moon water from this past full moon, some of my pubic hair, and needles, then I put in black candle wax from the black candle I was burning to banish the negative/harmful energies that are in the house. I also put in a recently burned smudge piece of white sage in the bottle as well. I then asked for assistance from the elements and meshed my power into the bottle with thier's and their blessings. I said out loud,

I open my heart and my soul

To the Elements of life

earth, air, fire and water, spirit

I call upon you, to Bless this witches bottle,

infuse it with your power

so that all negativity and harmful energy

are banished and cleansed from my home

allow only positive energies to come through

and protect me from my parents negativity

In this time and in this hour

from this day forth

so shall it be!

I then imagined all the power that was raised and put it into the bottle, and imagined any negitity to be drawn to this bottle and once it enters the bottle the negativity with be cleansed and banished in a cycle. I then hid the bottle in the northern part of the house so that the earth energies from the earth can help and keep the cycle grounded and going.

I altered it to fit my needs at the time. My parents are very negative people. They are always yelling at me and making me feel bad about myself and they also make Each other feel bad as well so I hope this bottle spell helps me to protect and guard against their negativity and so that positive energy is flowing in here and negative energy is not.

Hearken Now the Darkness Comes - a Tribute to Samhain

2011-09-30T00:56:25.857Z

Mists gather in the valleys and pour down the ancient riverbeds to the darkening sea. Gone the fires of autumn's glory, lost to the legions of cloud-swept days and chilling rains. Gone the wild geese flying southward, gone the last of summer's bounty. Mornings rimed with silver frost, evenings gathering gloom for sitting round the hearthfires glow.

Hearken now, the darkness comes!

In the vale under the moor, the village speeds it's frantic pace. Thatcher's finish repairs on thick round roofs to hold out the snows of winter. Children bring in the last of the nuts and withered fruits from the woods. The wheat is threshed and winnowed on the chilly breeze. Woodsmoke rises from the hearthfires and axes ring in the clear air. Down from the moors come the cattle and sheep to the winter fields, come too the pigs from the forest glades. The smell of blood is thick in upon the air as those animals chosen for the slaughter are slain and cured against the winter's needs. The planting begun at Beltane is now the harvest.

Hearken now, the darkness comes!

In the great forests that lie across the land, the leaves form a thick carpet upon the ground upon which treads the King Stag, velvet gone from his crown of horn, challenging all with his trumpeting cries. The bear and the fat squirrels seek their dens. The wolves stir in the cold, and their voices rise in songs to the moon. Now is the time of the Hunter. His shadow flies across the midnight sky, His horn sounds in the wind like thunder, His red-eyed hounds fly on before.

Hearken now, the darkness comes!

She who stands guardian now is no longer the soft Maiden of spring, nor yet the fecund Mother full of the heat of summer. It is Cerridwen now, the Crone, the Hag, who stands without. In dreams and trance you see her, holding the cauldron into which all that live must go. Holding the cauldron that is Death. Gone too the young Lord of Spring, the Summer King. Now is the time of Herne the Hunter, wild master of the Winter's night. Harsh he is and full of fire, Lord of Death made manifest.

Hearken now, the darkness comes!

And in the turning of the year, the walls of time and space become as air, until life and death are as one and departed souls walk again among the living. Here on this most sacred night, as the old year died and the new was born, around the fires the people gathered in celebration. There was wine and cider from the vines and groves, bread from the fields of winnowed wheat, and meat steaming from the slaughter. A great feast and celebration of life to take into the darknss.

Hearken now, the darkness comes!

And as the earth moved onward into the darkness, the veil between the worlds grew thin, and strange beings walked upon the land. See now the pooka shake his tangled mane, the sidhe come forth from out the hollow hills, listen as the bean sidhe sings forth her terrible cry. And against this army of eldritch power, men did wield a greater weapon as fires sprang forth upon the hilltops and lit the standing stones and village greens. Dancing, swirling, leaping past the fires, the people held back the powers of the night with light and music until the dawn came once more.

Yet still the darkness comes!

Turn and turn again the Earth did in its endless dance among the stars. Gone now the villages that lay beneath the downs and among the wolds. Gone the straight track and winding sheep path. Gone the King Stag and the shaggy bear. Yet still we hear an echo of that time and place as we sit to honor our blessed dead, as our children dress as monsters and play in the shadows. We hear the whisper of the Goddess in our hearts, and sometimes, late at night we hearken to the cry of the Hunt high in our crowded skies.

Hearken, for the darkness comes!

And we, the spirit children of that ancient age, we remember. Though we labor not in the fields of waving grain, yet do we too now bring in our harvest. We gather to ourselves the fruits of our projects begun in the spring of the year and ready ourselves for a time of rest and introspection. We unburden ourselves with that which is no longer needful for our survival through the winter of the year.

We the children of this ancient age remember too our honored dead who speak to us again as the walls of this world grow thin. We pass the Cup of Remembrance as we think upon one who has gone before. We remember the good times and the bright things we treasure from their memories, and we allow them to fly free. We make our peace with She who waits for all.

We remember the fears of the darkness, and in our masquerade and games, we come to terms with Death and with change. For such is the meaning at the heart of the feast.

So prepare you now as the darkness comes. Ready the harvest of your hopes and dreams. Light the fires against ignorance and fear. For remember also, that the darkness is but one turn upon the Wheel, it is the darkness of the womb. And the Death we all must face is merely the doorway to the Life to come.

Alternative Candle Magic in 30 Minutes

2011-04-10T22:02:41.573Z

Inspired by Grayson's blog and my own experience in creating a similar craft, I would like to present a method to create candle-like incendiaries whose burning time is roughly 25 minutes and construction is as customizable as the spell itself.

Standard taper candles can take hours to burn and, like all candles, should demand your constant supervision. Personally, I favor a single burn as opposed to lighting the same candle over days. If it is intended to be a long-term operation, I will use a novena or similar candle housed within a glass chimney. If it's not, I would rather burn it in one go or have new ones for any necessary repeats. However, I do not wish it to burn all day in case other things require my attention.

For this method, you create your own fairly easily and inexpensively. You can also mix your own oils into the base "wax", and make the whole creation process a ritual in and of itself. For the base fuel, I will be using ghee, a purified butter that's been used in Hinduism as an oil and offering for millenea. Here's what you need, DIYers:

¤ Ghee
¤ 100% cotton balls
¤ Votive candle holder/plate
¤ Spell-relevant material

If you cannot acquire ghee, which is a staple at Indian supermarkets and some international/world marts, you'll have to make it yourself. However, this is easily done and a process around 20 minutes of duration. In lieu of the ghee, then, you'll need two more items:

¤ Unsalted whole, organic butter
¤ Cheesecloth, coffee filter or a clean piece of cotton fabric/T-shirt

If you already have ghee, skip the following bits of information and steps.

Making Ghee

Unwrap your block/sticks of unsalted butter. It's important that the butter is unsalted. Salt adds unwanted, unnecessary sediments that forms when you boil it, also forming cracks and pops in the burning of the finished product. The whole point of clarifying the butter, in fact, is to remove all non-dairy solids, reducing it to pure milk fat. It is for this reason that I recommend the extra dollar or so in purchasing your butter that has been certified organic. Less crap in the food means less in the butter. What the cattle are fed ends up in all their byproducts.

I also advise against cheap butter. You get what you pay for, and a decrease in price usually means that there's a significant amount of water in the butter. If you have no choice, however, use it and simply double your boiling time to evaporate all of the water. Expect a reduced amount of ghee, however. Regular butter may result in around a 5-7% loss of volume. Butters of lesser quality will yield 15-20% less ghee.

So, let's begin!

Drop your butter in a medium sauce pan and place it on the stove. Turn the heat to no higher than medium and allow it to come to a boil. Allow it to boil for around five minutes or so, lowering the heat if it appears the "froth" may spill over. Besides the froth, you'll notice whiteish solids forming at the bottom of the pan. These sediments are what you don't want in your candle and, likely, in your body as well.

Remove the pan from the burner and allow to cool, but only for a few minutes. You want whatever solids left to form, but not the ghee to become semi-solid. Now, let's filter that junk out. Place a piece of cheesecloth (or aforementioned alternative) over a clean, glass container. Pour the butter through it, periodically changing pieces of cloth (it will clog within minutes) until it's all filtered through. For quality assurance, filter it all back through a second time. What you now have is ghee! Easy enough, right?

From Ghee to Glee

With melted glee before you, it's time to customize it if you're going to use it outside of cooking or other traditional application. At this stage, I would typically work in accordance to the Planetary Hours relative to the working. For example, if I wished to attract prosperity, I would begin mixing in a few drops of an oil associated with the intent (olive oil is a household oil suitable for it) during the a Jupiter hour (and, all the better, on a Thursday of a waxing moon). If one for banishing illness, the hours of the Sun would be optimal, and oils such as that of Frankincense may be the perfect synergy. You get the picture. Use the herbal properties model of your specific practice.

You may also wish to use natural food dyes to color the ghee. If you feel that coloring it red will assist in matters of protection, then by all means, do it. This process is very much a ritual in and itself. Chant, sing, visualize your intent into the mixture. When finished, simply stir it until the oils are homogenous and you're almost done. You really should do this in a timely matter, lest the ghee begins to solidify.

If you're wanting waxes of various purposes, you would naturally make several vats for each intended purpose. If the ghee begins to solidify, a few moments on a burner or microwave will bring it back to a manipulable state.

At this point, you have an all-natural, intent-specific fuel, ready to go up in flames. You may wish to pour it into an open oil lamp, use it as a replacement wax in a glass candle chimney, pour it into a tealight candle holder (of which in these cases a new cotton wick would be needed). An alternative would be to use the cotton balls.

Twentyish Minutes of Flame

Take a cotton ball and dip it in the modified ghee. Form it to a teardrop shape, thus giving you a tip to serve as a "wick" from which to ignite it. Let the saturated cotton drip a few excess drops back into the vat, but do not wring any out. Place it upon a plate or within a container to cool. I assembly line produce mine and place them into a tupperware container to store in my freezer. I have, however, stored mine in an open container on a cupboard for months with zero degradation. Therein lies one difference between butter and ghee: extended shelflife without the need of refridgeration. It seems to me that the additives to butter spoil it remarkably faster.

So, now you have ready-made, quick-fire spell "candles". One-half a block or two sticks of butter will yield around a dozen of these things. You don't have to annoint it or anything. You only need to find the right time to use it. I recommend using planetary hours, but anytime deemed "necessary" is good enough, too. Simply prepare your workspace accordingly, place the ball upon a glass or metal votive holder (or dish, etc) and light the "wick" and do your thing as it burns. I highly recommend that, like regular candles, the process be continually observed. With these, they can produce a steady 4-6" flame! Use this time to focus on your intent, add some other energy-raising techniques or simply meditate upon the lovely flame that it produces. One made from large cotton balls last upwards of 25 minutes from start to a small pile of ash easily disposed or used in further relevant workings.

That's it!

Females and Masculine Energy

2011-03-14T16:48:14.945Z

I wasn't quite sure where this belonged, but this was my best guess.

I know in Traditional Wicca that it is not unheard of for a woman to take a male's role in ritual if there aren't any men to do it (but I believe, from my research, that this idea doesn't extend to men taking up women's roles). What I'm wondering is if anyone has ever done this and/or if there is any advice they might have for a woman to prepare for this role.

I've worked with masculine energy and my animus before, even to the point where I no longer felt like a physical woman during the exercise, but I've never performed it in a ritual with others judging my performance, perhaps thinking only a man can project, channel, and work with those energies. I guess I'm just a little nervous and looking for something that might help me perform to the best of my abilities.

Ground and Center - The Basics of Magic

2010-12-23T01:47:17.284Z

“Ground and Center” is certainly the most fundamental technique in practicing Magick. From my experience Magic and Ritual are most effective when an individual participates with a stable and focused frame of mind. We call that frame of mind “Grounded and Centered.”

Ritual experiences are both psychic and psychological. which means that Ground and Center exercises must be oriented on both levels. The Tree exercise focuses your mind on a concrete image, then guides your psyche to a Grounded and Centered state. The image of the tree evokes feelings of stability and connectedness with the Earth, when these feelings and images are focused upon, the associated psychic state follows right along. This may take some practice, but with diligence I'm sure you'll find Ground and Center for yourself.

Being grounded means that you have established a firm connection with the physical world. The largest physical object that each of us experiences throughout our entire life is beneath our feet, the Earth. Focusing on the Earth makes us more aware of the physical world that surrounds us. Awareness of the physical world keeps us from being swept away by the subjective feelings and inner experiences of the moment. Instead, we become able to experience these feelings with a balanced awareness that is both objective and subjective.

Psychically, a firm connection with the Earth hook: us to the largest psychic battery that we have available to us. The Earth is a storehouse of psychic energy, and when we connect with Her. we channel that energy through us instead of relying solely on our own energy reserves. Grounding properly helps prevent weakness, headaches, and the other possible side effects of energy work.

Centering, although linked with grounding, is quite a different thing. Centering involves clearing your mind of outside business and focusing upon the task at hand. For rituals and magic to be meaningful and effective, you should not be dwelling on what you had for lunch today, or your plans for tomorrow. "Be Here Now" is a phrase that nicely sums up the idea of centering.

Another important part of centering is your awareness of yourself; becoming aware of the Goddess that lies within us all. This awareness promotes stability, confidence, and a healthy ability to express your will.

Psychically, centering allows you to work from a stable foundation, helping to keep you from being magically thrown off balance. The Eastern philosophy of chi is a very good way of explaining the psychic aspect of centering. Our physical bodies have a center of gravity that moves and shifts as we move. Likewise, our energy field has a center that corresponds to our center of gravity.

Male and Female bodies are shaped different, and so have different centers of gravity. The center of gravity for a man is usually between the navel and the base of the sternum (solar plexus), whereas the center of gravity for a woman is usually between the navel and the pelvis. Focusing your mind on this area brings your awareness to the center of your energy field. This allows you to use more of the energy you have available, while still drawing energy from Mother Earth. There are several good books on increasing the chi, with exercises that are excellent for working on centering

One last thing that needs to be cleared. up is that Ground and Center is not the same thing as a Trance state; in fact, the two are polar opposites. If you seem to be having trance-like symptoms while trying to ground and center, talk with your teacher. These symptoms can include dreamlike visions, or a general feeling of being disconnected from your surroundings, as if they don't seem real.

If Ground and Center exercises seem to take too long, you may be trying too hard; or you may be achieving Ground and Center without recognizing it. If this happens, do something else for a while and try again later. Ground and Center is a skill, like any other, which only gets easier with practice; so practice. practice, practice.

Here's an exercise from Starhawk. I also recommend the "Tree Exercise" in her book "Spiral Dance"

Grounding begins with the breath. Try this: clench your stomach, tighten your muscles, breath up high in your chest. How do you begin to feel? (People often say, "anxious," "Tense," "Panicky.")

Now relax your stomach, let your breath drop down into your belly, into your toes as your belly expands. Do you start to feel different? For some of you, this might be hard to do. At first it might seem unnatural. Put your hand on your belly, breathe so that your belly pushes your hand out. Practice this, sometimes you need time before you can do it easily and naturally.

Now close your eyes for a moment. Imagine that breath pushing down through your feet, through the base of your spine, as if you were a tree pushing down roots. Let those roots go down through the floor, through the soil below us. Imagine they can feel something of the quality of that earth, what it likes to grow, how healthy it is. Push down through the waters under the earth, down through the bedrock, down into the fire below us. If there's still any tension or fear, let that go into the fire and just burn away into pure energy.

Now imagine you can draw some of that fire up. Feel it as the earth's living, creative energy, and bring it up through the rock and the water and the soil. Bring it up into your legs and feet and the base of your spine. Bring it up your spine and let your spine grow like a flexible tree trunk, reaching up to the sky. Bring some fire into your heart, into any place inside you that needs healing or extra energy.

Bring that energy up through your arms and out your hands, and up through your neck and throat and out the top of your head like branches that reach up to the sky and then spread around you and reach back down to touch the earth. They create a protective filter around you. Take a moment, look at that energy web, notice if there's any places that need to be repaired or strengthened. And notice how the energy in this room feels when we all do this.

Now feel the energy of the sun, shining down on your leaves and branches. Breathe deep, draw that energy in. Breathe it down through your leaves and branches, down through your heart and your belly and your hands. Take it in, feed on it like a tree feeds on sunlight.

Now open your eyes. Look around you, notice how other people look to you when you're grounded. Notice what's changed.

When you're grounded, when your energy is linked to the earth energy, you can still move. Imagine your feet have sticky roots, that can sink into the earth and then release when you move. Walk around a little, really feeling your contact with the earth, feeling those roots grip and release.

Now as you move, stretch your arms out to your sides, as far as they'll go, until you can't see your hands if you look straight ahead. Now wiggle your thumbs, and slowly bring your arms in until your thumbs are just visible on the edge of your peripheral vision. Notice how wide your field of vision can be. As you walk,breathing deep, grounded, activate that peripheral vision. Know that you can be aware of what's going on around you.

And now notice whether you are making eye contact with the people you pass. Keep breathing, stay grounded, keep your awareness wide, but now also make eye contact with each person you pass. How does it feel to be this present in a situation?

Now come back to stillness. As you breathe, feel where it is in your body this grounded place seems to live, and touch that place. Can you find an image for this grounded state? A word or phrase you can say? When you use these three together, touch, image, and phrase, you create an anchor to help you ground quickly in any situation. Try it -- use it.

Now relax. How did that go for you all? What did you notice?

Remember, the more you practice grounding, the more automatic it becomes. If you take even a few minutes a day to practice, you will not only have better energy in your daily life, you'll be able to ground quickly and instantly when you're in a tense situation.

-Lark-