creating spells

What is Centering and Grounding?

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Although a lot of people look upon the terms “grounding” and “centering” as one in the same, in truth they are two very different things that are often used in conjunction together.

Centering, which is usually done first (although not always), is about drawing in your chaotic energy. Imagine your energy as a sphere that surrounds you. When you are feeling chaotic, distracted, scattered, etc, the particles of energy in this sphere are agitated and disorganized.

In centering, you are taking these particles of your energy and drawing them from the sphere and in closer to yourself, even into yourself. Drawing these energies in, they condense and calm, ceasing their agitation and disorganized behavior. This is called Centering. It is bringing your energy “to center” in order to “piece yourself together” and calm your energy into a state of solid stability.

Grounding is usually done after centering, although some people do them simultaneously (or only do one or another depending on what works for them). Grounding is taking that stability within you and connecting it to “an anchor”. There are lots of things you can use as an anchor, but in my case it is always very literally… the ground.

Grounding helps preserve the centering that has been done, giving the stability found in the centering a more solid and long-lasting quality. It can also be used to help release excess energy that can build up when one is dealing with things like nervousness or anxiety, or otherwise balance out one’s energies.

My go-to way of grounding is through rooting. This is when you allow yourself to connect through your feet (or other part of your body touching the ground) and imagine your energy creating roots that dig down into the earth and spread beneath you. These energy roots create an anchor that helps cement stability in place, and allows a give-and-take of energy with the earth to level out any excess or depletion taking place.

I center and ground many, many times a day. It is a habit that takes a few second at a time, or can take a few minutes if done consciously and with intention for a stronger effect.

In spellcraft, these techniques are especially important as they are used to help condense and prepare your energy for use and direction. Casting a spell without centering and grounding would be like shooting an arrow out of a bow with the feathers loose. The energy (arrow) may get where its going, but it sheds a good deal of energy along the way (the feathers) making the spell less effective,

By centering and grounding first, you are essentially securing those feathers to the arrow (creating fletching) so that when the arrow flies, there is no loss of energy along the way and the arrow’s accuracy is greatly increased. Thus, your intention and energy in the spell is not wasted and flies true as well.

This is why you will find in the large majority of witchcrafting communities, when people ask why a spell didn’t work or why it went awry, the first question usually posed by those with experience is “Did you center and ground first?”

Music to Craft By

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Today’s question is brought to you by two of the witchy type servers that I’m a member of on Discord. Both servers asked the exact same question within a few days of each other and I thought it might make for a good topic here.

Prompt from Server #1: “What song(s) put you in a witchy mood?”
Prompt from Server #2: “What kind of music do you like to listen to when you work magic?“

Okay, so I love music. I really do. But, there are a number of activities that I can’t do while listening to music. Because I have sound → sensation/smell/taste synesthesia, music can often have unintended distractionary repercussions, so I have to be careful to what I listen to and when. For example, I have a playlist of music I can listen to while driving because none of the songs cause me physical sensations that would distract me from what I’m doing. I couldn’t guarantee that if I were listening to the radio, where a song or sound might come up that could create a painful pinch in my hand or arm, or a pins and needles sensation in my foot or leg.

For this reason, most of the time when doing spellcraft and different spiritual workings, I don’t use music as it can create “phantom sensations” that can be distracting. That said, I do have a playlist full of certain songs that safely “fit the mood” that I will use when I want to include music. Some of those include…

Terra Firma by Delerium


Silence by Delerium


Dissolved Girl by Massive Attack


Black Milk by Massive Attack


All Mine by Portishead


To Be Free by Emiliana Torrini

Not all of these (or all of those on the playlist) are sensation-free sound. But none of them create unpleasant sensations, smells, or tastes that might distract me from my focus. And, of course, all have the same “vibe” to the music that helps “set the mood” that I like for spellcraft and witchy-type activities. I think that for a lot of people, music can really add another level of depth to their practice, and even another element of “flavor” to the magic itself.

#31DaysofWitchcraft Prompt 12 & 13 (non)VR to Heather Carter

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Heather Carter on YouTube put together a series of prompts titled #31DaysofWitchcraft that she’s been working her way through since the beginning of May. I really like this idea, but I can’t handle the responsibility of any more daily posts, so I thought that for the next few weeks, I would do one (or a few at a time) for the end of week “My Pagan Perspective” posts and work through them a bit at a time.

spellbook

12. Do you have a separate witchy name? Why, or why not?

My “witchy name” is the same as my online name.  It’s Twist the Leaf.

This name comes from a line in a ritual that my sister and I wrote together as children.

To be fair, when I first came online, I used just “Twist” and then “Twist the Leaf” for circles and pagan events and activities.  But over the years, the two have melded and I now use Twist the Leaf in most places, and “Twist” as the shortened version here and there.

As for why.  My mother used to take my sister and I to a lot of Wiccan functions, and having a “witchy name” was all the rage in those circles.  I chose my “witchy name” initially in order to finally get them to stop pestering me about choosing one, but over time it’s become… more than that.

I no longer go to those events and haven’t for… at least fifteen years or more. Other than my sister (and our mentor recently as she’s been living with us for a bit now), my practice is primarily solitary.  But the name has stuck, and these days it seems that I’m actually more comfortable being called Twist than I am called by my birth name.

13. Do you write your own spells, use pre-written one or do a mix of both?

I write my own spellwork, or at times work on it together with my sister.

This falls back on the way we were raised. To be honest?  I don’t spend a lot of time reading pagan/wiccan/witchcraft books.  This isn’t how I learned my craft.  Because of this? Although I knew that published books had spells in them, I didn’t realize these were actually spells people used.  Like, letter for letter and word for word, used like a recipe to bake pastry.  This realization that people actually do that was baffling to me.

My sister and I were taught to write our own rituals and our own spellwork.  We were taught that it is a part of the process of casting a spell to do the work behind the spell, which includes doing the research to know what elements to include in the spellwork, and constructing the spell and wordwork ourselves.   I guess that because of this, I assumed that the spellwork in published books was there as a “jumping off point”?  You know, providing ideas and examples… but not there to be used as-is.

Systems of Correspondences

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Today’s prompt is brought to you by one of the Discord servers that I am a member of.  Just as a side note… the reason I do not link these Discord servers is because each server has their own rules about if you’re allowed to share them publicly and how, and it’s a pain in the ass to look it up for each one so I just don’t share them.

On to the question… “What systems of correspondences do you tend to work with most? How do they play a part in your practice? (Ie: the cardinal directions, elements, magickal herbs, etc)”

correspondances

The Elements – These are essentially the touchstones of my craft.  I do not have five points when I create a circle.  I have four.  This is because the representative for “spirit” resides inside the circle, not at one of the outer edges.  I (not surprisingly) connect most strongly to the element earth, with water following close behind.  Then air… and lastly fire, which is an element I’ve never had a very close affinity with.   The elements in spellcraft and my path align up with the same correspondences that you see for the elements in the tarot.  That is to say….

Fire (Wands) represents the inner spark of passion, willpower, and drive.
Water (Cups) represents the emotions, relationships, creativity, and intuition.
Air (Swords) represents the mind, intellect, and communication
Earth (Pentacles) represents the physical realm including health, resources, finances, etc.

Spirit/Divinity – As previously mentioned, for me spirit/divinity is not a point upon the circle’s perimeter (not that I cast circles all that often), but resides at the center of that circle. Spirit/Divinity (in my practice), is defined as the energies of creation, evolution, and balance.  Because of its distinction as being separate from “The Elements”, I gave it its own section in these correspondences.

Plants of All Kinds – I’ve always been very connected with plants and rich, moist soil. I have two green thumbs and eight green fingers, and I love plants of all kinds so much so that my university education was focused in the areas of botany and horticulture.  It is no surprise, then, that plants and soil would be something that I incorporate strongly into my spellcraft and practice both through their spiritual symbology, practical uses, medicinal uses, and otherwise.

Lunar Cycles – I depend on the cycles of the moon to lend energy to both my spellcraft and my gardening.  You can learn more about that latter part here:  Farmer’s Almanac – Why Garden By The Moon

Seasonal Cycles – My wheel of the year is built around seasonal cycles (as opposed to the god/goddess journey or whatnot).  My celebrations align with the solstices, equinoxes, and cross quarter points lined out by seasonal changes. Which, I suppose, means it could also be said that I work with weather cycles as well.

Stones and Minerals (esp. semiprecious stones and precious stones) – I’m a jeweler.  I make amulets and pendulums and other magically enhanced items.  It would be weird to me to do this without using the appropriate stones in the process.

Colors – This one is more rare, but there are magical correspondences that have to do with colors, especially when using candle magic, thread and knotting magic, etc.  I do occasionally incorporate this into my spellcraft, but not all that often.

I’m sure there are plenty more that I’ve not included, but this is a list of some of those I use most often.

Using Visualization in Spellcraft

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This week’s question from the Pagan Perspective YouTube channel is about visualization and how it’s used in one’s practice and in everyday life.

visualization

Topic for the Week of 1/13: “Although the word makes us think only of vision and our sense of sight, the practice of visualization involves any and all senses, not just sight but also scent, sound, touch, and even taste…”

There are multiple questions included in the continuation of the topic for this week, so I am going to break those questions up below, because I think it’ll be easier to answer that way, rather than taking the whole thing on at once.   So…

1) Do you practice this skill or use it in your path?

Oh hell yes.  All the time.  Anyone that reads a book and imagines what’s going on in the book in your head, or writes fiction, or daydreams about this or that is doing visualization.

In spellcrafting, especially, it is an extremely valuable tool used to set intentions and direct energy into those intentions.

It is also an excellent method of meditation.  One of my favorite meditations when I was first starting out at meditation was to visualize peeling and eating an orange, as it is one that has a very distinctive and strong ability to incorporate all five senses.

2) What do you actually DO when you ‘visualize’ something?

Visualization triggers the parts of the brain that have to do with receptors for each of your senses.   So it’s not just “thinking” about doing something, but awakening those parts of the brain that register sensation and… well, playing with them.

3) Do you find that it comes easily to you, or do you struggle with it?

I’ve been doing visualization all my life, both in my practice and path, as well as in the day to day.  So it’s not really something I think about anymore, to be honest.

4) Are certain inner senses easier to use than others? For example some people may find inner sight difficult, but hear things easily, and so on.

Because of my synesthesia, the hearing one always feels a bit weird because with visualizations it doesn’t always kick in as it does with actual auditory input.   But other than that… not really.  I would say that visualization-wise, my sense of smell is the weakest.

5) What do your physical eyes ‘see’ when you visualize something?

They don’t.   I don’t hallucinate when visualizing.  Whatever I’m visualizing plays out in my mind, not in the physical world in front of me.

6) Do you have any tips for others working on this skill? For those who struggle, what are other things that can be done instead?

I think a lot of people don’t realize that creative writing is a type of visualization.  That reading a work of fiction is a type of visualization.   They think that it’s some esoteric skill they can’t tap into, but have been doing it all along and not realizing it.   Use those ways of visualizing that are familiar to you and take steps to begin reaching beyond them.

Instead of reading a book, make up a story in your head.  Pay attention to what you’re doing in your head beyond just producing words, yeah?  Do you see your character doing those things?   Can you feel what that character feels?   That is visualization.   Practice and pay attention, yeah?

7)  Does struggling with visualization prevent growth in our practice?

I believe it could.   Without visualization, the energy placed into intention setting wouldn’t have the same kind of -drive- behind it.  That drive is what pushes the energy forward into creating the results you seek, so I sort of wonder if spellcasting without it would even work?   I’m not sure, as this isn’t a problem I deal with personally.

 

Self Doubt in Practice

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Pagan Perspective is still on their holidays break (or at least I’m pretty sure that’s what’s going on there), so there’s no new question to work with again this week.   So this week, I again decided to snag a question from one of the pagan/witchy type groups I’m a member of on Discord and use that instead.

CoprinopsisPicacea

Topic for the Week of 12/30:  About what in your practice do you tend to doubt yourself? What form does this doubt take, and how do you respond to it?

Even though I have an education in botany, and I am very versed in how to handle and work with plants and the like that can be dangerous and/or poisonous…. there is still doubt in myself in this area.  I do use ingredients from such organisms in my spells and castings, sometimes pretty regularly, and there is an inherent danger in this not just from the potential of the obvious physical contact, but the releasing of spores, trichomes (these are the hairs on certain plants), or saps among other things.

Because of this self-doubt, I am extremely careful in my handling of any and all parts of such plants and organisms.  I take extra time and extra care, as well as extra precautions  and safe-guards to make sure I don’t accidentally end up hurting myself or anyone in my home during or after this part of my spellwork.

How this self doubt manifests is a good thing, and I hope that I never lose the self doubt involved in this practice, as it ensures that everyone I care about is safe. I can only hope that anyone else out there incorporating these dangerous and poisonous ingredients in their spell craft is just as careful.