The Inner Circle
Articles and posts of a more introspective nature and looking at the deeper aspects of the Craft.
Creative Visualization and The Mind’s Eye
Sep 3rd
We talk about ritual tools quite a bit, especially when we’re getting started with magick and ritual. Everyone is looking for the perfect wand or athame, but the most important of all ritual items is something that we all possess already and which costs no money at all, but certainly needs some polishing and preparation before we can really put it to use. Our mind’s eye. It’s arguably the most important of all tools a Witch has because without it, the true power behind our work may not be harnessed. And let’s face it, no wand in the world can make up for the lack of ability to ground, focus and visualize our intent and send energy to our goal.
When you’re just getting started you hear a lot in books about the mind’s eye. You’ll see a lot of phrases like “Visualize your desire in your mind’s eye” or “See the elements in your mind’s eye”. A lot of people get a little confused, unsure of what and where the information that the mind’s eye calls on is going to come from. In the simplest of terms, the mind’s eye is your imagination. When we work in meditation, trying to envision something coming to us, or something happening to us, we are working to “see” with “eye” in our mind (aka the mind’s eye). For some people it can help to have almost a physical place to focus on when doing this; if you’re one of those people imagine that the there is a large movie screen or white board in your mind right around where your third eye is located. When you’re eyes are closed, imagine that this eye then opens, and when it does you can now see this screen or board through this eye. This is where you can call up any image or any energy you desire.
If you have ever read either Laurie Cabot’s book “Power of the Witch” or you have read Christopher Penczak’s Inner Temple books or listened to his meditation CDs, then you will be familiar with a countdown meditation technique that can help to develop your mind’s eye as well as help you reach that lower brainwave state that helps to bring us into deep, magickal levels of meditation. The technique that both Cabot and Penczak have used as a reference point is called the Silva Method or Silva Mind Control. This is a technique developed by José Silva, a parapsychologist and founder of the Silva Method, which were developed to help reach higher levels of mental function by naturally bringing the brain to a frequency of 8 to 13 Hz, also known as alpha state. Here the brain could be trained to and programmed to open up the psychic senses, specifically helping people be able to learn remote viewing and develop lucid dreaming skills, as well as help people raise their overall IQ and increase their personal well-being. It is basically self-hypnosis and it helps to open up, train and work with the mind’s eye. (You can learn more about the Silva Method here.)
Some people, when hearing the word “imagination” in relation to Witchcraft become a little uncomfortable, feeling that the deeper work of magick and ritual are being relegated to nothing more than a play thing. Imagination is really nothing more than allowing the mind to wander while calling up and creating images that aren’t physically real but that can be very real within our minds. This is what we often do within magick. We sometimes talk about how when we daydream we are actually in a state of spontaneous meditation, creating realities in our minds that we would like to see in reality. Often beginners will say they can’t meditate or can’t visualize anything, feeling that they will never be able to work magick, yet when asked if they ever find themselves daydreaming most of them say they do that all the time without realizing it. The work of the mind’s eye while daydreaming is the same as what you would use for visualization and meditation, only in those instances you have more conscious control over it than when you daydream. So if you can daydream, you can learn to work with your mind’s eye in a controlled way in order to visualize in magick and meditation.
Creative Visualization is a technique used in just about all forms of magickal work. It is a way of accessing levels of the imagination where we can create images in a visual in our mind’s eye while also creating and raising energy which can then be used in magickal work. So for example if you have a friend who is sick and you wanted to help them get well, after lighting a candle for them you might spend some time focusing on visualizing in your mind what they are like when they are healthy. If you friend is bed-sick because of a chest infection and they can’t breath well enough right now to do their normal activities, you would want to create in your mind the image of them breathing deeply, taking in large, healthy breaths. You’d want to see them doing a physical activity that you know they enjoy such as jogging or hiking, something that right now they can’t possibly be doing. While you’re doing this and creating the images in your mind, you also want to really feel them as well. So you could imagine being with your friend on that jog or hike and seeing them enjoying themselves, being happy and healthy and feeling that joy with them. Then you can send that energy to them in one of many different ways (e.g. direct the energy into the candle and as the candle burns the energy is released toward your friend or sense the energy forming in the shape of a large balloon in a specific color and imagine it traveling to your friend and giving them the energy when they receive it). Different traditions and types of magick have different techniques for sending energy.
Learning how to do some basic visualization techniques will help you to grow more comfortable with working with your mind’s eye as well as helping you become more confident with creating mental images. Learning to ground with creative visualization is a great way to start with this or even to refresh yourself on the basics. Give this a try. All you’ll need for this is a white candle and stone of either onyx, black tourmaline, hematite, jet, obsidian or smokey quartz in any size.
1. Sitting either on the floor or in a comfortable chair, light a candle. Make sure your feet are on the ground if you are in a chair so that some part of you is physically connected to the ground or earth. Take up the stone with both hands (if you’re using a small raw or tumbled stone, place the stone in one hand and cup with the other).
2. Begin breathing slow, rhythmic breaths and close your eyes. Take the time to feel yourself comfortable and solid in your physical position. Then begin to visualize that thick tree roots are growing either from your feet if you are sitting in a chair, or from your spine if you are sitting directly on the ground. See them going down into the earth, cutting through the earth’s crust, through the soil, and moving down around rock and stone below. As you do this think about how strong tree roots are but also see the tiny, vain-like roots that grow from the larger ones. These roots help to connect to the soil to gather nourishment and to help anchor the tree. Feel those roots as well as the larger ones and visualize your roots moving downward, toward the center of the earth.
3. Turn your mind back to your breath again, but still sensing the tree roots. As you exhale, visualize the roots move deeper, going further toward the center of the earth. Take the time on your inhaled breaths to feel what the roots feel under the earth. Are they damp from hitting ground water? Are they gritting with rock and sand? Are they getting warm as they reach the molten center of the earth’s core? When you exhale feel the roots moving, see them move through the rock, dirt, and water.
4. When you get to the point where you can feel heat, or where you feel or see heat, imagine that you roots come to a halt. You are at the center of the earth. Being to feel that warmth come up through your roots, up all the way through to your feel or spine, up your body, down your arms and out the top of your head through your crown chakra. See it as a bright white light, of if you can, visualize it the color of the molten core of the earth. Feel it heat up and energize your roots and your body.
5. When you have this feeling running firmly through you, being to feel the energy withdraw back into the earth. Imagine closing a hatch over the crown chakra and the energy retreating down your body. Feel your body cool as the energy retreats. Feel it flow back down your trunk, your legs and feet, down into the earth through your roots. When you see and feel your roots have released the earth’s energy, begin to bring your roots back. See them retreat upward just as you saw them move down. Feel the tiny roots release from the earth as your larger roots return back to your feet or spine.
6. Once you see the roots completely return to your body focus back on your breathing, relaxed breaths in and out. While you are doing this, if you feel there is any left over energy that may make you anxious or nervous, visualize that energy running down your arms like drops of water and collecting in the stone in your hand. The stone will ground the energy for you. Gently open your eyes and come back to waking consciousness.
Some other simple ways to practice include visualizing a piece of fruit, like an apple or orange, hanging from a tree branch in front of you. Imagine picking it from the tree and taking a bit. Taste the fruit, smell it, feel the juice in your hands and on your chin. As you advance, another way that you can work with visualization that can also help you with your psychic development is to work on visualizing a friend who is not with you at the moment (they can be anywhere else, even if it’s just in another room) and imagine what they are wearing. If you are in the same location when they leave the room you’ll want to ask them to change a piece of their clothing. When you get a strong visualization of what they have on either call them on the phone and describe what you see, or in the case of being in the same place you can simply ask them to come in the room and you can tell them what you are getting but don’t turn to face them until they give you some feedback. Practicing things like this helps with not just creative visualization and being able to create solid images in your mind but you’ll be able to slowly develop the psychic senses, especially remote viewing.
The mind’s eye is your most critical magickal tool. Learning to develop it from the beginning of your practice and taking the time to give it regular tune-ups along the way is key in being able to do successful magick of all kinds.
For more help with creative visualization, check out the classic book Creative Visualization: Use the Power of Your Imagination to Create What You Want in Your Life
Tracing the Witch’s Pyramid
Aug 26th
One of the great, fundamental teachings that can help anyone getting starting in magickal practice is that of The Witch’s Pyramid, also known as the Four Pillars of Magick or the Four Power of the Magus. Many of us may be familiar with the concept and the words, but how much thought have you given to the actual concept? Do you put The Witch’s Pyramid into practice in your magickal life? By knowing and understanding the concept of The Witch’s Pyramid and putting it into practice with both magickal working and ritual observance, we can find a major difference in how our spells manifest and in the connections that we create with the Divine and the Otherworld in honorary rites.
The Witch’s Pyramid is a model for effective magickal practice and consists of four basic principles.
- To Know
- To Dare
- To Will
- To Be Silent
The origins of this principle are somewhat debated thought it’s thought that it was developed out of practices within ceremonial and hermetic magick. The phrase “The Witch’s Pyramid” is thought to just be a more modern naming of this (believed) ancient principle, adapted by modern Witches. Christopher Penczak suggests in his book “The Inner Temple of Witchcraft” that it could be derived from the idea that some hold which states that magick and many magickal practices originate from Egypt, the land of pyramids. It may also be that when placed in visual context we see this laid out in the shape of a pyramid, as shown below.
To Know
We all know the phrase “knowledge is power”, and in the case of magick, it certainly can be. Knowing what you’re doing magickally, knowing your process, can be very important, but even more important is knowing yourself and knowing your true intentions behind your magickal actions. This principle also can be tied to the element of earth within us. By keeping our thoughts and intentions grounded in our work we have more of a clear path and more direction in what we’re doing. Some also see this principle as being related to the element of air since it deals with the idea of thought and knowledge, areas that are typically ruled by the air element.
What this principle calls for us to do it to stop and think. Sometimes thinking is one of the hardest parts of magick because we may find ourselves so driven by raw passion and emotions that we may find our minds not very clear but in the heat of the moment we are sure our direction is on track. So the first thing that we need to do when working with the Pyramid and the idea of To Know is to be sure that we are in control of our thoughts and our intentions.
The next this is knowing our magickal procedure. What is your plan for your magickal work? Why techniques are you going to employ and what steps will you take to make that work happen. Knowing what you’re going to be doing, knowing how the process works, what it takes to raise the necessary energy, knowing how to gather and direct that energy, all help to create the base foundation of your work. Without that solid foundation there is no telling if the rest that is build upon it will just tumble.
This can also be summed up in the phrase of “Know thy self, Know thy Craft”.
To Dare
Corresponding to the element of air, To Dare deals with our thoughts and the use of the magickal mind, yet others might place this concept in alightment with water for the power of emotions that often back the daring task of casting spells and working magick.
To Dare asks us to do just that, to dare to do the work, to dare to take the risk and make that leap of faith. One thing that many who are new to magick need to deal with on their first few forays into magick is fear. Feeling fear, whether it’s fear of what you’re actually about to do or just the fear of the unknown in what you are doing, is a normal feeling, especially for those that are new to the Craft and working their first spells. But fear needs to be faced and dealt with, head on, otherwise it becomes a crippling force and can keep you away from manifesting your desires, whether through magick or any other means.
When you have fully worked with and realized the first principle of “To Know” the second principle of “To Dare” can be a lot less daunting. But you still need to actually do the work and daring to make the magick happen is a critical step to make.
To Will
This principle is often related to the element of fire. It takes some fire, some passion, some true desire to make your wishes become realty. Fire helps us to manifest and here we must will what we desire into reality.
Will is also about discipline. You need to be willing to follow up your magickal work in the mundane world as well. It’s not just a matter of casting a spell at the altar and then walking away and calling your work done. Casting the spell in the physical sense is just the begining of your work. Now you need to have the will, or willpower, to back up your magickal work with mundane actions. One of the great examples is when we cast a spell to find a job. Once you have cast the spell you may very well get a call from a friend or family member out of the blue who may have found an oppertunity for you, but you’re far more likely to manifest your desires faster if you write out a resume and use it to apply for some positions. Magick and energy follow the path of least resistance and by working with your energy you have put our there rather than against it, you’ll see faster, better results.
To Will also is a principle that deals with faith, but in this case faith in yourself knowing that you have done what you needed to and knowing that it will bring your desires into manifestation. Being sure to keep your thoughts and actions in alignment with the work you have done takes a lot of personal will (i.e. not doubting your magickal work). Doubt only sends negative energy toward what you have put out there, so keeping yourself mentally in line with what you have done keeps the energy flowing correctly.
To Be Silent
This is one of the more debated parts of this magickal concept because there are people that really don’t feel that one needs to keep their magickal work silent or secret while others believe very strongly in the idea that magickal work and the processes used in a spell, or even the fact that a spell has been cast, should never be share with anyone, save for those in your magickal circle or coven who may have been present at the time. This principle is often related to the element of water because of need to keep emotions in check and under wraps within the magickal process.
To Keep Silent is often related to the idea of not sharing with others, especially the uninitiated, what one has done magickally. The reason behind this is that if you share you magickal work and desires with someone that may disagree with you they would then have the ability to send negative energy (either intentionally or unintentionally) toward your work to possibly derail your efforts. By not sharing this information with anyone you keep your work on track much easier. The debate here often comes in with the idea that someone who isn’t magickally inclined wouldn’t have the knowledge to purposefully disrupt a magickal working or that they wouldn’t be able to generate the energy to do it. Anyone who has ever just been in an emotional battle with another person, completely outside of the magickal realm, knows full well that the words, thoughts and emotions that can be generated through disagreement can be powerful and if someone doesn’t want to see you get that new, high paying job you cast your spell for, regardless of their reasons, the thoughts and emotions they have generated with their desire to see you fail can be enough to send things off kilter. So by keeping our work to ourselves we create a safeguard against possibly disruptions.
On the flip side of this debate some feel that by openly talking about their work they are sending more positive energy to it by personally acknowledging what they are working toward and therefore adding more fuel to the fire, so to speak. This may very well be true, and in fact if discussing with others that are completely behind you, your work and your desires, their positive energy and desire to see you succeed can aid your work. But this does need to beg the question “Can you ever truly know the intent and will of another?”
The other idea here is that magick isn’t meant to be flaunted; it’s a gift and a sacred art. It’s not something for ego gratification and by treating it as such we not only cheapen our work but our gifts as well. Some believe that by flaunting and boasting of magickal conquests ones magickal gifts can be taken away by the Gods.
The Connection of Spirit
Once these four principles are brought together one is able to them attain connection to Spirit through their magickal work and with the aid of Spirit your work will manifest with more clear and positive results. Spirit resides at the top of the pyramid and comes from that foundation of the other four practices. In Wicca you can also connect this part of the pyramid to the concept of The Wiccan Rede, a sort of culmination and expression of these other four ideas in practice.
The Witch’s Pyramid is not something that is reserved for any single tradition and it is something that is used by magickal practitioners within spiritual paths like Wicca as well as by those that practice the magickal arts of Witchcraft outside of a religious context. At it’s core it is a principle for working with energy and directing our magickal work in a more solid way that helps us to see results, grow our practice and overcome fear and obstacles that we face in the process. Knowing the Pyramid and bringing it into your magickal practice can be very beneficial, especially for those that are still getting their grounding in the act of spellwork and ritual.
(This article is one that I originally wrote for another blog, Sacred Mists Blog, and I share it here with all of you to enjoy as well.)
When The Gods Don’t Answer
Apr 9th
One of the questions that I sometimes get asked quite often, especially by people that are either brand new or outside of the Craft, or even those that are still only a few years into their work, is “Why do spells or prayers go unanswered?” There is this idea that when you’re a Witch you somehow have your finger on the cosmic cash machine or that you have a genie in your pocket and that just about anything you want in life is only a spell or prayer away. It certainly would be nice if that were the case, but it’s not. And there is a very good reason why.
Life is not easy. Being a Witch can make it a little easier, but being a Witch or knowing how to work with magick and energy, doesn’t mean that you are going to float through life without a care in the world. Being a Witch often means dealing with a lot of things that most people are oblivious to; pain, suffering, the darker aspects of our selves and the world around us are all things that are more apparent to those that are spiritually and psychically aware. We often find that the energy from events around the world, like the tragedy in Haiti, may impact us on a different, deeper level than someone that is not empathic, for example. If we are tuned in to the spirit world, we may find that a local disaster where many people have died suddenly have us very busy navigating visitors who lost their lives and are in need of help. Things like this don’t bother your neighbor in the same way, unless of course your neighbor is a Witch.
The point is that life is hard, Witch or not, and sometimes there are lessons that we need to learn through our experiences both as magickal people and as humans living on this planet in this lifetime. Even with the abilities that we may learn and naturally possess, we still need to live our lives and experience life itself. We can’t expect that we can always spell our way through difficult situations and come out clean and smelling pretty. Sometimes we need to be down in the mud, getting dirty and learning life’s lessons, just like everyone else. Eventually every experiences love and the loss of love. Everyone experiences being prosperous and having to go without. This is part of learning those lessons and learning to appreciate what you have.
I’ve had people come to me for spells for love, for money, for a new job, or for healing and they have been in great need or great desire for their spells to come to fruition. The spells are cast and energy sent but nothing manifests. The spells can be technically perfect, timing correct right down to the moment the moon enters a certain astrological position, but still nothing. There is always a reason, and sometimes if we go back and use divination we can find that reason and discover something we didn’t think of before, but more often than not it’s because there is a lesson that needs to be learned that will be missed otherwise. Maybe you’re supposed to have this illness so that you are forced to take time out from your busy life to refocus your priorities; maybe being unemployed and having to go without will teach you lessons about your personal strength and resourcefulness that you otherwise wouldn’t learn. If everything were just given to you for the asking, you wouldn’t learn anything in this life or the next.
This isn’t the say that spells or prayers don’t work because our lives are predestined; what would be the use in believing that since then there would be no use for spells or prayer. But sometimes the Gods, the Spirits and the Universe have a different idea in mind for us since they have a different view of our lives from where they’re standing.
When you cast a spell, work a meditation or send out prayerful energies and you don’t receive the answers you wish, consider it more deeply. What is it that you might not be seeing on the surface? What lessons are there within what you’re going through? What shortcut might this spell or prayer grant you and is that a shortcut that you need to avoid? There are many times that we end up discovering, at the end of the day, what we thought we wanted wasn’t nearly as great as what we actually got. And that happens by living.
I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it’s not the answer. ~Jim Carrey
Discuss…The Akashic Records
Aug 11th
Here’s something that popped into my head yesterday when I had my Crystal Reiki Master attunement done. I thought I’d throw it out there for discussion for those that might like to share some thoughts. I haven’t quite finished composing my own yet so I’ll respond later as well.
The question is:
Once you’ve been attuned to the Akashic Records though either your Reiki Master training or other energy attunements, if you do psychic work, do you think it’s ok to access the Akashic Records of someone you’re reading for or is that an ethical violation of their privacy?
I’m leaning one way…I bet you can’t guess where. What are your thoughts?
Mood: sleepy 
