Energy
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So the first thing I should do is explain energy. Energy is the force you manipulate when performing magick. It runs through everything, and by building it up, it can then be used to make your rituals and practices more potent. Magick basically is the process of directing or manipulating natural energy to acquire an outcome, and one of the biggest problems magicians face is not building up enough energy for the desired outcome to be a reality. In a way developing energy building and manipulation should be the first stop in learning magick after meditation as it is hugely important to the magicians success. So firstly how do we absorb magick and raise our own energy. There are many techniques to raise your energy levels, but first let us see how you can create your own energy.
Find a Spot where you can relax and focus your mind Firstly you need to be in a place away from any interruptions from people, noise , smells anything which might draw your attention too much. Secondly you need to wear loose fitting comfy clothing, so as not to make you fidget too much or make you too hot or cold you need to be at your ideal temperature. Finally you need to get into a comfy position, this can be sitting down or laying down or kneeling whichever suits you the best.
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Start by breathing in and out, in and out, drawing all your attention to your breaths, notice you chest rising and falling as you do and begin to count your breaths, keeping them nice and slow and steady. Empty your head of all thoughts, feelings and emotions, and just be one with yourself
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Hold out your hands in front of you shoulder width apart with palms facing each other, like if your about to clap. try to visualise a form of energy in front of you between your hands, it should be blue in colour, but if yours is different do not worry. With every breath feel the energy ball growing stronger and stronger and more fiery and energy like. Move your hands apart and together and when you feel the edges of your ball you have successfully created energy. If you are near a chain-link link fence you can cast the ball at it in a thrust motion and you will know if you hit it as the fence will flex and sometimes you may get sparks. This is something I have yet to achieve and only read about so again don't worry if this doesn't happen for you.
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So how do we raise energy from elsewhere, well simply meditating you can raise your energies or by using certain methods. The first being again sitting somewhere comfortable getting into that relaxed state and holding out your right and to the side palm down and left arm to the side palm up. Visualise energy flowing up from the ground into your right palm, out of the top over your head and down through your left hand back into the ground. Visualise it as a complete circle around you even when it goes into the ground and as the energy passes through either hand feel some of the energy making its way into the body and raising your energy levels. Then there is the Chakra Method.
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The Chakra method
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Chakras are energy nodes, situated throughout the body, that are used to build and store energy in or to be opened to allow the flow of energy in making you more in tune with your astral or magickal self. There are in fact 8 Chakras in all. The first 7 are the more traditional ones but the last one is a new addition and can only be opened when all the other 7 are opened first. They are activated through meditation, by first sitting in your usual meditation position. Imagine energy flowing into your body and filling each one as you inhale. Chakra breathing is good for this which is breathing in for the count of four, holding for 7 and out for 8. On the four picture energy flowing into the chakra. On the 7 picture the energy swirling around the chakra and on the 8 imagine all the excess energy leaving the chakra. Do this until you feel that your chakra is open. It should only take a few cycles but go until you are ready. It also helps to do them in order from the lowest to the highest activating each one as you go up through your body. For anyone who cant picture energy imagine two trails of light going through the body in a figure of 8 and up through the Chakras, when it reaches the last one it goes straight down the back of the body and into the floor which grounds you. The paths are called the Ida and Pingala.
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And one of my favourite methods is the norse method of Sun gazing.
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Sun gazing is a ritual I have found recently with the credit going to Asbjorn Torvol, I believe as I think it was one of his works I was reading when I first heard of it, it appears to be a form of meditation and if not done correctly or if used in an inappropriate way can be fairly dangerous for the eyesight. So in other rituals like scrying or the blue ray meditation, you sometimes will use candles to stare into the flame, fire being a form of ancient magick and wisdom, usually you use the energy from the flame to draw into yourself and bolster your magick. Well the sun is basically a huge flame which can be used in the same way. It contains huge amounts of energy even though few still use it in the modern age, unlike our ancestors. The technique is good for the pineal gland which in magick is used for the manipulation of energy, a definition used for magick. Therefore this ritual is a way to boost your own rituals or magick.
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This should be performed once a day maximum and only when the sun is either setting or rising to avoid injuring your eyes in the bright sun. Begin by sitting outside barefoot to allow the flow of energy through the body and facing towards the sun. Get into a comfortable position and stare into the very centre of the sun. Start by breathing in and out, in and out, drawing all your attention to your breaths, notice you chest rising and falling as you do and begin to count your breaths, keeping them nice and slow and steady. Empty your head of all thoughts, feelings and emotions, and just be one with yourself. Keep staring at the sun focusing your attention to it and begin to feel its energy flowing around you. On every inhale draw in some of that energy and on every exhale let it flow through the body distributing evenly, feel it begin to change how you feel and energize you. Do this for a maximum of 30 minutes before ending the ritual or until you feel your eyes beginning to hurt, use the extra energy in your magick or just to motivate you into the day.
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So when using energy it is also a good idea to ground yourself and push any unwanted energy out of your system, a method that I use for this is again a Norse custom called Grounding with Jord. Jord is the Norse earth goddess and mother to Thor.
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Grounding with Jord is a none traditional practice in Norse Magick, usually taught by modern Norse Vitki. Its purpose is to balance your energies and then ground yourself to Jord, or the earth in modern tongue. Jord is also a goddess of wild and uncultivated earth, a giantess and possibly Odin's first consort, therefore this ritual is also a dedication to her. This then removes any negative or excess energies whilst cleansing and providing a small boost to your energies, excellent for ritual work.
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To do this first go outside into your garden or a nearby forest, wherever you like so long as it is outdoors and ideally not on concrete and somewhere you are comfortable. Take of your shoes and sock so you are bare foot and stand on the ground with your feet together, your back should be straight, your mouth should be closed with the tongue on the roof of your mouth behind the teeth and your arms should be at your side. Stand like this for a few minutes so your feet can connect with the ground.
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Once you are ready close your eyes and visualise yourself as a tree, roots extending from the bottom of your feet, down into the earth. Begin to mentally explore the body, search everywhere and find any negative emotions or bad aches and pains. Slowly begin to push them down the body all the way to the feet then out into the ground. As you do so ask Jord to receive the energies and transform them, “Jord, Mother of Midgardr, Mother earth, Mother of Thor, Accept these energies and transform them.” whilst pushing them through the roots into the earth.
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Once complete and all energies and pains and emotions have been pushed into the ground, let the roots extend deeper still into the earth, deeper and deeper, at the same time visualise branches extending from your upper body, reaching towards the sky. The roots should still grow further until you reach a pocket of energy, identified via a vibration or tingling sensation in the legs and body.Begin to draw up this energy through the roots and into the legs and body feel it creep up the spine and throughout all your body, cleansing and energising the body as you go.
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Continue to draw up this energy all the way up the branches where at the very tip it turns into water droplets and rains down slowly into the earth. Do this for a few minutes until you are ready and feel totally energised and cleansed then visualise the roots and branches slowly retracting back into the body. Thank Jord “ Jord, Mother of Midgardr, Mother Earth, Mother of Thor, I thank you for helping me.” Finish the ritual.
So with energy magick or indeed just magick as always there are many different ways and here are just a few, what I would say is practice a lot with these exercises so as they become fluent to you when performing more complex rituals.