Shielding is a way of protecting yourself from psychic, mental, or magical attack—it’s a way of creating an energy barrier around yourself that other people can’t penetrate.
When you shield, you envelope yourself with your energy. Focus on your energy core, and expand it outward so that it covers your entire body. Ideally, you’ll want it to extend past the surface of your body so that it’s almost as though you’re walking around in a bubble.
When you’re forming your energy shield, it’s a good idea to visualize the surface of it as being reflective. This not only protects you from negative influences and energy, but it can also repel them back to the original sender. If you’re someone who is often affected by the emotions of others—if certain people make you feel drained and exhausted by their very presence—then you need to practice shielding techniques.
The term grounding, sometimes called Earthing, means to recalibrate your energy. Essentially, the purpose of grounding is to shake off “excess” energy and ground yourself back in reality. It is about reconnecting to your space. Essentially, grounding helps us to connect with the Earth and makes us have a balanced and a established emotional state.
What is Centering?
The term centering means to anchor both spirit and mind, logic and emotion, physical reality and the ethereal world. Its about reconnecting to yourself so you can better put things in perspective. Being centered describes being in balance between these two seemingly disparate parts of ourselves. I helps us focus on the present, but not on a specific subject like meditation. It is simply being in the present.
It’s not as if I didn’t know in theory but it was #MountShasta that taught me the true importance of #grounding when I felt like my head was about to explode, so full of energy and overwhelmed by a headache the cold stream and forest floor on my bare feet released the pressure and made everything alright again #trees #treesofinstagram #gogetsomenature (at Mount Shasta, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/CE97FNVp3V5/?igshid=16ej3b9qgad7z
Figure out your intent or goal and what corresponding planets, stars, constellations, etc are to your intent/goal. You may also use herbs, crystals, essential oils, etc along with the celestial bodies of your choice. Choose which ones you think or what your gut thinks is best for you. If your gut says you don’t need that, then don’t use it.
Get in a comfortable position. Normally sitting criss-cross or laying on your back. Surround yourself with the herbs,essential oils, or crystals of your choice.
Close your eyes and take deep breaths in and out. Try your best to clear your mind.
Now for visualization, a large hole in the ceiling appeared or the entire ceiling is gone. Your celestial body(bodies) glide over the open hole or ceiling. If you chose more than one CBs, they can glide over in one at a time, in small clusters or one large cluster. Imagine that the CB(s) stop directly over you and that they start to send down their energy in a beam of light. Now, your body starts to fill up with light near the third eye chakra (in between the eyebrows) and the crown chakra (the top of the head) then from those chakras, energy starts flowing through your body, making your entire body glow brighter and brighter over time. While all of this is happening, thank the CBs for their energy,
This next step of visualization is imagining what would happen after your goal. What does it look like? What does it sound like? What does it feel like, emotionally and/or physically? What would it smell like? You can think of any smell that fills your intent. What would it taste like? You can think of any flavor that fills your intent. After you’ve visualized all of your gaols’s five senses, you can stop meditation.
a quick guide on grounding with storms for storm witches
☔ to be done during a storm
☔ stay in a safe place when you practice this form of grounding. only allow yourself to get wet if your health allows, and please avoid places that would get you struck by lightning.
☔ have a view/hearing of the rain to the best of your ability
☔ visualize:
each thunder strike rattles you to the core, and leaves nothing there. each drop of water brings energy that replenishes and re-energizes you.
every drop is one of millions, but every drop has importance. each one soaks into you, cold and bright. it fills you
every sound of every drops rebuilds you from the inside out.
each lightning bolt ignites within you, calling up new energies and instilling a calm in its wake.
☔ when you are ready, let the storm fade its hold on you. you are not severing the ties harshly, only letting them fall away, the way rain dissipates and the storm calms down.
here is a link to sun’s witch academy database, where you can find information on a variety of topics as they are posted!
grounding
grounding is used as a method of connecting yourself to the energy and the world around you. it’s important to ground yourself after meditation or trance work, as it will help you stabilize your energy in your physical body. grounding can be extremely simple, or you can take more time and energy for it. whichever you prefer.
grounding can also be useful in situations where you feel scattered, disconnected, or unfocused.
exercises
earth (one of the most common)
visualise yourself growing roots from your body. they weave through the earth below you, deeper and deeper, hooking you in. energy flows through them, from you to the earth, from the earth to you. it is a natural exchange. as the roots grow deeper and stronger, you feel more in touch with the world around you. you are connected and strong. when you feel ready, gently retract your roots and disconnect. though you are no longer tied to the earth, you are still present, alert, and grounded.
food and drink
basically the easiest grounding exercise out there. after meditation, astral, or trance work, simply drink water or easy liquids and eat some small amounts slowly in order to return to and connect with your physical body. pay special attention to all of your senses as you eat and drink.
breathing
this method is also very simple. simply breathe deeply and count your breaths: inhale to a count of seven, hold for a count of three, and then exhale slowly and completely (for however long you need/feels comfortable). as you do so, focus on each of your five senses. what do you feel? can you taste or smell anything? are there any noises nearby? you can use your sight as well, though some may prefer to keep eyes closed during this exercise. continue observing what is around you until you feel fully present and strong in your body.
I got a request from a beginner Witches if I could help them to start practicing, so I thought that this might be a good idea to make a post with resources I find helpful. Also, I’d like to clarify how my own practice looks like.
My path
I study about Witchcraft for a couple of years and at the beginning, I wasn’t planning to go so deep into it. My Mom had a Herb Shop so I love any kind of natural healing from the very start. It slowly evaluated into reading about crystals, energy, astrology and suddenly… I bought a tarot deck, doing divination. It just happened. I also remember the moment when my knowledge became quite satisfying (tho I still learn and I always will), however, I wasn’t doing… well, any kind of practice. So I started to dig and find out that I missed a very important step. Reading about energy is one, but learn to FEEL the energy is crucial.
Now I think I’ve started walking a Green Witch path. I’m eclectic and secular Witch. You do not have to worship any God or Goddess to be a witch, but you can if you want. All elements are significantly important in my little spellcraft. I love crystals, brew herbal teas and find magic in all the mundane activities, in life itself. I’m not into rituals. For me every emotional thought is a spell, every intention attracts what we want (so be careful to not attract bad things!). What we believe, say, fell and think is powerful and have a great impact on our lives (mind and body too) and what is around us.
The practice of every witch is different. There might be a path other than mine, but more suited for you. Keep in mind I’m not Wicca, so there are no rules that regulate or decide about my path, but also it might be a bit more winding road with a lot of dead ends. However, if what I said sounds like something for you, I’m happy to provide some resources that helped me to start. The order is quite important.
Resources
A big part of them can be found on Tumblr! Also, this isn’t an ultimate list. Witchcraft is a giant field of knowledge, so for me, it’s a lifetime learning.
Books
The Green Witch by Arin Murphy-Hiscock - it says everything for me, 100% right. Great introduction, a lot of recipes and exercises. Perfect.
Practical Magic by Nikki Van De Car - here you’ll find basics about most important topics like chakras, crystals, herbs, pagan holidays and some forms of divination.
Once you’ll discover your own fields of interest, buy themed books. Basics can be found all over the Internet: Google - the World’s biggest BOS ever.
This is the first step for energy work. Headspace.com might be a good place to start meditation.
Try to do basic types of energy work
Use resources to find what is interesting for you. Some ideas:
- Grounding (as the first one!)
- Feeling the energy. For example Ball Energy between your hands. You can also try to feel the energy of plans, stones, crystals or pets.
- Focus exercises. For example describing with all senses certain activities or objects. Prepare your favorite tea, sit in a calm place and drink your potion. Try to describe it with all your senses. How does it look like? How does it smell? What is the sound when you drink it? How does it taste? How does it feel? Concentrate. This is also great for anxiety/panic attacks!
- Cleansing. This one feels good when you join it with a physical cleaning of your space. You can cleanse it by visualization or by using sage/palo santo. When you are done with your space you can cleanse your aura/chakras.
- Affirmation/Attracting. Try to start daily, positive affirmation as well “gratitude logs” at the end of the day.
All above will help you to start with spells!
Basic knowledge and tools
Use resources for: - Learning about elements. - Basic correspondences (number 5 on a list of resources). - Basic properties of herbs/crystals. Max. 10 of each, don’t try to learn EVERYTHING at once! - Altars/shrines and tools. - Types of witches. - Types of divination (just make a list of them for start).
Above is a great list of ideas for your BOS. You can start a Google Docs folder with one file as a list of ideas and separate files on each topic. Continue to extend your knowledge.
Make a sacred space in your home
This can be something very little. Like a representation of each element: stone, feather, shell, and candle in one place. This is your place where you can be yourself!
Caution
DO NOT LEARN EVERYTHING AT ONCE (I’ll repeat that all the time). Pick one little topic for each week. For example: Week 1. Basics of the energy work + exercises. Week 2. Learning about elements, basic correspondences, types of witches. Week 3. Make a list of divination forms. Pick one and start to learn it. Week 4. Prepare your own spell based on the acquired knowledge. Do the additional research if you need to. Not sure what kind of spell/ritual? It’s great to start with New Moon/Full Moon rituals or protection/abundance spells! …
Note
If you worship any kind of Divine then add it to your practice!
