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A Day and a Year

Daily Wicca

 

While a witch’s life might be full of Sabbats and Esbats, one might have trouble finding the magic in everyday life.  However there are some things you can do daily to assist your spiritual growth and connection to Wicca.  A few minutes a day can help build upon existing knowledge and create a deeper connection to your Wiccan practice.

 

Mirror Book

Scott Cunningham suggests keeping a Mirror Book to record your progress in Wicca.  Different to a Book of Shadows, a Mirror Book is like a diary and can include thoughts, feelings, your magical successes and failures, your doubts, fears, significant dreams and anything else part of your spiritual (and even mundane) life.  Reading over past entries can assist in teaching you what has worked and what didn’t.  As self-knowledge is one of the goals in Wicca, the Mirror Book seems a perfect way to learn more about yourself.

 

Breathing Exercises

Many Wiccans use deep breathing to aid in meditation and entering altered states of consciousness.  You can practice deep breathing by finding a comfortable place to sit, relaxing your body, and beginning by slowly inhaling in through your nose and out through your mouth.  Try to make full use of your lungs, filling and emptying them with each breath.  Breathing should be controlled, calm and free of tension.  Incorporating visualization with deep breathing is a great way to relieve stress, by imagining breathing in love, health, tranquility and peace, while breathing out hate, disease, anger or anxiety.  Practicing daily deep breathing will help you in other exercises, like energy work and meditation, as well as can help diffuse potential explosive situations in your mundane life.

 

Visualization

Visualization is used frequently in Wicca and involves ‘seeing’ what cannot be seen physically.  One of the most important uses of visualization in Wicca is in forming the magic circle, which is usually performed by visualizing energy growing outwards to form a protective sphere around the ritual area.  Using visualization, we can see with our minds instead of our eyes.  This can help during energy work to bring things to fruition, such as visualizing ourselves in a great new job or healing from an illness.  This is similar to using affirmations or positive statements that you repeat to yourself to imprint them on your subconscious mind.  Since it is common that “energy follows thought”, it is important to keep your thoughts in line with your desires and needs.

 

Meditation

Meditating allows a quiet and relaxing time to commune with our deities and ourselves, as well as a way to explore our subconscious mind.  Techniques vary with tradition, but most involve placing yourself in a sitting position with a straight back, legs crossed, and hands placed gently on your knees.  Start by breathing deeply for a few minutes, then starting to open your consciousness.  This is a good time to commune and pray to the Gods, visualize symbols or chant a word or phrase that has meaning to you.  You can begin with five minutes a day and still recognize the relaxing effects of meditation.  After meditating, it’s a good time to record thoughts or images in your Mirror Book.

 

Energy Work

All natural objects are manifestations of divine energy, from the rocks and trees, to animals and humans.  Working with energy is as easy as rubbing your palms together quickly.  The heat and tingling you feel is a manifestation of energy and power.  Wiccans often raise energy during ritual for a specific purpose, such as for healing or strength.  Visualization is very useful during energy raising, for example you can imagine energy swirling around you in a clockwise fashion, or from your receptive hand to your projective hand.

 

Grounding

After energy work, it is useful to ground to rid yourself of excess energy or protect yourself from unwanted energy.  While the earth is our greatest source of power and energy, it is also useful for neutralizing it.  Grounding is useful before ritual to rid yourself of mundane energy, after ritual where energy was raised, or after an argument if negative energy was transferred.  A useful way to neutralize energy is through imagining a taproot extending from the base of your spine to the centre of the earth, where excess energy is pushed down and dissipated.  This technique also helps when raising energy, by imagining the earth’s energy and power being drawn up the taproot.  Sometimes grounding is as easy as sitting or touching the ground, or even hugging a tree!

 

Praying

Praying has different meanings in different cultures and religions, however Wiccans can also pray to their deities or Gods.  This can be done during meditation, visualization, breathing exercises, or even while sitting or lying down.  Communing with our Gods is something we all can do and there are no rules as to who can do it, how or when.

 

References:

“Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner” by Scott Cunningham (1989)

“Wicca For Beginners: Fundamentals of Philosophy and Practice” by Thea Sabin (2006)