These are some exercises to build on the fundamental concepts laid out in the previous chapter. You should try to practise these daily or several times a week in order to really get to grips on them and develop your connection with witchcraft.
Journaling
Before I tell you about the exercises I want to first advise you to grab a notebook so that you can write down your experiences and form a collection of all the knowledge you gain as you research witchcraft more and more. Journaling is very useful for spotting connections between your experiences that you might easily miss, and it's also a really great way to track your progress and observe how you grow as a practitioner.
For each exercise you should make a note of:
📆 the date
🕒 the time
🌘 current moon phase
😐 how you feel before the exercise
💬 any thoughts or sensations during the exercise
🙂 how you feel after the exercise
Book of Shadows: Many witches like to keep what is known as a "Book of Shadows" or a grimoire. The term, Book of Shadows, has Wiccan origins but has been widely adopted by most witches from all kinds of traditions. This is where a witch compiles all of their knowledge about witchcraft for later reference. A witch's grimoire does not have to be a physical notebook if that is inconvenient - there is nothing to stop you from making a digital Book of Shadows in a Word document, notes app, or even here on Wattpad!
Meditation Exercises
💭 Mindfulness meditation: Sit somewhere comfortable, either crossed legged or feet flat on the floor. Take a deep breath in through your nose, hold it for a few seconds, then slowly breathe out through your nose, emptying your lungs completely. Contract your belly to force the last bit of air out, then take a deep breath in again. As you repeat this, you may notice your heartbeat slowing down and a sense of calm washing over you.
Once you have a nice rhythm going, take note of any thoughts or sensations that come and go. Don't worry about intrusive thoughts interrupting your meditation; this is completely normal. Simply take note of them, and pass them on without judgement. You can imagine your thoughts like little boats floating down a river. Maybe some of the boats get caught up in front of you; just take note of them, and pass them down the river without judgement.
Then bring your focus back to your breath, continuing to breathe deeply and concentrate on experiencing the present moment.
You may practise this meditation for as long as you like, but 10 minutes is a good amount. The first few times you do this, you may only be about to meditate for 5 minutes before it becomes tiresome or difficult to focus. The more you practise, the longer your meditation sessions can be.
👓 Focussed meditation: To begin a focussed meditation, start the same way you would with a mindfulness meditation. Take a few minutes to enter a rhythm of deep breaths and let your mind chatter quiet down. Once your mind is quiet enough, focus on your target for this meditation. It can be your breath, or an object, or a concept. You want to concentrate on experiencing every sensation that your target has to offer; don't simply think about your target, experience your target, be your target.
Take note of what all the senses are experiencing; sight, sound, smell, and touch. Record any emotions and bodily sensations that occur. For example, if targeting your breath, pay attention to every sensation as you inhale and exhale; the feeling of the air exiting your nose, your chest rising and falling, the sound of your breath. Try to focus on your target for as long as possible without unrelated thoughts and feelings interrupting you.
It is completely normal to fail and experience unwanted thoughts. Your focussed meditation will get better the more your practise, and you will find that you can go for longer stretches of time without your mind wandering.
🧘 Spiritual meditation: For spiritual meditation, we need to have an image or object nearby that we can use in this exercise(1). A tarot card is perfect for this, but if you don't have anything then you can visualise a geometric shape like a pentacle. You'll also need to master the visualisation exercises described later in this chapter.
To begin, spend some moments entering a mindfulness meditation to calm and centre your mind. Then take out your tarot card (or image/object) and study it for some minutes. Take in every detail; literally scan it with your eyes a half-inch slice at a time. When you have memorised the whole card, close your eyes and recreate an image of it in your mind, a half-inch slice at a time, until you have the whole thing held in your mind's eye (if you did not have an image/object, visualise your geometric shape).
Now gradually erase the mental image a half-inch slice at a time, be careful not to get ahead of yourself. Eventually, you will reach the last half-inch slice of your image; erase that too.
For a single instant you will experience nothing - that is the goal of this exercise. The first times you try this, this moment of nothingness will last less than a millisecond before your brain chimes in, "Did I do it? Was that it?" But as you practise this exercise more, you can stretch out this moment of nothingness, until it evolves into a feeling of oneness. In this period of oneness, you can establish a deeper connection with the universe and the divine. This opens yourself up to receiving messages & insight from any spirits, deities, or guides you work with (or just universal consciousness if you prefer that).
After this exercise I recommend you do some grounding exercises and return to mundane living by eating some food and doing some house chores, because this exercise can be mentally exhausting. Do not fret if you can't complete this exercise or the feeling of oneness is fleeting; if you keep at it you'll get it eventually, if only for a moment.
🤸 Moving meditation: To begin a moving meditation, start the same way you would with a mindfulness meditation. Take a few minutes to enter a rhythm of deep breaths and achieve a sense of calm. Now take some moments to assess how your body is feeling - any tightness, pressure, warmth, coldness, etc. You might want to make a note of this in your journal.
Then start your chosen activity, and what you want to aim for is a repetitive movement that you oscillate back and forth between each breath. For example, start in a warrior pose, and then on the inward breath slowly transition into reverse warrior. On the outward breath, return to your starting pose (see animated gif below).
Image source: https://blog.alomoves.com/movement/5-pairs-of-yoga-poses-that-belong-together
You don't just have to use yoga poses, you can adapt this meditation for gardening, painting, walking, and anything else you can think of. Simply start one movement on the inward breath, begin another on the outward breath, and repeat.
As you do this moving meditation, think about any bodily sensations you are experiencing. If you're doing yoga, you might want to pause for a few moments between each breath to notice how your body feels; any muscles stretching and relaxing, your spine curving, the pressure of your feet on the floor. When you finish the exercise, assess your bodily sensations again and compare these sensations to before you started the exercise (write these down if necessary).
Visualisation Exercises
Visualisation is a skill that can be improved, so do not worry if you struggle to see anything with your mind's eye, it is totally normal. Visualisation should be like recalling a memory except that it is made up. So remember if you have trouble seeing anything at all, trying using a different sense like touch or sound, and if you can't do that, just know that your visualisation is there even if you can't see it, and work on focussing on it for as long as possible.
The exercises below(2) are ideal for complete beginners, and once you have mastered exercise 2 you are ready to combine your visualisation techniques with spells & rituals.
⏺️ Exercise 1 - Shapes
To begin, it is best to work with simple geometric shapes. Start with just a point, like a period at the end of a sentence. Create it in your mind or imagine it hovering in front of you. Make it and hold that image in your mind. Don't worry about other thoughts coming in. Just direct your mind back to the image of the point. You may not be able to see it at first, and that is ok. Know that it is there in your mind. With continued practice you will be able to see it.
Once you can see the point clearly in your mind, give it length and make it a line. It can be any length that is convenient for your mind. Create it and hold it there. Once it is clear in your mind's eye then start to move it around. Rotate it so that you can see it from all sides. Continue to practise until you can move it around with no problem. Then proceed to the next step.
Continuing with this exercise, expand the line to give it depth, making a square. Remember to make it real. Now, begin to add texture to it so that as you move it you can feel it. One time make it rough, another make it smooth. Make your square more and more real. Continue this until you can hold the visualisation, move it around and feel the texture. Then proceed to the next exercise.
The last exercise in this set is to take the square that you formed above and give it height, forming a cube. Move it around, feel the texture, and give it weight. Feel the mass of the cube. Feel free to add any other experiences you like such as temperature, smell and sounds coming from the cube. Your goal is to make this a real object in your mind. When you can do this on a regular basis, you are ready to move to the next stage of training.
✏️ Exercise 2 - Real Objects
In this training you will mentally be recreating an actual object. Start off with something easy and simple like a pencil, a ball or something like that. Don't start off with complex things like cars, televisions or machinery. You will get there eventually. Use something that you physically have. Take the object in your hand and study it. Feel it, note how it looks, how it smells and how it sounds. Now set the object aside and close your eyes.
Mentally recreate the object in your mind. Make it as real as possible, recalling every detail that you can remember. Hold the image in your mind and feel it there. Mentally move it around and examine it. If it is not correct, make any necessary changes. Remember to make it just like the original. Now, open your eyes and re-examine the original. Notice any small details that you did not notice before. Then set it aside, close your eyes and repeat the process. Continue this until you have exhausted the object, and then choose another and begin again. Try to gradually increase the complexity of the object. When you have achieved some success in this you can continue to the third and final stage of training.
🏰 Exercise 3 - Places
Once you are comfortable creating large objects in your mind, try to create a place, a physical space like a room, building, or garden. Begin with recreating the space that you are currently in; the size of the room, every object in it, and all the different textures, weights, sensations. Open your eyes and notice any small details in the room you did not notice before; like small blemishes on the walls and specks of dust gathering on surfaces. Incorporate these tiny details into your visualisation and hold it there.
Gradually move onto whole buildings and outdoor spaces, and then finally onto made up places like temples, sacred spaces, forests, caves, the ocean, outer space, and other planes of existence.
Grounding & Centring Exercise
There are lots of different grounding and centring techniques. This one described below requires some meditation and visualisation (so you should practise those first).
Sit or lie somewhere comfortable, this can be anywhere, but some witches like to ground outside on the grass or against a tree too.
Deepen your breath and find a comfortable rhythm for your breathing. You can take as long as you like to do this, but at least 10 deep breaths should do it. Keep breathing as you pass along any unrelated thoughts and inner dialogue, just gently sweep them away without judgement and bring all your attention to your breath. Keep doing this until your mind is quiet enough to begin grounding.
Now close your eyes and imagine roots descending from your body into the earth. Grow the roots longer and longer, penetrating deep into the earth's mantle. With each breath outward, visualise your negative energy leaving your body, coursing through the roots and being sent into the earth to be neutralised. With each breath inward, visualise your roots taking up some of the earth's pure, natural energy, and entering your body. Feel it surge through your abdomen, torso, legs, arms, hands, feet, neck, and head.
If you need some extra energy, visualise more roots ascending from your body towards the sun. Borrow some of the sun's fiery energy for your spells and rituals.
You are fully connected to the earth and the universe. Feel the ground beneath your feet, the wind in your hair, and the sun's heat on your skin. You are of the divine and the divine is in you. You are made of star stuff; feel your connection to the universe as both a physical and spiritual being.
Keep your eyes closed, and begin to gently wiggle your toes and fingers, concentrate on your bodily sensations as you do this. Hold your arms out in front of you, really think about how it feels when you move them from place to place. Touch your fingers to different parts of your body, feel the smoothness of your skin and the textures of your clothes. Now focus your awareness on the surface you are sitting/lying on. Feel the support the surface provides you, pushing back up on the weight you exert on it.
Open your eyes and examine the place you are in. This is where you are, here and now. Be present, be calm, be here. Sit still for a few moments and notice how you feel, calmer? More energic? More focussed? The first few times you try grounding & centring exercises you might want to write down your experiences in a journal or your Book of Shadows.
Energy Work Exercises
These energy work exercises(3) will allow you to begin to sense and manipulate energy. After you have mastered the second exercise, your energy work can be combined with spells and rituals.
🔰 Exercise 1 - Beginner
Spend some moments quieting and focussing your mind (do some brief meditation exercises).
Hold your hands in front of your waist close together, like you're holding a small ball not much bigger than your hands.
Visualize white light emerging from your body and flowing down your arms into the space between your hands, forming a ball. Make this stream of light energy as real as possible.
See that light energy accumulating between your hands, becoming thicker and more intense as you continue to pump more light energy into it. Every ounce of light energy flowing into that ball is captured, none dissipates or gets absorbed back into your hands.
If you're doing this with your eyes closed, build the intensity of your visualization so high that you practically feel like if you peeked you would see glowing energy in your hands. If you're doing this with your eyes open, put so much intensity into it that you feel like you're on the verge of seeing the same type of flickering distortion that you see with a heat mirage.
Spend several minutes pumping more energy into the ball between your hands. Feel it grow as the intensely packed energy struggles to stay confined. Let it grow a bit bigger without moving your hands, so that the energy ball encompasses your hands.
Eventually, your hands will feel a physical sensation. Most people will perceive a feeling akin to static electricity. Some people will perceive heat. Whatever sensation you feel, this will not be something you imagine or visualise; it is a side effect of the exercise. It is the nerves in your hands responding to the magickal energy surrounding them. Triggering that physical sensation is the goal of this exercise. It indicates success. If someone else is around and they place their hand between your hands, they too will feel the energy. They might feel static whereas you feel heat, because different people's nerves get triggered in different ways, but it's objectively real, and you are controlling it.
Whether you get energy dense enough to physically feel or not, when you are done, bring your hands to your chest and visualize absorbing the light energy back into your body. Feel it diffuse effortlessly and easily back through your body.
If at first you don't have success, keep at it. If you do have success, keep at it; try to build up a ball of energy that triggers physical sensation quicker with further practice.
🔆 Exercise 2 - Amateur
This exercise is for those who can move energy but have never done anything with it.
Build a tangible ball of energy in your hands. Next, put an idea of happiness in your head, like the giddy overwhelming happiness of a kid opening Christmas presents.
Project that flavour of happiness into the energy in your hands. Feel the energy morph into the essence of that happiness. This isn't hard; energy responds to mental control, that's how you got the energy into your hands in the first place. It is even easier to imbue a state of being on the energy ball than it is to move it into your hands.
Next, lift the giddy-happy ball of energy to your forehead and push it into your head, don't absorb it back into yourself but rather let it stick around to infuse your head with the giddy happy energy. Note what happens with your emotions, and conclude the exercise.
The next time you do this exercise, do the same thing, except this time infuse the ball of energy with the type of deep satisfaction happiness that parents experience seeing their kid happy opening Christmas presents. Make notes.
Next time, only put about half the amount of energy into your hands that you need to trigger physical sensation. Infuse it with happiness (whatever flavour) and put it into your head. Note the differences that only using half the energy creates.
Next time, supercharge your ball of energy, putting more energy into it than you've ever done before. Give it a happiness flavour and put it into your head. Note how the effect is different from previous exercises.
Next time, put the standard amount of energy into your hands, but instead of thoroughly attuning each and every ounce of energy with happiness energy, spend just a second or two aligning the energy, so that it's nowhere near as clear of an imprint as before. Put it into your head, see the difference.
The next time, attune the energy as it's flowing down your arms, rather than waiting to attune it after it's gathered. Practise this until it's second-nature.
Experiment. Explore. Try different emotions. Try different variables with what you're doing. See what happens if you try two emotions simultaneously. Have fun with it. Learn. If you have a partner to work with (or a spouse who doesn't mind being a guinea pig), try putting the energy ball into their head and ask them to describe the change in emotion they feel. (Don't do this if they're a sceptic; their belief will affect the energy just as certainly as yours will; and if they don't believe in this stuff they could subconsciously neutralize the emotion in the energy in order to preserve their world view.)
Once you have successfully altered your own emotions with energy work, combine this technique with spells and rituals. Any time you need to charge up a candle, oil, piece of paper, sigil, or "put your intent" into something, either pump it full of pre-attuned energy or pump it full of neutral energy and then attune it, depending on where you are in your development and your preferences. The attunement should be whatever role that item is supposed to play in the ritual. If you're charging a candle to bring peace into a troubled relationship, imprint the energy with "peace in the relationship".
Footnotes
(1) This spiritual meditation exercise was adapted from the one described in Modern Magick by Donald M. Kraig.
(2) Exercises adapted from: www.spellsofmagic.com/coven_ritual.html?ritual=3462&coven=497
(3) Exercises adapted from: www.reddit.com/r/witchcraft/comments/9xx2fr/energy_work_101_201_301_401_and_501