Fun with Spells

Don't chant this under flood conditions, for goodness' sake!
This is a classic Pagan chant, done at most large gatherings.

We are a part of the Goddess
And to her we shall return
Like a drop of rain
Flowing to the ocean

* Ground and center.
* Become aware of where everything is around you and how the air is moving.
* Visualize the air moving gently around you.
* Imagine the trees around you (or anything else the breeze would move) in as much detail as possible, as if you were right in front of it examining it.
* Pretend you're the breeze and imagine yourself moving around and pushing the branches back and forth.
* Focus your energy and push the air into the breeze you're being.

Begin by getting comfortable. If you prefer to do your meditations alone, cross legged on the floor, and staring into a candle or sitting in a chair with soft music in the background, it matters not. WHAT matters is that you are in a place and position that will optimize your concentration, be it alone or with others. You do not have to remove any jewelry or crystals that you may be wearing, though it may help to develop your senses if you place them across the room in a spot easily visible to you.

Once you have set up the area to maximize your concentration and minimize distractions, begin by drawing your vision onto a single focus (a point on the wall, a flame, some point behind your closed eyelids) and begin to take slow, deep breaths.

Set a comfortable, practicle rhythum to your breathing and build your focus.

Once you have reached a meditative state, slowly pull in your vision.

Be aware of what it is you are focused on. Let it loose its focus and become a blur. Then let the Blur fade into darkness. Fade to nothing.

Next, pull in your sense of hearing.

Notice each of the sounds around you. The AC/Heater, any music in the background, your own breathing or that of others. Let this fade as you did your vision. Let the Sounds become unfocused and indistinct. Let your hearing fade till all you hear is your breathing and then nothing at all.

Next, Pull in your sense of Touch.

Feel everything that touches your body in any way. The Shirt on your back, your jeans, underwear, the breeze from the vents, the surface upon which you sit or lie. Pull your sense in one area at a time. Feeling each item fade until it is no longer there.

Finally, pull in your sense of Smell.

Do you smell the scent of incense in the background? The Gentle Fragrance of the cologne or perfume you applied this morning? the scent of the burning candle??? Again, pull in this sense untill you can smell nothing. Not even the air you breath in deep steady breaths.

This is the point of center. From here all of your senses proceed.

From here, you can find absolute focus and clarity of thought.

Now, pick a sense. Sight, Hearing, Touch, it matters not.

For Touch:

Reach out with your sense of touch. Keep your eyes closed. Ignore any sounds about you. Focus your attention upon Pay attention to pressure, texture, solidity.

Feel the shirt hanging about your torso, note how and where the fabric touches you skin. How does the fabric feel? Are your shirt/pants/underwear loose about your body or are they tightly clinging to your form?

What are you sitting upon? Is it solid and unyeilding? or soft and Malable? Maybe it feels sturdy? Or does it seem to tremble if your weight shifts eer so slightly? Try to describe each thing that you are touching, or wearing, or feeling in terms of pressure, texture, mass, and solidity. Note the differences in any two areas, say the feeling about your right shoulder and your left foot.

Now reach outwards with your sense of touch, but do not move physically. You know where the jewelry or crystals that carry your energy are, feel for them. Imagine that the energy radiating from these items is actually heat, and you are attempting to locate the source of this heat while stumbling around in the dark. You have only your sense of touch, of feeling, to guide you. You

know where these items are, now reach out towards them. Let the resonance that surrounds them guide you to them. Feel the energy about them. extend your feeling again, are there ambient energies floating about in the room? For Hearing:

This is the difficult one. For it almost requires that you play some music softly in the background. Music that I have found to be especially potent with magical energy are Lorena McKennet, Yanni, Rush, Yes, Yngwie Malmsteem. There are others, but you will have to listen. Does their music seem to sing of its own accord? Does it lift and push you as if you were a feather upon a breeze? These are signs that the music has magic about it. The other means of checking will become known to you as your senses improve. For now, though, you do not even need music, just focus and set up a stream of energy through your jewelry or crystals before you begin.

Reach out with your hearing. Keep your body relaxed and your eyes shut.

Notice the sounds in the room about you. Start with the obvious, hear the music. But also listen to what else is going on in the room. Hear the sound of your breathing and of others as they breath. The Soft rasp as the lungs expand and contract. Hear the sound of the candle flame, flickering, sputtering as it consumes the wax. Hear the sound of the AC/Heater as it kicks on and blows air about the room. Hear the rustle of papers under the wind from the vents.

Now turn your focus back to the music. Can you pick out the individual drum beats within any given song? Can you distinguish the Bass line from the Lead Guitar? Can you hear the vagueries of the vocals? The Harmony and Counter harmonies? Can you hear a Humm underlying the music?

Tighten your focus once again. This time imagine that you are trying to find a cricket. The sound of the Cricket is the hum of the energy within and about your jewelry/crystals. You know where they are, but you cannot see them ( your eyes are closed ) Listen. Beyond the sound of the music. Do you hear? Over there, I hear a low buzzing/hum/whistling coming from over there where you set the crystals....

Can you hear it???

For Sight:

Envision the outline of the room and its contents behind your closed eyes. Once this image is firm, open your eyes slowly. Notice the details about the things you see. See the way the flame flickers and dances as it consumes the wax and wick. See the Charred and glowing end of the Wick deep within the heart of the flame.

Look for the tiny details of the things within your feild of vision. Does the Surface appear to be smooth? Shiny? Shifting?

Look to the edges of these same things. pay attention to the differences your depth perseption brings into focus. Try to judge the distances and differences between various objects.

Now, tighten your focus and look towards that peice of jewelery or Crystal. Once you see it, look to its edges. Focus on the edge of these items, letting your sense of Depth perception enhance your awareness of these things.

Do the edges look a bit fuzzy? Does there appear to be an indefinite area about these objects, extending their edges some distance? Focus on this disparity. See the fuzziness take shape. See it turn from a barely seen blur to a definitive aura about the objects. It is an aura that will most likely be electric and shifting.

Now pull back your focus. Look about the room. Do you see spots where there are clouds?? Almost as if Technicolor Snow were overlaying your vision of certain areas of the room?? This is energy. Do you see the Swirls and eddies within??

After any or all of these stages have been reached, you can either pull back the same way that you got to that state, or, and I recomend this, you can begin to channel and format your own energy. Play with it. Make it into a ball, or streamers, or swirling clouds. But Play with the Energy, the magick, that you can draw up. And as you do, examine it with whichever of your senses you were working on. See it, feel it, Hear it. Then let it go and try again with a slightly different format.

And that is it. Any questions, send 'em on and I will do my best to answer. It does help if you have one person lead this meditation untill you are all familiar enough with this exercise that you can do it on your own.

Be careful how you use these

Take three cords or strings of various, pleasing pastel colors- perhaps pink, red, and green- and braid them tightly together. Firmly tie a knot near one end of the braid, thinking of your need for love.

Next, tie another knot, and another, until you have tied seven knots. Wear or carry the cord with you until you find your love.

After that, keep the cord in a safe place, or give to one of the elements- burn and scatter the ashes in the ocean or in a stream.