Raising Energy

   By Onomaris

I posted on a bulletin board a while back on the topic of raising energy and would like to share my thoughts and processes.

I'm going to preface this with the point that I don't usually do the following. Not anymore. I've been doing this a long time and I can connect, charge, and use my energy simply by wanting to. It often happens without me consciously deciding to these days too. But the following is how I do it formally and is how I first learnt it. It's also what I do during more formal rituals or when I have the time and inclination to get a bit more fancy.

To raise energy I sit comfortable, usually in lotus position or half-lotus, with my hands resting on my knees. Sometimes I hold them in that classic meditation position - thumb tip touching first finger tip, sometimes I hold an aid (like a crystal), sometimes I let them just lie there.

I focus first upon my breathing. In to a slow count of 5, pause, out to the same count, pause. The focus upon the breathing brings your mind to a state of concentration and enables you to block out distractions. I keep going until I am breathing without thinking of the pattern. Then, eyes closed, I think about my body. I feel all the parts of it, make sure I'm comfy, and then focus upon the region behind and below my navel. If you have difficulty doing that, shift one hand so you are touching that area and concentrate on the sensation of warmth and contact.

This is where the seat of my power is. It's also the balance point for women. Men's is slightly higher. As I focus upon it it warms and starts to tingle. Energy is like that. If you pay it attention, it sits up, ears pricked and fawns wink

Now, if it's your first time you may find that that is enough for one day. It may take a long time to simply get to that point. It may happen quickly. Listen to your body. If you feel tired or your attention is wandering, then you should stop. Let your focus leave the energy and return to your breathing. Roll your head and shoulders, shake your arms and legs, and stop for now.

If you are fine to continue, focus upon the energy as it increases and becomes more noticeable. As you breathe in imagine you are drawing in energy from the world around you. Feel it as a flowing stream of energy. Glowing and powerful it feeds that ball of energy. As you breathe out some of it returns to the world - not all though as you are building energy stores for a working remember. (Many people draw upon the earth below them, the sun above, or some other specific body of power. As you get more aware of your energy and your power, you will probably do the same thing).

Feel the floor beneath you. Feel yourself almost 'sinking' into it - you almost have roots that dig deep into the earth, grounding and balancing you. If you can't visualise this, don't worry. You just want to start developing a conscious idea of what you need to do with regards to grounding yourself before a working. Having a strong connection to the earth is important. It stops you from getting tangled up and lost in the power work among other things. If you can visualise it easily, see if you can also feel the energy beneath you...even feel it flowing up into you as well.

Try and encourage the energy ball in your abdomen to 'move' down to your palms. Naturally your energy fills your body and is already everywhere. But your focus is what directs the bulk of your power. So by consciously directing it to go to your palms you are controlling and channeling it.

Once it fills your palms they will react. Heat, cold, pins and needles, itchiness, or sweating - these are common. You may experience something else entirely. It's ok. With the energy in your palms perform your spell and direct the energy to flow out and fill your spell with power.

To give an example...say your spell is a simple one. You want to make your child sleep deeply and well. You have an innate grasp on that act already through your maternal tie. So you've raised your energy and brought it into your palms. You rest a palm on the forehead and one on the abdomen of your child, or cradle your baby in your arms. Let the energy fill your baby as you 'love' and send your intent into your child through that energy.

Letting the energy fill your child is as easy as breathing - energy follows your deepest desires more easily than anything else. Simply wanting your child to sleep will direct your energy there. The difficult part is keeping your desperation that the little darling will go to sleep now and stop screaming - because the discord of that desire will affect the energy of "sleep like a 15 year old teenager" and your baby won't sleep well at all!

You may find using a simple incantation helps direct your energy (sleep, baby, sleep), or that stroking with your hand is the way to go. Doesn't matter.

For a more traditional spell you would direct the energy to fill your tools or spell ingredients or the air before you as you enacted your will. The actual act of using it doesn't matter. It's the raising it and the focus. And the closing.

Now you know how to raise power and use it, you need to know about closing. This is arguably the most important act of spell casting. Without closure the spell remains open, drawing upon you for energy.

Remember the energy flowing through your palms? Close your hands, remove them from the working. Think of the energy as returning to your abdomen. Stop breathing in that glowing stream of power. Draw back up from the earth into your 'self'. Some people physically shake their hands to end it. Others use words (such as "so mote it be" or "it is ended"). Find a trigger that works for you and use it. Soon, without thinking about closing everything off, it will be an instinctive reaction your body performs when you do the trigger.
   

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