In terms of
when grounding and centering comes in the order of ritual, it varies a lot. Some practitioners will ground and center
before setting up their altar, some will do it after they’ve set up and before
they perform their act of ritual purification (like a ritual bath or smudging),
some will perform grounding and centering just before they cast the circle,
etc. Depending on the order of your own
ritual, how you view grounding and centering, and when you will need energy for
your working, you can move it around based on your personal preference.
Centering puts you in touch with your personal
power, connecting your mental and spiritual bodies. Centering
involves clearing your mind of outside business and focusing upon the task at
hand. For rituals and magic to be
meaningful and effective, you should not be dwelling on what you had for lunch today
or your plans for tomorrow. 'Be Here
Now' is a phrase that nicely sums up the idea of centering.
Another important part of centering is your
awareness of yourself; becoming aware of the Goddess that lies within us all. This awareness promotes stability, confidence
and a healthy ability to express your will.
Psychically, centering allows you to work from a
stable foundation, helping to keep you from being magically thrown off balance.
The Eastern philosophy of chi is a very
good way of explaining the psychic aspect of centering. Our physical bodies have a center of gravity
that moves and shifts as we move. Likewise,
our energy field has a center that corresponds to our center of gravity.
Male and Female bodies are shaped different and so
have different centers of gravity. The
center of gravity for a man is usually between the navel and the base of the
sternum, whereas the center of gravity for a woman is usually between the navel
and the pelvis. Focusing your mind on
this area brings your awareness to the center of your energy field. This allows you to use more of the energy you
have available, while still drawing energy from Mother Earth. There are several good books on increasing the
chi, with exercises that are excellent for working on centering.
Meditating is one of the Thirteen
Goals of a Witch. If you've done any
meditation before, it may be a bit easier for you to center, because it uses
many of the same techniques. Find a
place where you can work undisturbed. Try
and feel the energy in the Earth and feel it travel up through your core into
your body, or you can think like a vacuum and feel it when you've sucked it
into yourself. Allow this to fill you up
- this can feel like tingling throughout your body.
Once
your breathing is regulated, it's time to begin visualizing (picture in your
mind) energy. Rub the palms of your
hands lightly together, as though you were trying to warm them up and then move
them an inch or two apart. You should
still feel a charge, a tingling or warm sensation between your palms. That's energy. If you don't feel it at first, don't worry. Just try again. Eventually you'll start to notice that the
space between your hands feels different. It's almost as though there's a bit of
resistance pulsating there if you gently bring them back together.
Now
that you can tell what energy actually feels like, you can start playing with
it. This means you can focus on that
area of resistance. Close your eyes and feel it. Visualize that tingly area expanding and
contracting, like a balloon. Try pulling
your hands apart, and stretching that energy field out, as if you were pulling
taffy with your fingers. Try visualizing
the energy expanding to the point where it surrounds your entire body.
After
some practice, you'll even be able to fling it from one hand to the other, as
if you were tossing a ball back and forth. Bring it into your body, and draw it inward,
shaping a ball of energy inside yourself. It's important to note that this energy is all
around us at all times. You're not
creating something new, but simply harnessing what's already there.
Make
sure these are positive energies! Keep
your mind on the idea of bringing calm, positive and happy energy into your
body from the Divine. Some people find
that it's easier to regulate their breathing if they count, or if they chant a
simple phrase, like "Ohm," as they inhale and exhale. A runic or personal mantra would also work if
it helps to focus. Other people will also
raise their arms to the sky and envision energy coming down into them.
Generally
to end this process, one might envision their channels returning into their
body. This is important to do, or you
may lose energy and this can leave you light-headed or even cause a drain if
you aren't careful. Try to do this
closing without disconnecting from the Goddess or Earth - it can bring reassurance
to be able to feel this presence throughout your day.
Each
time you center, you'll repeat this process. Begin by regulating your breathing. Then focus on your energy. Eventually, you should be able to control it
completely. The center core of your energy can be wherever it feels
most natural for you - for most people, it's ideal to keep their energy
centered around the solar plexus, although others find the heart chakra to be
the place where they can focus on it best.
It
is a good idea to do this before bed and when you wake up. Grounding and centering is also useful before
prayer, introspection, meditation, visualization, healing work, energy work,
ritual, or any other spiritual or emotional experience in addition to serving
as an aid to connect with deity in everyday life, when we feel lost, rushed,
scattered or unfocused. Regular practice
will help improve your general mood and attitude towards life.
Keep
in mind, it may take some practice to get the feel of this; it can be difficult
for some to recognize or gain a feel for energy, but try not to be discouraged
by this - it takes practice to learn skills. It may be hardest for people who have not
practiced meditation before, who are depressed, or have little or weak connection
to nature, but that's okay, because the point of this practice is to fix that!
Another
note, make sure to thank the Goddess! This
can be as simple as thinking kind thoughts toward her and saying 'Blessed Be'. After you've been doing this for a while, it
will become second nature. You'll be
able to center anywhere, anytime... sitting on a crowded bus or stuck in a
boring meeting. By learning to center,
you'll develop a foundation for energy work in a number of different magical
traditions.
"Centering
is a process of finding out who and where you are. It involves increasing your
holistic perception—that you are a whole person, not just a collection of
parts. Where grounding is a connecting experience, centering is often a soothing one. To center is to locate that part of
ourselves where we perceive our true and whole self to reside, the center of
our spirit, and to function from and with that center. Life is often reactive;
to be centered is to behave based on free will at all times, not in response to
stimuli." ~ Deborah Lipp
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