Alone With The Gods

The Spring Equinox is upon us. Today is a day of balance, when equal parts day and equal parts night give way to light’s triumph over darkness.

This is a time of rebirth and awakening.

What better time to renew our commitment to ourselves as we make our way down our varied paths? And if we’ve stumbled, stopped or staggered, this new found light will show us the way and help us find sure footing.

For me, the idea of light giving way to darkness is also about what Victor Anderson referred to as knowing ourselves in all our parts. In other words, looking at ourselves both in light and shadow.

Because to be fully realized at human beings, to be complete, whole and to grow, we must embrace our fullness. That includes the often misunderstood Jungian Shadow.

This is where power resides. If we aren’t whole, we are mere fragments of who we could be. And while this is hard work, even sometimes unpleasant and painful, it is an essential part of growth in the Craft.

And what better time to begin again, than right now, as Ostara moves us forward into the beauty of spring and rebirth and endless possibility.

This is my wish for everyone.

A big part of my solitary practice deals with energy. From a Feri standpoint, we believe that energy can and must be raised for healing, the manifestation of prayers, spiritual growth and as a conduit for our connection to both our inner divinity and the gods.

But how do we do this?

Well, as little fleshy batteries, we naturally store energy. It’s part of our life force, we breath it in, drink it in, consume it and through conscious action, can raise it, direct it and even charge things with it.

Feri in particular is deeply influenced by Hawaiian mysticism. Known as Huna, Hawaiian mysticism is centered around the concept of mana, or life force. Mana is everywhere and infused in everything. We interact with in constantly in our daily lives.

Through conscious breathing, and other conscious actions, we can increase our mana for use in our spiritual practice. In fact, it is the stuff of magick.

THE ART OF PLUGGING IN

Raising energy is a simple process. There are no elaborate setups needed or special tools. All you need is time, technique and intent. Personally, I use rhythmic breathing to raise my energy levels.

Some call this technique the Four-Fold Breath, others simply conscious breathing, I call it one of the foundations of Witchcraft and Magick. Buddhists do it, so do Centering Prayer practitioners, and it’s a pillar in the writings of Occult luminary Israel Regardie (among many others).

But there’s a trick. We must also plug our mind into the equation. This is where intent comes in. While breathing it’s important to focus our thoughts on building, storing or retaining the energy we are raising. This is very important.

ALL CHARGED UP AND NOWHERE TO GO

So now what, right? Well, that’s up to you. Let it flow out of you, or direct it inward for healing purposes. Use it to cast a spell or manifest a wish. Ultimately, it’s up to you. But use it well, because you’ll find you get out of it what you put into it.

And if you sit and breathe and focus and nothing happens, keep trying. Remember, I said that the process is simple. That doesn’t mean that the work is necessarily easy. But rest assured, the time you do put in will pay off in big ways.