Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Pagan
Seekers and Guides: Changing Consciousness According to Will

Seekers and Guides: Changing Consciousness According to Will

Last updated on: January 7, 2015 at 6:47 pm by Sable Aradia

Seekers and Guides: Changing Consciousness According to Will 2015-01-07T18:47:25+00:00 Sable Aradia

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

“Magic is the art of changing consciousness according to Will.”

– Dion Fortune

As Witches, we tend to learn a lot of valuable skills about changing consciousness in the study of the Craft. But we often have a very nebulous idea of “consciousness” and “Will.” We find it easy enough to embrace the concept of using smudging to focus on a ritual, using the flames of a candle to concentrate on scrying and inducing a vision, or using a guided meditation to direct the group Will. Many of us even understand the differing levels of consciousness (gamma, beta, alpha, theta and delta) and what sorts of magickal works can be done at those levels. But most of us don’t consider the broader implications. Can we apply these valuable tools to everyday life?

Grounding

I am sure that you have come to ritual with the weight of the world still on your shoulders. Maybe traffic was backed up on the freeway. Maybe your boss grilled you at work. Maybe your teenager was just doing something strangle-worthy right before you left the house. Whatever the case may be, you were rattled when you showed up for the Esbat. So your coven did a smudge and a grounding meditation before you entered into ritual space, and you were able to shed that stress and leave it behind you so that you were able to get on with the magickal work.

It’s amazing how we never seem to correlate this kind of activity with dealing with the everyday world. I know a lot of Pagans of various stripes who practice this kind of meditative exercise in a ritual space; but then never think to apply it to real life! Perhaps a grounding meditation is a good idea in the car once you’ve left work before you start driving on the freeway.

It’s also incredibly helpful in emergencies. You never know when you might suddenly be in a crisis situation. When my husband was suddenly in a life-threatening car accident, we were both at work, and he drove taxi while I was dispatching. When I realized that he wasn’t answering me because he was smashed up on the side of the road, I felt panic threatening to overtake me. I grounded, centered, and I took the tiny pentacle and beeswax tea light that I always carried out of my purse; scattered a packet of salt around me; and said a prayer. Then I sat down, phoned my boss to tell her that I needed someone to cover so I could go to the hospital, and went right on answering the phone and dispatching the taxis until my relief arrived. Inside I was screaming in terror; but I was able to go right on and do what had to be done. Some of that weird stuff we do like meditating in snowstorms and firewalking and things like that – these taught me how to keep my head in the biggest crisis of my life.

Even saying that people do this (and I have, and I’m sure I’m not alone) has anyone considered doing this when engaged in an argument with their spouse? Have you ever said, “I need a minute, honey,” and gone into another room to smudge before resuming the discussion?

The time-honored trick of inducing a meditative state is just as effective at changing mood as it is focus. In my household, we’ve been applying these hard-won skills of meditation and grounding to our household discussions. The first step is becoming aware of our feelings, and the second step is making an effort to change our mind-set if it is unhelpful. This is having numerous positive effects on our communication and on household harmony.

Changing Mood

If you can change mood in one way, why not another? Witchcraft does more than just grounding exercises to change our mood. We dance, chant and make love to “raise energy” (read: improve enthusiasm and induce feelings of empowerment and positivity). Okay, so this might sound a little far-fetched, but suppose we chant to empower our day at work? (People used to do this all the time; work songs were once commonplace, the most commonly-known forms today probably being calypso music and sea shanties.) How about dancing to build up enthusiasm for an athletic event? Or maybe we could dance at a major rite of passage to empower the ritual?

Or perhaps we need to think about things more clearly. Did your mother ever suggest you have a cup of tea before engaging in a potentially stressful situation? Caffeine has a measurable effect on our consciousness, producing more focus and alertness, as well as greater feelings of positivity (beta consciousness.) Many of us start the day with coffee or a cigarette before heading into stressful situations such as driving on the freeway or dealing with our bosses, who have the power to give or take away our financial freedom according to their mood. This is often held up as a symptom of our degenerate and addicted society doing things that are bad for us, but I think it’s a symptom of our stressed society. It’s amazing how many financially stressed people smoke even though they can’t really afford it; as do people in high-stress jobs that require mental alertness, including dispatchers and air traffic controllers, professional drivers, and even health care professionals who, nominally, should know better. If you’re trying to quit smoking and you have a lot of stress in your life, perhaps you could try motivating high-energy music, singing a favorite chant, or running around the block as alternative ways to blow off steam. (I would suggest doing little dances with simple, repetitive movements, but you’re likely to get stared at if you do those in public, so that is perhaps not practical.)

Perfect Love and Perfect Trust

I am sure that sooner or later you will run into a situation in the community in which you will find yourself in conflict with another member of the community. Sometimes people just don’t get along. Now sometimes, the conflict does direct damage to the community; but sometimes, it’s just you and this other person that you don’t like. You swallow your pride, you ground and center, and you go into the opening ritual at the festival anyway. Perhaps this could be applied to your job, or the next meeting of the local Pagan Pride committee, where you have to deal with that irritating co-worker who likes to tell stories about her asthmatic cat?

As an energy healer, I find that when I am conducting a healing, I must be in synch with my client. In other words, for just a few moments, I must genuinely love the person I am healing. I don’t know if my experiences are the same as everyone else’s but I assume they can’t be too unusual; and if I am capable of doing that for just a moment on a Reiki table, can I not do it in order to appreciate the point of view of someone I’m in conflict with? I’m not saying that you should not use your discernment, nor that you should tolerate abuse, but when two people mutually respect one another but are at a genuine impasse, it can be invaluable. Empathy can be a practiced skill as opposed to a natural talent.

Walking in Someone Else’s Shoes

Speaking of which, that empathic ability can be incredibly helpful in many other situations. In business, it may help to have an appreciation of someone else’s position to make an investment or a sale. In war, it can help to anticipate the actions of your foe and find countermeasures, or know when your opponent may be more interested in surrender than fighting.

Visualization

Visualization skills can be of incredible value in helping to solve problems. If torn between two decisions, you can visualize one scenario and then another to judge your feelings. My partner visualizes subconscious emotional upset as messengers carrying dispatches from the battlefront to his office. He takes the message, reads it to learn what the source of the upset is, triages the information (perhaps it’s outdated and the issue has been dealt with; perhaps it can be put aside for a while; perhaps it must be dealt with immediately), thanks the messenger, and gives him a medal. The messenger then leaves and the subconscious disturbance stops, because his mind is content that the problem is dealt with, or soon will be.

Memorization

This is a spectacularly useful skill that is rarely taught anywhere else in our electronic age! If you can memorize correspondence tables, you can memorize addresses and phone numbers. If you can memorize epic poetry or ritual verse, you can memorize the lines to that play that you’re learning in your Acting class. If you can remember the day that the Sun enters Taurus, you can remember your spouse’s birthday! The list goes on.

Self-Hypnosis, Affirmations, and the Power of Positive Thinking

This has been mentioned many times, but it bears repeating. Olympic athletes and business executives use these techniques to improve their lives, and if they can do it, surely so can we!

The skills needed for the successful practice of Witchcraft are just as applicable in the mundane world. Indeed, if they weren’t, what purpose would they serve? If we cannot take the skills gleaned from the Otherworld back into the regular one, we have failed in the quest; just as Joseph Campbell told us.

Next column: Teaching Wiccan Values (Pagan Values Blogject Special)

Seekers and Guides is published on alternate Mondays. Follow it via RSS or e-mail!

Previous Post

June 4, 2014

Loop of Brighid: The Nine Pure Choice Graces, Part 3 - The Grace of Fortune

Next Post

June 10, 2014 The Busy Witch: Magic on the Move

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category A Lakeside Hearth Adventures in Wortcunning Alone In Her Presence Arts, Crafts & Cooking Birthing Hereditary Witchcraft Book of Blackbirds Book Reviews Born-Again Witch Cauldron, Sword, Spear, & Stone Cermony and Liturgy Columns Community Dandelion Seeds Dear Jasmine Druid Thoughts Editor's Picks Everyday Pagan Family & Household Practice Family Traditions Full Frontal Magic Gateway Goddess Guest Articles Happily Heathen Health and Wellness Hearth of Hellenism Heathen Woman Hills of the Horizon History Holidays Horse Goddesses Interfaith Interviews Irish-American Witchcraft Jewish Witch Lamp & Labyrinth Letters from Midgard Literature, Media, Film, Music Loop of Brighid Love, Sex & Relationships Magic or Magick Making Light Naturalistic Traditions Nature News Outside The Circle Pantheisticon Politics Prayers, Poems, Blessings & Stories Queer Femme Mystic Queer of Swords Recipes Ritual and Practice Science and Research Seekers and Guides Seeking the Grail Socially Responsible Magic Spear of Athena Star Made Witch Syncretic Electric Technology The Blooming Staff The Busy Witch The Cartomancer The Crow's Nest The Dance of Pagan Recovery The Hearth of Hellenism The Lady's Quill The Other Side of the Hedge The Path of She The Rantin' Raven The Witches Next Door The Zen Pagan Theology, Ethics, Philosophy Tree City Witch Urban Earthwitch Wayfaring Woman Witch on Fire Wyrd Words

Select a Month January 2026 March 2025 December 2024 June 2024 April 2024 March 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 August 2023 July 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What is a "cubit's" approximate length according to the Bible?

Select your answer to see how you score.

24 inches 18 inches 12 inches 36 inches