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antiquegardenwitchery · 2 years

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Raising Power: Raising Power in Ritual and Tying It to Your Spells

This post is part of a series of animistic, spirit-oriented spellcasting for beginners. Go to the masterpost to see them all.

This post describes a pretty specific way of working with practical witchcraft. The stuff I'm describing is not applicable to most people or their practices. I am not trying to tell all witches everywhere how they need to cast spells. I am only trying to present methodologies for people who are interested in changing or modifying their spells, or for those who just like to read about what other people's practices :)

Heyo, friends! This post is a direct extension of the one before it: Raising Power: An Intro Into Powering Your Spells

That prior post was mostly "why does raising power for spells matter?" and "here's like three ideas to start researching more." And this post is going to be, "so you've sat down to cast a spell: how exactly can you charge it?"

This post has both theory and actionable steps.

And I think while all of the posts before in this series were like, "here's something we can ALL do!" this post is going to start showing how even if you're following a system like this, your spellcrafting is still inherently, necessarily customized to you :)

This is a long one, folks. My apologies in advance.

You can start gathering power for a spell the moment you conceptualize it

If you are familiar with thoughtform/servitor tech, you may be aware that one technique of creating a thoughtform is to hold its seed within your mind and slowly charge it over time with your thoughts.

So it is with spells! The very first moment you realize you could, should, or want to cast a spell on something - the instant the conceptual seed arrives in your brain - you can begin adding energy to it.

Remember this handy axiom, which will aid you greatly in your workings of magic, and which should be written down somewhere prominent if you like to write yourself notes:

Where attention goes, energy flows.

Imagine that your attention carries the weight of the entirety of your Self. Recall what that great poet said - I am large, I contain multitudes - and envision your Self behind a rippling black veil, All Of You spiraling in a glittering, incandescent dance, unfurled into galaxies, a thousand million stars per galaxy, a hundred trillion planets, and unspeakable, unexplored life - All Of You, luxuriating in the infinity of time and space, your own Universe - and your attention is the single point upon which all of you, all of you, rests.

What immense pressure your attention carries. The weight of the universe itself, balancing on the head of a pin.

When you place your attention on the concept of a spell, you fuel it.

The kind of fuel you pour fourth matters.

We choose Martian energy to add aggressive, warlike energy to a spell. We choose Lavender energy to add peace and calm to a spell. We choose doubtful, nervous, self-depreciating energy to add weak manifestation and poor results to a spell.

We choose proud, confident, secure energy to empower a spell to manifestation.

You do not need to have mastery over your own mind to cast spells. If you cannot choose what to focus on, or what kind of thoughts to have, remember: this is but one way. There are many ways. You do not need this way to be successful.

You are absolutely NOT going to ruin a spell if you casually think about it and question your ability to pull it off. There is a huge difference between fully facing a spell in your mind and saying, "I can't do this. I'm not ready; I don't even think magic is real, and even if it was, I'm not able to do it myself," and washing the dishes and some nervous energy spurts up in your mind with, "ah fuck, am I really trying to be a witch? I'm taking advice from a blogger on Tumblr, of all fucking things? Tonight's the night of the ritual, fuck me, is this really-"

Your mind is big. There is space for anxiety in one corner, and for your spell to safely nest and grow stronger in another.

And don't forget our many friends with attention disorders are successful witches, and able to achieve manifestations :)

To engage with this technique:

Try creating a "seed" of your spell. This can be a specific phrase of intent ("I receive too many commissions to accept them all"). A sigil works very well for these purposes, especially one simple enough for you to hold in your mind's eye - although of course you can carry the sigil around with you and just look at it :) Whenever you want to charge and empower your spell, focus on the seed to access it. You do not need a "spellseed" if you don't want one.

Watch yourself for feelings of empowerment, strength, confidence, success, and other "fuck yeah" emotions. When you encounter them, bring the idea of your spell to the front of your mind. Use those feelings to speak from a place of confidence: "Just as I did well with X, I'm going to do ten times as well with this spell."

Intensely fantasize or daydream about the outcome of your spell. Suppose I'm doing that commission spell. I might fantasize about opening my email and having one commission, then the next day I have five, and the day after that, ten. I focus on my feelings of excitement and do my best to make this daydream feel very very real. During the entirety of this daydream, I strive to include my spellseed in every scene, or constantly hold it within my train of thought.

Using an energy work technique, actively pull up cords or balls of energy and feed them directly into the concept of your spell. Use your intent and will to mold the incoming energy to fit the exact intent of your spell.

Give offerings to the spellseed itself; candles, incense, foods, etc. Dedicate them to the purpose of fueling and growing your spell while it still incubates within you.

Try keeping a journal about the differences in the feel and experience of your spellseed while you work on it over a period of time. You may be surprised at how different the spell feels within you after a couple weeks of working on it.

If you have the time to wait on your spell, choose a very opportune astrological timing (within reason; there's always better timing somewhere in the future) and work on powering your spell until that ideal timeframe arrives.

Ritual preparations can both clear the way for power to arrive, and raise intense amounts of power

The concept of cleansing your ritual space has been, I think, warped a little bit in modern discourse. It's usually taken to mean "there are bad energies that will hurt me or my spell unless I get rid of them," to which the very valid response often is, "no there isn't; witchcraft isn't dangerous and evil like you think it is."

In all of this, the "clearing mismatched energies out of your space makes it easier to add and maintain the energies you want" seems to have gotten a bit lost.

Opposite wavelengths cancel each other out.

(Best GIF on tumblr for "sine wave")

Quite a lot of practical magic is changing situations in a 180 degree direction. I'm not getting enough commissions and I want more; I'm not dating someone and I want to; My neighbor isn't being quiet and they need to be.

In my prior post about raising energy, I spoke about how your spell can be imagined as raising up a two-dimensional drawing into 3D space; when you run out of energy, the drawing stops being raised up, and you only get as much as you get.

Now imagine that before your power can start raising your spell off the page, first it has to erase and undo blockages. This is literally just because the wavelengths I'm trying to raise, and their opposites that are already around me, are cancelling each other out. At a certain point they're going to become neutralized, and then after that the energy I raise is actually able to be held and sustained.

Now this opposing energy might be very limited. Or, it may not really exist at all. It's not like by some eldritch force, every spellcasting space is magically imbued with the exact energies that block your intent.

But it stands to reason that if I'm surrounded by loud neighbors, I'm all jacked up on NEIGHBORS TOO LOUD vibes, and my home and space has been permeated by the sounds of the neighbors and my irritation of them - those wavelengths are going to be around my spellspace, and they're going to conflict with my "neighbors are quiet and calm" spell.

The super super simple cure is to give the space a quick cleansing ahead of time :) Instead of raising a chunk of oppositional power that has to brute-force its way through, I can raise a wee bit of cleansing power that comes in from the side and sweeps unwanted wavelengths away so that I have a nice, neutral space to immediately raise and hold the powers I want.

Not only do I now have to use less energy to raise the same amount of usable power, but depending on how I do it, the very act of setting up my ritual space can bring in a shitload of energy.

Cleansing a space can add usable energy to an area, especially if you are conjuring the powers of a plant spirit or other entity to clear the space for you.

Burning incense or bringing ritual implements that carry the vibrations of your intent works well. If I am casting a money spell, boiling chamomile tea to release the steam, or burning basil as an incense, both release their money-bringing powers into my space (bonus points if you invoke both powers ahead of time and specifically ask them to help out).

Setting up a spellcasting space to reflect feelings of power - either your personal power, or the specific energies needed for the spell - legitimately helps.

Setting up an altar space, even a temporary one, and consecrating it unto the purpose of the spell, both pushes away all conflicting energies and creates a little wellspring of supportive power.

And... yes... casting circles :3

Casting a circle carves a distinct point in time and space, marking out a four-dimensional point that will never be touched again in the history of the universe, and by this virtue disallows anything contrary to the development of your spell to be in that same space. So right there, it's an easy way to grab a bit of space to clear away unwanted energies.

But depending on how you cast the circle and what you do with it, this can actually raise the vast majority of power for your spell.

You can cast a circle by repeatedly chanting an incantation that calls the circle to be made and rise up (repeating it three, nine, or thirteen times is traditional). This can be combined with rhythmic tapping or drumming. This not only helps promote a magical mindspace, but it fills the circle with power as the circle itself is raised.

With enough space and ability, a circle may be rhythmically walked or danced around, perhaps while singing and chanting; this too fills the circle with power.

But it doesn't require all repeated chanting and moving about, especially for those of us who can't just move about on a whim.

A circle can be imbued with great power by simply... inviting powers into it. The caveat I suppose is that you need to know who you're calling, and that's something that probably should come from research.

You can invite the Watchmen of the Four Roads to open the doorway to their road, join your circle, bring their spirits of power, and bring freeflowing energy into your circle.

You can invite the pure power of the Sky and Earth.

You can conjure the pillar that joins the Celestial with the Chthonic and invite both of them in.

You can call on angels.

You can pray to your ancestors and ask them to bring their power.

You can call on the Sun, Moon, and planets.

You can invite Earth, Air, Fire, and Water (which is quite similar to the Watchmen, but different, and perhaps less intimidating).

You can invite all spirits whom smile upon you, interested in assisting you, or whom will accept a job in exchange for pay.

You can invite specific gods and spirits by name, and ask them to lend you power and guidance*.

Please don't do all of them at once :'] Choose like one to get started, feel it out, and then maybe add another one.

(*Only do this if you know about who you're calling and you're certain they're okay with being called upon by a person such as yourself, and for the kind of operation you want assistance with.)

Here's a tip for you, my friend: Raising power isn't that hard. I mean we all go through phases and some of us start ahead of the game, but it's not that hard - please do not think that in order for your "get a job" spell to work you need to call on fourteen forces and spend and hour dancing and trancing just to empower a cinnamon candle. Pretend you're doing drugs, and start with small doses to try it out. Nobody likes being way too fucking high on weed, and a heavy dose of metaphysical energy can feel FUCKING WEIRD. Also, dismissing and clearing out powers once you're done with the spell, and grounding yourself and returning to planet earth, are skills you have to practice.

Don't yeet yourself into the ocean before you've had a chance to paddle around the community swimming pool.

Once the spell has been opened and started, just about any of your actions can be modified to raise and carry power.

You don't need a spellseed or a circle. You can still just raise power during the spell and have it work out great.

In fact...

This is what I do for the majority of my casual everyday spells because I don't have time for all that other shit.

I mean all that stuff works great, but once again, raising power is kinda easy once you've gotten the hang of it, and at a certain point you realize you're wasting time and energy doing extra, unnecessary stuff. You don't need to clean and assemble your shotgun if spitting at the target will make it go away, you know?

So yeah, if you're wanting to troubleshoot and fuck around and explore your own path and power, why not give calling powers and seeding your spells a try? It's a great way to learn.

But when it gets down to it, I dig the "just do what works and nothing more" approach.

This is where we get to the "visualize" and "statements of intent" stuff we commonly see in many spells.

You can replace the "statements of intent" with any concept that creates and reinforce the scope and purpose of your spell, as if you are creating an empty vessel on the astral.

You can replace "visualize" with any actions which move power into your spell, as if you are filling up the astral vessel.

There is a great deal of overlap in these two categories. Things that could fulfill either or both categories include:

Willpower

Focus

Belief or Faith

Mental force

Guidance

Direction

Instruction

Restating your goal

Saying or chanting charms and incantations

Reinforcing desired outcome(s)

Symbolic gestures

Petitioning spirits

Stating/commanding/affirming how energies are moving

Affirmations

Which of these things you like to use (or of course, any other things that accomplish your desired goal) is very personal and each of us will have our own preferred methods.

Let's imagine a common sort of spell we might see online. I'm making it up as we go:

Safe Sleep Sachet: Put rosemary and lavender into a white or purple sachet. Light a candle and repeat this over the sachet: "Father Herb and Mother Flower cradle me to sleep. By Witching Ways I have good dreams, and peaceful rest is mine to keep." When you are ready, seal the spell by saying "so mote it be." The spell is complete!

Where in this operation might we raise and add power?

Spend time and energy empowering each herb before it goes into the sachet.

Petition the plant spirit to aid you,

pray to a deity to make the herb powerful,

visualize that the herb glows with great power,

do energy work to open up the pathways of power inherent in the plant,

repeat your spell intent over each herb with great willpower and focus that your will be done,

etc.

Inasmuch as your physical components for the spell constitute a spell vessel, every time you modify your spell vessel (adding herbs, for example), pause and spend time and energy working over the vessel itself.

Engage in feeling, knowing, believing, instructing, commanding, or petitioning (etc.) that your spell vessel is growing and transforming with each component you add.

Visualize your spell vessel radiating with power.

Repeat your incantation, charm, or statement of intent over the spell vessel

Invoke the power of gods and spirits: "by Hekate's will this spell grows stronger." Etc.

Spend time and energy empowering the candle (or incense, etc). Candles can do a lot of things in spellwork, but for our purposes, we might petition, command, visualize, or pray (etc.) that the candle does something useful and good. Examples include:

Dedicating the candle to a spirit or god who we know will help our spell, then specifically asking them to arrive and aid us.

Consecrate the candle as a beacon for a certain type of energy (maybe Lunar energy for a sleep spell) so the candle draws free-flowing energy into your spellspace.

Dedicate the candle to the sachet itself, as if the candle is literally an offering to power the spell.

Maybe I specially charged this candle under the full moon, so it's already brimming with energies, and I just need to use words, symbolic actions, or energy work to tie the candle's power to the sachet.

Spend time and energy with the charm or incantation itself and extend that portion out.

Repeat any spoken charm or chant multiple times (three, nine, and thirteen are popular choices).

Combine speaking the incantation with intense willpower and focus

Combine speaking the incantation with visualization that the spell's "edges" become hard and defined like a diamond, or perhaps that the spell itself radiates with intense power, or that the spirits are all coming together to help you, etc.

Combine the incantation with gestures or other symbolic acts (such as swirling a finger around clockwise).

Pause before the sealing ("so mote it be") and feel the spell out to your satisfaction.

I generally believe that when a spell is sealed ("as my word, it is done," "the spell is complete," symbolic acts such as ringing a bell, and various hand gestures are examples of how a spell is sealed), the final form and structure of the spell will be a snapshot of that exact moment.

So before I seal spells I like to spend time feeling out the concept of the spell as it's developed in my mind. I like to get my astral feelers all over it. But mostly, I check with myself: do I like how the spell is going? Is it right? What does my gut tell me?

Generally, I make one final push of willpower to hold the entire crystallized concept of the spell in my mind to absolute perfection, and seal the spell in that exact moment.

In just a moment we'll dig a little bit more into how visualization adds power. But first:

You know how in each of those examples I said "spend time and energy?"

Even if you are contracting with spirits or using external powers to be the fuel for your spell, it still takes your personal time and energy to direct, manage, and/or program these powers.

It literally takes up your energy! And we don't all have an infinite amount of time!

What this means on a practical level is that most of us are not going to be able to methodically cram power into every single nook and cranny of our spell.

The good news is that you do not need to!

If you are currently not taking any specific steps to raise energy in your spellwork and put it into your vessel, I want to challenge you to just try one method to start. Pick a single method (like, dedicating the candle, or petitioning the plant spirit) and try only that. See how it works out for you in terms of manifestation, but definitely see how it works out for you in terms of how you feel after the spell is cast and in the next couple of days.

My goal here is to only try and present a variety of ways raising energy can happen, I am absolutely not recommending - in fact I am advising you not to - using every single one of these things at the same time.

What about all that energy we raised up into our spellspace?

In this earlier post, I described intent as a sand mold into which molten metals are poured.

Earlier in this post I implied that a statement of intent "creates and reinforce the scope and purpose of your spell, as if you are creating an empty vessel on the astral."

If your spellspace (within a circle, around an altar, your kitchen counter, etc) is flooded with energies, we can conceptualize that pool of energy as being like a lake with a sandy shore. That energy is there, we've brought in all that water (or taken ourselves to a water-rich location). But how is the energy going to power our spell?

Stating and affirming your intent, or visualizing what you want to occur, is like digging a hole next to the lake. The size and shape of the hole are determined by what you want the spell to accomplish.

Using your willpower, chants, petitions, and energy work, is like carving a little channel from your empty hole to the lake, so that water rushes through and fills it up to the brim.

Everyone's mileage will vary on this, but it is my experience that when I try to send a ton of energy into a spell, and the external energy I raised runs out, my own personal energy will be used to fuel the spell.

The external energies you raise are ideally the exact ones you want within your spell to power it. So by virtue of them being there, and by virtue of you creating a vacuum by stating an intent not yet filled with power, the power rushes into it.

This is why stopping to affirm the use of every spell component adds more and more power: we're stopping to dig more little holes, and more water flows in.

By both creating an empty vessel with intent, and using our willpower to fill up every inch of the vessel until it practically overflows, incredibly powerful spells are crafted.

Once again, however, you probably don't need an incredibly powerful spell. If you're stressed and frustrated because your prior spells haven't manifested, and you have realized it's because you weren't raising or adding energy into them... take it slow. You may be amazed at how little power you actually need to work with in order to get some results. Far better to start small and slowly increase until you find what works, then to go horribly overboard and slowly reduce it to manageable levels.

(The "spellseed" concept at the beginning of this post is like carrying buckets of water to your hole and filling it up slowly over time, so you've got a head start when you actually sit down to cast it).

So you raised too much energy.

No worries my friend, we've all done it. One second you're having fun vibing to your music and imagining spikes of power shooting up from the ground like you're in your own music visualizer, and the next moment you feel like you're a deep sea fish whose at risk of depressurizing and you can't get your eyes to focus on anything, also where did your thoughts go? Is this real life, are you awake?

And quite frankly it's an unenjoyable experience.

You have surely heard the adage, "do not call up what you cannot put down." This is often used to refer to spirits, but it also applies to energy.

Just like bodybuilders who risk injury if they do not strengthen antagonistic muscles, you are going to risk having a terrible time if you only practice raising up energy without practicing grounding it out and sending it away. Actual, literal side-effects of being unable to ground energy out include headaches, nausea, vertigo, physical pain, insomnia, and shakes/trembling.

And sometimes, these symptoms can last for days!

Energy workers have many excellent techniques for grounding and centering. Do not just learn techniques to ground out energy inside yourself. Also learn techniques to clear excess energy from a space. Commonly, people will capture this extra energy and store it inside a crystal for later use. But you can also sweep it out (quite literally, with a broom), use words to command it away, use energy work, etc.

Very often, if you call gods or spirits into your spellcasting space, you'll want to ask them to take excess energies back with them. You can also go to a tree or other force of nature and ask it to take excess energies from you.

A quick note on energy theft

Energy should be raised from those forces who give it freely, and have excess to spare. When you channel energy directly from living beings (like trees) or from limited geographical areas (like a pond), you risk actually harming them. Chronically draining energy from someone or something is a powerful curse that can leave it unable to take care of itself. We give offerings to gods and powerful spirits as a sign of respect and reciprocity. On the other hand, offerings to local spirits can literally be repaying them for energy we unfairly took away.

The most powerful and enduring forces in western occultism are those that cannot run out of energy (the elements, the planets, very powerful spirits, etc.). Before you channel energy, I respectfully ask that you consider whether or not you are causing actual environmental harm by taking more than you give back.

For this reason, one good way to get rid of excess energy is to offer it back to the land itself :)

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