A Witch's Caudron - Grounding & Centering

Centering and Grounding

When performing meditation, or preparing for a ritual or rite, it's necessary for you to allow yourself a way to clear out any doubts or wandering thoughts. This is called gounding and centering because this process is approached in two separate parts. First, before beginning anything else, not surroundings, make sure you are comfortable if you are planning to meditate, and then I steady your breathing.

Centering Center yourself by slowly bringing you awareness inward. Since we spend most of our lives focusing outward it may take some practice to become comfortable with this idea. This is also the time when you have the wandering thoughts those things that just pop into your head, like what to make for dinner, the meeting you have next week, etc. The hardest part of centering is letting these thoughts come for a time, then simply putting them aside to focus on yourself and what you are about to do. It sounds easy, but think of it another way how many times have you tried to fall asleep and couldn't because these thoughts kept popping into your mind. Same thing, only your goal is to remain awake! Or at least, to relax enough for meditation, but not so far as to fall asleep.

Grounding Grounding is a two part process: first to allow any lingering negative thoughts to flow harmlessly away, and second to provide yourself a stable link while you are working. One way is to start by connecting to the Earth through your feet. See it as a cord of energy from your body that reaches down into the Earth, and a similar cord that reaches up to you from the Earth, with the two cords weaving together. Through this cord allows any energy build up to drain down into the Earth, knowing that it will be harmlessly dispersed, and feel the stability of the Earth. This is also a major point to remember when working magick: if you do not allow yourself an outlet for the excess energy you have built up, it will remain with you. This is why many Witches cast circles for magical workings, it contains energy you build up until it is released into the cosmos to do your bidding. You may also visualize that your feet (which should be flat on the floor), are slowly growing roots, deep down into the soil, and see your body as a tree. Let your 'roots' go deep, deep down into the Earth wear the tree (you), can be nourished by the water deep within it. This is also a wonderful meditation exercise (specially if you are meditating under a tree), as you can connect with the tree, and possibly recieve images from what the tree has seen in it's life time. The older the tree, the better, and it's very relaxing. This is something that is also good to do if you are experiencing a great deal of stress, and need to calm down so you can consentrate better. If you get really good at this, you can have some fascinating experiences with it.

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