Chapter Two

Deepening the Witch Power

I have heard there are troubles of more than one kind.
Some come from ahead and some come from behind.
But I’ve bought a big bat. I’m all ready you see.
Now my troubles are going to have troubles with me!

Dr. Seuss, I Had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew

You are the ultimate piece of machinery in your arsenal as a witch. You don’t need any ritual objects or other magical tools to master your craft; you merely need your own natural talents and a little discipline, and the world is at your fingertips. The truth is, your witch power came fully equipped with all the essential hardware; all you need to do is learn how to use it and apply its lessons in the right ways.

Regardless of the egregores you tap into, the spirits you summon, or the type of witchcraft that you practice, your witch power has already made you equipped to handle any mystery that might come your way. This is especially true for those we will face along the lonely road that require us to be at the top of our game energetically.

Our mysteries are those of life and death, of renewal and decay, of manifestation and destruction. As we explore we learn to balance ourselves between the worlds like a daredevil on a tightrope. As our ability to find and bring balance grows, so too does our ability to touch the unreachable depths of our very being. Before we can dive into the depths or perform the workings that can take us over the hedges we seek to jump, we must first be sure that we master a few essential aspects to life with the witch power.

The Essential Practices of an Advanced Witch

Before any witch can take their craft to the next level, there must be specific mysteries that no longer remain in the shadows to them and individual practices that they must always strive to master. If you can’t get formal training, these often stay out of the realm of perception, leaving you without vital information that can help you master your craft.

Self-Possession

Being sensitive is a beautiful thing, but not if you are so sensitive that you have no control over your energy and the effect it has on the environment and on other people. The more profound mysteries of the craft will reveal a need for personal discipline and focus, which starts with being aware of what your weaknesses are, especially those related to your witch power. Becoming inundated with psychic vibrations to the point of meltdown doesn’t make you an excellent psychic; it makes you a weak one. Powerful, strong psychics understand how to shield themselves, ground their energy, and elicit supplemental help when needed, such as what can be gained by working with spirit allies and stones, all of which has been addressed in previous books in this series.

If you know you are sensitive, then you need to prepare for that sensitivity and stay clear of situations where you might lose control. How do you prepare? By figuring out what your triggers are and either avoiding them all together or doing magic or energy work to protect yourself against them. Align your souls, ground your energy often, and work with a crystal ally to help supplement your energy body so that it has an easier time dealing with energies you find aggressive.

If you are someone who works with clients or ritual groups where you might interact with people who have little to no control, you have to be prepared to respond to this. In a one-on-one setting, I like to invite my spirit guides and familiar to join us and help prevent unnecessary spiritual stress. I keep my auric field dense, sometimes even forming it into the shape of an impenetrable diamond or a thick wall of iron. The violet flame auric shield we practiced in the previous chapter makes for an excellent personal shield when working in these situations. To that end, I also like to keep iron handy, as it can help to ground and center etheric energy. Having a piece to offer those experiencing overload in ritual has made all the difference in the past.

For those who struggle with staying anchored once they have grounded, there is a trick I developed to help myself many years ago involving a small fetish.

The Grounding Fetish

Make a fetish of yourself by combining moist earth from your land or neighborhood and toenail clippings from both feet until they make a firm ball. Take a piece of root from any plant ally that you work with for psychic awareness and then pack the clay mixture around the root; when complete it should be about fist size. Wrap this with brown fabric, dress with items that you feel represent you, and keep on your altar. Replace every six months or as needed.

This will ground, as well as bind, your etheric body to that environment, so be sure to disassemble it if you move or you run the risk of being tied to the location where the soil came from. This fetish can also be made to help you stay in your body when you are sleeping for those who travel too easily at night.

Being self-possessed means that you are in control of your actions, and anything that might hinder that should be avoided. We cannot allow foreign agents (be they spiritual or chemical) to have control over our actions or alter our free will. We must fully inhabit our minds, bodies, and spirits as active participants and living agents, and that means we must be willing to devote ourselves wholly to their partnership and maintenance.

The best way I have found to do this is through radical self-love and respect. Loving yourself enough to set boundaries when they are needed, creating paths to power when you feel weakness, and investing in a healthy lifestyle make all the difference when cultivating self-possession. For this to work, we need to be able to create discipline and devote ourselves entirely to it.

Self-possession is gained through an intense understanding of your strengths and weaknesses, working through or avoiding triggers that disempower you, establishing control over the energy body and spiritual gifts, having lots of patience and self-respect, and, most importantly, discipline.

Perceive and Discern Energy

Though not always easy for everyone, the practices of perception are vital for successful growth as a magician. Psychic perception not only allows you to tap into them but also to sense when dangerous or malicious energies might be afoot. You cannot safely lead a ritual without this ability, and you cannot safely live without it as a witch who walks between the worlds. Of equal importance, being sensitive in this way is the first step before we channel energy, and we cannot channel energy if we can’t sense it.

Sensible energy comes in all shapes and sizes; it could come from a spirit, an object, another person, or a location, and knowing the difference is vital! To develop this set of skills, I like to play games with my psychic abilities, which at the very least keeps me interested. I go to different places like the zoo or the beach, and I connect with the energies within the space. Once I have a decent survey of the environment, I then break down the components of the environment and approach each one separately. As psychics, we are like connoisseurs of wine; we take a sip of the psychic vibrations and then must do our best to explore the bouquet of flavors that are present. Approach your psychic senses like a fine wine, and the more exposure you have to the different characteristics and flavors of psychic energy, the more refined your palate will become.

Discernment is key for us. We can sense energy, but can we tell if that energy is coming from a spirit or the crystal sitting next to you? This is a skill that develops over time, like all the rest of them, because it is an intuitive skill, one that can only be gained through experience. I keep a journal with me so that when I encounter new energy that feels unrecognizable to me, I can profile it later. I also keep a record of how I meet spirits and where I feel energy pooling in locations. By taking the time to map out and record our psychic experiences, we are essentially allowing ourselves to construct a user manual, complete with references and all!

Scanning the Environment

You can scan your environment at any time by merely extending your awareness outward in all directions and actively feeling it out with your mind. I do this by closing my eyes and focusing on the way my skin feels, then the way my skin feels against my clothes, then the way my clothes feel against the air, and then how the air feels against the walls. I then prompt myself with a series of questions and meditate on the answer like one might meditate on a math problem.

• Is there anything unusual about my environment?
• Is there energy present here that usually isn’t?
• What spirits or spiritual energies are currently around me? If any, who are they? Are they familiar or foreign to me?
• Do I feel safe?
• Do I feel in control?

If your souls are aligned, you can send pulses of your white flame (the energy that forms within you as a result of soul alignment) outward in all directions and use it like sonar to determine what energies are there. This method works well especially for those moments when we aren’t feeling the most connected spiritually. Simply send out tiny bursts and follow the flow of energy throughout the space; if energy bounces back to you, then zero in on that location and repeat the process. Each time allow your senses to fill in the blanks and create a picture of what is there with you at the moment.

During this exercise be aware of all of your senses and how they are responding. Perhaps you smell something. Maybe you taste something while you are doing this. It’s possible to physically feel a sensation during this process. We each work a little differently, and we all respond uniquely to different types of energy. This is most displayed in our five senses.

In this series we have discussed many different types of energy and how to sense them. We have discussed the energies of the self and the planets, of our spiritual allies and the planes of being they come from; we talked about mediumship and other forms of psychic sensitivity, and so on. But there are still other forms of energy that have yet to make it fully into our work together, energies that exist further still, even beyond the reaches of our subtle awareness. As we move throughout these pages, keep in mind that one of our primary goals will be to sense and savor as many different types of energy as possible.

Channeling Energy

Once we can sense energy, we can channel that energy. Channeling essentially is the ability to act as a faucet for energy pouring through your etheric body via a secondary source. In some instances channeling can be considered a form of light possession. When we channel spirits, we become their mouthpiece; when we channel energy, such as when we draw down the moon or call upon the power of our ancestry, we become the conduit through which those powers coalesce in the physical world. When all three souls are aligned, it is believed that you are channeling the power of your divine will. We can channel just about any sort of power or frequency as long as we can tune into it.

Not every witch must know how to be a channeling intermediary for the spirit world, but we all need to know how to tune into energy and draw it into this world. This is how we charge objects like candles and stones, how we imprint our will upon our environment, and how we send energy through our hands when we perform healing magic. You can’t get too far as a witch without the ability to make energy move from one place to the next.

The following exercises will introduce you to the theory behind channeling. Some of us do this naturally, others pick the skill up as they advance, but what is most important is that we observe the techniques and the theory behind them.

Part One: Tuning In and Projecting Energy

To tune in to a signal, you merely need to perceive that signal. Simply extend your consciousness so that it makes contact with whatever energy you want to draw from. You may need the help of sensory aids and tools to do this, and this is ultimately why we have magical tools: something always tuned in to these forces so you don’t have to be. Tuning in is more natural than a lot of people think it is. For example, let’s say we were going to channel the energy of joy. We would remember a moment when we were really happy and clear-minded and then use that memory and the feelings attached to that moment to hone in on the frequency of the memory. As we tune in to that frequency, I like to envision that it is coalescing into a sphere over my moon hand; this just helps me determine how well I am receiving the signal. With a few exceptions, we humans each have a dominant or projective (sun) hand and a passive or receptive (moon) hand. If you are right handed, your sun hand is on the right and moon hand is on your left; if you are left-handed, the sun is on your left and the moon is on your right. If you are one of those super cool, naturally ambidextrous people, you just get to pick a team!

The clearer the signal I am tuning in to gets, the clearer the sphere becomes. Once I feel that I have a good connection and that the sphere of energy in my hand is as resistance-free as possible, I draw from that energy to initiate the active channeling process by moving my focus beyond the sphere and into the signal transmitting through that sphere.

To do this expeditiously, you must think of yourself as a multi-dimensional wormhole. I know it sounds a little fantastical, but you are likely tuning in to an energy source that exists somewhere else, possibly even outside of space and time, and to get it here you have to be able to be in two places at once. Allow the palm of your moon hand to relax and open up, revealing the first side of this wormhole, and then allow the palm of your sun hand to do the same, revealing the second half. Whatever enters one will exit out the other, but because your natural energy flows in one direction, there are natural currents of power inside this wormhole that create their own gravity. Whatever energy comes near the moon hand will be instantly sucked into a wormhole and shot out through the sun hand with force.

Visualize that your moon hand is like a grounding rod and antenna where the energies of this frequency gather. As they gather they are instantly collected by your moon hand, and as they travel the current of your own power they make their exit from their origin and traverse the worlds to make their way into our own. As it exits your sun hand, it will take the shape of whatever it is filtered into and enrich it with its essence. Try this again with different emotions and document the changes you sense internally as you experiment.

Part Two: Tuning In and Projecting Energy

Using the same principles as the first part, this time work with the polar channels of energy within your body. Allow the energy to enter through your crown and to exit either through your hands, using them both as sources of projection, or run through you and exit via your root. This method works best if you envision a waterfall of the energy above you. As the water spills, it enters through your crown and travels to your third eye, where it splits into two rivers. One river of energy flows through each arm and then is distributed through the hands, taking the form of whatever it is channeled into and imbuing it with its essence.

To end the session, close the moon hand, breaking the channel, and visualize the connected energy source fading. Take three deep breaths, disconnecting from all currents of power and grounding all remaining energy.

Z Energy and the Nine Flames

Z energy, that perfect frequency that comprises all of space, time, matter, and energy, is the source of all things. Its consciousness is the Star Goddess, its power is omnipresent, and its range is infinite. Z energy is what contains the whole, and if we were to distill it into a single wavelength, it would go on forever. Our known universe is but a piece of this energy. It is the greatest mystery and the most profound secret. It is life and death and the cycles of being, it is light and darkness and matter, it is all that has come to pass and all that will be. Its opposite is what we call the void. The void is emptiness and nothingness; it is a place, a realm, another universe even, where all that we know or ever will know never existed. We see Z energy as a frequency that extends and travels through the void, the void being more substantial and massive than Z energy.

The problem, however, is that we cannot channel all of Z energy, so we need to be able to divide it up into various recognizable bands of psychic frequency. In doing so, we can better access the parts of Z energy that we need and channel only those specific frequencies. Some witches use the popular system of light rays from Theosophy, others delineate by working with the planes of being, but most witches I know are experienced in channeling energy from a direct source, like that of a crystal or deity. We can, however, channel a lot more than just that!

The concept of energy is something that we will discuss a lot in this book because it takes on many forms and many shapes, and each one of them is accessible for us to work with, at least sympathetically. It is an easy thing to say “energy” and not have much depth to our intention; this is something that I am guilty of in my own speech. When channeling energy, it doesn’t seem to be enough for us to merely mentally focus; somehow we need to engage more than just the mind, but also the body (primal self) and the soul (the higher self). We find that when we have moments of spontaneous channeling, it is usually done so via an emotional or physical response. Think of when you get angry and strange things happen (a common occurrence reported by witches). This can happen spiritually as well through means of the higher self, such as when someone is possessed by a deity. The access points and type of energy may change, but usually all three aspects of the soul are expressing the energy being channeled.

As you can see, energy is something we are working with constantly. Unless you are trained in a tradition where you are taught to work with a specific type of energy, such as those seen in Peruvian shamanism, Reiki, and a small handful of witchcraft traditions, the specifics can be difficult to navigate beyond the essential elements. The way that I like to channel is to engage all three soul components by working with a series of psychic frequencies that have triggers rooted in our daily experiences. I refer to them as the nine flames, and they can be channeled by visualizing a liquid flame of a particular color and tapping into a unique set of imagery and emotional/psychic nuances to bring that energy forward into our working.

The White Flame

The white flame is perfect love and perfect trust in the flow of universal power and complete surrender to self-governance and authority. It is the flame most associated with the higher self. We call this flame the “holy flame.” We tap into this frequency during souls alignment.

The Violet Flame

The violet flame is a bit tricky. This flame is connected to the spiritual experience and spiritual forces that make up creation. It is a flame of order and memory and is related to the higher self, psychic abilities, and past/parallel/future life data. We tap into this flame every time we feel “called” or divinely inspired to do something.

The Indigo Flame

The indigo flame is used to both keep us safe in the spirit worlds as well as to give us passage through them and is often worked with in spirit conjuration, mediumship, and soul flight. Intimately connected to the dead, it is a flame of extrasensory perception, spiritual protection, and travel. We tap into it when we visit a cemetery.

The Blue Flame

The blue flame is psychic projection, wisdom, willpower, and creativity. It is the flame of consciousness and the limitless possibilities of the mind. It is connected to reason and illusion, knowledge and mystery, science and religion. We tap into it when we say “So mote it be” at the end of our work.

The Green Flame

The green flame is the force behind the grass that grows between the cracks of pavement, the forest that reclaims a forgotten homestead, and the medicinal properties found in plants. It is a flame of growth, abundance, sustenance, intoxication, and the feral, and it is felt in the cycles of life, the tides of war, and the changing of seasons. We tap into it when we work with the plant kingdom.

The Yellow Flame

A flame of wisdom through experience, the yellow flame is the power present in every moment of graduation and evolution and is felt as pride, joy, and success. It is the active force behind all acts of clarity, commitment, and the ego soul. We tap into it when we see through lies and find the truth or when we are feeling righteous.

The Orange Flame

We think of the orange flame as the flame of the physical realm because most fires that occur naturally here burn with an orange hue. It is a flame of focus and intensification, and it is the active force behind metamorphic change. It is through the orange flame that we learn to take the old and make it new again, to burn away all that does not serve us, and to restore what is tired. We tap into this flame when we work with elemental fire.

The Red Flame

The red flame is primordial power, ancestry, and life force. This is the power and animating force of the primal soul, the flame of bestial life. It is instinct and compulsion, the strength within you that rises each day, eagerness, passion, sexual desire, hunger, regeneration, and feeling. We tap into this frequency when we connect physically with another person during sex.

The Black Flame

The black flame also contains every flame but the white flame. This flame is chaotic to the untrained and unfocused. Its force is that of decay, destruction, and the rejuvenation that ultimately comes from that. Think of it as a black hole: things get sucked in but are spit out as something else. We tap into this frequency when we undergo initiation.

Now, go ahead and think about each of those flames and the emotions or mental connections that come up when you do. Use those sparks to light the flame by homing in on them and sensing the energy behind the moment. Try the tuning in and projecting energy exercises from earlier in this chapter with these flames and see if one in particular calls to you. You might want to look at magic and spiritual practices that are thematically related to them as potential sources for gnosis. Throughout this book when we talk about channeling or sensing energy, I will often refer to one of these colored flames. Feel free to mark this section for easy reference later.

Raising Energy

Sensing and channeling energy is one thing, but raising energy is something different altogether. Without the ability to raise energy, our spells and other workings fall flat. One of my favorite ways to raise energy, besides practicing breath work techniques or dance, is to tread the mill.

Treading the Mill and Crossing the Hedge

From what I understand, the term “treading the mill” was coined by Robert Cochrane in the Cochrane Letters. It is a practice in raising power, not unlike how Wiccans cast a circle. In truth, this is one of those parts of my traditional Wiccan education that stuck with me far after training; however, its application is slightly different from how I use it today. Treading the mill is a lot like turning a crank. It is a way of building up energy and then using that energy to move between the worlds or to bring focus to all the worlds, a practice also known as “crossing the hedge” or “hedge crossing.”

“Crossing the hedge” is a term we use to describe the act of slipping from our world to the others through a state of trance or ecstasy. Aligning your souls, performing ecstatic dance and breath, and working with hallucinogenic herbs and mushrooms are each examples of different types of hedge crossing. Generally speaking, treading the mill is used as a way to cross the hedge as well as to raise energy for magical purposes.

The energy from treading the mill can be channeled and poured into spell and ritual work or employed to raise large amounts of energy for protection. Traditionally, this is done with a coven or a group of practitioners, but contrary to popular belief you can most certainly perform it on your own.

Simple and precise, this working merely requires an article of fascination and room enough to walk around it in a complete circle. In some traditions the article of fascination is a stang, others an altar, and in my tradition we have used any number of items such as bones, lamps, candles, plants, and even crystals. Depending on your intention, once enough energy has been raised, the vibration of whatever you place in the center will become entirely mutable. Because of this, the sky is the limit with how you might go about using the energy therein. You can place a spell candle in the center and then use this method to charge and imprint your will upon it before lighting. You can program a stone so that it is attuned to a spirit and then summon that spirit using this method. You can put the bones of an animal in the center and use this method to conjure its totemic presence. You can do this around a ritual fire to initiate ecstatic union with the numinous.

Part One: Treading the Mill

Place the object in the center of the space. Stand at least three feet away from it so that your right shoulder is facing inward toward the object. Align your souls and ignite your holy fire. Then, with your palms facing the ground, turn your head to the right to gaze upon the object. Remember that your holy fire is unlimited energy, one that is the product of divine connection and a powerful tool to use for almost any purpose.

Look at the object with your power and see the power within it. Allow your holy fire to pour from your hands like liquid and then begin walking in a circle around the object. To use the metaphor of a wheel, the idea here is that the object of fascination is the central hub, you are the outer rim, and your gaze is a spoke that connects the two. Stand up straight, with your shoulders square and your head as high as the gaze will allow. Feel the power of your holy fire and the connection between yourself and the point of fascination and then begin to move forward with a metered step.

Some witches gallop, some squat and stomp, others simply walk; however you move around the circle, your steps must have a rhythm of some kind, even if it is a simple steady beat. As you move, do so with command and with purpose, and allow the liquid white fire to fall from your palms and hit the ground beneath you.

As it touches the ground, envision it spreading out like a forest fire, slowly filling the surrounding area. Know that all energy it produces only feeds this magical act, so as the fire spreads so too does the effectiveness of the working. As you circle the object, do your best not to speed up or slow down but to remain constant and steady.

Chant:

White flame falling, red flame rising, black flame always near.

Power stirring, lines are blurring, power gather here!

Continue to move in a clockwise motion, chanting, until you begin to feel the energy in the space around you change. It might grow thicker, it might become thinner, or perhaps it cools down or even heats up; notice the way this shift happens for you. That shift is coalescing energy and is the very thing we are farming. Continue to move and focus your gaze on the article of fascination, and with each cycle feel the energy grow more intense. Once you feel that the energy within the space has reached its peak, cease channeling the white flame. Instead, now as you move, you will be collecting the energy and using your gaze to transmit it directly into the article of fascination. I do this in three revolutions and while doing so recite any incantations necessary to charge the object.

Part Two: Variations on Treading the Mill

You might have figured out that this exercise is perfect for circle casting, and indeed it is. You will hear me mention throughout the book that I do not like casting a circle for most of my magical work. That being said, when I do cast a circle, it is either using the mill method, which we refer to as “laying the compass” (see chapter 6), or the slightly more ceremonial method that implores the Grigori (see chapter 10). I am purposefully putting those in different sections of this book.

Alternatively, this method is often employed to cross the hedge between the realms and walk between the worlds. Place your stang or altar at the center, and as you pour the white flame onto the ground, do so for only one revolution as if laying a path. Continue to follow this path of white flame for some time, knowing that it has no end and no beginning. It is common for some degree of chanting to go on, which aligns your path to its final destination. Some traditions chant the name of familial spirits or beastly allies for this, while others recite secret prayers. The goal is to lose yourself in the procession, to become one with the cyclical motion, and to transcend the physical plane.

Part Three: Treading the Mill in Groups

Working in groups to this end is sometimes a more powerful method. Though I have had success independently, I have felt palpable shifts while imploring these methods in groups. All members stand with their right shoulder to the center and then link hands; placing their right hand before them and their left behind. The circular procession is then commenced and energy raised. Another variation has all members moving only after placing their hands on the shoulders of those in front of them to build the desired energy.

Don’t Rely on Whimsy

I will admit, this is likely my greatest flaw as a witch. I go with the flow a little too much and don’t always plan ahead; even when I do, I tend to deviate from the plan. I also have a hard time finding discipline in the day-to-day aspects of life with the witch power. As we will discuss a bit later in this book, the ability to have and maintain discipline is of major importance once traveling the deeper planes. I tend to do the initial work to get me to where I need or want to go, and then once I am there I stop investing. Unfortunately, I know I am not alone in this! The good news is, neither are you.

What does it mean to be a disciplined witch? That is a question that will have a different answer depending on who you ask and depending on what you want your witchcraft to become. What is for certain is that however you define it, discipline always comes back to diligent practice and study.

We have to struggle through our lack of discipline to truly know what we are capable of. If I can do it with my monkey brain, I know you can do it.

Prioritizing What Matters

It all starts by auditing your relationship to the craft and your current practice. Take out your journal and follow along. Ask yourself if you are happy with where you are at, what you would like to see yourself become more proficient at, and what you think you need in order to make that happen.

The next three questions are important. Do you feel fulfilled by your craft? Do you feel challenged by your craft? Do you feel your witchcraft is helping to improve your life? If you aren’t feeling fulfilled by your craft, then you know you are in need of change. If you aren’t feeling challenged by your craft, then that means you have stopped growing. Lastly, knowing that your spiritual efforts, beliefs, and practices are helping you and your situation is critical to feeling invested in the long term. Fulfillment and growth are both essential for our overall health as spiritual beings, but so is feeling like all of this is helping you live the best life possible.

Next, I want you to ask yourself where you want to go with your witchcraft and what you could be using witchcraft to change in your life right now. During our first meeting, I always ask my students where they see themselves as a witch in ten years. I want them to tell me what their ideal life looks like. We always adjust this as time goes on, but without a series of goals to work toward, we can easily get lost. It isn’t enough to say “I want to be a powerful witch” or “I want to develop my psychic abilities so I am the best I can be.” What do those things really mean to you? You need to be able to spell it out for yourself, and the more detail, the better. Remember, energy follows the path of least resistance, and when we think these things through and plan ahead, we are effectively carving a path for that energy to flow.

Take a look at what you’ve written out and divide those goals into three sections. The first section is for those goals that you have which will require more thought and planning. These are the goals that you know you need to tackle, but you aren’t sure how to do that just yet. Let’s call this section A. Section B is for those goals that you have and know what you need to do but haven’t motivated yourself to tackle yet. These are goals you are actively working on or attempting to work on that are already experiencing resistance in your life. These are the goals we failed to complete, have neglected, or that have remained uninitiated. Lastly, section C is for those goals that you are actively working on and intend to continue working on.

Once you have your goals placed in their appropriate sections, go through and prioritize them. As you do this, be sure to place them in order of overall importance to you. It doesn’t matter if you find them silly or profound, just list them honestly and realistically according to your life and your needs.

When each section is prioritized, see if any goals overlap or correspond. For instance, if you have a goal in section A that requires you to figure out more about your psychic abilities and a goal in section B that involves setting more time aside for research and psychic practice, then we would consider these to be corresponding goals. Or, let’s say you have a goal in section B to become better at money and prosperity magic, and you have a goal in section C that involves performing daily offerings to the goddess Fortuna; these would be overlapping goals. Any overlapping or corresponding goals should be highlighted or starred. These are goals that we can approach together as one practice, and because they appear in multiple categories, they are reliable indicators of where to begin building our practice.

Once you know what the important things are and where those crucial things overlap on your map, you can begin the process of finding ways for them to fit into your lifestyle. This is difficult for some people. I am often accused of giving people too much homework, so tread lightly. As you try to find ways for these goals to fit in your life, you have to think long term and short term, and you might have to make sacrifices or adjust them to manifest the results you seek.

Building a Stronger Path

Sometimes it is helpful for people to have a template for how to do this. Keeping your journal handy, on a separate piece of paper make three more categories: list them as daily practices, weekly practices, and monthly practices. Under these categories we are going to list practices that will help you achieve your goals. As you reach them, you will want to go back to the original lists you made in the previous section to update the lists we are making in this section and keep them relevant.

How do you know what practices to do or which ones to prioritize? If you’re a busy person, then looking for shortcuts is the answer. I want to perform practices that will cover as much ground as possible. Often we can condense goals that correspond or overlap, but we can also find synchronicity in the methods employed to achieve our goals. For instance, I presented two examples in the last section where goals could overlap. Both of those examples could be combined into a single practice; we could set time aside to perform weekly divination that can inform us as to the best way to strategically handle our finances and do it as a devotional to the goddess Fortuna. Take a look at the list carefully and think creatively.

So, as a general rule of thumb, there are a few things we should add to our template before we fill it in. Under the corresponding sections list the following:

Daily Practices	Weekly Practices	Monthly Practices
quick alignment	full alignment	ritual work
quick energy clearing	full energy clearing	space clearing
quick altar work	2 x spell work	monthly intention
quick energy shielding	weekly intention	2 x 30 min. meditation
daily intention	weekly altar work	monthly altar work
check in with guides

Don’t be too alarmed; most of these will overlap. For instance, if you visited your altar four times a week for ten minutes, you could knock out half the list. As you go through your goals, try to fit them into this structure. Remember, be creative and be practical. Let’s go through and flesh out the ideas in the template.

Everything listed under the daily practices category can be performed all at once or at different times throughout the day. These are things that should help you check in with your goals and your magic and should help build the witch power. Even if you only walk up to your altar, place your hands on it, and say a prayer to your gods or spirits on your way to bed for two minutes, that counts! These daily practices can be abbreviated and are meant to keep you tuned in. You can do all of these except for checking in at your altar in the shower every morning! Again, these don’t need to be elaborate by any means; keep them practical and repeatable according to your life. If you cannot do anything else, at the very least set a magical intention for yourself each day that helps bring your goals further to fruition. Sometimes waking up in the morning and setting the intention to be more conscious of your finances or to be more open to the preternatural and occult can make all the difference.

The weekly practices category is where you will likely need to break out your planner. It doesn’t matter when you are able to fit these in, just find a way. Again, you can combine practices into one by doing everything but one of the spells in one sitting. Some goals will take more time and focus; they will require you to set up a formal practice rather than an informal one. The spells can be done at your altar or at your kitchen sink; it doesn’t matter as long as you are performing two spells a week that are aimed at either helping yourself or helping someone else. As you set your daily intention, you will want to set an intention for the week.

Lastly, monthly practices are pretty self-explanatory if you have been following along. Again, break out your calendar and see when you can fit these things in. Of course, you can combine them with other practices, do most of them in one sitting, or spread them out throughout the month. You will notice that thirty minutes of meditation is suggested twice a month. This can be guided meditation, freestyle, or intentional, but it should again be something that is oriented toward meeting your goals. For instance, if you want to magically master your finances, listening to a guided meditation that is designed for help with prosperity would be ideal.

Creating a discipline for yourself can be really hard, I know all too well. As I said before, this is something I have struggled with, but it is not insurmountable; it is something that requires patience and planning. My great inspiration to make these changes came when I saw a friend of mine who is a single mother of two, a small-business owner, and a community leader finding time to do all these things. She found a way to fuse her lifestyle and her magical goals together in a way that allowed her witch power to thrive. I knew if she had figured it out, I could too. So even if it all looks a bit overwhelming, give it your best and try to make it work. I challenge you to ninety days of this regimen. Try to make it three months following the plan we just made together and see if you don’t feel like you have more control and are more in tune with the energies you are trying to manifest.

In conclusion, the abilities to remain self-possessed, be perceptive, channel power, raise power, and mold power through discipline are skills every witch really should strive to master every day if they are practicing at an advanced level. As you can see, there are plenty of ways to apply these skills and plenty of places in your craft where they are useful. If you aren’t feeling confident with your witchcraft or don’t know where to start revamping your practice from a practical level, I strongly encourage you to place your attention within the pages of this chapter.

Journal Topics

Meditating on the topics presented here in this chapter, respond to the following questions in your journal:

1. Which of these practices did you find were the most natural for you?

2. Which of these practices were the most difficult or unnatural feeling to you? Are they ordinarily tricky for you? What are some ways that you can improve upon this?

3. Other than what I listed here, what are some other practices that you have added to your arsenal as an advanced level practicing witch, and how have those impacted your work?

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