Basic Meditations for Your Life Enhancement

In the first three chapters I gave you many things to think about, opportunities to expand your infinite world of possibilities, and basic techniques to assist in bringing relaxation and balance into your life. We talked about a few real-life scenarios in conjunction with the art of meditation and quantum physics and how we can make the energy work for you. Chapters 4, 5, 6, and 7 are packed with various meditations and mind exercises based on the foundation of deep, cleansing breathing, your MindLight, your four agreements, reaching your still point, and remembering to “stay in the moment.” With quantum physics of the mind built into these fundamental ideas, we are ready to add different types of meditations to meet your various needs.

The meditations in this chapter are general, uplifting sequences that can be used for any type of energy manipulation training, problem solving, or goal programming techniques. They are all short and can be done in fifteen minutes, many times less. If you like a particular meditation and feel it works well for you, continue the same meditation (although your focus can be different) for a seven-day period to familiarize yourself with the technique. They also work well as basic, beginning practices that can be coupled with ritual work, spellcasting, focused prayer, or other meditations. Under some of the meditations I have listed suggested candle colors, herbs, or oils that can be used to expand the meditation into an actual working that requires physical movement. It is my suggestion that you do the meditation first (the inner you) and then move to the working (the outer you) where appropriate. Finish by internalizing the working (back to the inner you) with deep breathing and relishing a moment of absolute stillness.

Many of the meditations provided in this book can be linked together for a longer working or meditation practice, especially when you find yourself under duress or need that extra mental oomph. For example, while writing this book I had to make a television appearance after being out of the limelight for a few years. Although I love doing public seminars, the media is a different venue, with its own set of pitfalls, especially when you write about the magickal world—I’ve had both wonderful and upsetting experiences. On the day of the interview I used several of the meditations at different intervals, including Take Five; The Field; Up, Up, and Away; and Crossing the Rainbow Bridge.

Remember the following:

• Always use deep breathing before you begin
• Stay in the moment
• Don’t forget to click on your MindLight
• Be patient to reach the still point

A world of success awaits. Let’s move onward!

Take Five

One of the easiest and most relaxing meditations takes five or less minutes to do and is excellent to employ anytime during the busy day. You simply stop what you are doing, take a deep breath, look out on the horizon (or close your eyes) and take five deep, even breaths, concentrating on the air flowing in through the nose, and out through gently parted lips. After the fifth breath, close your mouth, and continue breathing deep, even breaths, through your nose, allowing the muscles in your shoulders and upper back to relax (if they haven’t already). Continue to concentrate on the in/out flow of air. When you feel calm and stabilized, count from one to five and simply open your eyes. If you have difficulty calming your busy thoughts, you can say to yourself, “I am at peace with the world and everything in it.” And, right at that moment, you are.

Suggested Variations

If you are at work or have been in a stationary position for some time, get up and walk to another area, then employ the Take Five sequence. If you are at home, you can always light a scented tea candle to enhance this short period of relaxation. Take Five also works very well when you are studying. Read a page, then Take Five. Read the page again. If you thoroughly understand the material, move on. If you are having trouble assimilating the data, get up, walk around, come back, Take Five, then read the paragraph or page again. For some reason people think that a page need only be read once, which truly isn’t the case if you are trying to internalize new information (no one ever said you are a bad person if you read a passage repeatedly). Sometimes we need to think about what we’ve just read and how it fits (or doesn’t) with the totality of our experience. Once you feel comfortable with the information, move on. You can always go back and read a particularly sticky area again if you like.

Another helpful technique is to read the passage, Take Five, and then practice free association on a notepad as you go over the page again. As you read, write down any word that pops into your mind. Take your time and follow the thought (if you like) with your own notes. Sometimes doodles help, too! Later, when you review what you’ve written you may find some interesting correlations, or perhaps realize why a particular area appears difficult to understand.

This meditation is good for:

• Stressful, daily situations
• Coffee breaks and lunch times
• Stopping negative mental chatter
• When you feel overburdened with a
  particular problem
• Creating a more relaxing day or evening

The Field

This meditation is in direct relation to quantum physics in that you are setting aside a specific space with your mind that is pure white light that turns to translucent “nothingness.” It is a designated area that contains no mental clutter of any kind, and I recommend beginning any meditation, ritual, prayer, or working with this short sequence. “The Field” in this meditation is like the blank white page of a book. If you are having trouble visualizing “just white,” use an empty journal page as a key. Then, concentrate on two things: your gentle breathing and the sounds you hear around you (don’t strain). This is a “no pictures” sequence once you have visualized the white light. Soon, the white will melt to translucent nothingness where you aren’t visualizing anything at all. Instead, you will feel a wash of peace and tranquility—a sense of “just being.”

Suggested Variations

If you have a particular problem and wish a solution, name the problem first and create a “field” just for the solution. Then work through the short sequence. If you are feeling lonely or abandoned, unhappy, sick, or hurt, reach out in your mind and “touch God” (as you believe God/dess to be) at the end of the sequence. This is a nice bedtime meditation to help you release all the negativity of the day before you go to sleep. Light two white candles and spend several minutes at your personal altar, then reach out and “touch Spirit” before you complete the meditation. Extinguish the candles before retiring.

This meditation is good for:

• Preparing for the day
• Preparing for bed
• As a beginning sequence to any prayer, ceremony, spellworking or other
  meditation
• When you are tired, sick, fearful, or upset

Up, Up, and Away

Like balloons? This meditation is designed to help you release your fears. Our fears often grow, making us miserable because we hold on to them so tightly. Rather than grounding your fears in your everyday life, use this great meditation to release them!

Take three deep, relaxing breaths, concentrating on the air moving in and out of your body. Let your shoulders relax. Envision yourself holding the strings of several helium-filled balloons. The balloons represent your fears. Some of them may have names, others may not. Entitle at least one balloon “fear of the unknown.” Take another deep breath, and as you exhale, in your mind let one of those balloons go. Watch it drift up into the heavens until it becomes a pinpoint and disappears. Keep breathing slowly and easily. Release any named balloons first, such as “fear of failure,” “fear of flying,” “fear of verbal attack,” “fear of looking (or sounding) stupid,” “fear of being late,” “fear of sickness,” etc. Then release the “fear of the unknown” balloon. Finally, you may find you are still holding a bunch of balloons. These are the fears that are subconscious, circling just under the surface of our conscious thoughts. But they are there just the same. Let these balloons go all at once rather than trying to define them. Once you have released all the balloons, take one last deep breath, enjoy the peace you are feeling, count from one to five, and open your eyes.

Suggested Variations

There are several physical variations of this meditation that you could try. In the fall, write your fears on dried leaves and release them on a windy day. In the summer, collect a small batch of creek pebbles, hold them in your hands, and then throw them back into the stream, releasing your fears with each one. Be sure to ask the flowing water for blessings and harmony in your life. I knew one woman who, during spring cleaning, named all her fears with pairs of old shoes, then pitched them in the trash, visualizing her problems walking out of her life. Another sweeps her dining room floor every day with a broom, putting the powdered debris in a dustpan. Rain or shine, summer or winter, she carries the dustpan outside every day and clearly states that she is removing all problems, fears, and sickness from her home.

This meditation is good for:

• Releasing old fears
• Combating and negating new fears
• Releasing problems

Crossing the Rainbow Bridge

Okay, so you’ve got to do something and you’re not that thrilled about it. Maybe you are worried that you will fail, or that circumstances are going to be unpleasant and you really don’t want to deal. Although we always have the choice not to do something, there are situations where we feel the heavy weight of responsibility to go forward. Conversely, there are times when we are so excited about something that the anticipation itself can be stressful in a different way. For occasions like these, you might like to try this meditation.

Close your eyes. Take three to five deep, even breaths. Visualize a pleasant woodland scene complete with a footbridge up ahead. As you move toward the bridge in your mind, count down from twenty-five to one. If you can, add singing birds, the sunlight upon your face, etc. When you reach the bridge acknowledge that on the other side there is a sphere of golden light heralding the successful completion of the event. All along the bridge there are colorful flapping flags. You can hear them snapping gaily in the wind. Begin walking across the bridge, passing the red flags. Then past the orange flags . . . the yellow . . . the green. You are now halfway across the bridge. From the green you walk by the blue, the violet, and finally, at the edge of the other side, are the white flags. Move past the white flags into the golden light of success. Count from one to five and open your eyes.

Suggested Variations

If this meditation is too hard to visualize, try taping the instructions on a small recorder and then listening to your tape as you do the meditation. You can also visit a real bridge and actually walk through the meditation. If it is a big event that has you nervous and you have the time, paint a thirteen-inch dowel rod gold, then tie ribbons of the corresponding colors, beginning at red on the bottom and moving to a gold ribbon at the top. You can visually touch the ribbons as you repeat the meditation sequence. When the event is concluded successfully, burn the stick and ribbons outdoors, thanking Spirit for the assistance you received.

This meditation is good for:

• Quieting feelings of negative anticipation
• Releasing worries about an upcoming event
• Right before an important appointment or meeting: envision golden light around you as you cross the threshold to the room, office, or establishment

Chakra Breathing Meditation

Chakra breathing exercises are excellent for clearing out the energy vortexes of the body and revitalizing the mind/body/soul connection. Read through this section first before actually practicing the meditation, as the traditional colors, names, and body points of each vortex are given after the meditation sequence.

1. Close your eyes.
2. Take three deep, even breaths to stabilize.
3. Surround yourself with white light.
4. Imagine a ball of red light entering your root chakra with the next intake of breath. Allow the red light to energize the body as you breathe in and to leave the body as you breathe out. Do this three times.
5. Imagine a ball of orange light entering your sacral chakra with the next intake of breath. Allow the orange light to energize the body as you breathe the light in and to leave the body as you breathe out. Do this three times.
6. Imagine a ball of golden-yellow light entering your solar plexus chakra with the next intake of breath. Allow the golden-yellow light to energize the body as you breathe the light in and to leave the body as you breathe the light out. Do this three times.
7. Imagine a ball of green or pink (your preference) light entering your heart chakra with the next intake of breath. Allow that light to energize the body as you breathe the light in and to leave the body as you breathe the light out. Do this three times.
8. Imagine a ball of blue light entering your throat chakra with the next intake of breath. Allow the blue light to energize the body as you breathe the light in and leave the body as you breathe the light out. Do this three times.
9. Imagine a ball of violet light entering your third eye chakra with the next intake of breath. Allow the violet light to energize the body as you breathe the light in and to leave the body as you breathe the light out. Do this three times.
10. Imagine a ball of white light entering your crown chakra with the next intake of breath. Allow the white light to energize the body as you breathe the light in and to leave the body as you breathe the light out. Do this three times.
11. Take three deep, even breaths to stabilize. Open your eyes.

Suggested Variations

You can turn this into a more active meditation by lighting a candle of the corresponding color as you breathe the light in and out of your body. If movements are steady and slow, you can remain in the alpha state and still complete the meditation.

This sequence also works well for an active gemstone meditation. Choose gemstones that correspond to the chakra colors. Hold the chosen stone in your hand or place on the chakra point as you follow the breathing sequence. This is a nice morning meditation to help you prepare for the day. Suggested colors for a gris-gris bag might be rainbow or white.

This meditation is good for:

• Healing (emotional and physical)
• Stress
• Learning to breathe
• Learning the chakra vortexes
• Negating negative thoughts
• Raising self-esteem
• Stopping fears

traditional chakra meanings

Root Chakra: The support

Sacral Chakra: Sweetness

Solar Plexus Chakra: City of jewels

Heart Chakra: Unstuck

Throat Chakra: Purity

Third Eye Chakra: To know

Crown Chakra: Thousandfold

gemstone correspondences

Hematite: Grounding (root chakra)

Red Jasper: Power (root chakra)

Carnelian: Happiness and generosity (sacral chakra)

Yellow Jasper: Protects energy work (solar plexus chakra)

Citrine: Protection, success (solar plexus chakra)

Moss Agate: Eliminates depression (heart chakra)

Rose Quartz: Unconditional love (heart chakra)

Labradorite: Protect aura from leaks (throat chakra)

Sodalite: Wisdom (throat chakra)

Amethyst: Transformation (third eye chakra)

Flourite: Enhance mental state (third eye chakra)

Crystal Quartz: Energy booster (crown chakra)

traditional chakra colors for ritual work

Root Chakra: Red

Sacral Chakra: Orange

Solar Plexus Chakra: Yellow

Heart Chakra: Green

Throat Chakra: Blue

Third Eye Chakra: Purple

Crown Chakra: White

The chakras. From bottom to top: root, sacral, solar plexus, heart, throat, third eye, and crown.

Simple Daily Gemstone Attunement

1. Begin by holding the hematite in both hands. Close your eyes and take a deep breath. Continue taking deep, relaxing breaths until any tension leaves your body.
2. Following the gemstone correspondences list (see page 76), pick up each stone and breathe deeply. Consider energy moving in and around your body, concentrating on the chakra that stone represents. Take your time. Allow your energy to attune itself to the universal energies. Associate positive thoughts with the meaning of each stone.
3. When you are finished, allow yourself a few moments to “come back up” from your meditation. Hold the hematite stone again for grounding. Rinse your hands and the stones in clear water as closure.

Advanced Meditation

Begin in the same manner as the Simple Meditation on page 77.

1. Once you have activated each chakra point, envision the Cho Ku Rei Reiki symbol (pictured below) on your body. This may take some concentration if you are unfamiliar with visualization and might need several sessions to perfect. Don’t get frustrated. Just note in your mind where you got stuck. That chakra probably needs more work!
2. When you have the Cho Ku Rei (meaning “put the power here”) symbol in place, imagine that your right hand holds fire energy, that your left hand contains air energy, that your right foot is connected to earth energy, and that your left foot is connected to water energy. Imagine that the top of your head is connected to Spirit energy. Hold this as long as you can, then fold this energy into a mental ball over your heart (you can use your hands over your heart to help). You can also “light the balls” in your mind using a pentacle diagram (below). Finish the meditation in the same manner as in the Simple Meditation sequence.

The Cho Ku Rei symbol, left, and the pentacle, right. The Cho Ku Rei symbol is often used at the beginning of a Reiki session to bring the power of Spirit into the working.

Gateway Solution Meditation

For every situation there is a “best possible solution”—sometimes we simply have trouble finding it! I designed this meditation to help myself find harmonious answers to difficult problems and have found it to work extremely well. It takes only a few minutes to do and can be squeezed into any active lifestyle. The focus is a gate, ornate or as simple; before you begin, agree with yourself that the gateway is always open to you and that the best and most harmonious solution for all involved lies on the other side. When I look through the gateway, there is a beautiful, fruitful garden that holds exactly what I need. All I have to do is walk through the gate to receive my answer.

1. Close your eyes.
2. Surround yourself with white light.
3. Say to yourself, “I am creating the pure field I need to find the answers I seek.”
4. Take three deep, even breaths to stabilize.
5. State clearly to yourself that you wish to find the best possible most harmonious solution to (fill in the rest of the sentence).
6. Envision the gate. See the garden beyond it. Take a deep breath, smile, and transport yourself with a flowing, undulating motion through the gate. Take another deep breath and smile—the solution is yours. Open your eyes.

Within the amount of time needed, your solution will manifest.

Suggested Variations

Go to a real archway or gateway and perform the meditation. Slowly rise and physically walk through the gateway. Keep the movements slow so that you can remain in the alpha stage and open your eyes, returning to the beta state on the other side of the gateway. Place dirt and a smooth stone from this physical gateway in a gris-gris or conjuring bag after you have done your meditation. This is a nice student exercise that works well on a camping trip, day outing, or festival.

Add an archetype on the other side of the gate with arms open and beckoning, ready to give you the answers. I recommend creating this archetype only if you have complete control over your meditation sequences and know how to keep negativity out of your field of visualization.

Couple with an “attraction” spell that includes herbs, powders, talismans, and gemstones that correspond to this purpose.

suggested herbs or other items for ritual

Tonka Beans (do not eat, they are poisonous): Attraction

Lodestones: Attraction

Magnets: Attraction

Fava Beans: Attraction

Sunflower Seeds: Attraction

Rose: Navigation and transformation

Eyebright: Clarity and transformation

Fenugreek: Cleansing and clarity

Mint: Cleansing and clarity

Herbs can be ground together to make a magickal power that you can sprinkle around candles or place in conjuring bags. Herbs can also be mixed and used whole. Suggested conjuring bag and candle colors: blue, silver, or white.

This meditation is good for:

• Problem solving
• Finding lost objects and
  missing information
• Enhancing your creativity
• Eliminating disagreements between
  yourself and others
• Finding a “happy medium” in any
  given situation
• Drawing career opportunities toward you

Rocking Chair Meditation

The rocking chair meditation combines the left and right hemispheres of the brain and is based on the old Southern lifestyle of patience. Therefore, it is an excellent training tool that also provides the added benefit of relaxation. The only thing you need is, of course, a rocking chair. You can begin with either of the two previous meditations, or you can simply relax in the chair and pleasantly work through the suggested technique.

Begin by rocking the chair as long as you like, preferably until you feel relaxed and at peace. Close your eyes and surround yourself with white light. Agree within yourself that you are creating a pure field of positive manifestation. Take three deep, even breaths. Think about what you would like to manifest, then, gently rocking the chair, allow your thoughts to be transformed into waves of manifestation (bright bits of sparkling light works well). On a forward motion, stop the chair, open your eyes, and exhale, agreeing that what you would like to manifest is leaving you in waves. Now close your eyes, and allow that energy to flow back into your thoughts. Repeat this flowing out/flowing in visualization two additional times. Then, once more, let the visualization flow out into the universe. Take three deep, even breaths to stabilize, and you are finished.

I actually had a friend manifest a brand-spanking-new pickup truck using this visualization (and her credit wasn’t the greatest). This meditation is extremely useful when you don’t have any tools at your disposal.

Suggested Variations

You can use a porch swing, tire swing, even a kids’ playground swing for this one. A friend of mine added a hand fan on a hot summer day to her rocking chair work, definitively snapping it shut to seal the spell. The next day she received an unexpected check for $3,000 in the mail. In a group format you can hold hands and rock back and forth, everyone stopping at once and exhaling, then beginning again. Now, if done this way, it can produce a lot of laughter; however, joy is the best magick and the giggles don’t hurt the manifestation. Another friend focused on a complete altar setup, burning candles and concentrating on the pieces of his altar as he rocked. He obtained a coveted entrance position at the college he desired. This is also a wonderful way to empower gris-gris bags and candles for friends and loved ones; simply hold the item as you rock.

This meditation is good for:

• Manifesting physical items
• Stress reduction (add lavender essential oil or lavender candles)
• Prayer work (hold prayer beads or picture of individual you wish to assist)

Gifts of Spirit Meditation

Write down seven qualities that you would like to enhance within yourself, or qualities that you would like to handle better when you have the opportunity. In this meditation the word is associated with the “feeling” you receive when you think of the word. What does that word mean to you? How does it make you feel? Once you have the list as you wish, take three deep, even breaths, then as you breathe in say the quality you wish to instill in yourself in your mind (as if you were actually breathing in that energy). When you exhale, release any random thoughts. Do each quality three times, then take another deep, even breath, count from one to five and open your eyes. If you work on this particular meditation every day for thirty days you will most likely experience a markedly improved lifestyle.

Love

Patience

Compassion

Grace

Helpfulness

Loyalty

Responsibility

This meditation is good for:

• Strengthening current strong points in your personality
• Developing new, powerful character traits
• Finding solutions to current problems
  in a creative way
• Relieving stress by concentrating on
  positive qualities

Energy Movement Meditation

As with the Gifts of Spirit technique, this mini meditation focuses first on the word, and then on the feeling. The idea is to learn how the energy feels to you so that you can access it at any time by breathing in, saying the word in your mind, and exhaling. Work with each word five times through the sequence, exhaling any random thoughts (this will help you focus). You can work with all the words given, or add some of your own. This is a great exercise for centering in group work.

Peace

Strength

Joy

Love

Speed

Power

Repair

Build

Banish

Protect

Balance

The eye of Horus

Suggested Variations

Throughout the day, when you think of it, breathe in the type of energy you feel you need at least three times. Seven or nine times is also a helpful variation. Some students enjoy taking pictures of events or objects that they feel represent the energies and tacking them on a bulletin board as a focus when needed.

This meditation is good for:

• Learning what energy feels like
• Learning how to expand your energy control
• Calming after a busy day or during an upsetting time
• Tightening your focus
• Enhancing your self-esteem

Divine Wisdom Meditation

The focus of this meditation is the all-seeing eye of Spirit.

1. Sit in a comfortable chair and take a deep breath. Then another, and another. Close your eyes. Place fingertips of both hands on your solar plexus chakra and envision a golden light surrounding that area. As you move your fingers gracefully up to your crown chakra, say: “Spirit to Spirit.”
2. Slowly bring your fingertips down to your heart chakra and envision white light around that area. As you bring your fingers up to your third eye chakra, say: “Mind to Mind.”
3. Repeat this sequence at least three times, more if you are particularly worried about something. Each time you touch your third eye chakra, envision a light blue light that deepens into violet light.
4. When you feel calm, empowered, and comfortable, end by flipping your palms outward from your third eye and push outward with your hands, saying: “Peace and wisdom of the universe abide in me.” Envision the “Eye of Spirit” entering your third eye chakra.
5. Physically seal the chakra by drawing an equal-armed cross on your own forehead. If you don’t remember to seal, you may find yourself with a headache.

Note: The ancient Egyptians believed that the heart and the brain were made of the same auric matter (and I’ve since read that the brain and the heart are virtually made of the same organic material, with only a few percentage points of difference), and therefore this meditation means Loving Mind (the heart) to the Creative Empowered Mind (the third eye chakra). This meditation can also be done standing if necessary.

Suggested Variations

Draw a stylized “eye” (the Egyptian Udjet or eye of Horus[1] is an option). Write what you need around the eye. Place your eye drawing at the chakra points as listed above in the same sequence. Jewelry can also be used, although I recommend silver or gold (not pewter). You can also empower a white candle and rub it with eyebright herb, repeat the sequence as given, then burn the candle until it has completely finished.

In Egyptian mythology, Horus had two eyes—the white and the black. The white represented the sun, while the black represented the moon. Another variation of this meditation is to use two stones—one white and one black—in the sequence asking for wisdom, balance, and personal power. After empowerment, carry the stones with you in a black or violet conjuring bag. The idea is to gain control and possession of your own mind and your own emotions to create a level of balance within the self. If you do not wish to use a black stone, an opal works well because in the ancient texts, the opal contains water (as did the stones sometimes used for the eye of Horus).

This meditation is good for:

• Connecting with Spirit in a positive way
• Strengthening your connection with the divine
• Learning how to quiety reach out for assistance
• Clearing your upper chakras, especially when you have been ill
• General emotional healing

Ankh Meditation
for Universal Love and Long Life

Although associated with “free love” in the 1960s, the ancient Egyptian symbol of the ankh (a stylized version of the glyph for the planet Venus) stands for the life force, universal love, and compassion, and it is considered the key to immortality. Meditating on the ankh symbol brings warm, loving energies to the aura.

Where the loop on top is considered passive, the staff is thought to be active; together they create the required balance for all levels of the individual. Some use the ankh as a magick knot in spellwork applications. If you are feeling lost and alone, or are working on a health issue, meditate on the ankh symbol for at least five minutes three times a day. Carry a representation of the ankh with you on a piece of paper or empower jewelry of the same design. Silver or gold is best; avoid pewter unless you want to “set” long life.

This meditation is good for:

• All matters of healing work
• Stress relief
• Learning to combine energies
• Long-distance healing for one in need

Basic Water Magick Meditation

This is a very nice outdoor meditation. You will need a clear glass bowl of water and a colored symbol on a piece of paper that represents what you desire. For example, if you are looking for healing energy, try the caduceus. If you need money, try using a dollar sign with the amount you need written around the sign or eight one-dollar bills arranged in a fan shape. If you are trying to get into a particular university or business, use (if you can) a photograph of the establishment with you standing in front of it, etc.

Take the bowl outside (or if inside, in a darkened room surrounded by candlelight) and place on top of the focus item (picture, money, drawing) so that you can see the item through the clear glass of the bowl. Sit in a relaxed position and take several deep breaths until you find your still point. The water should also be perfectly still (unless there is a breeze outside that affects the water). Very slowly, conjure the image of what you desire up and to the left of the bowl, so that you are looking out into space. When you have a handle on the image and a handle on the feelings you will have when you are successful, slowly drop it into the water. Some people find it helpful to be holding the glass bowl with their hands as they mentally drop the image into the water. At the same time, say: “I empower this water to bring my desire in a positive way or better! I empower this water for . . .” (and fill in what it is that you need). Take three deep breaths and say, “It is done!”

Suggested Variations

There are variations on what you can do with the empowered water. If you put drinkable water in a clean bowl and the work was for healing yourself, you can drink the water. If it is healing for another, place the water in a vial or bottle and put on top of the sick person’s photograph, or, if they are magickal, you can give them the water. If the water is for money, a new career, a car, a new apartment, etc., pour the water on your doorstep, making sure a bit splashes inside the house. You can also sprinkle your loose change, your purse, or your wallet with the water. My daughter puts all the loose change from pockets when doing the laundry into a toad bank, and then sprinkles the bank with the water on a weekly basis. The first week she tried this she’d collected over eighty dollars! This meditation can be repeated every day until your desire is obtained. In our healing circles, we add a large quartz crystal in the center of the bowl, and on holiday mornings, you can place a bowl of water outside where it will collect the first rays of the sun. Use this water to promote healing and well-being throughout the season by sprinkling it on all doors of the house with a sacred broom. Bless all doors and windows with clove oil and Nag Champa incense.

This meditation is good for:

• Learning the subtle power of energized water
• Manifestation of any physical object
• Healing yourself or others
• Stress relief

Cauldron Meditation for Self-Purification

An excellent meditation for spring, summer, or autumn outdoor work, the focus of this meditation is to bring the cleansing energy of the ritual fire into your body and remove all negativity. For this meditation you will need a fire-safe metal cauldron, sacred wood of your choice, and a bit of crushed incense (I recommend sandalwood; you can simply use sandalwood chips). Add a little dried yarrow herb (excellent for cleansing), if you like. You should also have a staff or stick and a lighter.

Outside, in the sand or dirt, draw a circle around the cauldron in a clockwise direction and say, “I set the field of purification and healing.”

Sit inside the circle with the cauldron. Take three deep breaths and relax. Enjoy your surroundings. There is no rush or hurry. Light the fire, and say “I bring the purification of Spirit into my mind, body, and spirit in a positive way.” Meditate on the fire as it burns and envision a fire dragon or phoenix (whichever fits your life circumstance) emerging from the fire and entering your heart chakra. Hold your hands over your heart to seal in the positive light energy. Close your eyes and let this positive energy move up and down your body—all the way down to your toes and all the way up to your crown chakra. Breathe deeply as you fill your entire body with the light. Imagine that all negativity is pushed out of your body and out of your aura (light body). Let it dissolve into the air or into the ground (as you desire) or back into the cauldron to be transformed. Then, release the dragon or phoenix as you open your eyes and gracefully open your hands with arms extended. Take another deep breath and say, “It is done! I am cleansed and purified!” You can add “In the name of deity!” if you so desire. Allow the fire to burn out and the cauldron to cool. Scatter the ashes to the wind, giving thanks for your positive transformation.

This meditation is good for:

• Removing negativity
• Overall cleansing

Flag Meditation for Self-Empowerment

Oriental cultures have long used flags or banners to capture and then release specific energies for empowerment and success. For this meditation you will need to fashion your own flag or banner. If you are not a sewing diva, you can always use a handkerchief and any of the many interesting products to decorate cloth that can be found at a craft store. Choose symbols that are important to you in your quest for personal empowerment when designing your enchantment. Working in a sacred circle and blessing all tools with holy water and incense will help to keep the object free of negativity and stress.

When you are ready to work with the flag, go outdoors on a day that has at least a bit of a breeze to it. Secure the flag on a tree or pole in an area that will ensure it can catch the air. Choose what type of empowerment you require this day, and position the flag at the quarter (north, south, east, or west) that best corresponds to your desire. For example, if you desire self-empowerment with stability and strength—choose the north quarter. If you are looking more for mental aspects of self, then the east would be a good choice. For creativity, the ability to love physically, passion—these energies are equated with the south. The west corresponds to closure, transformation, and the power of flow in one’s life.

Sit quietly facing the flag and relax. Breathe deeply. Close your eyes. Let all the tensions flow out of your body as you physically feel the breeze. Let your fears, worries, and cares be ferried away by the air. Open your eyes and concentrate on your flag or banner. As the air lifts the fabric, visualize the cloth capturing the type of empowerment you desire. Allow the flag to build as much energy as you feel you need. The moment you begin to tire of the visualization, say, “It is done!”

Take down the flag and hold it close to your body. Close your eyes and, holding the flag to your heart chakra, breathe in deeply and exhale three times, imagining that you are breathing in the self-empowerment you desire. Cross your hands over your chest to hold this energy close to you. Hang the flag in your home in your ritual area. Use it in any future magicks in which you feel self-empowerment is needed. Renew this meditation whenever you feel weak or unhappy, or at least once every three months.

Suggested Variation

Although this meditation was for self-empowerment, you can also make a flag for home protection and harmony. Leave the flag outside to continue capturing and releasing the warding harmonics as needed.

This meditation is good for:

• When you are worried or afraid
• Learning how to work with the smooth power of air
• Releasing negative energy and replacing it with positive feelings
• Drawing good fortune into your life
• Stabilizing and empowering the self

Centering Meditation

This meditation is actually a beginning Tai Chi exercise (a form of martial arts that uses breath and energy as the focus—Tai meaning “supreme” and Chi “life force”). Of all the centering meditations I have done over the years, this one has benefited me the most. The more you do it, the better you feel! This exercise also helps to improve your posture. With this meditation remember to stay in the moment and concentrate only on the centering exercise.

Stand with your feet about shoulder width apart, knees slightly bent, head straight. Now just relax in this position. Shake your hands. Shake your right foot. Shake your left foot. Relax back into the original position. Create your MindLight as indicated in chapter 1. Remember to breathe deeply, inhaling from the diaphragm up through the chest and exhaling slowly and evenly. Work with the rubber band technique for a few minutes until you have created a nice MindLight. Position the MindLight just below the navel with your hands. Close your eyes, breathe in, and bring the MindLight up to the heart using your hands. Now lower the MindLight (again using your hands) back to just below your navel. Do this several times, breathing in as you raise your hands and the MindLight, exhaling slowly as you move your hands and the MindLight back down to below your navel. Nice and slow. Relish the feeling! Now move the MindLight with your hands up to the third eye chakra. Bring the light down again to just below the navel area using your hands, making sure to breathe nice and slow. Do this several times. With your left arm hanging comfortably at your side, turn your right palm up and bring it up to the heart chakra as you inhale. Do this as if you had a precious liquid cupped in that hand. When you reach the heart chakra, flip your hand and push down as you move it to just below the navel area. Flip your hand, inhale, and bring the hand up again. Flip your palm, exhale, and push your palm down to its original position. Now try this same procedure with your left hand several times. Finally, create the MindLight again with your hands right below the navel area. Bring the energy up as you inhale to your heart chakra, and then move the energy down as you exhale. Do this at least three times. Relax. Open your eyes. Doesn’t that feel great?! Practice centering at least three times a day for an entire month and see just how fast your life improves! I know mine did!

This meditation is good for:

• Use as a great beginning sequence for any other meditation or working
• Stress relief
• Releasing negative feelings or sickness
• Communing with Earth Mother
• Learning to manipulate your own energy
• Experiencing a stable lifestyle

The MindLight Sigil

I developed the MindLight sigil in 2004 while working on quantum physics and personal alchemical change. This cartouche is a stylized drawing using sacred geometry showing how the magickal individual manifests power and change. The oval is representative of the sacred circle—the field in which we create change—a place without negative energy and interruptions.

The central asterisk stands for the primordial void, the spark of thought, the beginning of the manifest. It also equals the eight phases of the moon as well as the quarters and the cross-quarters. The two triangles, locked together create the premise of “As above, so below,” invoke our ability to create a cone of power as well as lock together in the sign of infinity—the sigil of mastery.

A trick of the eye creates a stylized figure above and below the apex of the triangles. If you view the figure one way, it is a kneeling individual whose thoughts move to the root chakra and up through the crown; yet, if you look at the figure another way, it is a person poised, looking down, ready to fling an arm up and lift the head at the same time to throw energy out into the universe! The figure above is the figure reflected below, past and present, conscious and unconscious, seen and unseen. In both instances, the person represents the present—the one above looking toward the future, and the one below looking back at the past. The person below gathers the appropriate feeling from the past, pulls it into the present, where the person above holds the energy in the present and projects that energy out into the future to create a positive destiny. The curves of the figure are representative of horns—the power to hook and draw in whatever we need.

The asterisk above the head stands for our creative thoughts and the egg-shape for the potential of Spirit to instill those thoughts with wisdom and healing. The egg can be considered our higher self, our guardian, totem animal, or deceased loved one trying to contact us. The asterisk above the egg is the amazing power that orchestrates the universe, regardless of what name you may call it. There are five asterisks in total—representative of the desire for change.

The cartouche can be used in any and all MindLight operations from manifesting your destiny to working on prosperity or healing enhancement.Following is an example of how to use the MindLight symbol for good fortune!

Crush one unlit cone of incense. Begin the ritual by sprinkling a little of the crushed incense behind you, saying: “For those who came before me, blessing upon you.” Sprinkle some of the powder in front of you, saying: “For those who will come after me, blessings upon you.”

The MindLight sigil. This sigil is a stylized drawing using sacred geometry showing how the meditative seeker manifests power and change. The oval is representative of the sacred circle, the field in which we create change—a place without negative energy and interruptions. Use for all manner of meditations and rituals including healing, prosperity, protection, wisdom, and spirituality. An excellent meditation vehicle, place a copy of the sigil in a conjuring bag or burn in a ritual fire.

Hold your hands out, palms up, saying: “Golden Spirit, powers of luminescence, I invoke the and ask for thy blessings upon all who are in this circle.”

Draw the MindLight sigil. Light a yellow candle. Holding the lit candle proceed in a clockwise direction to the in a circle until you reach the direction of north. Turn your back to the center of the circle so you are facing the outside of the circle (and north). Say: “I believe that the past, the present, and the future are one in the same. I believe I can unfold my destiny. I remember now that special moment when I was filled with power and joy, and I reclaim that feeling . . . that power right now! I pull this power into the present, and as then, so am I now—filled with mastery and delight!” Turn clockwise to face the center of the circle, and say: “I stand here in the present, filled with positive energy. I am the master (mistress) of my own good fortune! As I step forward, I take this successful, positive abundant energy with me and claim my destiny and enter only the field of happiness and good fortune!” Step forward with emphasis. Then say: “It is done!”

Walk in a straight line to your meditation altar or working space. Set the candle down on the altar. Burn the sigil in a fire safe bowl, saying: “Midnight power—wave of change. Earth and Air, and Fire and Rain; betwixt, between, be now decree! As I will so shall it be! Cauldron glowing—swirling smoke; sparks of light I do invoke! Betwixt, between, be now decree! As I say so will it be! Without the fields of loss or pain, bring to me financial gain! Betwixt, between, be now decree! As I say so it will be!”

Visualize exactly what you want, then snap your fingers to “freeze” the moment. The ritual is concluded when you utter a prayer of thanksgiving, release what you’ve called, closed the quarters and released the circle. Allow the candle to burn at least two hours. You can relight the candle in sacred space each night and burn for a few moments, or for at least an hour. If you want to continue working on this same spell throughout the month, replace the yellow candle with another or use pumpkin-scented votives.

Alchemy symbol

Meditation Symbols

Many seekers work with sigils to help them focus on the movement of energy as attributed (by our choice) to a particular desire that we wish to manifest. This exercise uses the medieval symbol for alchemy (above) not only as the basic icon, but also in relation to instruction on energy movement and sigil empowerment. The first step of this exercise is to look at the above sigil like it is a snapshot and like you are looking through the lens of a camera. Study the sigil with this correlation in mind, then continue.

To begin, the largest circle is “the field.” Mark it in some way, either by casting a circle magickally, working on a circular surface, on a plate, or within a circle of some image of some kind. The circle helps to define a manifestation point, and it guards against the corruption of thoughts and actions by others. It also helps to keep us from destroying our own work by previous or later worries. You can even spread your hands and visualize a circle on the table, and say aloud: “This is the circle in which I will work.” Just be sure to have a strong visualization of this should you choose to use this technique.

Place your “desire” (the visualization thereof) inside the center circle. In this circle all is still. It is a place of no-mind, the cauldron of birth. The circle is the quantum. Your image begins as a small point and then expands to fill the circle. In your mind, make your desire wavy, like a heat mirage. The circle is the mother.

We know that snowflakes and other “explosions” move out in points and then build symmetrically. Move your image of your desire out until it touches the square, one point at a time or altogether as you are capable of. Your mental image should now be housed in the square. The square is the father. Keep the image wavy in your mind, like a mirage or the image of something on a very hot day. However, know in your mind that your image is about to solidify, so it should be a bit stronger in detail than when housed within the smaller circle. The square also represents the four basic elements —the material required to manifest anything on this plane. Allow color to move in from each point, heightening your visualization with a special, glowing vibrancy.

For anything to reach completion on this plane, it must touch Spirit (top), Matter (right point) and Man (left point). Flow your visualization out to the points of the triangle like a mist through a sieve, separating any impurities within the visualization, and solidify the picture clearly in your mind. Hold it as if it is becoming solid right before your eyes, and then freeze it by blowing your breath on it, and at the end of the exhale, affirm strongly that “It is done.” And so it shall be.

Magickal Items Often Used in Sigil Work

Incense

Holy water

Magickal oil

Empowered candle

Cauldron or burn pot

String or ribbon

Lock of hair or photo

Magickal powders

Empowered herbs

Favored prayers

Gemstones

Magickal trinkets

Steps for Sigil Work

1. Cast a circle of white MindLight around yourself.
2. Ask for deity assistance.
3. Pass sigil and all supplies over incense.
4. Dot sigil and all supplies with holy water.
5. Write desire on sigil.
6. Light candle.
7. Empower sigil.
8. Attach sigil to hair or photo.
9. Roll sigil. Secure.
10. Dot sigil with magickal oil.
11. Sprinkle sigil with magickal powder.
12. Blow on sigil three times.
13. Burn sigil with herbs, OR
14. Place sigil in conjuring bag with herbs and gemstones or other magickal trinkets. If placed in bag, pass over candle three times.
15. Thank deity.
16. Release the MindLight.

Now let’s move on and work with the elements!

[1] The eye of Horus mathematically represents a healing formula. Each portion of the glyph stands for a different fraction. One of the most popular ancient Egyptian amulets, it was used to protect the wearer and bestow desirable qualities such as health and vitality. See my book Solitary Witch for a complete explanation or, if you like Eyptian magick, check out Egyptian Magick by Gerald and Betty Scheuler (Llewellyn, 1997).