Sky-Clad Magic:
Naturism for Shy Practitioners
I have a funny-looking body. My hips are large, and my breasts are scarred from the surgical removal of multiple tumors. My belly is a little rounded and forever changed from having two babies. My daughter likes to point out my tiger stripes: “It’s where I kicked you before I was born!” I’ll never be a supermodel, but I love my body. It is strong. My feet ran a marathon. My breasts nourished my children, and my belly cradled them. My muscles are strong enough to lift and carry things. But I didn’t come to this joy and peace with my body by going to the gym, even though I do, or by staring at myself in the mirror
and saying affirmations, which I definitely don’t. Mostly, I learned to love my body through magic—not a single magical spell, but the conscious practice of being nude during ritual.
Let’s back up a few years to chronicle my strange journey toward body positivity. It began when I decided to seek initiation into British Traditional Wicca, which is usually practiced “sky clad,” or naked. As I researched local groups and met Witches, I thought anxiously about what it might be like to learn how to do magic without clothes on while in the company of strangers (at least at first). When I first attempted sky-clad rituals with others, I’d never even done one on my own. The result was anticlimactic. It was neither as weird nor as powerful as I’d hoped. I had to figure out the reason why people choose to be nude during ritual.
As I trained in British Traditional Wicca, I also moved to a new house that just happened to be across the street from a forty-acre nudist colony and family resort established in 1937. This was my crash course in what could be achieved while nude. While I wouldn’t recommend weed whacking or cooking bacon, I would definitely recommend any sort of sacred ritual, from gardening to meditation and yoga. Over sixty years ago, the founder of modern Wicca, Gerald Gardner, was a nudist as well. At the time, people believed that being naked in nature promoted good health. Today, modern Wiccans carry on his sky-clad practices for several reasons: because it removes all clothing status symbols of rank or wealth, because it removes all barriers to the flow of spiritual energy between bodies, and because it is a symbol of our freedom from all of the modern prohibitions, including psychosocial ones, against nudity. In Wicca, our bodies are not just vehicles in which we drive our brains around, but working, natural batteries full of energy that can be used to manifest our magical goals.
If you choose to imbue your rituals and magic with the heightened energy flow, freedom, and power of nudity, here’s how to get there. It’s not always as easy as taking off clothes; some people have preexisting body issues, a past history of abuse, or cultural barriers. Here’s a step-by-step plan for embracing naturism, or being nude, as a part of your spirituality.
Barefoot Grounding Ritual
Being barefoot is one step, if you’ll pardon the pun, toward experiencing the power that nudity can offer so that you can decide if you want to continue with this ritual choice. Barefoot ritual aids in the grounding process. Here is one grounding technique that you can use before any ritual magic working. This ritual is best performed outdoors. I enjoy hiking barefoot, and now I hate the alternative. Shutting off my feet to the sensations of the trail would be like hiking blind to the greenery or deaf to the birdcalls—it’s like removing a large fraction of the experience of nature. You don’t need to hoof it on the trail to enjoy this ritual; if you can find a pleasant patch of grass outside, you will be in the ideal environment. However, this can be performed indoors as well if necessary.
Step 1: Remove your shoes and socks and face to the east, which is the home of the element of air. Feel the air on the tops of your feet. Spread your toes if you can. Take a deep breath in and breathe out, imagining any negativity leaving your body as you do so. Take deep breaths until you feel that you’ve rid yourself of as much negative or stagnant energy as possible.
Step 2: Turn toward the south, the direction of fire. Stomp your feet in place at least three times as you do so and then stand still. With vigorous stomping, you should feel the vibration of the blood pulsing in your veins. Become aware of the life energy within you, and visualize it in your mind’s eye however it appears to you.
Step 3: Turn toward the west, the home of water energy. It is time to establish an energetic flow. Imagine that your feet are like the roots of a tree, drinking in energy from Mother Earth to fuel your magic. This energy should feel rejuvenating and refreshing.
Step 4: Turn toward the north. Feel your toes gripping the firm earth that is the element of the north. Check in with
your body. Do you feel jittery? Too much energy, so return to the eastern exercise. Do you feel sleepy? Too little energy, so return to the western exercise. With time and practice, you’ll find that you hit the sweet spot and will be able to ground yourself quickly and powerfully before any ritual. I, myself, perform grounding multiple times daily.
First Nude Ritual for the Shy Neophyte
The point of this ritual is to give yourself the freedom to be nude in the privacy of your own home. It will imbue you with freedom and power, should you choose to accept it, when your barriers are safely and consensually let down. This ritual is sufficient preparation for participating in sky-clad group rituals as well, though it certainly is not a mandatory prerequisite, nor are you asked to go beyond your comfort level.
This ritual is best performed during a Full Moon. No, that’s not just a pun about bare bottoms. The Full Moon is symbolic of the full revelation of power and mysteries, and can help you manifest your desires. This ritual should be performed in the dark by candlelight. All bodies are beautiful by candlelight.
Though this exercise is performed as a ritual bath in a bathroom, I suggest that you cover all mirrors even if you are happy with your body. The reason for this is that nude ritual is an expression of the sensations of the moment. When you look at your body in the mirror, you automatically adjust and change yourself. I am a student of a style of sacred temple dance called bharatanatyam that may be thousands of years old, and we don’t use mirrors when learning to dance. In fact, when our teachers catch students looking at reflections in the window, those students are chided for not paying attention to the feeling in their bodies during the moments in the dance. Drape sheets or towels over any mirrors or turn them away so that your gaze will be directed inward.
Begin by taking a cleansing bath with three tablespoons of sea salt added to water. If you have dry skin and want to skip the salt, you can use a cleansing herb such as lemon. Three tablespoons of lemon juice will suffice. Take your bath in the darkness lit only by candles, and try to clear your mind with silent, receptive meditation during your bath. It’s okay to have your favorite peaceful music playing in the background.
When you finish your bath, towel off and don some of your favorite jewelry. Jewelry is often worn in Wiccan rituals: bracelets show allegiance to people or deities, and necklaces represent the eternal nature of the Goddess. I like to wear specific jewelry that I only wear in a ritual context. It feels like I’m putting on sacred robes. It doesn’t matter what type of jewelry it is (a man could easily wear a watch and a belt in a pinch), but it does matter that you are adorned. Next, anoint yourself with oil such as an oil-based perfume or olive oil. The insides of your ankles and wrists are good points to place oil so that it is warmed by the blood so close to your skin. The middle of your forehead, between and above your eyes, is the mystical location of the third eye and is a good place to put a fifth drop of oil.
Take a moment to face each direction and perform the barefoot grounding ritual, even if you are still in your bathroom. As you close your eyes and check in with your body during the final phase of grounding, say a prayer to your higher power(s) of choice. It may go something like this:
Goddess(es)/God(s)/Universe/Higher self, give me the power and the freedom to direct that power through my body as I will, for the highest good of all and with harm to none. So mote it be.
This ritual can be performed as a daily devotion or as spiritual preparation before a group sky-clad ritual. Though, of course, you need never go naked in public if you don’t want to do so. Do what you wish only in accordance with your own comfort level, but if your gods ask you to bare it all, I suggest that you go for it!