The cone of power occurs when the Witch, working in a magick circle alone or with others, raises the energy inside the circle to a point of focus. Once the energy is raised through drumming, chanting, or meditation, it is released toward the goal of focus. Some Witches use the athame, wand, or other pointing device to aid them in their visualization of lifting the energy and sending it toward the desired outcome. Others (like me) use only their hands. The choice is yours.
In the Craft, energy work through visualization, prayer, and touch are of prime importance, whether you are working alone or in a group setting. Teachers begin instructing students to see, think about, and manually control energy immediately, and this training never ceases. Long after students have progressed through the levels that any course has to offer, they will continue to work with energy, honing their skills, until the day they pass to the Summerland. The longer a person practices energy manipulation, the more adept he or she becomes. There is no substitute for continual repetition. Learning to create this energy (or draw it from other sources) is the basic building block for the cone of power.
The modern Wiccan musical chant “We are a circle, within a circle, without beginning, and never ending” (author unknown) tells us why the circle is so important in the Craft environment—it reminds us that we are all one, and that if we work together in a circle (rather than sitting on pews in a straight line), we can raise more power by linking together in this shape, physically and mentally. The circle stands for the Wheel of the Year and the cycles of life. The uroborus is an alchemical symbol that appears in various cultures (Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Chinese), showing a snake swallowing its own tail. In animal form, this image presents the circle as the embodiment of the eternal return—that in every end there is a beginning—a cycle of endless repetition. In alchemy, the uroborus (sometimes written ouroboros) symbolizes the cyclical process of heating, evaporation, cooling, and condensation of a liquid in the process of purifying a substance.12 The uroborus can mean “the One, the All,”13 reminding us that we are all connected and that we are all, ultimately, one energy in the divine dance of life, death, and rebirth. In many cultures, the world serpent of uroborus encircles the cosmic egg, protecting it (us) from ultimate destruction, meaning that which has no ending cannot be destroyed. The Great Round, which is another name for the uroborus, symbolically reminds us of our primordial parents, the Great Mother and the Great Father (as mentioned in our Craft creation myth).14
The uroborus symbol (above) can be drawn on candles, petitions, or other magickal items to draw forth the power of the circle and the unity of all beings. It is an excellent protective device. Sometimes you will see the uroborus drawn in a figure-eight design, impressing us with the idea of infinity. Magickal themes for the uroborus include wisdom; infinity; divine parents; self-sufficiency; the cycle of life, death, and rebirth; time; protection; order from chaos; alpha and omega symbolism; potential of birth; and immortality.
Ball Energy Exercise
One of the first energy exercises taught to Wiccan students is how to make a ball of energy with their hands. The exercise requires your imagination. Rub your hands together until your palms are warm, then slowly pull your palms apart, visualizing a ball of energy growing between them. Students are taught to expand and then contract the ball, using their hands and their imaginations.
After the student gets the hang of the energy ball, the fun begins. The balls are passed to other students, thrown across the room at each other, and dropped like water balloons on top of the head. If you catch the ball, you’ll feel a tingling sensation in your hands.
Once this is accomplished, the student now puts a thought into the ball. The easiest thought transference is love (which should tell us something). Think of the universal love from Spirit, and you’ve just moved light-years into magick. This is the first step in learning to take what is in the mind and transferring that thought into energy created by the friction of rubbing the hands together.
Once accomplished, you can transfer the love energy to any object or person through the vehicle of touch. Now you know how empowerment is done and how Witches heal people either by touch or from long distance. When my children were young and got into squabbles (try having four kids all arguing at the same time and see what a circus your life becomes), I would stand in the doorway (unobserved) and throw love balls into the center of the fray. The kids would break down into giggles every time, the argument forgotten. Hey, it pays to be a Wiccan mother. If you have several siblings, you might teach your mother how to conjure balls of love energy—I’m sure she will be forever grateful.
Once you have learned to create energy balls, the next step is to learn to share them with others by passing them around the circle. This movement of energy is the next step (in a group environment) when creating the cone of power. The energy moves around the circle, building a faster momentum. You no longer have to use your hands to move the energy, only your mind, which is why Witches link hands in the magick circle. Once sufficient momentum is built, and all are focused through meditation or chant to the desired point of release (for example, healing for a specific person), then the high priestess tells everyone when to release the energy. When you are working alone, you choose when to “let go.” In a group environment, a visual clue as to how hard to push the energy and when to release it is the slow raising of hands as the chant or drumming builds to a crescendo.
Hint: Although it doesn’t sound particularly magickal, when working with others, you can make an agreement that the leader counts down from five to one once he or she believes that enough energy has been raised, and that everyone releases when they hear “one.”