The Witching Hour Read online

  And so the blindness continues. Even in our own magickal community if you allude that science is what we are actually practicing, we are called New Age or some other set of words in a derisive tone, indicating that we know nothing. Well, they can just believe that. It works for me. It heals the sick. It defeats the foes. Yeah, it may sometimes take a while; but it happens. In fact, you are reading this book because of the success of the techniques presented in it. So be it.

  The Power of Release

  For seven years I ran an online release program during the month of December on my WordPress blog (silverravenwolf.wordpress.com) to help people easily combine acts of magick and ritual with everyday tasks. This was a free program that lasted for thirty days, designed to help the magickal practitioner deal with the stress of the calendar year closure in combination with the holidays the world celebrates. The main theme of the release program was this: let go of one thing, just one, every single day. Over the years I added challenges for the truly industrious or fun things to do to take the edge off this high-stress period. Writing the blog taught me many things, from the practical to the creative to the magickal. I also learned a great deal about my readers and the issues they were dealing with. The premise of the program was that each year we were all in this together. I worked the program right along with the readers; that way I was not telling them what to do and standing back with no vested interest in what they were actually doing. I was right in there with them, from start to finish.

  One of the most important observations I have learned through all those years is that release is vital for a healthy individual, whether you practice magick or not. If you don’t let go of all the past garbage in your life, it will eventually build to a point where it will suck you into the tar pit of your own subconscious waste. This mess will bubble out in a variety of health issues or in negative behavior that affects not only yourself but the world around you. By systematically letting go of as much emotional detritus as possible, you can enjoy some mental and physical benefits that carry over into your everyday life.

  It was the continued success of the program that taught me this release process should be incorporated in daily activities such as house blessings, cleansings of the environment on a cyclical basis, spiritual cleansings of the body and mind, meditation that focuses on the release of negative thoughts and emotions, and regular release ritual, spells, and rites. Release work flows extremely well through the third and fourth quarter moons; however, releasing negativity, worry, and fear through some type of symbolic act each day helps to build a stronger spiritual base within the self. The release program I spoke of earlier works on the idea that by releasing something in the physical world that is no longer of use, broken, or carries nasty memories, at the same time you also are releasing negative thought patterns. You get a twofer.

  When people write to me telling me that their lives are horrible, that their finances are in the toilet, that their emotional state is beyond horrible, I aways give them the following advice: put it in your mind that you are on a magickal mission. Some people like to think of it as a challenge; others choose to believe that the tasks are a group of sacred activities. It doesn’t matter how you jump into it; the point is you have to make the conscious choice for change, supported by a physical act that you mean business!

  Secondly, acknowledge that all upsets in life are a process. Such difficulties are not the end of the matter. They impact your life because you need to get moving, not sink into the grave of despair. Where to go from here is what counseling, study, and divination are for. Problems are beginnings. Too often we think of negative issues as endings, and so we hug those difficulties dearly like they represent our favorite toy of fifty years ago. I don’t know why we do this, we just do. And at that moment we think that if we let go of the battered, smelly toy, we lose. It never occurs to us that we have to release the initial mental shock of the problem and move forward in the direction best spiritually suited for us, not pick at it like a buzzard over a dead carcass. The other interesting thing I have learned is that “it ain’t over until you say it is.” Even if the issue seems to be a solid decision made about you that is hurtful and wrong, and you have been told there is no other recourse, it isn’t the end game. I have learned that you are the one that closes the stadium and turns out the lights. Nobody but you. The question then becomes: What will my choices be? Will I choose wisely? You can still move on, move away from the pain and unfortunate circumstances, and let go of the junk, yet win in the end. You don’t have to eat, drink, sleep, and talk about the problem ad nauseum to win; in fact, those activities will probably ensure you lose because you’ve gotten mentally stuck at the beginning of the process. Don’t stalk your problems.

  You can move on. Find another job. Meet new people. Discover new talents. Learn how to mentally manage things differently that will improve not only your lifestyle, but those of your family as well. There is always an open door somewhere. Sure, it might take a little time. So what? You can say to yourself, “How can I change things to make sure that the negative experience never happens to me again? How can I turn this situation or experience to my benefit? How can I help others with what I have learned?” You are not a single canoe, cut off from the universe, drifting upon a sea of gunk all by your lonesome, singing a tune of wanton despair. That is your perception, and it isn’t right. It is narcissistic. You are not cut off from anything; you just aren’t seeing the connections that are oh so there! It is the understanding that these links exist that turns on the light of realization within ourselves. You see that what you thought was this rickety, itty bitty boat is actually a pathway that leads everywhere to everything; you just thought it was a boat because the light on your cell phone was out. Your own illusions are your worst enemy.

  Releasing negativity and performing cleansings of all types help to barrel through those predatory, self-inflicted personal myths, allowing us to move forward in a joy-filled, positive way. So, when the bad stuff happens or you want to change your life because you don’t like how it is playing out, I have a few simple recommendations that work.

  First, do a complete spiritual cleansing with blessed herbs, blessed water, etc. (see chapter five) to set your mind in the new direction.

  Then rearrange one large piece of furniture in your home. Yes, move it. If you can’t physically do this, have someone else do it. There is always a big piece of furniture that seems to be a problem in any home: it is there, you wish you’d put it over there, but, oh well, just leave it. By moving a large piece of furniture, you are revitalizing the chi (energy flow) of your living environment. This is particularly important if you are immersed in financial problems or if someone in your home is extremely aggressive or negative.

  Clean all clutter in the house. All of it. Every little bit of it. No more piles of books and papers in the corner. No more pieces of dried banana peel under the sofa. No more clothing all over the floor. Just keep singing to yourself, “No more, no more, no more, no more!” Use a three-pass technique—that way, you don’t get depressed even before you’ve begun. You can do this on successive days if the mess has gotten ahead of you. Make the process as magickal as possible, adding as many magickal goodies as you like—herbal room sprays, floor washes, incense, whatever lifts your spirits as you work.

  The three-pass technique embraces the vibration of the number three, where each acknowledgment ramps up or tones down the energy targeted by the intent. In clearing an area, first remove all things that have no emotion attached to them the first time you work on a place, cupboard, or drawer. Getting rid of those things—objects without emotional energy clinging to them—lightens the task. Because you will be looking at the area three separate times, it is easier to move forward. You are giving yourself time to emotionally let go of items that hold more tangled energies, and you are also giving yourself time to make this choice during the second pass. During the last pass ask yourself the following questions as you hold th
e object in your hands: Have I used this in the past six months? Do I even know what this object is for? How does this object make me feel? If I am emotionally distraught over an object, I get rid of it. Realistically, I can’t take anything with me from this life to the next, so why (I ask myself) am I holding on to this ratty old thing? That’s my way of talking to myself—you will have your own inner dialogue.

  Throw out or give away the oldest object in the house that has no value.

  These three activities—moving furniture, clearing clutter, and removing one old object—are physical statements to yourself that you are working through a problem, not hanging onto it for dear life. If you try to rationalize why you are not doing these three activities, then this is a sure signal to yourself that you are mentally, for whatever reason, not ready to move through the difficulty. There is no excuse. There is always a way. Go with that and things will absolutely begin to change.

  The last step is to list ten things that you absolutely love, and focus on as many activities as possible that involve items on that list for a thirty- day period. Use the symbolism of one of those favorites on your altar as an “open the way” focus. One person I know uses a statue of an elephant (Ganesh); another uses a model of the starship Enterprise. Other focus objects have been an antique car, a ship, a surfboard, a Pokémon, etc. The object doesn’t have to be considered magickal (like a statue of a fairy)—in fact, we’ve found that the more mundane the image, the better.

  What if you don’t have any pressing problems? Will these activities still be useful? Absolutely! The release program blog showed a significant improvement in all the lives of the individuals who posted their comments as they worked through the process. Some started with problems, some didn’t. There were those who were moving through illness, loss of loved ones or pets, and loss of job or home, and there were people whose lives were stable and just wanted a delightful boost. The beautiful thing about this information is that I’m not just telling you; you are able to read the information for yourself, as the blog is open to the public.

  Release Before a Working

  All magick begins with release and ends with release.

  In the old days, the mechanism of beginning with release was called “sacrifice,” and like many words it has a variety of meanings. Too often, the mind goes to the worst possible connotation, giving up something you love in a violent way. That is not what it means in magick! Here, you must be willing to let go of past negative behavior and thoughts, free yourself of worry and fear, and dispense with broken beliefs that are actually harming your positive life path. You can do a super big ritual, go to therapy, or vent to your friends; all these things are a good form of release. However, we are human, and “once and done” just doesn’t work. As we move through life we have a variety of experiences, and each one of those situations has emotional energy attached to it. You never stop collecting emotional garbage; however, you can limit the barrage by right action, right thought, and continued spiritual practices. Because we are such excellent collectors of energy, each and every day we need to do some sort of balance training to easily let go of negative thoughts and feelings. Likewise, we should be sure we stand firm in the best possible mental place before each and every magickal working.

  There are a variety of practices that are employed to embrace the idea of release: creating sacred space, taking a ritual bath, house and ritual room cleansings, personal cleansing ceremonies, etc. However, although we have done all those things on a regular basis, doing it every single time we want to do a working can present a problem. You are busy. You have a full life. Locking yourself in your bedroom for even a half hour (or running into the woods for forty-five minutes) presents a real scheduling problem. If no one in your house lets you shower in peace or sit on the toilet for five minutes without an interruption, they certainly aren’t going to let you get away for an hour to commune with the gods.

  Mental Release Techniques

  Face the east and breathe deeply several times. Allow your mind to shift and blend into your surroundings. Touch the peace of the universe, then pull back. Breathe deeply. Touch it again. Pull back. Then try this short charm as your final release mechanism so that you can firmly “lock in” to that spiritual energy. As you say the charm, envision exactly the images that are being invoked.

  “The pungent smoke of burning sage.” Breathe in deeply, imagining you are smelling the smoking sage. As you exhale, envision that the smoke is carrying off any negativity around you.

  “The burst of liquid sparks.” Breathe in deeply, imagining that tiny lava-like sparks are burning away all negativity around you.

  “The rush of salted air.” Breathe in deeply and imagine you are at the beach: hear the pounding of the surf, smell the sea water vapor. Imagine that a quick yet gentle breeze filled with that vapor envelops you and cleanses your body, mind, and soul of all fear, worry, and doubt.

  “The crumble of pungent black earth.” Breathe in the sweet aroma of fresh, warm earth, the type from a rich garden bed. Imagine that as you crumble the dirt in your fingers, you are physically releasing and letting go of any negative energy that is attached to your body.

  Take another deep breath and say, “I am free.” Then reach out with your mind and accept a flood of white or golden light that unites you with the positivity of the universe. Or you can let that feeling of peace unfold within you like a flower, and as its petals open, each one vibrates and touches the white or golden light of the spirit of One. You can intone a blending chant of some sort, if you like, or fill yourself with a favorite prayer.

  Try this release technique for at least a week each morning, each evening, and before you do any working. If you don’t like the way I’ve presented the elements to you, feel free to write your own prose. The idea is to experience the elements within yourself. Mixing them is acceptable, as “the rush of salted air” is really air, water, and earth, etc. The idea is internalizing the cleansing with visualization that pops within the mind and combines words, thoughts, and emotions into one. This technique works well for the projects in this book as well as many other magickal applications. I encourage you to spend some time writing what will most speak to you. Trial and error isn’t a bad thing.

  Mental Release and the Power of Water

  One of my favorite Braucherei techniques is the use of running water combined with sacred chanting. Water vibrates well to your thoughts. Its flowing movement not only helps you release negative thoughts, but also absorbs your intent and moves that energy to the conclusion you desire. All you need is a running tap and yourself.

  To release, hold your hands under cool running water. Breathe deeply, allowing the experience of the cool water rushing over your hands to permeate your entire being. Think of nothing but the feel and the aroma of the rushing water. Be the water.

  Do this for as long as it takes for you to feel that you are the water. Continue to breathe deeply, and now, each time you exhale, let negativity flow out of your body. Let go of fears, worries, emotional pain, hatred—the visualization is easy because as you release, the water is flowing down the drain unless your sink is stopped up, which would definitely be a sign you are, too! Watch the water flow away from you, let your mind push out those nasty thoughts, and experience the liquid movement on your hands for magickal triple-play action.

  If you can, see the energy of yourself mixing with the water and clearing as the water runs. At first, you may mentally see dark stuff coming out of yourself and mixing with the rushing water. Keep pushing the energy until you mentally see that it is clearing. You may wish to use a chant or charm of release at this point. Water also takes whisper magick extremely well, so methodically whispering your chant, charm, or prayer, with a louder verbal push at the end (or allowing your voice to drop to being almost inaudible) impacts the working with an extra oomph. This simple technique also works in a variety of healing situations. Don’t let the simplicity of the chants fool
you; there is incredible power in attunement with the elements.

  Release Water Chant

  Water move, water flow; let it out, let it go.

  Water move, water flow; carried off, tidal tow.

  Water move, water flow; release, release, make it so.

  Twisted Thoughts

  I’d like you to pull a paper towel off a roll and twist it. I’ll wait while you go do that, okay? Twist it really, really good! Now examine it. What do you see? What was large (a sheet of paper towel) is now condensed, collapsing in on itself due to your force. Let’s make believe that the end that is closest to you is where you are right now, and the end farther away is where you want to get to—the result of all those twisted thoughts in your brain. Even if we unroll the towel without tearing it, the texture will be different. The towel is changed due to your action. Conclusion: every action has a reaction, even if the change only appears minimal, but that’s just the beginning of working with the paper towel.