How to Meditate if You're a Witch
Meditation is has become very popular due to the mental and health benefits that you can gain from calming yourself down and sitting in silence for a few minutes every day. If you are not familiar with the physical and mental benefits, give it a fair Google search and do a bit of reading, then come back.
But meditation can be a bit different when you are using as part of your magick practice. When a witch meditates, it’s not just for the health benefits, it’s also to exert control over their mind and body. This control over the physical is the first step in gaining control over the physical and mental energies that witches deal with.
When a witch performs a ritual or casts a spell, energy is gathered and released with a specific intention in mind. This energy needs to be focused on the intention otherwise the spell or ritual can backfire or go awry. Let me give you an example..
A witch is upset about a break up and want’s to cast a spell to bring their lover back to them. They are gathering the materials they need for the spell, getting all set up and when they go cast to the spell, their thoughts are wondering.. maybe this isn’t the right way.. I want revenge.. They hurt me, they should hurt too, what did I do wrong.. so on and so forth.
Their focus is lacking. When focus is lacking, the Universe doesn’t understand what you want. You’re send out mixed signals, and it’s going to go with the strongest signal (whether it’s topic/intent of the spell or another random thought).
So you see, learning to focus your thoughts and your energy can come in handy. But in reality, learning how to gain this focus is a lot harder than it seems.
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Gaining control over your physical and mental energies is something that I have seen in books that focus on Chaos Magick, such as Liber Null. Paul Foster Case also discusses the importance of understanding your breath or your life power and how that relates to the tarot card The Fool in Tarot Fundamentals.
This life power is the energy that we control with our conscious and subconscious mind. When we are able to better control the energy that is our physical form, we are one step closer to manifesting what we want and channeling our energy.
The normal state of our body, which is tense in some areas and relaxed in others is an uncontrolled state. When you control your bodies relaxed or tensed states, you are exerting more control over your physical self, which is putting you more in tune with the energies of your body.
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The exercises below are arranged in a way that you can work your way up step by step, or you can jump in where you wish. Each step is it’s own exercise and builds upon the preceding exercise. If you are just starting a breathwork or meditation practice, start at the first step. If you have some breathwork practice under your belt, then start where you feel comfortable.
Focus
Focus is an important part of magic. When you are raising your energy, intruding thoughts are the last thing that you need. This exercise will help you to be able to retain your focus for longer and longer periods with practice.
The idea sounds REALLY simple when you talk about it, but doing it is a whole ‘nother thing.
Sit quietly and count backwards from 100. If you forget where you are, you start over at 100.
Like I said, simple, right? But if you are honest with yourself and start over each time you forget where you are because of a distracting thought, this exercise becomes that much harder.
Gazing
Meditation doesn’t have to be done with your eye closed. It can be completed with your eyes relaxed but open. Gazing is the practice of staying very still and focusing your eyes on an object without the object going out of focus. This is where the term “witches gaze” comes from. Witches have gained the reputation of having a penetrating gaze that gets deep into your soul, this is a practice that can help develop that skill.
Gazing Practice
Sit somewhere quietly where you wont be disturbed for a chosen amount of time. Set an object on a table in front of you, or choose a light switch or plug on the wall opposite you to practice your gaze on. Don’t use an object like a candle where your mind will be active trying to make sense of the images you see in the flame. Choose something that is unmoving and static.
Set the timer on your phone for 2 to 10 minutes. Stare at the object of your choosing for the set amount of time. Do not let your eyes go hazy and loose focus and stay as still as possible. Really focus on seeing what you are looking at. Try to keep your thoughts from wondering while you do this.
Stillness Meditation
This meditation is all about being as still as possible. The fewer muscle twitches and small micromovements the better.
To get into position, lie down on the floor or somewhere comfortable where you won’t be disturbed. Set a timer for 5 to 10 minutes. Make sure that your body is in a fully supported position that will be comfortable for an extended period of time. To fully relax, tense and release your muscles, starting with your toes and working your way up your body. Continue to lie in the same position and notice all of the small movements in your body. Aim to slow and eventually stop these movements. Think about why the movements are occurring.
Questions to Ask
What is causing an automatic movement to happen?
Is your body falling asleep?
Do you have pins and needles in a part of your body?
What is keeping you from being still?
Aim to increase the time that you can remain completely still to 30 minutes before moving onto the next exercise.
Meditation of the Dead
This meditation is about keeping your body as still as possible. This uses the breath control and the stillness meditation from the above. Please be careful when completing this meditation. If you have any health problems or concerns, stop immediately.
Lie down in a comfortable position on the floor or bed. Relax and slow your breathing. Become still as you have learned in the previous exercise. Breath in and out so slowly that it could go unnoticed by someone who sees you. These are those long deep breaths from the breath control that you have been working on.
While you are doing this, the lack of large amounts of air coming into your body can be scary as you are breathing so deeply and slowly. Go at your own pace. See how long you can hold the pose for and aim to increase your time the more often that you do it. Address the fears that come up. Remind yourself that you are in complete control of the situation and you can stop at any time. What holds you back? What is causing you to move or increase the frequency of your breath?
Final Thoughts
These meditations will not only help you gain more control over your physical body, but the emotions and fears that get brought up give you the chance to address them in a safe situation. Take your time working up to through these exercises as there is no rush to complete them in a certain time frame.
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Tips & Tricks
Keep a journal with you when you do these exercises. Write down the exercise that you did and any thoughts or emotions that came up.
You could also use the journal to practice automatic writing after your session.
Support your head. When you are relaxing I notice that the first thing that wants to move is my head, so using a pillow that helps to keep your head in place is helpful.
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