Calming the Mind and Body

Learning to calm the mind and body is particularly essential in reducing stress. When the mind and body are at peace, stress seems to just melt away. Relaxation exercises are among the simplest methods for quieting the body and mind. The purpose of relaxation techniques is to bring about a physiological response known as the relaxation response – a response that is the exact opposite of the stress response. While you may relax by simply sleeping, watching television, or reading a book, relaxation techniques are specifically intended to produce the relaxation response.

In order to achieve the relaxation response, a broad range of techniques can be utilized. It doesn’t really matter which technique you use; ultimately, they all should produce the same physiological state of deep relaxation. Some popular techniques are meditation, prayer, progressive self-hypnosis, relaxation, and biofeedback. The type of relaxation technique that works best for each person is entirely individual. The important thing is that you set aside at least five to ten minutes each day to perform a relaxation technique.

Breathing With The Diaphragm
Producing deep relaxation with any technique involves learning how to breathe. Breathing with the diaphragm is one of the most powerful ways to decrease stress and increase energy in the body. By using the diaphragm to breathe, your physiology can be changed considerably, literally triggering the relaxation centers in the brain.

Here is a popular way to learn to breathe with your diaphragm.

• Find a quiet, comfortable place to sit or lie down.
• Position your feet slightly apart and place one hand on your abdomen near your navel and place your other hand on your chest.
• Inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth.
• Focus on your breathing. Notice which hand is rising and falling with each breath.
• Gradually exhale the air in your lungs.
• Inhale while slowly counting to four. As you inhale, extend your abdomen a bit, causing it to rise about 1 inch. Make certain that you’re not moving your chest or shoulders.
• As you inhale, visualize the warm air flowing in to all parts of your body.
• Pause for one second, and then slowly exhale to a count of four. As you exhale, your abdomen should move inward.
• As the air flows out, visualize all your worry and stress fading away.
• Repeat this exercise until you have achieved a sense of deep relaxation.

Progressive Relaxation

One of the most popular methods for achieving the relaxation response is progressive relaxation. Many people are unaware of the sensation of relaxation. In progressive relaxation, you learn what it feels like to relax by comparing relaxation to muscle tension. This technique is often used in the treatment of anxiety and insomnia.

The idea is to forcefully contract a muscle for one to two seconds and then give way to a feeling of relaxation. Since the procedure runs progressively through all the muscles of the body, eventually a deep state of relaxation will result.

Start by contracting the muscles of your face and neck, and holding the contraction for a at least two seconds and then relaxing the muscles. Then, contract and relax the muscles in your upper arms and chest, and then the muscles in your lower arms and hands. Gradually repeat this process down your body from your abdomen, buttocks, thighs, calves, down to your feet. Repeat the whole series two or three more times.

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Artemis (Diana)

Daughter of Zeus and Leto and twin sister of Apollo, Artemis was one of the twelve great gods and goddesses of Olympus. She was a Greek goddess mainly associated with wildlife and with human birth. She was originally one of the great Mother Goddesses, with emphasis on her role as virgin huntress and patroness of chastity. As Apollo's twin sister, she is regarded as a divinity of the light, specifically the light of the "mon", and such has been an influential archetype for witches. Her symbol is the female bear and she is associated with the constellation Ursa Major.

Legend has it that she was born on the sixth day of the month of Thargelion, a day before her brother. As she grew up in her favorite Arcadia, she would hunt accompanied by sixty young Oceanids and twenty-nymphs. Armed with bow and arrows given to her by Zeus, she gained the epithet Apollousa, "the destructress," and was a deity of sudden death. She was especially venerated in Arcadia but was also worshiped throughout Greece, Crete, and Asia Minor.

Her Roman equivalent is Diana, described as "the eternal feminist." She is the source of magical power for witches, who gather to adore her at the full of the moon. The Canon Episcopi of the tenth century condemned those who "believe and profess themselves, in the hours of the night to ride upon certain beasts with Diana, the goddess of the pagans." She is a slim, beautiful virgin, usually depicted with her hair drawn back and wearing a short tunic--a Dorian chiton. She is frequently accompanied by either a young hind or a dog. As goddess of fertility , she is sometimes depicted with many breasts.

Artemis made chastity a strict law, although she did fall in love with Orion, whom she later shot in the head when tricked into doing so by Apollo. She had a dark and vindictive character and many were punished by death or torment when they crossed her or forgot to pay her reverence. Yet she could also be gentle and loving. She was also a music goddess and lover of singing and dancing.

Most Wiccans honor Artemis/Diana as part of the triple goddess aspect of the moon, and as a nurturer and protector. She has inspired the Dianic, strongly feminist, tradition of Wicca.


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What Is Smudging?

In Witchcraft, the consecration of a person or thing involves a sprinkling with salted water and a "censing" with the smoke of incense. Some Wiccans have adopted the Native American form of censing known as "smudging," which involves the burning of sage and other herbs and grasses.

Almost any herb that smells good when burned may be used for smudging. Any combination of two or three of the following herbs are traditionally favored among Native Americans: sage or sagebrush (Artemisia spp.); sweetgrass (Hierochloe odorata); calamus (Acorus calamus); red will bark (Cornus amonmum); dogwood bark (Cornus floridum); cedar needles or bark (Thuja, Chamaecyparis, and Juniperus spp.); and tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum). After being ground or cut finely, the herbs are burned on an open plate such as a thin, flat rock or a shell, and the smoke is wafted onto the person or thing using a feather or fan made of bird's wings.

Modern Wiccans will also use white sage, garden sage, sweetgrass, and lavender. These can be dried, then the leaves tied together in a tight bungle wrapped with thread, and the resulting "stick" is burned.


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Ravens and Crows

Ravens are considered the most intelligent of birds, on par with the smartest non-avian animals on earth, including dolphins and primates. John K. Terres suggests that Corvidae, or corvids--crows, ravens, and magpies--possess "the highest degree of intelligence" of any birds.

The raven, sacred to Apollo, was regarded as prophetic. In Norse mythology, Odin had two ravens, Hugin and Munin, who flew out each day and reported back to the god all that they had seen. Odin was called Hrafna-gud, or "God of the Raven."

The crow features prominently in Native American mythology. Roger Williams wrote in 1643 of the reverence of the Algonquins fro crows. In the Pacific Northwest, the Kwakiutl and Haida leadership clan is known as the Raven Clan, with Raven Priests. They speak of great leaders who were guided by crows and ravens. Among the Chipeweyan of eastern Canada, crow is a trickster, while the Navaho refer to missionaries as crows, because of their black robes.

The Greeks and Romans believed that crows could predict the weather. Similarly, the raven was sometimes regarded by the Greeks as a "thunderbird" because of its ability to presage a storm. An old Irish saying, "to have raven's knowledge," means to have an oracular ability to see and know all things. In Wales it was common custom to doff one's hat at the sight of a crow.

In England, ravens are still kekpt in official capacity at the Tower of London. It is said that as long as they remain, England will never fall to her enemies. Crows and ravens are believed to have very long life, and in his Metamorphoses, Ovid speaks of the witch Medea injecting the veins of the elderly Jason with the blood of a crow that had outlived nine generations of men. In Tebet, the raven is the messenger of the supreme being.


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Fire Magick

Virtually every civilization has incorporated a god of fire into its pantheon. Most familiar are Ahura-Mazda of ancient Persia; the Greek's Helios; Hestia, goddess of the hearth fire; Loki, Norse god of fire and magick; Lugh, the Celtic sun deity; Ra, the Egyptian sun god; Sol, the Roman god of the sun; and Surya, Hindu god of the sun. Many of the world's religions accept that fire embodies a form of divinity through fire gazing, or propitiation.

In Witchcraft, fire is a part of magick and related to divinity. There should always be fire on a Wiccan altar, be it in the form of a candle or of the burning incense. Fire gazing is a popular form of divination. Just as small children will gaze into the glowing embers of a fire and imagine animals and scenes, so may a Witch or other seer gaze and see portents of the future. Such divination is known as pyromancy.

Candle magick is another popular form of magick utilizing fire. The candles, representing people and things, are manipulated in a ritual to influence who and what they represent. Candles are also used for divination, the flame being gazed at in the same way as are the embers of fire.


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