[?]Subscribe To This Site
|
Wicca Meditation?
And does it have a place in Wicca? Actually, it has a lot to offer your Wicca practice, particularly for ritual and magick. So What's The Big Deal Anyway?It's about developing the powers of the mind. When you meditate, you develop both mental strength and mental flexibility. This makes you able to access more refined spiritual levels. This is a necessity for spiritual evolution and enlightenment. Why? Because your mind is part of the container for the Divine. (Along with your body, heart, and soul.) Developing your mind prepares you to be a Sacred Chalice for the energy of the Source. Meditation is a spiritual Power Tool. It is the direct line from a human mind to the Infinite Source. Benefits of MeditationThere are plenty of significant benefits of meditation . . .
But these are not the real purpose of meditating. They're just side effects. To understand the real value, you need to know what is happening when you meditate. Let's start with a definition or three. Meditation DefinitionMerriam-Webster Online Dictionary has this definition: "to engage in mental exercise (as concentration on one's breathing or repetition of a mantra) for the purpose of reaching a heightened level of spiritual awareness." Swami Sivananda of the Divine Life Society defines it as "... the flow of continuous thought on one thing or God..." Swami Chidananda, in Guidelines To Illumination, writes that it is
So essentially, it is the spiritual practice of mental concentration upon (or openness to) the Divine, by which you can go beyond the small self that you normally think of as "you" . . .
Why would you want to do this? Because it's the best way we have to consciously connect with our real Self, and the Divine. Meditating WitchesProbably all Witches meditate, more or less. To some degree, we use these skills when we use a grounding technique, do creative visualization, take a trance journey, focus on a spell, and create ritual. For now, though, let's consider pure meditation - the emptying of self in the experience of the Divine. How It Benefits You As A WitchMany Witches have a meditation practice as well as Wiccan practices. Meditation is an excellent way to develop skills used in Wicca, particularly for Magick. This practice enhances a Witch's ability to . . .
These benefits naturally make meditating very alluring to Witches who seek to deepen their spiritual practice. Wicca MeditationBut does Wicca have meditation as a spiritual practice? There has been no direct lineage of meditating in Wicca, not in the way we usually use the word. The closest it seems to come is in rituals of Drawing Down the Moon, Invoking the God/dess, and tonal chanting. And of course the many visualizations and trance journeys have a lot of similarities to this practice. Does this mean that Wicca has no interest in meditation? That depends. In the traditional -- that is, Gardnerian-descended -- Wicca religion, no. Traditional Wicca is very clear about what is and what isn't a Wiccan practice. And any comparable spiritual practices of the mind, if they ever existed among the pre-Christian nature worshippers, have been lost in the mists of time. My belief is that meditating is common to every spiritual path, although not every religion. (This is one of the differences between religion and spirituality.) Not to mention the seemingly natural human propensity to enter meditative states, even while doing repetitive tasks. So I feel certain that ancient Witches must have had some form of meditative practice. But regardless of such speculation, in Wicca Spirituality, meditation absolutely has a place. Wicca as a spiritual practice holds personal and spiritual evolution as the essential objective. And there is no more precisely designed practice for the evolution of spirituality than meditating. There are others ways to access the Divine Within, but none of the others have the same depth or efficiency. If you want to reach your full spiritual potential, meditating is the golden road. And it has a lot to offer your Wicca practice. Which Meditation For Witches?Okay, you may have realized by now that this is something worth exploring. But where do you go from here? There are so many varieties to choose from. Many of them verge on visualization, and vice versa. Some are looser and some more disciplined. Some are easier for beginners and some are extremely advanced. And to top it off, what's easy for one person may be seemingly impossible for another. So how do you know which one to go with? The topic of the next article is just that . . . tips on choosing the right practice for you. Next Article: How To Choose A Meditation If you enjoyed this article, please Stumble it! It only takes a second to share the good stuff with other seekers. (Link opens in new window.) The Power of Creative Visualization What is the purpose of creative visualization? To make real what is not yet real. When it's real to your body-mind, it MUST manifest in the world. This is a key component to making magick . . . Continue Introduction to Grounding Technique Grounding centres you and brings you into alignment with the Divine. No matter what kind of work you're doing, proper grounding will prepare you for it well. . . Continue The Essence of Magick The essence of magick - in Wicca or any other practice - is aligning yourself with the Creative Power of the Universe. When you are aligned with this Power, you can do literally anything. How can you access this Power to make magick. . . Continue Dream Work Dream work is such fun. You learn about yourself, and receive guidance from the Divine. And because of the whimsical nature of dreams, it can be as interesting as it is gratifying . . . Continue Sacred Scents & Wicca Incense Using the 5 senses is fundamental to most spiritual traditions. Sacred scents like incense are one way to awaken the sense of smell, and are an important part of Wiccan ritual . . . Continue Spiritual Enlightenment What is spiritual enlightenment? Whatever path takes you there - Wicca or other spiritual path, enlightenment is the process of liberating your consciousness from the illusions that ensnare you . . . Continue Spiritual Endarkenment Like the yin-yang symbol, enlightenment is incomplete without endarkenment. Both are necessary to spiritual evolution. After all, a bird with only one wing cannot fly. So what is Spiritual Endarkenment? . . . Continue Mantra Mantra is one of the great Spiritual Power Tools. It is possibly the most powerful force in the world. When you understand what Mantra really is, you will understand why this is true. And when you practice it for a while, you will experience this for yourself . . . Continue
|
|