collapse

* Recent Posts

"Christ Is King" by Altair
[Today at 01:09:34 am]


Re: Cill Shift Schedule by SunflowerP
[Yesterday at 11:04:57 pm]


Re: Stellar Bling: The Good, the Bad, the OMG! by SunflowerP
[March 21, 2024, 11:21:37 pm]


Re: Spring Has Sprung! 2024 Edition by SunflowerP
[March 21, 2024, 10:24:10 pm]


Stellar Bling: The Good, the Bad, the OMG! by Altair
[March 21, 2024, 02:52:34 pm]

Author Topic: Clearing bad energy  (Read 1595 times)

Niuve

  • Apprentice
  • ***
  • Join Date: Oct 2016
  • Location: Phoenix, AZ
  • Posts: 24
  • Country: us
  • Total likes: 0
    • View Profile
  • Religion: Asatru (loosely), shrubbery (hedgecraft), <insert_religion_here
  • Preferred Pronouns: She/her
Clearing bad energy
« on: March 11, 2017, 02:10:31 pm »
Hello All!

I was wondering if anyone here had any good ways to rid oneself of negative energies...?
For example, one way I recently came across in Alex Mar's  "Witches of America" was to transfer all negative energy to a glass of water, to then visualize it as becoming clear and light, drinking it (and then peeing it out later, naturally).

Much thanks for your input!




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Emma Eldritch

  • Staff
  • *
  • Join Date: May 2012
  • Posts: 1265
  • Country: 00
  • Total likes: 68
    • View Profile
    • https://rocknrollwitch.blogspot.ca/
Re: Clearing bad energy
« Reply #1 on: March 11, 2017, 02:40:57 pm »
Quote from: Niuve;203606
Hello All!

I was wondering if anyone here had any good ways to rid oneself of negative energies...?
For example, one way I recently came across in Alex Mar's  "Witches of America" was to transfer all negative energy to a glass of water, to then visualize it as becoming clear and light, drinking it (and then peeing it out later, naturally).

Much thanks for your input!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 
I like baths. Like, in general, but also for cleansing purposes. You can find a bunch of recipes for different cleansing baths online or in books, but the simplest is to just add salt to your water.

Another thing I quite like is actually an exercise I learned in dance class. You turn off the lights, put on some music that speaks to you, and you lay down. You then 'dance' on the floor - let your body move how it wants to without being weighed down by regular gravity. You can roll around as much as space allows. I find that this exercise works on physical, emotional, and spiritual levels - I always feel like I've released a lot of junk by the time I'm done. Obviously this may not be an option if you have mobility issues, but if you're lucky enough to be able to do it it really is pretty awesome once you stop feeling like a tit for rolling on the floor.

Jenett

  • Senior Staff
  • *
  • Join Date: Jun 2011
  • Location: Boston, MA
  • Posts: 3743
  • Country: us
  • Total likes: 1235
    • View Profile
    • Seeking: First steps on a path
  • Religion: Initiatory religious witchcraft
  • Preferred Pronouns: she/her
Re: Clearing bad energy
« Reply #2 on: March 11, 2017, 08:51:08 pm »
Quote from: Niuve;203606

I was wondering if anyone here had any good ways to rid oneself of negative energies...?


Depends on the kind of negative energy and where it's coming from.

I do some standard things as routine self-care: a regular centering/grounding/shielding practice, being attentive to what energies I let into my home or bring home with me, some additional cleansing practices on a regular schedule (usually right before Sabbats or other rituals, since that's a good "Oh, yeah,  should remember to do a bit more" reminder for me.) and some regular practices like a bit of sea salt or epsom salt/sea salt mix in my bathtub (usually along with a few drops of a suitable essential oil)

(A regular self-awareness practice is very helpful here. Meditation works for some people, I more reliably do a self-check of 'how am I feeling, and are there any obvious reasons why' which is helpful for physical health reasons. Along with a fair bit of 'quantified self' personal stat keeping to help me tell 'I was busier than usual yesterday and slept poorly' causes from 'I feel lousy for no obvious reason, that might have a non-physical cause')

When I feel like that's not sufficient, I get more detailed, which might involve any or all of the following:

- Deliberate steps for a couple of days about being extra attentive to my physical body (what am I eating, getting plenty of rest and sleep, being attentive to caffeine and alcohol and so on.) Sometimes the "I am feeling off" has very physical causes, and making sure it's not one of them is a good starting point anyway, if the need for energetic cleansing isn't urgent.

(I mean, not that cleansing is *bad*, so I am a "if in doubt, do some more" sort of person as a rule but some parts of it are more time consuming than others or work better with a specific goal.)

- More extensive cleansing bath and visualisation, with more scrubbing / soaking / etc. I might use herbs rather than the easier/less prep salt+simple essential oils (hyssop is a very standard cleansing herb)

- If it feels like an external source that needs cleansing, I'm very fond of a beer bath, which is a classic folk magic technique in a lot of places. Run bath, pour bottle of beer in bath, soak in it for at least 20 minutes, dunk entirely underwater three times (repeating prayer or charm suitable to your religious views).

- Meditation/reflection/journalling/divination/ritual to figure out if I've done something I need to sort out (and if so, what it was, and what the best way forward might be.)

For example, in January, I messed up something with a close colleague at work (some of which was definitely a "I messed up", some of which was us having legitimate but different takes on a topic, some of which was us being different people with different backgrounds).

Once it got clear to me I'd messed up, I took some time to do the divination/reflection thing before I went to try and fix things, so I'd be more sure I was focusing on the important places, and did some cleansing work to make sure I had cleared away any other complicating factors I could so I could get the clearest picture of what I needed to fix.

- If the above work turns up the idea that it might be past or current connections to people that are part of the problem (not in the sense of 'I messed up' or 'this is something reasonable people can work out' but rather the more long-term destructive patterns) then I might look at cutaway work.

There's a bit more about this in an essay on my website on removing unwanted energetic influences, and in another one on which has some other practices also possibly of interest.

Quote
For example, one way I recently came across in Alex Mar's  "Witches of America"


Just as a note, I'd suggest reading up about anything Mar suggests thoroughly in other sources. Kala - that particular practice - is a very powerful practice, but it's also one that can lead to some unexpected results (like many effective practices) and Mar does not describe it or the context it's done with in the tradition it comes from well.

(There are also a number of other issues with that particular book, which I have a public post about over here. I note I'm not unbiased about it for reasons that mentions, but the issues I bring up are good to keep in mind in any book, but especially any that focus more on someone's personal journey, whatever that is, than being a teaching resource.)
Seek Knowledge, Find Wisdom: Research help on esoteric and eclectic topics (consulting and other services)

Seeking: first steps on a Pagan path (advice for seekers and people new to Paganism)

Skumring

  • Journeyman
  • *****
  • Join Date: Nov 2015
  • Posts: 222
  • Country: us
  • Total likes: 7
    • View Profile
  • Religion: Rökkatru
Re: Clearing bad energy
« Reply #3 on: March 11, 2017, 09:40:37 pm »
Quote from: Niuve;203606
Hello All!

I was wondering if anyone here had any good ways to rid oneself of negative energies...?
For example, one way I recently came across in Alex Mar's  "Witches of America" was to transfer all negative energy to a glass of water, to then visualize it as becoming clear and light, drinking it (and then peeing it out later, naturally).

Much thanks for your input!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 
What Jenette said above is pretty much dead-on. The only thing I'd add is that from my experience, visualization/belief is important and that that seems to be a universal thing.

Also, where and what it comes from is important too. Sometimes just avoiding the circumstances that create it can be an excellent way to get rid of them.

For example, at my job a good portion of my coworkers engage in behvior I find particularly irritating; loud and boisterous conversation, racist and sexist dialogue, etc. I prefer to just move to quieter areas of the production floor when they got going and this would cancel out the negativity. However, of late this has become impossible so I'm looking for new ways to do this.

Another potential tool is Hematite. Hematite absorbs negative energy. However, depending on how intense your negative energy is, you may need to cleanse it fairly often.
Owner of Dusk's Embrace Woodworking

At Dusk's Embrace Woodworking we strive to use only naturally sourced materials to make our products out of respect and love for our home.

Facebook: @DusksEmbraceWoodworking

Niuve

  • Apprentice
  • ***
  • Join Date: Oct 2016
  • Location: Phoenix, AZ
  • Posts: 24
  • Country: us
  • Total likes: 0
    • View Profile
  • Religion: Asatru (loosely), shrubbery (hedgecraft), <insert_religion_here
  • Preferred Pronouns: She/her
Clearing bad energy
« Reply #4 on: March 11, 2017, 10:06:39 pm »
Quote from: Skumring;203623
What Jenette said above is pretty much dead-on. The only thing I'd add is that from my experience, visualization/belief is important and that that seems to be a universal thing.

Also, where and what it comes from is important too. Sometimes just avoiding the circumstances that create it can be an excellent way to get rid of them.

 
Thanks so much for all the suggestions!

Thank you for the word of caution about using the kala method...I'm in the process of trying to find a coven near where I live to learn from. I don't want to take Mar's book as a "how-to," but I liked reading about her experience. Currently I'm reading The Spiral Dance by Starhawk and The Inner Temple of Witchcraft by Christopher Penzak for the "how to's" (though the latter is more for curiosity's sake).

A lot of this negative energy is just built up after years of stress, bad relationships, and fretting over being a good mom to my two young kiddos. But recently, I got out of an emotionally and mentally abusive relationship, and so the kids and I have been staying in a domestic violence shelter for the past month. A couple of weeks ago, they moved us from one apartment into an older house within the shelter grounds, and as soon as we got here my three year old son started having nightmares. Every. Night. He wakes up crying, or he's yelling in his sleep, and wet the bed a few times, which is unusual for him. Our roommate's toddler has been the same way: every night, crying, unusual for him his mom says.

Normally I would chalk it up to the transition of things, the general situation, etc. But given the timeline and just gut feeling, I think there's just an obvious history here of bad energy that's maybe stronger than normal.

I did a sage rub to clear stuff out, and filled a satchel with some protective and soothing herbs and crystals to hang above my son's pillow on his bunk. But this energy is stubborn, and I know a lot of it is me too. I can't clear this kind of energy out when I'm filled to the brim with it myself. Hence, my asking about clearing.

I've totally overlooked salt for some reason. I bought some cedar leaves from a shop the other day (because I live in the desert where cedar exists nowhere lol) so I'll make a bath of it with salt. I got some obsidian too. Planning on clearing as much as possible tonight (full moon and all) so I can feel better about putting up protection for myself and the kids.

Again, much thanks!

Edit: because I left a spot blank to fill in a book title before posting and then children happened and I posted without filling it in. Hah.
« Last Edit: March 11, 2017, 10:10:09 pm by Niuve »

Starlight

  • Journeyman
  • *****
  • Join Date: Aug 2016
  • Location: Western Australia
  • Posts: 191
  • Country: au
  • Total likes: 25
    • View Profile
  • Religion: Contemplative/Christian/Eclectic
Re: Clearing bad energy
« Reply #5 on: March 12, 2017, 12:10:42 am »
Quote from: Jenett;203622

(There are also a number of other issues with that particular book, which I have a public post about over here. I note I'm not unbiased about it for reasons that mentions, but the issues I bring up are good to keep in mind in any book, but especially any that focus more on someone's personal journey, whatever that is, than being a teaching resource.)

I'd like to say thank you, Jenett, for the article. I learned a lot about how to behave well in a pagan group and about what sort of things to take into consideration. I'm very grateful for that. It's good to know the protocol. :) A lot of it is basic self-awareness and respect for others, but it was useful to see what is valued and valuable. Sometimes it's easy to overlook the basic stuff.
« Last Edit: March 12, 2017, 12:19:49 am by Starlight »
What you seek is seeking you. - Rumi

The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are. - CG Jung

sevensons

  • Master Member
  • ******
  • Join Date: Feb 2017
  • Posts: 478
  • Country: gb
  • Total likes: 29
    • View Profile
Re: Clearing bad energy
« Reply #6 on: March 12, 2017, 01:32:06 am »
Quote from: Starlight;203625
I'd like to say thank you, Jenett, for the article. I learned a lot about how to behave well in a pagan group and about what sort of things to take into consideration. I'm very grateful for that. It's good to know the protocol. :) A lot of it is basic self-awareness and respect for others, but it was useful to see what is valued and valuable. Sometimes it's easy to overlook the basic stuff.

 
Be positive in your thinking good place to be.
Awaken myself alive and well loving to start learning today ahead a challenge set by the Gods. Haven't

Instagram stevejomac

Jenett

  • Senior Staff
  • *
  • Join Date: Jun 2011
  • Location: Boston, MA
  • Posts: 3743
  • Country: us
  • Total likes: 1235
    • View Profile
    • Seeking: First steps on a path
  • Religion: Initiatory religious witchcraft
  • Preferred Pronouns: she/her
Re: Clearing bad energy
« Reply #7 on: March 12, 2017, 01:24:09 pm »
Quote from: Niuve;203624

I've totally overlooked salt for some reason. I bought some cedar leaves from a shop the other day (because I live in the desert where cedar exists nowhere lol) so I'll make a bath of it with salt.

 
One of the great things about salt is it's very multipurpose: besides having a bath with it, if you think it's the *space* that's the bigger issue, and you have access to cleaning tools, you can use the salt that way to cleanse the space.

- If you have hard floors, you can put salt into water and mop.

- If you have carpet, you can scatter it lightly across the room, leave it for a few minutes, and then vacuum it up.  

- If you have a small spray bottle, you can put a bit of salt in there, add water, shake to dissolve, and then spray it lightly on whatever surfaces. Or you can sprinkle it (a small amount of water, a few pinches of salt, flick it out into the space.)

- If your roommate is okay with this, you can do a circle of salt around your son's bed (and tell him it's a thing to keep bad dreams away: sometimes the simple action of you taking it seriously and doing something that speaks to the desire for an action to keep them out will help a lot.)

- As you read, look out for other methods of banishing and blessing spaces, which are basically about removing unwanted influences and putting in the ones you want.

If you want do add other items, citrus is also associated with banishing, though more likely to affect other materials.

I keep both rosemary and lavender essential oil on hand because they're both pretty cheap (and a 5ml vial will last me for months and months) and because they're both very multipurpose magical herbs. Rosemary in particular is good for cleansing. A few drops of either or both in a spray bottle, your bath, etc. adds a nice little boost to the cleansing.
Seek Knowledge, Find Wisdom: Research help on esoteric and eclectic topics (consulting and other services)

Seeking: first steps on a Pagan path (advice for seekers and people new to Paganism)

Jenett

  • Senior Staff
  • *
  • Join Date: Jun 2011
  • Location: Boston, MA
  • Posts: 3743
  • Country: us
  • Total likes: 1235
    • View Profile
    • Seeking: First steps on a path
  • Religion: Initiatory religious witchcraft
  • Preferred Pronouns: she/her
Re: Clearing bad energy
« Reply #8 on: March 12, 2017, 01:33:35 pm »
Quote from: Starlight;203625
I'd like to say thank you, Jenett, for the article. I learned a lot about how to behave well in a pagan group and about what sort of things to take into consideration. I'm very grateful for that. It's good to know the protocol. :) A lot of it is basic self-awareness and respect for others, but it was useful to see what is valued and valuable. Sometimes it's easy to overlook the basic stuff.

 
If you're curious about that, there's more specific stuff on that topic on my Seeking site, mostly in the Connecting section.

The big things are to respect personal information and not out people as Pagan (or more specific traditions/etc.) without their permission, and to be aware that there should be give and take. Besides being good ideas on their own, they're also fairly good markers for how people will deal with things like rituals with significant personal content, working on larger projects, dealing with training or activities that involve putting their own immediate desires aside, etc.

A lot of groups that do more public stuff spell this out (I'm planning to go to a public ritual tomorrow, actually, for my first time there, and I have my potluck food ready to go, and I will have a suitable bill to drop in the donation bin, and so on, all of which are noted in the ritual info) But a lot of it is just common sense.

(I have had a blog post about trust and reciprocation kicking around for my blog for a while, and I suspect I'll manage to get it written while I'm travelling this week. If so, I'll throw a link in the blog posts thread.)
Seek Knowledge, Find Wisdom: Research help on esoteric and eclectic topics (consulting and other services)

Seeking: first steps on a Pagan path (advice for seekers and people new to Paganism)

SunflowerP

  • Host
  • *
  • Join Date: Jun 2011
  • Location: Calgary AB
  • Posts: 9909
  • Country: ca
  • Total likes: 732
  • Don't teach your grandmother to suck eggs!
    • View Profile
    • If You Ain't Makin' Waves, You Ain't Kickin' Hard Enough
  • Religion: Eclectic religious Witchcraft
  • Preferred Pronouns: sie/hir/hirs/hirself
Re: Clearing bad energy
« Reply #9 on: March 12, 2017, 02:21:55 pm »
Quote from: Niuve;203624
Thank you for the word of caution about using the kala method...I'm in the process of trying to find a coven near where I live to learn from. I don't want to take Mar's book as a "how-to," but I liked reading about her experience. Currently I'm reading The Spiral Dance by Starhawk and The Inner Temple of Witchcraft by Christopher Penzak for the "how to's" (though the latter is more for curiosity's sake).


Here are some descriptions of making Kala (scroll down to the section headed 'Exercise: Making Kala') by people who are actual Feri initiates. They also - particularly that last one - provide info about the context and background of the practice.

Quote
Planning on clearing as much as possible tonight (full moon and all) so I can feel better about putting up protection for myself and the kids.

 
Some of what you said pinged my memory about an old thread here, so I went looking. I'm not positive this is the one I was thinking of, but it has a post about the specific thing I recalled ('monster repellent' spray), and quite a bit of other advice that could be relevant to your situation.

I'm a bit late for your full-moon plans, but if you have more cleansing etc to do, the waning moon is an excellent fit for that.

Sunflower
I'm the AntiFa genderqueer commie eclectic wiccan Mod your alt-right bros warned you about.
I do so have a life; I just live part of it online!
“Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live.” - Oscar Wilde
"Nobody's good at anything until they practice." - Brina (Yewberry)
My much-neglected blog "If You Ain't Makin' Waves, You Ain't Kickin' Hard Enough"

Niuve

  • Apprentice
  • ***
  • Join Date: Oct 2016
  • Location: Phoenix, AZ
  • Posts: 24
  • Country: us
  • Total likes: 0
    • View Profile
  • Religion: Asatru (loosely), shrubbery (hedgecraft), <insert_religion_here
  • Preferred Pronouns: She/her
Re: Clearing bad energy
« Reply #10 on: March 14, 2017, 01:24:33 am »
Quote from: SunflowerP;203655
Here are some descriptions of making Kala (scroll down to the section headed 'Exercise: Making Kala') by people who are actual Feri initiates. They also - particularly that last one - provide info about the context and background of the practice.


 
Some of what you said pinged my memory about an old thread here, so I went looking. I'm not positive this is the one I was thinking of, but it has a post about the specific thing I recalled ('monster repellent' spray), and quite a bit of other advice that could be relevant to your situation.

 
Thank you for the kala resources!

I like that idea of empowering the little guy by giving him the monster spray. I gave him chamomile tea the other night and told him it would help keep the monsters away and before he went to sleep he said he wasn't scared because there was "magic in his tummy" lol. I'll keep that sort of thing in mind now; thanks again!!

And thanks, Jenette for your suggestions! I went salt crazy the other night after cleaning the house, and I drew up an evil eye and pentagram onto a notecard and put that under his mattress then gave him a bath with salt and cedar in it. I also did a banishing ritual for the house.

This is now, I think the second or third night without a nightmare (from my toddler or my roommate's). :)

Thank you again everybody. I'll keep ya posted if he starts having a big problem again.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Tags:
 

Related Topics

  Subject / Started by Replies Last post
3 Replies
11498 Views
Last post July 04, 2011, 08:32:00 pm
by LyricFox
19 Replies
6100 Views
Last post August 08, 2011, 09:01:42 pm
by Raganhildis
13 Replies
1969 Views
Last post May 18, 2014, 03:14:34 am
by Sophia C
11 Replies
1522 Views
Last post January 04, 2016, 11:57:05 pm
by Sri Icetusk
10 Replies
3008 Views
Last post April 15, 2019, 03:28:04 am
by Scales

Beginner Area

Warning: You are currently in a Beginner Friendly area of the message board.

* Who's Online

  • Dot Guests: 192
  • Dot Hidden: 0
  • Dot Users: 0

There aren't any users online.

* Please Donate!

The Cauldron's server is expensive and requires monthly payments. Please become a Bronze, Silver or Gold Donor if you can. Donations are needed every month. Without member support, we can't afford the server.

* Shop & Support TC

The links below are affiliate links. When you click on one of these links you will go to the listed shopping site with The Cauldron's affiliate code. Any purchases you make during your visit will earn TC a tiny percentage of your purchase price at no extra cost to you.

* In Memoriam

Chavi (2006)
Elspeth (2010)
Marilyn (2013)

* Cauldron Staff

Host:
Sunflower

Message Board Staff
Board Coordinator:
Darkhawk

Assistant Board Coordinator:
Aster Breo

Senior Staff:
Aisling, Allaya, Jenett, Sefiru

Staff:
Ashmire, EclecticWheel, HarpingHawke, Kylara, PerditaPickle, rocquelaire

Discord Chat Staff
Chat Coordinator:
Morag

'Up All Night' Coordinator:
Altair

Cauldron Council:
Bob, Catja, Chatelaine, Emma-Eldritch, Fausta, Jubes, Kelly, LyricFox, Phouka, Sperran, Star, Steve, Tana

Site Administrator:
Randall

SimplePortal 2.3.6 © 2008-2014, SimplePortal