Riding the Chaos Dragon

As with anything we practice the longer and harder we practice
witchcraft the stronger we become at it. A good deal of work in
witchcraft is exercising your brain and "retraining" it to a more
natural and less socially programmed state. We almost naturally find
techniques of practice that works best for how our individual minds
operate. Because every mind is different and everyone has different
experiences that have made them who they are, as well as set their
point of views, what works for one mind might not work for another.
It's like having a computer program that works on one computer but
not another. It's not that the program is bad, it's just that it was
not made for both. That's about the bottom line when it comes to
witches arguing over what will work and what wont. Point of view and
programming.

But there is another aspect to witch-crafting that applies to all
paths, all techniques, and all point of views and that is
simply "energy". Power of the mind, faith, will, or the Gods
themselves it's all energy. And again just like a computer we need
energy to run those programs and points of views that we all love so
much.

When we meditate we tap into mental energy. When we spell-craft we
tap into willpower. When we commune with Deity we tap into the energy
of our faith. In it's natural state this metaphysical energy is just
that. Some say that it comes from nature or the elements or is even
granted to us by the Gods. Personally I think it simply comes from
existence. In this realm or any other, everything in existence has
potential energy. And it is that energy that holds it in existence.
Surely it can manifest itself in countless ways and be interpreted by
both imaginative and scholarly minds in even more ways.

What sets witches apart is that we spend time learning how to take
that potential energy and put it into motion. With a bit of practice
we can train our minds to pick up on, feel, and sometimes even see
the potential energy in all things. Which is why some witches find
energy in stones and crystals, others in plants and animals, and
still others in the sun and the moon. We retrain our minds to collect
this information that would otherwise be ignored or stored somewhere
in our sub-conscious. Then we find techniques that work with our
individual programming to tap into that energy and use it.

However, as we learn and grow as witches something else begins to
take place. Somewhere along all of our paths we spend less time
looking out and more time looking in. We look at our history, we look
at out current lives, and we look to our future. Slowly we begin to
learn who we truly are as opposed to all the things that we have been
told we are. We learn to see our souls. And when we reach the level
in which our souls are just as clear to our eyes as anything in the
outside world, all the training and practice that we took on to see
the potential energy of existence comes into play almost by reflex
and we see the potential energy of our spirit.

It only makes sense. If everything in existence has energy then our
souls do too. But the soul is a bit different because it transcends
the boundaries of the natural world. Therefore, the energies that
surround it are not bound by the limitations of something that does
not have a soul such as a crystal or wand. The soul also has a funny
way of radiating much more energy than anything that is solely
physical. The spirit seems to have energy in excess from time to
time. And what energy it doesn't need to exist it sends outward. And
yet again, since witches have learned to pick up on these otherwise
ignored details, we can interpret another spirit and energy just as
we would anything else in nature. This is the reason we are attracted
to some people but repelled by others. Of course just about everyone
does this, but not many outside of witches explore the phenomenon in
this manner.

It is often said that witchcraft is a "spiritual path" meaning that
we want our spirits to learn and grow stronger. But as we follow that
path we eventually reach a point in our growth when the energy of our
spirit is extremely strong in comparison with others. Some people
radiate much more power than others and their very presence can be
felt even when we can't see them with our eyes. A detail that also
crosses the boundaries of death. The stronger the soul the more
chances we have of being able to pick up on them.

When we find ways to use the energy of our spirit and direct it with
spell-work or other techniques then we become something more than
just your average witch. We find that we no longer need all the tools
and rituals or the bells and whistles that may have entertained our
minds at one time or even felt necessary for us to actually pull
anything off. We become self sufficient.

With that "awakening" then we find that what we once had to practice
is now a mental and spiritual reflex. We no longer have to set and
focus our minds so hard to cast spells or contact Deity. Often we
don't even have to consciously be aware that we are directing our
excess spiritual energy into a particular area. Leaving one to wonder
just how many "spells" we cast out into the universe without ever
knowing it. Now that is a good explanation for "karma".

But what happens when we find that our spiritual energy has built up
so much that we start to feel like some sort of unseen dam is about
to burst? Instead of steady pulses of energy radiating from our
spirit it begins to fold back in on itself and swirl around until we
are in the eye of a spiritual maelstrom unable to focus on anything
beyond the storm and anyone who gets near to us end up like tiny
ships on a violent ocean. And the ocean doesn't care if the ships are
getting tossed about. While we have a conscience our energy does not.
It doesn't pick and choose what to touch and what not to touch. It
doesn't know the difference between a rock and a soul. It's just
energy and it will touch everything in existence equally.

This is where grounding and our mental checks and balances come into
play. And the more powerful you become as a witch the more you have
to think about these kinds of things. If not for self maintenance
than at least to protect those close to you. The almost frightening
thing is that in order to set those checks and balances we have to
know exactly what we are dealing with when it comes to our potential.
So we find ourselves watching for the spiritual storms so that we can
explore them and learn what it will take for us to set the mental red
flags that tells us a storm is brewing. We want to try and find ways
to get ahead of ourselves so that we have better changes of relieving
some of the spiritual pressure before it spins out of control or at
the very least buy us enough time to tell our loved ones that we need
to get away for a while until the storm passes or we can ground it
out.

This is why personal space is sometimes very important to a stronger
witch. Or why open nature seems so appealing to us. It has very
little to do with not wanting to be around anyone for a time and more
to do with being afraid of what we are truly capable of.

Learning this lesson first hand is a ride on the dragon of chaos.
It's often a dark and violent ride that some never really get off of.
They get lost somewhere in the storm and never fully recover. We see
that manifest in their lives as their health begins to fail and
nothing ever goes the way they would like it to. They sometimes
complain or cry for help never knowing that those outside the storm
can do very little to reach the eye where all that power is coming
from. If not kept in check we can very easily become our own worst
enemy.

(Angel Snowden 2006)