Grounding & Centering for Witchcraft (+ shielding and raising energy!)
Grounding and centering are visualization and meditation methods that can help you become more present and aware in your body and focus your energy. For regular meditation these practices can be helpful for becoming more present, finding calm. But for a witch they can be a very useful tool in focusing your energy.There are a lot of slightly different perspectives on what each of these really do. I will never speak for the community as a whole, only myself, but for me:
Grounding is a method to reconnect with the earth, to become present in your body and your reality. Many will also consider grounding the same as “earthing,” which is making some sort of physical connection to the earth. Usually something like walking barefoot on something like grass, sand or soil.
Centering is to find your energy center, align your energy back together there so you can focus it on the ritual or task at hand.
Raising energy is exactly what it sounds like. Raising the energy in a space, a circle, within yourself. Raising energy can go hand in hand with grounding and centering meditations but it’s also often done with more active things like breath work, dancing, or other higher energy based activities.
It is often beneficial to ground and center both before and after bigger energetic rituals or workings. The grounding and centering before your ritual is to focus, raise energy, then grounding and centering afterward is to release extra energy so it doesn’t stay stored in your body or your space.
Think of it like stretching both before and after a workout. Before is to limber up, make sure your body is warm and you’re not going to hurt yourself. After is to cool down, stretch out the muscles you just worked on and bring the energy back down.
I’ll also mention shielding because I often hear that in conjunction with both of these. Shielding is also a meditation and visualization method used for creating a protective shield for your energy. Many witches will instead cast a circle. I have a method of shielding described here (see: circle casting method 2).
Just as there are many varying descriptions of grounding and centering, there are even more methods to grounding and centering. So if you think one is not working for you, try some other ones until one feels like it will come more naturally to you. Some things like walking, yoga, painting, could also be meditative and may be your preferred method, even if it’s sort of outside of the box for standard meditation.
I often consider circle casting a meditative method on its own. It puts me in the right headspace when I need it. But if I’m simply shielding or need more focus, my grounding and centering method does not have to take more than a minute or two and is combined into the following
My method of grounding & centering:
First, sit comfortably. Focus your attention to whatever part of you is touching the chair or the ground. Your thighs, your feet, whatever part of you has a physical connection. Now become a *tree. OK, stay with me for a second. Visualize or if you can’t visualize try to feel roots like tree roots going from those connection points into the ground. After your roots have made a connection with the earth, you can grow your branches upward. Feel or visualize or both your energy reaching back up towards the sky. Take a few deep breaths here.
Now that we’ve grounded, we’re going to take the energy from the earth below and the sky above and feel them coming together to meet at your center. Your personal center will vary. Some people feel it in their gut or stomach, I actually feel like my energy core would be closer toward my heart. You can imagine this however you’d like, whether it’s glowing energy, fire, water, whatever resonates with you. Breathe here for a moment.
Now you’ve focused your energy and you’re ready to use it!
*What if you don’t want to be a tree? I’m a plant lady but I get you. You may resonate more with another element. Rather than become a tree, maybe you become a blaze of fire, a waterfall, a gust of wind, a celestial body that connects to the earths core and up to the stars and planets.