Life As The Witch

Looking in Dorian Gray’s Mirror

These days, people are not encouraged to examine themselves, deeply, if at all. We breeze through our days playing a part: the student, the grunt, the boss, the teacher, the wife, and so on. How often during your day do you batten yourself down so that the real you isn’t exposed? Do you do it because it keeps you safe, because you think who you are is unacceptable, because it would crack your mask? Living masked day in and day out can make it very difficult to see oneself clearly. Wear those masks long enough and sooner or later you’ll start to forget the person you really are and then you’ll be nothing but the hollow mask of the character you play. Shadow magick breaks through the lies, most especially the ones you tell yourself. This simple ritual will introduce you to shadow magick and the practice of looking deep within.

Materials:

A black candle

Insight oil

A small mirror

Incense, if desired (dragon’s blood or a mixture of frankincense and myrrh both work well)

Paper

Pen or pencil

To Make Insight Oil:

Grind 1 teaspoon each of dried mugwort, sage and yarrow into a fine powder. Mix with 3 tablespoon of jojoba oil in a jar with a tight fighting lid. Let steep for three to four weeks. Strain and it’s ready to use. For the most potent oil, make this ono the Dark Moon and let it steep until the next Dark Moon.

Perform this ritual at night in a quiet, private place where you won’t be disturbed. This is most effective during the Waning and Dark Moon. Also, make sure you have enough time to both perform the ritual and to decompress afterward. Looking at the shadow is emotionally taxing and can leave you wrung out. Give yourelf time to deal with whatever comes up without other responsibilities pressing on you.

Gather your materials, shut the door, close the drapes, turn off your cell phone, and turn down the lights. Sit comfortably on the floor (or on a chair at a table) with your materials in front of you.

Take a few minutes to simply breathe and let go of the stresses of the day. Ground and center as you normally do. If you find that your mind has difficulty pushing away the thoughts of the day, perhaps you need to deal with them before performing this ritual.

Light the incense if you’re using any. Anoint your third eye with a drop of Insight Oil. Think for a few minutes about why you want to see yourself more clearly. Think about what you hope to gain. Think about what challenges you expect the exercise to present. Are you really willing to see yourself without bias, warts and all? Take some time to write down these thoughts until you feel that you really understand why you’re doing this.

Anoint the black candle with the Insight Oil and light the candle. Pass the mirror just above the candle flame (just far enough that the heat doesn’t hut your fingers, but you can feel it).  Envision the heat and light of the flame passing into the mirror, cleansing its energy and empowering it. If you’re using incense, pass the mirror through the smoke while envisioning the smoke imparting its energy into the mirror.

Hold the mirror to your third eye and either think or say aloud:

“I will see myself clearly. I will see who and what I really am. Show me my strength. Show me my weakness. Show me all that I am. Show me joy and sorrow, pride and folly, success and failure. I see clearly. I see who and what I really am.”

Look in the mirror. Look at yourself, really look at yourself. Look beyond the face you present to others, look beyond your flesh. Look deeply into your own eyes. See the kernel of “you” that lives deep within your soul. What do you see?

Take a few minutes to write down what you see. Write down your strengths and your weaknesses, everything. Who is the person that lives deep inside your true heart? What in your life needs to change in order for that person to thrive?

You may find this easy or difficult. If it’s difficult, don’t worry, you’re on the right track. If it’s easy, either you’re a near bodhisattva or you just aren’t ready to see what lies below—that’s okay too. Shadow magick only works when you’re ready for it to work, so it’s okay to put it aside and come back later.

When you feel you’ve seen all of yourself that you’re able to process now, turn over the mirror and say:

“Thank you for showing me my deeper self.”

It it’s short enough, let the candle continue to burn—snuff it out if it isn’t. (The candle can be reused the next time you do this exercise.) Stand up and turn on the lights. Allow yourself some time to process the experience.

Reference:

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