{"id":1117,"date":"2017-01-10T13:05:43","date_gmt":"2017-01-10T03:05:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/hearthwitchdownunder\/?p=1117"},"modified":"2018-01-24T13:32:02","modified_gmt":"2018-01-24T03:32:02","slug":"power-music-dance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/hearthwitchdownunder\/2017\/01\/power-music-dance.html","title":{"rendered":"The Power of Music and Dance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

As I write this it is the evening of the 4th day of the year.\u00a0 The 4th day.\u00a0 Wow, it feels like the year is already half gone my head has been so busy!\u00a0 My year has started in the same way last year ended \u2013 hectic.\u00a0 Physically, emotionally and mentally, it\u2019s been hectic.<\/p>\n

I am stuck in this legislative headspace, because my state government is trying to put through new rules for homeschooling that aren\u2019t of any interest to many reading this.\u00a0 But I have been reading and writing up a storm trying to understand what they want and what we need to do to fight certain parts of it. I am also still packing, slowly, in preparation for moving so my body is stuck there \u2013 as is my head.\u00a0 Plus a bunch of other things, all rolling around in my head, tightening my shoulders, keeping me awake at night as I make plans that I forget about the next day.<\/p>\n

And so it has been very difficult for me to get into a good head space for writing here on Patheos and, unfortunately, to get into ritual mode at all.\u00a0 Basically, the Pagan and religious side of me has been pushed away.<\/p>\n

\"There
public domain via pixabay<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I Suck at Meditation!<\/h2>\n

Most people would suggest, in this busy brain and body situation, to meditate.\u00a0 Meditation is the way to go, it will quieten those thoughts and relax the body and blah blah blah.\u00a0 It really doesn\u2019t help me, meditating makes things worse for me \u2013 at least traditional forms of meditation.\u00a0 I have a few times been able to miraculously achieve that quiet mind stuff that meditation is meant to bring about \u2013 but when I am done? My head gets even worse, as though it is overcompensating for that small period it was shut down.<\/p>\n

So meditation is not the answer to this, not for me!<\/p>\n

The Sound of Music<\/h2>\n

One of the things that I have used in the past to get into ritual mode is to listen to music that I deem \u201cPagany\u201d, even if it has nothing to do with Pagan things.\u00a0 It\u2019s about the sound of it and what feelings or thoughts it creates in me.\u00a0 Songs that create a fey or witchy feeling, songs that bring a haunted (but not sad\/depressive) feeling.\u00a0 Songs that are somehow, mystical.\u00a0 I am not sure how to describe it really.<\/p>\n

So I might listen to some Loreena McKennit, Faith and the Muse, Elane, Omnia and similar.\u00a0 Or I might listen to things that others wouldn\u2019t think of using for this purpose \u2013 the main song from Skyrim or Game of Thrones for example.<\/p>\n

What I do is put the earphones in and turn it up loud and get so consumed by the music that my head does become empty and my body loosens up and relaxes.\u00a0 The music doesn\u2019t empty me though, it leaves something else behind.\u00a0 Depending on the song, it\u2019s like being filled with (non-toxic) smoke, shadow, darkness, fire, ice or something else like that.\u00a0 Some natural thing inside of me, that isn\u2019t mundane, isn\u2019t part of human concerns, but raw and pure and powerful.\u00a0 It\u2019s a different thing for each song, but it\u2019s all the same in that non-human way.<\/p>\n

I suppose, in a way, listening to music with intent is a form of meditation for me.\u00a0 It can break my mood, strip my emotions bare, empty my thoughts or change them completely, focus me or, when in need, let my focus relax so I focus on nothing but instead just flow.<\/p>\n

Music is helping me write this post.<\/p>\n

The Power of the Voice<\/h2>\n

I also love to sing, and in my opinion I am actually a pretty good singer.\u00a0 Your opinion may differ, but your opinion in this matter is unimportant really.\u00a0 I love to sing.\u00a0 It\u2019s similar in nature to listening to music, except it is more physical.\u00a0 When stressed or angry I find singing a very good way to release all of that pent up emotion and let it out in a way that doesn\u2019t make you sound like you\u2019re killing people.\u00a0 Getting my voice pumping out will literally take the tension from my scrunched up shoulders and neck.<\/p>\n

Of course it depends on the day and the thing that is making me angry. Sometimes singing doesn\u2019t help, but rage cleaning is the only way to go.<\/p>\n

Some spells and rituals require words and\/or hymns and the like.\u00a0 We can chant things or just speak them.\u00a0 We can also sing them \u2013 and I think, for those of us who get some feeling of strength from singing then this would be a good way to enhance the spell or ritual.<\/p>\n

\"Dance
Public domain via Pexels<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Magic in Movement<\/h2>\n

There was a time when I couldn\u2019t figure out how to break my own long term psychic shielding.\u00a0 Let\u2019s not discuss how that happened, but it did happen.\u00a0 I was at a complete loss as to how to break it down, I couldn\u2019t remember how I used to do it and I couldn\u2019t think of a way of just reversing how I made it in the first place.\u00a0 I found a way though, a way that I know had never used before but it worked a charm.<\/p>\n

I danced it away.<\/p>\n

Not even kidding here.\u00a0 I used no words, I used no tools, I used nothing but the movement of my own body.\u00a0 Not any choreographed dance, no special movements, just spinning and twirling and twisting and swaying.\u00a0 It was like using my body to physically smash through my own non-physical shields.\u00a0 It was an unusual experience, but I plan to use it more often and on different things, because it was highly effective.<\/p>\n

I also now realise, thinking on it, that I have used it before in other ways without realising it.\u00a0 In my Hearth Witchery actually.\u00a0 There has been many times now that I will be in a good mood, cleaning or cooking or doing other domestic annoyances and I will be singing, because I do that.\u00a0 And I will also start dancing around as well, no reason just dancing.\u00a0 Thinking back on it, the times I was doing that and already doing my usual casual Hearth Witchery, I was actually using the dancing and singing to add more strength to the witchery I was already doing.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Music and movement, these things are almost primal.\u00a0 They can touch the deepest parts of you and bring things out without you meaning them to come out.\u00a0 If it can do that on the mundane level, what hidden power reserves might you be able to tap into? \u00a0I know this stuff isn\u2019t unknown to Pagans and the like, but I don\u2019t know \u2013 it seems like the idea is usually reserved or mentioned in regards to group work. \u00a0So it\u2019s not something I had considered all the much for my solitary practice.<\/p>\n

Things change, we learn. \u00a0And now I am off to dance a little!<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have a few times been able to miraculously achieve that quiet mind stuff that meditation is meant to bring about – but when I am done? My head gets even worse, as though it is overcompensating for that small period it was shut down.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2764,"featured_media":1118,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42,61],"tags":[36,20,19,102,138,59],"class_list":["post-1117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","category-practice","tag-hearth-craft","tag-opinion","tag-personal","tag-personal-practice","tag-practice","tag-witchcraft"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Power of Music and Dance<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I have a few times been able to miraculously achieve that quiet mind stuff that meditation is meant to bring about - but when I am done? 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