I'll just start with a brief reiew of my own daily practice to this point;

I light my candle 

I use a rattle to clear the space, just for a few seconds.

I then sain the space (sain or saining is the irish word similar to smudging).

The above is my way of blessing, protecting and consecrating my space and myself.

I then close my eyes to find my inner sacred space (my sacred grove).  

I have now stepped out of the ordinary world and into my sacred space, for right now we let go of our day to day life and allow ourselves to be completely present in our practice.

My next step is this 3rd week practice, grounding, centering and casting a circle.

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What is Grounding and Centering, this is the act of connecting to the earcth below and the sky above.  By doing so we are absorbing divine energy from the earth and the sky and releasing whatever energy no longer serves us.  It's like plugging yourself into the main source of energy.  Grounding and centering doesn't just need to be done before spritual practice, this type of quick meditation can be done at anytime of the day when your just feeling disconnected, or exhausted and you need to have a little pick me up.  Once you listen to the meditation a few times you'll begin to be able to do this on your own without guidance just like finding your inner sacred space.  It only takes a few seconds to do, but the benefits are amazing.  I know for myself when I'm having a tough day, I'll walk outside without my shoes to actually stand on the earth and then go through the grounding and centering process, drawing in the energy from the Divine and allowing any negative energy of my own to be sent down deep into the earth to be transmuted to positive.  

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Now back to the process, below there is a recording to guide you so you don't have to remember this exactly at first but after you close your eyes you want to start imagining roots growing from either your feet if your standing or your root chakra (think pubic bone) if your sitting.  As the roots begin to grow they travel beyond your floor boards into the ground, past the top layers of soil, past our ancestors bones, deep deep down to the core of mother earth.  Now picture your roots opening up.  As you inhale deeply feel the energy raise up through your roots into your body, filling it with her energy and as you exhale deeply, see your negative thoughts and emotions being sent into mother earth for her to transform them back to Divine energy.  Now begin to imagine branches growing from you shoulders and head, they grow up past the stars, they too are plugging into the energy of the Sky, go ahead take a few breaths here absorbing this beautiful sky energy, now allow your body to be a conduit of the energy of both earth and sky, as you inhale see the energy of the earth raising up through you into the sky and as you exhale see the energy of the sky travel down your body into the earth, staying her for 3 breaths to allow this energy to just pass through your body.  Now we will center you, imagine a tiny swirl of wind circling around in your mind, gathering all of your minds energy, allow this energy to pass down to your heart center, feel how your chest is glowing, radiating energy from it.  Now we are ready to cast our circle.

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For my daily devotional practice I like to keep my circle casting simple, I continue right from grounding and centering with my eyes closed and imagine the energy from my heart center being directed to outside of me, circle my space like a bubble, around me, above me and below me.  A sphere of protection a container of energy.  And with each addtional breath I see and feel that circle growing stronger around me, unable to be penatrated by anything but those invited into the space.  And the energy created stays within the circle.  Once I feel the circle is strong enough I open my eyes.  Usually this is with 3 deep breaths, 3 is a magickal number for me, so thats what I use, you go with what feels right for you, it may be different each time.

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For me casting my circle in this way feels right for my daily practice, however you might not feel a need to cast a circle for this time or you may want the practice to be a little more formal and cast a circle as I do for ritual.  For ritual I use my wand and actually walk around the area.  I'm including a few examples here for you, so that your able to decide for your self what works best in your practice.

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Next week we will talk more about the directions, so then you can decide for yourself which direction feels right to begin in, but for this lesson we will begin in the East.  This can be done in anyway you would like, for some they prefer to be sitting or standing in the center, for others they like to actually walk around the area as they are drawing their circle.  Now using either a finger on your dominate hand or holding a wand, anthem, flower, pen (honestly the list is endless, whatever you feel can transmit the energy from you.  If your using something besides your finger you will want to also be holding it with your dominate hand.  Begin pointing in the directon of the East.  Remember you are not drawing from your own energy, you are still plugged in to the earth and sky.  You will now begin to imagine, feel see, know that a beam of energy starting from your hearts center coming down through your arm and out of whatever object you are using to the area you are pointing at.  Now turning or walking clockwise continue to draw the circle, going from East to South, South to West, West to North and then North back to East.  Now from the East draw the circle up to the sky and then from sky to west, west to the ground, and from the ground back to east.  You have now created a sphere, just like the one I described above.  Once completed you can state a few words such as "This circle of protection is now casted, only vibrational energy of love and light of those I invite may enter.  So mote it be."

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Remember from last week, everything we do is about our intentions, so as you are casting your circle, remember to first set a clear intention before you begin.  No words are needed to do so, you thinking it and then continueing to hold that intention in your heart and mind as you cast the circle is all that is needed.  It's all about having clear and pure intentions, as long as we have that there is no right or wrong way to create magick.

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And for an even more formal way of casting a circle here is another example

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Here is the recorded meditation of grounding, centering and casting a circle.

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And here is just the grounding and centering, in case you decide you want to actually draw your circle physically.

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Opening your circle

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So for this week I want you to practice the above meditation, try out the different ways of casting a circle to see what feels right for you.  Perhaps you don't feel a need to cast one and that is perfectly fine too, but atleast give it a try.  Continue doing your internal sacred space meditation, but this week try it with out the recording.  It will now be up to you if you will continue the Sacred Flame meditation and what prayers you'll be using daily.

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When are some other times you think you may use the Grounding and Centering meditation?

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Will you be casting a circle for your daily practice?  

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How are you feeling up to this point with your daily practice?  Are you finding yourself more connected with Goddess throughout the day?  Are you beginning to look forward to this time each day?

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