Earth Beneath, Fire Within: Grounding, Centering, and the Magic of Beltane

Speaker A: 00:00:01

Welcome to the Hearth of Shadows and Blooms, the podcast that explores and reconstructs witchcraft and what it means to be a Witch from the ground up to be accessible, inclusive, and representative of all the brilliant, diverse experiences and perspectives that ground it into today's world.

If you're new to the podcast, I do recommend listening to episode one first before moving on to your episode of choice. We do witchcraft and magic differently here, and episode one lays the foundation for that perspective

Before we dive into today's topic, if you'd like to support the podcast, please leave a review or comment and make liberal use of the 'share' button to share the podcast with all of your witchy friends and family.

And if you want more content between episodes, follow me on Instagram @shadowsandblooms, on Facebook at Hearth of Shadows and Blooms, or directly on threads @lysthewildwitch. You can also email or use the form linked in the show notes to submit questions to suggestions or feedback.

I'm your host Lysandra Wildwitch, and today I'm here to talk about one of the fundamental practices of witchcraft, grounding and centering. I'll discuss everything from what it is to what it's good for and how to do it. Because grounding and centering isn't just useful for when you're doing magic.

I'm also going to take some time to talk about the upcoming Festival of Beltane.

It's a couple of weeks away, yes, but if you're the kind of person who likes to plan things ahead, or needs to, you can start now with some basic information on the holiday itself, what it represents, and some foundational ideas to help get you started.

Even if you're new to all things witchy, you've probably heard references to the terms grounding and censoring before. They're commonly used in therapeutic and self care conversations as tools one can use to combat a small handful of mental fuckeries.

So much so that there has been actual scientific research done to see if some of these effects touted by these practices actually caused any measurable, meaningful effects in our bodies.

Spoiler alert. They do. Check out the article from the National Library of Medicine linked in the show notes for an introduction to the findings. It references other studies that will provide a more thorough coverage of what's been done in the field so far.

It should come as no surprise that something like grounding and centering is such a fundamental part of any witchcraft practice. Things of a spiritual nature, when not practiced intentionally or mindfully, can lead to issues being in the moment in our day to day lives, feeling disconnected to the world around us, and cause issues in being able to focus on the things that need doing or our attention right in front of us.

Not only that, but having physical finite bodies means we have limited finite amounts of energy to use at any given time. Not being able to consciously connect with the physical signs of exhaustion our bodies give us can lead to some pretty major issues of their own.

Thankfully, our bodies are formed in such a way that we can't literally run ourselves into the ground unless in the most extreme circumstances, the ones that are quite capable of overriding that particular survival instinct. But when it comes to doing any kind of magical work, it's always a good idea to make sure we don't overdo it.

Grounding and centering is very much about the physical world, not just about the earth. Though most grounding and centering practices focus on the connection to Mama Earth, but basically everything that falls under the realm of what we can see, hear, touch or feel, taste or smell - things that are tangible to our five physical senses. So the act of grounding and centering is the act of bringing our awareness to these areas, to the world around us. Not in a hypervigilant way, but as someone observing and experiencing physical life.

Beyond that, it brings our attention, focus and intention to whatever it is that we're doing, spiritual or physical.

It provides us with a source of energy for our magical work. Unlike energy you may be able to tap in through crystals, colors, herbs or other correspondences. Natural energy is... neutral. It's natural energy, but it has less of a flavor to it already than energy taken from other sources.

and center over the summer of: 2024

This took my grounding practice a step further because it brought me not just into balance within myself and the Earth, but amongst the energies of the whole universe. Spoiler alert for the end of Loki on Disney. Skip ahead to 6 minutes 14 seconds if you want to miss the spoiler.

If you've seen Loki through to the end, you may know what scene I'm about to reference.

And if you're familiar with any mythology that references the World Tree or Yggdrasil, you'll understand the power found in that image and in a grounding and centering practice that reflects that image.

It's the scene where Loki fully steps into his power and takes his place amongst all of the timelines, cords stretching out above and below, backwards and forwards, and he grasps them all, roots them all, but also becomes the center of them all. He is fully connected to everything, everywhere, all at once. But it's all a balance.

So while he is at the center, holding it all together, he is also balanced in the midst of all the apparent chaos.

Welcome back to those who didn't want the spoiler. Make sure you go and watch it though, after you're done listening.

Now, when you ground both into the earth and into the cosmos, the sense of connectedness and energy is just different to me somehow. I've always known liminal spaces to be powerful things.

So when you're rooted into energy above and below, it's coming to center in you. It... it's something I can't really describe and just something I'll have to hope you all will get to experience for yourselves. It's like you are becoming that liminal space. You are becoming that place of power.

So what grounding and centering does, beyond giving you that sense of connectedness, balance and focus to put into your magical working is it also gives you a source of energy to replenish what you use in your magical work. As I mentioned, having finite physical forms mean we have a finite supply of things with which to source from within ourselves.

Tapping into the energies of the universe, of the earth and the sky, and the world around us gives us a source of energy to replenish what we use that is already balanced and, for lack of a better term, ready to go.

It helps prevent fatigue after magical working, and it also allows balance and equilibrium to return after the work is over.

If you end up pulling in more energy than you need, more than your working actually required, then grounding and centering when you're done allows the excess energy to be released back into its source while still keeping you balanced in the center.

I mean, it's good for doing that in general as well, even outside of a magical working, because it works as a way to connect us to our physical presence. It connects us to the moment in a very physical way, which can help us with things like hypervigilance and anxiety.

(Of course, in conjunction with other techniques and tools provided by your healthcare practitioner, if you're privileged enough to have one or have one that genuinely cares)

It reminds us that, yes, we are spiritual beings having a human experience. The experience is human, it's physical, it's real, and it's solid when we can find a way to let it be

For any kind of activism, witchcraft, magic, etc. we want to do, grounding and centering is especially important for those of us being disproportionately affected by the goings on in the world today - and just for general day to day living. It helps balance our energy, focus it for what we need to do again, be it magical or mundane.

It recalls our energy and reclaims our attention from the things that are stressing us out or causing us anxiety, and allows us to put it where it needs to be in order to do what we need and want to do.

It may seem counterintuitive to think that grounding and centering are coming back into a sort of structure can be beneficial when our own identities can be so fluid. But what it does is gives us a place of self, whatever that may look like in the moment. It brings us back to who we are, taking all elements of our identity into account from this place.

Any action we take can be representative of even the parts of ourselves we have to keep hidden for our own safety, while still enabling us to remain safe.

But that can be hard to do sometimes. If being grounded and centered isn't a state we're accustomed to being in, then how do we know when we've actually achieved that state? That can be hard to do in the moment. Sometimes it seems impossibly hard.

But there are a few techniques that are guaranteed to work almost 100% across the board, regardless of how you experience the world. Because all you need is to have one single sense that your brain can process, doesn't have to even process it so called normally. You just have to be able to experience and process one of our five physical senses.

*** sounds of a bonfire***

So let's talk about the most basic, simplest and researched grounding practice. Earthing. Just getting your feet into the earth.

And we can extend that to really having any kind of bare skin in connection to the earth. But just bear in mind most of the research that has been done has been done regarding bare feet on earth. It's really exactly as it sounds.

No shoes, no socks, just bare feet on dirt. With enough awareness for you to be able to consciously process the physical sensations of that connection to be more intentional about it.

You can look directly at the spot your feet will occupy as you place your feet there. Link your sense of sight and touch together through movement, which is also a very present, in the moment grounding practice.

Beyond earthing, if you can't get your feet into bare earth, anything natural will do. Grass leaves, even concrete or stone, hell, even asphalt in a pinch, as it's not ENTIRELY synthetic - though I wouldn't do that when it's hot out.

Even stone or hardwood floors inside can help, even if only for the symbolism of it, in this context. Even if you have potted houseplants or a small kitchen window herb garden, push your hands or your fingertips into the soil.

Press your palms against the leaves, or gently rub them between your fingers. Anything to get you physically touching something alive and of the earth and focusing on the physical sensation of it.

Then move on to your other senses, like stepping into the earth. Look at the place you're going to touch. If you can disturb the earth a little, or if you can have a window open, seek out the sense of living things.

Plant or animal, it doesn't matter. See what sounds you can hear and see if you can identify them. Sometimes all it takes is just one to be able to bring us back to the moment.

If you don't readily have something accessible that's alive and growing, or your access to the outdoors is limited, you can use things that were once alive or have come from the earth in other ways that carry the energy of grounding already.

Some of my favorite ways of grounding that don't involve actually touching anything green and growing, so to speak, is through my crystals. Y'all already know from episode one that many of my spiritual allies come in the form of crystals.

For the longest time, I couldn't work with anything quartz based, such as amethyst or citrine, because of its association with, well, not grounding. On the flip side, I carried a piece of hematite and carnelian with me everywhere.

Those two stones together grounded me, and I once had someone tell me that those two stones did something akin to 'closing the circuit' for me, though that was years ago, so who it was and what they meant specifically by that escapes me.

But if you like crystals, it probably doesn't surprise you that the red and black stones are great for grounding.

In addition to the red and black being very easily relatable to the inner layers of our planet, they're also very easily related to the very cosmos itself. And in the case of stones like hematite and obsidian are directly related to things going on deep beneath the earth's surface.

Obsidian and other rock varieties form directly from volcanic activity. The very core of our Earth is composed largely of iron, and hematite is a form of iron oxide.

And if you think about it, our very lives are dependent on iron, given the role that iron plays in our own blood.

Other black stones like jet onyx, black tourmaline, and smoky quartz are also solid options for grounding. Although smoky quartz is a quartz, the added deposits and the environmental interactions that cause the smokiness provide its ability to help you ground. Red stones such as red jasper, garnet, carnelian, red tiger's eye, also known as dragon's eye, though really any color of tiger's eye, and other similarly colored stones are also great choices for grounding.

Again, their red color associates them with one of the most basic physical elements in our bodies that we need to survive, as well as that deep iron center of our planet. Just go look at a picture of hematoid quartz or grab one if you have one. Iron oxide veins running through it give it a red appearance.

You can also use various sources of food. If you have fresh herbs, vegetables, leafy greens, et cetera at the ready, hold them, but again, keep it intentional.

Feel the texture under your fingers, the temperature of it, the smell. How does it feel if you brush it across your skin?

You can do this with other items as well.

Strips of paper, a paintbrush, anything with texture enough to catch your attention.

But back on the matter of the things we eat and drink. Eating and drinking is another easy, simple method of grounding in the moment.

It's a life sustaining practice, so approaching it from that perspective puts us back in touch with our physical needs and physical reality. Eating and drinking can be a whole body experience. When done intentionally, you can observe what you're about to ingest.

The color, if there's condensation on the bottle or can steam rising from something hot. Is there anything melting or dripping? How does it smell? Smell has a pretty major influence on our sense of taste. So how does it taste?

Plug your nose and take a bite and make note of how it compares. Engage whatever senses you are able. When it comes to food and drink, I find root or warming teas and a meal balance between earth and sea,

Like seafood, usually fish and a lot of root vegetables, work best for me. As you grab snacks or food more intentionally and mindfully for grounding, you'll find what works for you.

Something that may work in the moment, may not work long term, or may have the opposite effect if you overindulge.

But ultimately, when you're in the moment needing to ground, be it for anxiety, a sense of wellness, or needing a quick source of energy for a shield, or some equally quick bit of magic, anything that helps you connect to your physical surroundings in the present moment will do.

If you have a shaggy carpet for the texture, dig your toes in. It won't have the same physical effects necessarily as earthing, but it'll still be grounding.

Pet an animal or a stuffy light a scented candle or some incense. Simply hold a mug of warm water in your hands.

If you want to make grounding a part of your daily routine, you can work grounding into acts of self care.

Ground and center while bathing. Mud and clay masks, regardless of what part of the body they go on, are a great way to ground while also pampering yourself a little bit.

Putting your socks on in the morning can become an intentional ritual of leaving yourself open to the energy of the earth even though you're covering your feet. If you live in a cold environment or anywhere else, you may need to keep your head covered, cover your head intentionally to keep your thoughts from wandering rooted squarely in the present.

Move your body. Exercise. Dance. Put on some music and bob your head. Snap your fingers. Rub your arms. Clap.

Feel the friction of your skin and the sounds it can make. Get a massage or use an electronic massager on yourself. Make note of the tension in your muscles and then feel that tension being kneaded out.

There are so, so many different ways that you can ground and center, and those ways are only limited by your imagination and your physical capabilities. Wherever you are, whatever your circumstances, you do have a method of being able to ground and center.

***sounds of fire and instrumental music***

Now for a regular practice, something that doesn't necessarily need to be so quick and easy. You can actually take any of the more in the moment practices that work best for you and expand on them.

Even the ones that may not work so well in the moment may reach you better when turned into more of a grounding ritual. For instance, you take your shoes off and walk outside. What's the first thing you notice?

Is it the brightness of the sun or the texture or temperature of what's beneath your feet? Whatever catches your attention first, that's where you'll focus.

Take in as much information about that sensation as you can, pulling it into you until you're full with it before moving on to your next sense. When you look at what you're grounding into, what's the color? Is it dark? Light? Shadowed? Can you see any visual texture?

What else in nature is catching in your eye? Find a way to engage each sense you are able and fully bring the energy of that engagement and awareness into your body.

Breathe it in with deep breaths and let it infuse you from the inside out. You can do that with anything you use to ground.

You can do it inside your own home with your pets, your blanket and pillow, with your music, with a video of a fire, with dinner cooking. One by one, engage the senses that you are able, filling yourself with the energy before moving on to the next sense. Any grounding practice that you use in the moment can be expanded this way as you move from one sense to the next.

Grounding and centering in this way can be done as often as you're able to fit it into your schedule, and can be used as your grounding and centering practice for more defined, planned magical work.

If you're comfortable with meditation in any of its forms, then visualization and meditation can be used either on their own or as part of the expanded in the moment practices.

If you can't do what is still considered the more traditional type of meditation, the quiet mind, still body type, and honestly, who can blame you - then there are ways that you can adapt meditation and visualization to suit your best experience. You can pair meditation with almost any other sensory or self regulatory practice. Moving meditation is a common example.

I mentioned dancing earlier as a form of grounding, and when it comes down to it, music and or dancing is about the only way I can meditate.

I have to have some kind of active music going on in the background because that's what it takes to be able to trigger my ability to let anything else just kind of slide across the surface of my thoughts without trying to grab at it.

When I'm dancing, I let the music do its thing, though the intention that I'm going to let my energy flow and be free while also filtering the ambient energy in to replace it through the music.

So the energy I'm taking in may be a cluster of whoever and whatever's going on around me, but by filtering it through the music, it changes its effect and flavor. That's also why I just don't dance a lot in public. The music has to be right, and it very rarely is.

You can use anything that allows your brain to just kind of float. Coloring works for some. Journaling, walking, writing, artwork - but my go to is music. Doesn't require anything other than just sitting there.

And if you're comfortable with a seated meditation, you can use visualization to perform any other kind of grounding exercise I mentioned so far. And visualization isn't the only practice available.

If your skill in imagining things in video isn't great or just doesn't work, there's audiation for hearing, olfactization for smell, gustation for taste, and tactilization for touch. Please just bear in mind for simplicity's sake, I'll be using the word visualization rather than going through every word, every time.

And while I'm aware that there are some people just simply can't, I'm at a loss as to how to approach visualization in a way that in that kind of a situation. So if anyone has experience with that, then please feel welcome to share.

When we get to the end of the episode, I'll be walking everyone through a grounding and centering process that reflects the one that I was taught last year in combination with some other influences that thus far has worked the best for me.

But for now, we've touched on some of the main benefits and purposes of grounding and centering, and talked about both some of the simplest methods and how to expand them into a regular practice or use them to grounded center for magical work like what you're hearing.

***music and sound of a bonfire***

Rate, comment and share the Hearth of Shadows and Blooms to keep the message of inclusive, accessible witchcraft growing. You can follow the podcast on your favorite podcasting platform and on social media, on Instagram @shadowsandblooms and on Facebook under Hearth of Shadows and Blooms

***music and sound of a bonfire***

So, Beltane. Beltane, or May day, falls on May 1. It's a cross quarter day on, I believe, the Wiccan calendar, as it falls midway between the spring equinox and the summer solstice.

If you want to get specific, it's when, according to Llewellyn's Sabbat Essentials on Beltane, the ecliptic longitude of the sun is at 45 degrees, or when the sun is at 15 degrees relative to Taurus.

Historically, Beltane coincided with Maiuma, a Greek festival of Aphrodite and Dionysus, and Florialia, a Roman festival in honor of the goddess Flora, who was considered to be responsible for all the colorful things in nature.

The Celtic God Balenus was also attributed as being a part of Beltane celebrations, with inscriptions referencing him found all the way from France and Italy to North America. These days, the Japanese cherry blossom festival of Hanami overlaps with Beltane on occasion, depending on when the cherry blossoms bloom and fall.

But for simplicity's sake, it's May 1st. Old festivals would usually begin at sundown the night before, with sacred bonfires being built.

They would be used to relight the home hearth fires, strengthening the community.

In some cultures, even the act of gathering wood for the bonfire was a sacred practice, and the fire would be lit through friction only. And these fires were thought to be magical.

Livestock would be driven between or around these bonfires, and people dance amongst them and the smoke to provide protection, vitality and health for the coming year.

The ashes of the spent bonfire would then be sprinkled on growing land to ensure a bountiful harvest come fall, as the destructive nature of the fire itself was believed to have destroyed any ill intent or forces. It's a time of high passions. Spring is in full swing. Cows are being moved to pasture. Thorny trees are flowering and things are growing.

Life energy is bursting forth from the earth. And if you're open to it, sensitive to it, you may even find yourself feeling a little bold, a little reckless, because things are wild.

People are wild. Like fire, water is also considered a powerful force at Beltane.

The morning dew the day after the fire was considered a tonic for health and happiness. Some women would roll around in it. Others would simply anoint their faces with it. Sometimes it would be collected in a jar for future use.

The first drawn water was also considered to be sacred, collected with offerings.

Yellow and golden flowers representing the brilliant light of the sun and the protective force of the Beltane fires would be scattered around in decoration, across thresholds and even on the cows. Dancing was done clockwise to represent the path of the sun across the sky.

Animals such as hares and other extremely fertile small creatures would be let loose to be hunted. But nonetheless, Beltane is still very much about life, fertility, increase and protection. It's about all life on Earth, no matter how big or small.

Microorganisms included. Being opposite on the solar calendar from Samhain, it is also a time when the veil is thin worldwide, so you may experience similar shenanigans around Beltane as you do around Samhain.

Whether or not you'll need to actually plan things to do on Beltane will ultimately depend on what you want to do, as some things will take more planning than others. And there are others that simply won't take any planning beyond your decision to do them. Those are things I'll touch on in the next episode.

A Beltane altar is likely one of the simplest things that you could do that could require some preparation. As with all altars, it can be as simple or as obnoxiously ostentatious as you want it to be.

So preparation will be dependent on what you have on hand, what you want to have on the altar, and when exactly you want to set it up.

If you have everything on hand that you want, then the only preparation that will be needed is to decide when to do it and where to put it, and then how to arrange everything. If you don't, then a little more prep work will be in order. The colors that are associated with Beltane are bright, bold, and vivid.

Not quite neon maybe, but brilliantly colorful. So if you have swatches of fabric, brightly colored candles, LED is fine, or a picture of a bonfire or

I mean, you don't have to burn the candles, floral scented candles or incense. Again, no need to burn if unable to for any reason. It's the symbolism of the thing that's most important in this context.

Pretty much anything green to be honest though, especially the candles. Houseplants especially. Just be safe with yourself and any animals that may be able to reach them.

Anything fairy related as it seems as the earth wakes up, so do they. And something fun that may or may not require some planning, depending on the extent you want to go to, is the maypole or maybush.

Unless it's something you've done in prior years, it's likely you'll need to engage in a little planning in order to make it happen. For a group or an individual, if it fits within your space, abilities and desires,

you'd erect a pole, attaching colorful ribbons and garlands to the top to be woven together around the pole with dancing. Or you'd select a bush or houseplant to be similarly adorned with ribbons and garlands. Again, be as bold as you want to be with this.

This is the time for it. If you need something a little smaller scale, a small branch or even a stick will do.

You can decorate it equally as lavishly as you would a standing maypole, with the added benefit of it being able to fit on your Beltane altar. If you live in a more urban area, doing a scavenger hunt in nature may or may not need to be planned.

Some apartment complexes in downtown where I live have defined outdoor spaces, however manicured they may be, but but sufficient enough to look for small wildlife such as birds, squirrels, worms, and for other growing things. There's also a park or two that is several blocks in size.

If you want to do a scavenger hunt but don't have suitable places nearby, you may need to plan to travel, however far or long it would take to get to one.

Alternatively, if you have space around your home or on a patio, you could collect things while out and about, or have things be brought to you and do your scavenger hunt in the days leading up to Beltane, and then using those things on your Beltane altar.

If you decide to do a nature walk, see if you can figure out the names of the trees, plants and animals that you see and learn how to identify them on sight or by smell.

You could even do a virtual scavenger hunt look up pictures of trees, flowers, insects and animals and see if you can learn to recognize them on site or by description. Similarly, if you're wanting to visit a place of water, some planning may be involved depending on your specific location.

But as with the scavenger hunt, videos and pictures of sacred wells and waterfalls and other forces such as those work just as well to celebrate Beltane. A common practice around Beltane is foraging, but I hesitate to speak on foraging as I only have a passing basic understanding of ethical and safe foraging.

That being said, stay off private property unless explicitly invited, be mindful of local laws, watch for any eggs and or cocoons that the plant is protecting or harboring, and always make some effort to connect with the plant in question first. It may want an offering or a promise of some sort in exchange.

There's also safety concerns regarding making sure you know what you're collecting and avoiding areas with things like animal waste or a potentially contaminated water supply if your intent is to ingest or burn what you're foraging. One of my family's favorite things to do, supporting local growers if possible, is we get flowers. Lots and lots of flowers. Last year we didn't plan much as we were just coming off of a move.

We went to our local grocery store and got two bouquets of flowers and picked up some artificial flowers from our craft store as well for our friends and family with allergies or cats with death wishes, and we made little flower bundles. We then spent the day distributing these bundles to our friends and family around the city.

This year we had the time to be a little more mindful about it and will hopefully be patronizing farmers markets in search of the perfect flowers. And I mention sunbathing as something that may or may not need to be planned for.

We don't have any control over the weather, but again, location, environment and other situational things can affect whether or not any kind of physical or mental preparation is in order. And Beltane is honestly the perfect time to celebrate the entirety of our identities. At Beltane, we are fully in spring, fully in bloom, fully emerged from the dark half of the year, and well on our way to the sun being at its peak.

And it's also a time to invoke protection on you and yours for the year to come. If you meditate, imagine what being perfectly free and safe to be wholly yourself would look like.

If you dance, find a place to do it that allows you to dance unfettered and completely free. If you do anything creative, illustrate yourself in all of your glory. Celebrate who you are, even if no one else ever has.

Because you and your existence in its entirety deserves to be celebrated just as much as anyone else ever has. Honestly, there is just so, so much that can be planned for. It's really impossible to encompass it all.

But I hope that between the suggestions given and some other information provided about the celebration of Beltane, that if you're a planner, you're already well on your way to settling into your Belting prep. So as we come into that season of community and wildness and freedom, I am sending all of that energy out to you.

And it's my greatest hope that the celebration of Beltane will give you and yours an opportunity to be free, even if just for a moment. Every last one of you has my gratitude and my thanks for your time, your presence, and your existence.

Be on the lookout for the next episode in two weeks, where I'll take some time to talk a little bit more about Beltane, and then we'll dive into protection, another extremely versatile witchcraft practice that plays a dominant role in Beltane rituals and will be especially important for us and our vulnerable communities in the coming days. And stay tuned for a guided meditation for a grounding and centering practice.

***music and sounds of a bonfire***

Catch up on between episode content over on Instagram @shadowsandblooms and on Facebook at Hearth Of Shadows and Blooms, or use the email or contact form form linked in the show notes to submit your thoughts, suggestions or questions. And as always, if you want to support the podcast, rate, comment and share so the message of inclusive and accessible witchcraft can bloom.

And until then, don't forget to keep making your magic yours and fuck what anyone else has to say about it.

***music and sounds of a bonfire***