Yesterday, you learned to feel energy—to sense the subtle current that flows through you and all living things. Today, we’ll take that skill a step further. You’ll learn to raise power—to gather, build, and focus that energy toward a purpose. This is where Wiccan practice begins to feel truly magical, where the quiet meditations of the previous days transform into an active, pulsing current of will.
What Does “Raising Power” Mean?
To raise power is to gather energy intentionally. Think of it as charging a battery, only you are both the charger and the battery. The energy you raise might come from within yourself, from the Earth, from movement, sound, breath, or shared ritual. Once gathered, it can be directed toward healing, transformation, protection, or blessing.
If feeling energy is like tuning your senses to hear faint music, then raising power is like learning to play that music—building rhythm, crescendo, and release.
This process usually has three stages: gathering, building, and releasing.
Stage 1: Gathering Energy
Start by grounding and centering yourself. (By now this should feel familiar!) Feel your connection to the Earth—stable, rooted—and draw energy up from that source. At the same time, reach upward in your mind’s eye, connecting to the energy of the sky, the stars, the vast cosmos.
Breathe these two currents together at your heart. On each inhale, imagine gathering energy from above and below; on each exhale, imagine it brightening inside you.
You don’t need to visualize perfectly—some people see color or light, others simply sense warmth, vibration, or inner fullness. The key is focus and intention.
This gathering phase fills your personal energy “well.” You might feel a soft hum in your body, a light pressure behind your hands or sternum, or even a gentle sense of anticipation.
Stage 2: Building the Current
Once gathered, power must be built—stirred into motion and amplified. Wiccans use many methods for this, depending on the type of ritual and personal preference.
Here are a few traditional approaches:
Chanting or Singing: Repetition of rhythmic phrases raises vibration and unites breath, voice, and will. Example: “By the power of Earth and Air, Fire and Water, this circle is alive.”
Drumming or Clapping: Physical rhythm awakens primal energy, aligning heartbeat and movement.
Dancing or Spinning: Movement expresses joy and builds kinetic momentum.
Visualization: Picture energy swirling faster, glowing brighter, forming a vortex or spiral that grows with every breath.
Group Work: In covens, members may move or chant together, their combined energy amplifying the effect.
You can experiment with all of these—even alone in your room. Try whispering a single word (like “power” or “light”) with growing intensity. Feel how your body responds.
The moment the air around you feels thick or charged, when your heart pounds and your mind feels clear, that’s raised power. You’ll sense it intuitively.
Stage 3: Release and Direction
Raising energy is only half the equation. The magic happens when you release it with focused intent.
Imagine you’re building a wave—it crests, then crashes forward with purpose. The release phase is that moment of letting go, when you send your will out into the universe to manifest your desire.
You can release power in many ways:
Through Visualization: Picture the energy flowing out in a beam of light toward your goal.
Through Symbolic Action: Light a candle, pour water, burn a note with your written intent, or tie a knot.
Through Words: Speak your spell or prayer aloud at the moment of peak energy.
As you release, clearly state your purpose—calmly, simply, and in the present tense. For example:
“Healing flows freely now.”
“Peace fills this space.”
“The path opens before me.”
Afterward, pause. Let the energy go. Trust that it will find its way where it needs to be. Don’t clutch it—release it like a bird taking flight.
Then, most importantly: ground. Visualize excess energy flowing down into the Earth, anchoring you. Stretch, eat, drink water. Magic is exhilarating, but balance keeps you safe and healthy.
Working Solo vs. in Groups
Raising power alone is intimate—you learn the rhythm of your own energy. In a group, however, something extraordinary can happen.
When several people chant, drum, or dance together, their heartbeats and breathing align. The energy builds exponentially. Many describe a shared euphoria—a sense that something greater than the sum of the parts is alive in the circle.
Group work requires harmony and trust, but it can teach you how collective will moves like wind through a forest—one current, many voices.
Even if you practice solo, you can still connect to that feeling by raising power outdoors. The natural world will join you: the rustle of leaves, the pulse of the moon, the hum of life in the soil.
A Simple Practice: Candle Power
Tonight, try this exercise to raise and release energy in its simplest form.
You’ll need: a candle and something to light it with.
Sit quietly before the unlit candle. Ground yourself.
As you inhale, gather energy into your body.
As you exhale, imagine that energy flowing to your hands.
Hold your hands around the candle (without touching the flame area) and feel warmth building.
When you sense readiness, speak your intention aloud. Example: “As this candle burns, my focus grows.”
Light the candle. Picture your gathered energy transferring into the flame—alive, purposeful.
Sit for a few minutes and watch it burn, breathing calmly.
When done, snuff (don’t blow) the candle, whispering: “My will released, my energy grounded.”
That small ritual demonstrates the full cycle: gathering, building, releasing, grounding.
Signs of Successful Power Raising
You might notice:
Tingling hands or scalp
A sense of warmth or electric hum
Feeling emotionally charged (joy, awe, calm)
The air feeling “dense” or vibrant
Or, you may simply know—a quiet certainty that something moved, even without strong sensations. Both are valid. Magic often whispers rather than shouts.
Journaling Prompt
“When have I felt my personal energy rise—through excitement, movement, creativity, or ritual? What did it feel like to release that energy?”
Tomorrow we’ll move to Day 13: The Moon and Magical Timing, where we’ll explore how Wiccans work with lunar phases to shape energy and align intention with the natural rhythm of the cosmos.
