Introduction

Whenever you practice any form of magic for meditation, spellcasting, rituals, energy work, and the like getting your mind to quiet down from the mundane state (also known as the conscious mind) is crucial in order to get the most out of your practice. When the mind is quiet, skills and abilities that may have been suppressed due to social conditioning, will slowly start to make its way into your conscious mind tapping into your personal powers. When this happens. your intuition and inner voice will start to dominate the critical voice. The critical voice, is the little voice inside of you that's constantly negative trying to undermine us on our journey in life. When we stand up to our critical voices, our worries and doubts about performing magic eventually fades away allowing us to conquer various obstacles, receive blessings and allow us to take control our our lives.

Shifting From The Mundane To Magical

Meditating For Grounding

Shifting between the different mindset doesn't have to be complicated. In fact, simple methods that are straightforward that allow you to gently ease into the practice can be beneficial. One way is through meditation, this simple practice can help train your mind to go into a trance allowing obsessions, old thinking patterns and distracting thoughts to be recognized before letting them fade away. The reason you don't want to focus on mundane distractions, is that sometimes there are feelings that can overwhelm you (such as trauma). If this happens, you can withdraw from the area and write in your Book of Shadows (or diary) about what you went through before continuing.
This is a sign that there are important issues at hand that you need to overcome in order to heal. Recognizing issues that are at hand, is an important part of the healing process. If you decided to continue after the experience (listen to your intuition first), then you can get into a position that you're most comfortable with by sitting, standing or laying down before you begin. You can set a timer for how long you want to practice or allow your instincts to 'nudge' you when you're finished with the practice in order to give your mind enough time to relax before shifting to the next phase. That phase is setting your magical mindset of who you are and what you want to become.

Visualization To Create The Reality You Want

This is consistent with meditation and allows your mind to find inspiration and create mental images of what you want to derive from magical practices and experiences. Each person, will have their own unique experiences that's catered to them as there are no rules on what you can create with your mind. The only limitations are yourself, just like our universe there are no limits the power lies within your imagination. You can use visualization to connect with your Higher Self, become the type of witch you always wanted to be, to purify yourself, encircle yourself with a magical sigil and the list goes on. It's also a great way to stop any self-doubt of your practice from the judgmental world.

Some Useful Tips

Between meditation and visualization there are some tools, tricks and ideas that may help you with this practice.

• Meditate at a time where you won't be disturbed. It doesn't matter what time of day, just as long as you have that personal space where you can relax before shifting your mind. This can be done at your altar, outside in nature, a quiet room, etc.
• Using candles and incense can ignite your mind. Candle colors and incense have magical properties associated with them relating to various moods, magical abilities, astrological signs, lunar correspondences, deities, and energies. Finding one that resonates with you and the correspondences can help you visualize your magical reality and your powers.
• If you don't like absolute silence, then music can help! Music has the strength to get in-touch with how we're feeling on the inside. You can use meditation tracks such as binaural or solfeggio beats, yoga music or anything that suits you.

The Magical State Of Mind

When you have allowed your mind to completely relax, your mind will enter trance mode where the mundane world around you may start to feel like its fading away as you are transitioning to another one. This is when you may see: blue swirls, various colors that may correspond to chakra points, eyes (this is a sign of your third-eye opening), projected images from your subconscious and the astral world. If you see images, do not be alarmed, that means what you're doing is working and you're well on your way to magical progress. If you don't see anything, then that's okay, too! Seeing images and signs can take some time when you're first starting out. Remember, practice makes excellence with persistence and perseverance!
Once you've finished meditating, it's always a good rule of thumb to write down what you've seen, experienced and your feelings once you return to the mundane world. This will allow you to have a record as your journey down your personal path in life also, it can keep track of magical workings that worked and have not.

Final Thoughts

Entering the magical mindset is not as difficult as it may seem, in fact, most of the time it comes down to your personal practice. It doesn't have to be 30 minutes, it can be five to ten minutes when first starting out. The more you practice the faster it will be to shift your mind into a magical state also, learning the real you that lies within yourself. It's a journey of self-exploration and realization that the world is more than what meets the eye and you are part of the divine. It's a beautiful experience that anyone can benefit from and that in itself is a wonderful thing.

Working With Dragon's Breath

Dragons are a force to be reckoned with, they are associated with the five elements of the physical plane, as well as the astral one. These beings are commonly associated with protection, wisdom, heightened awareness and destruction throughout many cultures that existed before modern times. From ancient myths, legends, movies, books and video games these creatures are one of the most popular magickal beings. Not only does their reputation speak for themselves, one of their most potent powers lies in their breath.

No different from the element of fire itself, the dragon’s fire that spews from its mouth has the ability to cause destruction and chaos yet is able to purify and protect itself from harm’s way. When a practitioner taps into the Draconian current, the main element that is present is fire that is used to burn away blockages trapped in their subconscious, toxic people from their lives, to heal ourselves, protect our energies from unwanted energies also, for offensive spells. The Draconian path (even other magickal paths) requires people to face the truth of reality, no matter how ugly or painful. This is done by chaotic means, by tackling whatever issue that is troubling the practitioner, or hindering their growth. Whether the situation at hand is of relationships, career, life, family, or anything the flame from the dragon’s breath will burn away the root problem.

At first, this can seem frightening or confusing due to the nature of this path (I’ve been there) however, this is usually the sign that the power of flames is working. As the dragon’s flame continues to burn away the practitioner’s outdated thoughts, beliefs and situations, realizations eventually reveal itself. For some it’s finding out who they are as a person, gaining the confidence to jump into a new career, starting a new relationship, or anything that will benefit their lives. The key here is to not to give up, keep on pushing until the end because the reward will be worth it.

Some Tips For Working With Dragon’s Breath

• Another element that must be stressed here is: faith in yourself. There are going to be times when giving up will be tempting (I’ve been here before) from a flurry of emotions that can be overwhelming. When someone has faith in themselves, there’s a spark that shines from within encouraging them to push on, no matter the obstacles that lie in the way. With this being said, here are some tips that may help along the way during the dragon’s breath:

• Meditate, meditate, meditate! I know this may seem redundant, especially when a lot of magickal paths tend to start off with this practice. That’s because, when you meditate, you are allowing your mind to settle down those racing thoughts and feelings. This also allows you to get in touch with your subconscious mind that is locked away from the conscious mind. It doesn’t have to be hours on end, it can be as little as five minutes.

• Write about it in your BoS or journal. When you write down your experiences, you gain insight to patterns of your behavior, mindset, beliefs, and feelings. This is also useful for jotting down symbols from your dreams, meditation experiences, and the like! You are the master of yourself!

• Do something mundane. When all else fails, try to get your mind distracted on something constructive, beneficial and/or fun. Activities such as yoga, drawing, weight-lifting, reading, dressing up or just playing games to just chill. The choice is yours and there is no shame in what you do.

• Consult your Higher Self. It doesn’t matter if you call it your Higher Self, True Self, or anything else the innermost person inside yourself can help you out. That little voice inside of your head (no, not the critical one), is your innermost Self always looking out for you. They will sometimes give out advice, nudge you with that ‘gut’ feeling or even communicate with you through dreams of whatever situation that you’re going through.

Remember, they are always on your side and want the best for you!