TYPE 4

illness

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THE QUESTION OF ILLNESS & WICCAN RITUAL.Adapted from S. Cunningham.

Many types of illness create dramatic changes within humans. Some of these

changes are physical, others are mental, emotional, spiritual or psychic.

Are such temporary alterations beneficial or detrimental to the performance

of Wiccan Ritual?

These questions can be partially answered by an examination of illnesses &

their effects on mankind. All information here pertains solely to religious

Wiccan rites & is generalised, you must make up your own judgement.

Be attentive to your body. It usually knows what is best. Forcing yourself to

perform Wiccan rites while facing a challenging illness can be dangerous.

PHYSICAL CHANGES.

The physical aspects of sickness are the most obvious, so we'll begin there.

Some illnesses create pronounced lack of energy. It might be difficult to

walk across the room, let alone cast a circle or dance around it. In such a

case, a ritual with lim ited physical activity is indicated.

Casts on feet, hands, arms & other limbs may or may not restrict your ability

to set up an altar & hold a Book of Shadows. at least in doing so you wont

further damage your health, your movements in the circle however may be

limited, so avoid slavish ly following ritual directions. Adapt them to take

into account your present physical condition.

If your health care practitioner has ordered bed rest, or told you to stay

off your feet, follow his / her instructions. Either adapt ritual to a purely

verbal & mental experience, or wait until you've recovered. Remember drugs

will affect your rite & distort it for you if you are working solitary, if

working within coven let others do the mental & physical work.

MENTAL CHANGES.

During many types of sickness including colds & flu, a pronounced change of

consciousness often occurs. Slight dizziness, sinus pressure, elevated

temperature, pain & other symptoms can create the most remarkable shifts in

consciousness, even in peo ple who have not attempted to mask their symptoms

with drugs.

This type of consciousness can lend the ill Wiccan a radically different

perception of the world, one which usually hinders ritual work. If you are

staggering around & can't seem to concentrate, its best to avoid working

with magical knives, incense, flames & other potentially dangerous magical

tools.

If you are apt to be spaced out, that is become mesmerised by objects, fall

asleep or completely forget what you are doing, its best to simply sit or lie

comfortably & do little else. You might whisper a prayer to the Goddess &

God, meditate upon an image or perhaps draw a symbol & concentrate on it. If

you simply can not concentrate long enough to formulate any type of ritual,

its probably best to let it go for now & to resume ritual workings when you

are able to do so.

EMOTIONAL & SPIRITUAL CHANGES.

Lets face it most of us do not feel good when we are ill. We may feel grumpy,

irritable, impossible to be with, depressed, worried & stressed. Such

emotional shifts often make us think, " Why bother doing ritual at all? I

feel so bad I'll just blow i t." Sometimes we are just not in the mood, this

is quite natural & if you truly don't feel like doing ritual, don't. No one

is keeping score. On the other hand, if you are physically able to do so,

performing ritual may actually make you feel better . Effective Wiccan

ritual which can be difficult to achieve during times of illness Can give us

a spiritual boost, which in turn makes us feel better. Finally, simple

prayer to the Goddess & God may comfort you & if nothing else, give you a

differen t focus than that of your illness.

PSYCHIC CHANGES.

Illness can have great effect on our psychic awareness. Though this may not

seem to be particularly important when doing rituals, our ability to tap into

our psychic minds is necessary for effective ritual.

Ritual is often empty & mechanical without the linking of the two minds, the

conscious & psychic within each person sharing a ritual experience in rites.

You may posses the ability to physically, mentally & emotionally perform a

Wiccan ritual, but if you seem to be psychically shut down,[ a difficult

condition to describe that's immediately recognisable when it occurs,]

ritual probably would not be a good idea.

NON PRESCRIPTION DRUGS & PRESCRIPTION DRUGS.

Drug reaction is perhaps one of the most important factor in determining

whether to perform Wiccan ritual during illness. The vast number of such

drugs now in use & their varying effects on their takers make it impossible

to speak in only the most g eneral terms. Many drugs have no effect on

consciousness, don't alter the emotions, have no noticeable physiological

effect & leave the psychic mind alone. However, some drugs both prescription

& over the counter products can cause just these changes . Among these are

ofcourse narcotics. If you seem to be suffering from these or other negative

side effects, limit ritual work while under their influence.

You must use your own judgement & common sense in determining whether illness

or drugs will interfere with your magical work. If your health care provider

has told you to stay in bed, stay in bed & forget about setting up a circle

or attending one. I f you have stitches, don't do an ecstatic dance to the

Goddess around the altar, no matter how much you would wish to do so. If you

are suffering from lung complaints, don't burn incense ,oil will do. If you

are using a medication that prohibits the use of alcohol, don't use wine or

ale, use juice. Illness is quite a legitimate reason for skipping ritual.

Missing a rite due to illness, infirmity or the use of prescription drugs in

no way makes you a lesser Wiccan. In fact such a decision proves your

intelligence & growing experience, you have chosen to avoid performing what

would most probably be a ritual lacking in energy & true contact with the

MAGIC & ILLNESS.

Performing magic during periods of illness may or may not be a positive

action. Its a natural time for self healing spells, & healing rituals. Spells

for any other reason should be postponed, no matter how important the work

might be. Waiting until y ou are well not only allows you to give your full

attention to the spell, it assures that you will be able to raise far greater

amount of energy to put into the spell work. When we are sick our bodies have

lowered reserves of energy. [ Personal power ] Not only are we not producing

as much energy as usual, we are using more energy to heal ourselves. Less

energy is available for any physical task including magic. This lowered

reserve can make performing magic during serious illness quite dangerous ,

for you are drawing on the energy that would otherwise be healing yourself.

This may extend the duration of your illness or slow the healing of wounds.

Willingly giving of this energy to solve someones problems is a good & noble

deed at any other time. When you are sick you must be number one. Use your

energy to heal yourself, later you will be in better shape to take care of

the rest of the world. The bottom line is, NO MAGIC EXCEPT SELF HEALING

DURING ILLNESS Those who are coven members should ask for healing rituals or

crystal healing.

BLESSED BE.