Avoiding a Magickal Hangover: Tending to Energy Before and After

Ritual. Class. Camp. Energy work. Chanting. Spellwork. 

Repeat.

Early in my witch days, I would have these amazing experiences. AMAZING. I would be filled with hope and wonder and clarity.

And then I’d go home and have a headache for days.

I would struggle to get through the next day. I would feel like crap. The magick would loosen itself from its place of power in my memory.

How could something so wonderful make me feel so bad?

Magick hangovers were real. They are real.

And, as I learned more, I could avoid them.

Grounding, Grounding, Grounding

I remember I was sitting at Spiral Dance before the ritual began and I was exhausted, spent, and the night had yet to begin.

Someone turned to me and asked, “Well, have you grounded?”

I stopped. OF COURSE. Connecting with the energy of above and below to avoid using my own energy.

I hadn’t done that. I had caffeine and excitement, wasn’t that enough?

Nope.

Sometimes it feels like grounding before magick is just a part of sacred space. And once it’s done, it’s done. You’re grounded. Forever.

Not quite.

Instead, I realized how grounding is a dynamic state of being. You are there, and then you can drop away. Something interrupts your presence. Something shifts you out.

So, you need to ground again. Drop those roots or awareness down into the Earth. Bring up the energy you need, leave what you don’t. Bring that root or awareness up through your body and into the skies. Tap into the energy you need, leave what you do not.

Bring that awareness, that root back to your center. Swirl those energies around and become present.

Repeat as needed. Often. Before, during, and after ritual.

Touch the ground. Touch the edges of your body. Take off your boots and sink your toes into the soil.

Rest.

Water and the Right Fuel

I am the first to admit that I am not the most consistent water drinker. But the more witching I do, the more I realize that magick takes more than just showing up. Your body needs help too.

Water. More than you think. Between the sweat and the running of energy, water becomes the tool of maintaining wellness. Being dehydrated can bring you out of the experience and it can cause you to try to draw upon your own, finite energy levels of the day.

And protein. Salt. Something that has nutrients in it. Sugar feels good, but lets you down. Find some nuts, some cheese, some meat, some other protein source that works for your body.

Eat ahead of time and after. Give back to your body.

Cleansing and Ritual Baths

Preparing my body and spirit ahead of time looks like a shower or a bath. This cleanses away anything that doesn’t need to be present, that doesn’t need to interrupt my presence in the moments to come.

A salt water or some other special bath after ritual removes excess energy for me. It grounds me back into the world.

When I skip either cleansing steps, I will feel lessened by the ritual work I have done, instead of empowered. I can feel stuck in the between, rather than stepping forward with the gifts of the spellwork.

And you might have other things you do.

How do you avoid magickal hangovers? Or are you immune?