i feel like i'm going to burst.....

[Green Fairy]

i've been reading and learning about wicca for about four to five months now. i can now feel myself being pulled into the direction to be more involved in participating then just reading.
problem is that i'm not in my own house for the time being.

can anyone suggest some small things that i can do besides meditation, that can help me better develop and become more comfortable in my progression?

[Kestrel Firesong]

You can do small exercises like aura cleansing, and grounding.

[Lorrie]

Practice focus and concentration! These abilities will be important. Also, experiment with your energy fields, learn about how to use them correctly and get comfortable with them, how to direct them, and especially just how easy it is to direct energy without realizing it, which can get you into unexpected trouble, thoughts are things, you need to learn to pay attention to your thoughts. Get to know yourself, which is easier said than done. :hehehehe:

[AvalonsBlueRose]

"The Spiral Dance" by Starhawk has some wonderful engery excersizes you can practice in your mind. And there's alot you can do with different visualization, concentration and meditating excersizes.

Is the person/people you're living with the kind that will not take you practicing Paganism in their house? Since you're an adult, at least your age says 26, there are ways to get creative. Do your rituals at night when you're least likely to be bothered, and if you want to have an altar, there's creative ways of masking it to the untrained eye. I'm not trying to advocate ssneakiness, but there are ways to do things that won't ruffle feathers unnecessarily in situations where you need to keep the peace.

[mtpathy]

since your living in a place that isnt your own,and more then likely you'r
not wanting everyone involved in your business.
i would say one of the better and most inconspicuous items you can work
with would be a wand,athemes tend to bring up red flags with people so
imo its best to stay clear of them for a time.
with a wand,you can practice with re-direction/drawing down,grounding,as
well as casting circle and not to mention calling corners etc.
this should be enough for a good running start on your ritual practices.

[LordHelmet]

1. Dream Diary learn to remember your dreams. Don't worry about interpriting them, just remember them. This builds the connection between the concious mand and the unconscious. Just keep a notepad near your bed and set your alarm to wake you up with time to snooze it. Snooz and start to drift back to sleep, as you do so try to remember what you were dreaming about. write notes, and keep it short. write the date.

2. Like lorrie said, play with astral images and feilds. Draw on your own energy and outside energy, like the warmth of the sun, or residual psychic energy. Try to visualise what might be in the astral. Try to sense if there are other entities near you. you don't need to set a time, just do it when you feel like it.

3. Practice telepathy. Have someone pick a number from 1 to 10 or whatever range you like (it doesn't have to be numbers either, it could be cards or favorite foods or car models) Have them decide they want you to know what they picked, visualize a '?' or something going from your solar plexis, chest or wherever you prefer to their whereever you think fits and return as the answer. If it doesn't work try something else or someone else. Try someone you connect with.

4. Get a tarot deck and a book on it. I suggest the Golden Tarot but follow your instinct or fancy. Study the cards. Study astrology and work through your natal. Ponder and evaluate how the different signs, planets, elemental assignments ect work together. Get to know the elements and apply it to your daily life.

Your 26 and your screen name is Green Fairy, I suppose you like absinth, you can use that to help get into a good altered state, if you can get past the alchohol. Here's how...

http://www.alandia.de/absinth/index.php/cPath/29_15/category/variations.html

As far as the getting to know yourself thing, I know some exercises and other stuff for that. PM me if your interested.

[Tranquility]

I am currently in a dorm, so it is also difficult for me to practice. I always make sure I read every day and meditate every day (I get my classes done in the morning as soon as possible, roomate is the opposite, so I meditate when he is in class). For my Imbolc ritual I simply went to the state's botanical garden at about 10 oclock and lit some candles and did a ritual.. I had no problems there, and things worked out well.. Meditation is a good thing to learn, working with the chakras and energy field, and simply establishing a daily rhythm of things to do.

[Tranquility]

On the contrary.. I think that a wand would bring up much more uneasy feeling from people. An athame could easily be a simple knife the person has.. nothing terribly 'sketchy' about that, especially if the person likes camping. I personally don't use a wand or athame, but those are just some of my suggestions. Good luck.

[Kalika]

can anyone suggest some small things that i can do besides meditation, that can help me better develop and become more comfortable in my progression?

Divination. Tarot, Runes, etc...

This will still involve some reading, if you don't have all the info memorized, but at least it involves doing something active instead of passive. :)

[David19]

I can recommend Witchcraft From the Ground Up (http://www.whywiccanssuck.com/learn0.html) and Playful Psychic (http://www.psipog.net/activepsy/contents.html), they're both great lessons in energy manipulation (although i haven't had time to practice it yet) and it's things you can do when your on your own or in bed, whenever, they'll give ypu the basics and some advanced stuff and helps you to develop the practical stuff.

[Green Fairy]

the books sound interesting

and the dream diary does too

plus i have started focusing on working on grounding,

thanks guys for all your great ideas:hahugh:

[Aominay]

Take notice of your environment, start paying attention to the moon and the cycles of life around you. Take a walk, learn about your environment, study the history of the land on which you live. Are there any sacred or holy places where you live? You might be amazed the things you might find. The wonder and education they offer are irreplaceable.

When I first came to the Craft, I read a book called A Witch Alone, by Marian Green among many, many others. It didn't give me step by step instructions on what order to light candles and incense and sprinkle salt and water, but it did give me the tools I needed to truly practice my Craft. They are very simple, you already have them, and you can practice by creating an elaborite ritual or simply watching the sun rise.

Blessed be!

[Arion]

Take notice of your environment, start paying attention to the moon and the cycles of life around you. Take a walk, learn about your environment, study the history of the land on which you live. Are there any sacred or holy places where you live? You might be amazed the things you might find. The wonder and education they offer are irreplaceable.


That's exactly what I was thinking. Enjoy the nature around you and recognize it as sacred. Acknowledge the cycles of the moon and sun as cycles relating to the divine. If you decide sometime that you'd like some kind of tools, you could always mark the quarters of the circle with small rocks, and you could make an altar with a small potted plant, a seashell (goddess) pinecones (god) and other natural items and do the rituals in your mind instead of out loud. Having stones and plants in your space might seem a bit odd to the people you're living with, but i doubt they'd be that suspicious.