In a previous post about mental illness and witchcraft, I mentioned the use of medication for mental illness. I have recently had a conversation about how medications and even some herbs affect the ability to raise energy, create magick, clairvoyance and overall being a witch. Honestly, medications and herbs do have side effects and it does affect how one does all of these things and more.
When we begin to take medications, even a cold medicine or cough syrup for a temporary cold, it can have an adverse effect on us and how we access energy. It is common to feel blocked and impeded because we no longer can do what we used to do. Some medications alter brain chemistry which changes our moods, our natural overall physical energy, our drive and may even change our perspective on life and all things in it.
So, does medication affect my energy? The answer is a definite YES. However, there is still a way to access your natural magickal talents. Think about what you are being treated for and how the medication or herb works. Let’s imagine being depressed or even bipolar, sometimes manic and sometimes depressed with delusions of persecution. Your feelings affect your thoughts which create an action. All your life or at least for a very long time you used those thoughts and feelings which triggered desires and drive you to actions. Without much thought, you can manifest your desires. You actually draw power from your mental illness symptoms but when you are manic you are not logical and can’t function and are often motivated toward the wrong outcome and bad things begin to manifest in your life. Or you are depressed and become motivated to die so you manifest destructive behavior that not only affects you but those around you whom you love and adore, making you feel worse. But the one thing you know and that is familiar to you, is how easy you can pull up that magickal energy and how easy your spells manifest without much effort.
Now, you need to bring balance to your life so you seek help from a professional and are now taking medication or using an herbal supplement. Now, you find that you can no longer create energy, draw on your inner power or manifest an outcome as you did before. You feel blocked from your own power. You feel like you can no longer be an effective witch and you may even withdraw from witchcraft or trying to use magick.
For the most part, you are blocked from the old way of doing things. But, you can still be an effective Witch and you can still contribute to a group. Here is what I have learned. Medications have side effects, some side effects are permanent and we must learn how to work around that side effect or live with that side effect. Some side effects go away after a time, Physically and magickally.
If you are like so many other witches who must use medication for extended use or the rest of your life and you find that medication affects your energy, there is a way to access it again.
Take a look at the medication. How does it make you feel? Are you tired all the time? Are you calm? More calm than ever? If you have PTSD you may have drawn a lot of energy from hypervigilance and anxiety. Did that change? Are your symptoms lessened or gone? If yes, you will have to find another way to access your inner power, talent or energy. It is possible. It only feels impossible at first. Try different things. Practice meditation with the focus on feeling the energy. Stick with it for a long time. Read about how others who have to work at accessing energy go about feeling the energy and working magick.
Experiment. Try new things even if it sounds weird. There will be a way to access your desires and drive once again. You want to remain in the balance of life so keep taking the medication or herbs but seek the other doorway to access your source of power. Eventually, you will have an Ahah! moment and you will find your way. Let’s imagine Clairvoyance was your talent. You were always 90% accurate all the time. Now, you aren’t sure if your tiny gut feeling is anything more than a passing thought. But after 6 months of meditating a few minutes every day, you are having dreams that happen in real life or you are talking to your boyfriend’s deceased mother whom you never met and are dreaming about her. You tell your boyfriend that you had a dream about this woman and you give him the details of the dream and he says Hey! that’s my mom when we lived on such and such street. I was only 5 years old and she used to do that all the time.
W0w! Ok, your talent is changing. Now you may no longer have access to this clairvoyant information in your conscious state but you now get these messages or images or intuition in your dream state of being. Learning how to work with what you have and learning new ways of accessing that energy is a difficult path but it is possible and worth the work. It will never be the same. It will be different from the moment you begin taking your medication. But being more balanced in your daily mundane life will bring you to a happier magickal life if you let it. Your magickal life is not over. And yes, you have a lot of work cut out for you. It will be different and it can work. When I am out of touch and I have trouble building that energy, I revert to meditation. Looking within then working with the flow of energy. Find what works for you. It is there, you just have to find a way to access it.
Hello 🙂 first off I’d like to say I enjoy your articles. This is something I wish I had time to do lol. Anyway, I’d like to say that I can relate with this article very well, and I’m glad someone else has made a point to put it out there that medication and emotional well being does most definitely effect how you practice your craft. I’ve had people get mad at me because I was unable to do tarot readings or whatever else it maybe they wanted at the time. I would be like I have manic depression, if I’m having a episode I’d prefer not to try anything because I like being able to help at my full potential. I won’t go in half cocked and possibly mess up. then they would proceed to tell me well you need to just get over it and ignore the depression. Because they have it in their head that Wicca works like on tv and it always goes the way you want it. Needless to say I won’t do anything for the person anymore, because I prefer to help and know I did it right. I don’t wanna be that person that might make things worse because I went in not all there.
Anyway, thanks again for putting this information into perspective. Have a good day 🙂
These types of people who say to get over something emotional are ignorant to the fact that you don’t get over emotions or experiences, you have to get through it. And sometimes that takes a little time. Don’t take what these types of people say to heart. You know when it is the best time for divination practices and when you are available. If they can’t understand the words, “now is not a good time for me to help you, let’s do it another time”. Then they don’t really need a reading from you. It is your right to refuse service to anyone.
Thank you for this post. I have been on antidepressants for a while now and have been spiritually inactive. I have done no magic and felt nothing. But reading this and seeing that it’s normal inspires me to try to get back to how I once was. Thank you for helping me and inspiring me to find my own power again. Blessed be.