Saturday 8 May 2021

May Magic: The Well in the Woods Guided Journey

 
 
The video above is a recording of my talk on Magic for the Month of May, which I've shared here in case you missed it live. Towards the end of my talk I gave a guided visualisation about following a path in a bluebell wood in May and finding a well with a magical gift.  I've included the words for it below. If you want to do this, make sure you’re in a safe and comfortable place, where you won’t be disturbed and can close your eyes in peace.

Guided Visualisation: The Well in the Woods

Sit comfortably and close your eyes. Take three deep breaths, and relax. Visualise the following:

Visualise that you are out in nature, in a beautiful place in the countryside, just on the edge of a bluebell wood, on a sunny spring morning in May. There is no other human being around but yourself. You feel safe and comfortable and at peace. 

Looking around, you spot a pathway leading into the wood and you decide to follow it. You make your way along the path, which winds through the trees. The woodland trees are coming into leaf, so above you is a new canopy of bright green, while on the ground, on either side of the path is a carpet of bluebells as far as you can see. It is beautiful and peaceful and you feel completely safe as you follow the path.

Visualise moving along the path, through the wood. What do you see around you? What do you hear? What do you smell? Spend some time enjoying the sights and sounds and scents as you continue along the safe path further into the wood.

After a while, the path turns and enters a grassy clearing in the wood. The grass is fresh and lush and dotted with wildflowers. In the centre of the clearing is a well. The well looks old and is surrounded by a low, circular wall. You see four chalices on the edge of that wall. You enter the clearing and get closer to the well. You look at the chalices, and see that they are empty. You look into the well and see that the water height is such that you could reach in with any of these chalices and scoop up a cup of the water. The water looks cool and inviting. It smells fresh. You realise that you are thirsty after your walk on this beautiful day, but before you can take any further action, you see the surface of the water shimmer and you hear a voice that seems to be coming from within the well.

“I am the spirit of the well,” says the voice, “and these waters offer many things, but only if you drink after choosing one of these cups. Look at each cup in turn, and I will tell you what magic it offers. Remember you can only choose one cup from which to drink.”

You examine the first cup. The voice speaks: “If you draw up water with this cup, it will give you the strength to make a difference in the world – to help, heal or do good for the planet. Study this cup well, consider what you might do with this gift, and remember it.”

Spend a little time looking at the cup, examining it, and considering what it offers.

The voice then speaks again and instructs you to look at a second cup. You do so, and the voice speaks once more: “If you draw water from the well and drink from this second cup, it will grant you a wish for something you personally desire. Think carefully about what you want, and what that might mean, before you drink if you choose this cup.”

Spend a little time looking at the second cup, examining it, and considering what it offers.

The voice then speaks again and instructs you to look at a third cup. You do so, and the voice speaks once more: “If you use this third cup to draw water from the well, your thirst will be quenched and you will be refreshed, but that is all. Nothing else will change. Sometimes treading lightly on the Earth is the best course of action. Consider whether this is the cup you would drink from. ”

Spend a little time looking at the third cup, examining it, and considering what it offers.

The voice then speaks again and instructs you to look at the fourth and final cup. You do so, and the voice speaks once more: “The fourth cup offers self-knowledge. This is of value to any who walk a spiritual path, but be aware that self knowledge is not always comfortable. Consider whether this is the cup you would drink from.”

Spend a little time looking at the fourth and last cup, examining it, and considering what it offers.

The voice then speaks again. “Now, if you would drink from the well, choose which cup you will use to draw up water, and which gift you wish to have.”

Spend a little while making your final decision – whether to drink from the first cup, of strength to make a difference in the world; the second cup, for something you desire; the third cup, offering only refreshment; or the fourth and final cup, offering self-knowledge. You also have a fifth choice, of course, to drink from none of them. 

Now you have made your decision, take the cup you chose, dip it into the well to fill it with water and drink from it if you wish. 

The water is pure, cool and refreshing. As you finish drinking, the cup in your hand vanishes, as do all the other cups. 

The voice then speaks again. “You made your choice and acted accordingly. Remember that whatever choices and actions we make in life, affects what happens in the future. Even our inaction can affect what happens. Change is not always obvious, and it can be slow, but what we do or don’t do can make a difference.”

The voice finishes and you hear it no more. The well is still there, with its low wall, in this grassy glade in the wood, but there is no longer a shimmer in the water, and you hear only the natural sounds of the wood around you – the songs of birds and the rustling of leaves. However, you feel that the choice you made will be something to ponder in the times ahead.

You retreat from the glade and return along the path through the bluebell wood. You safely reach the edge of the wood and look around once more at the beautiful countryside on this spring morning. Then you realise it is time to return to your normal reality. 

When you are ready, take a deep breath, shake your fingers and toes and open your eyes to the real world.

You could then think more about what choices you made. You might want to make some notes and perhaps decide on any course of action you wish to take. 

After you’ve done any magical work, or done a guided visualisation, you should ground to make sure you're fully back to reality. The best way to do that is to have something to eat and drink, but if that’s not possible, then stamp your feet on the ground or tap a hard surface a few times.

There are other guided visualisations in my book Pagan Portals: Guided Visualisations. If you want a copy,  Treadwell's bookshop in London has some. You can also order copies from uk.bookshop.org, from Amazon, from Waterstones, via publisher Moon Books’ website and from other pagan bookshops. 

In June I’ll be giving a live online talk at Moon Con 21, which runs from Saturday 5 to Sunday 6 June and is being put on by my publisher Moon Books. Moon Con 21 is two days of online talks, panels and Q and A live sessions with a host of Moon Books authors. I will be giving a talk at 3pm UK time on 5 June. The event starts 10am UK time. It is completely free and you can find out more about it at the event page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/247800306914569

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much for such an interesting and delightful video, I found your historical references to Paganism so insightful. Completing your video took three days, as I would be lulled to asleep during the woodland walk visualisation and never able to make it towards the end whereupon deciding which chalice i would drink from at the well.

I look forward to more and also it seems, a remedy for insomnia!

Badwitch said...

I'm so glad you liked it. Thank you!