Pagan Snapshots: Awareness - Learning to Listen
first offered in approximately 1994
by Jeffrey Pierce
This exercise is designed to do two things for you, though each person will have a differing degree of success with it. First of all, the exercise will begin to teach you how to observe. In the lessons to come, you'll realize how important this is. Second, the exercise will begin to connect you to the natural energy around you. Although this may seem a simple exercise (and to some, a waste of time) when you have properly completed the exercise, you will understand how powerful it is.
For a period of seven consecutive days, sit quietly outside (in a park, your yard, a forest) and observe. Clear your mind and let images come to you. Watch the world around you and see if anything jumps out at you. Do this for fifteen minutes to a half-hour each day. If you miss a day, start over. After each session, write down the following information:
- The date, time, location, and weather.
- What you observed including notable thoughts and images that came into your mind.
- How you felt before, during, and after each session.
When I originally did this exercise, I had to get creative as to where I went to observe. At the time, I lived in an apartment complex in an urban setting. Not wanting anyone to see me, I spent seven consecutive nights sitting inside a hedge that bordered the parking lot! As mundane as that may sound, the experience was an incredibly magickal one and set the groundwork for nearly my entire magickal practice.
Though simplistic, this exercise will teach you more about observation than any amount of reading will. It will begin the process of intimately connecting you to natural energy and the spirit world. And it will slowly begin to change your perspective.