I know right now, there are many people in some type of crisis mode. Whether it is housing, financial issues, relationship issues, or other issues, many people are feeling the struggle right now. Our world is feeling the struggle right now.
We all face moments in time where something in our physical life has thrown us into crisis mode. There are three common pieces of advice we hear in our community when in this space: Power through and keep up with your normal practices – Switch gears and focus all your magical work towards the crisis – or the third, “Just put it aside for awhile and then pick it back up later.”
I see a fourth, and what I think is a more productive approach, but first I want to give my thoughts on the three above.
Power Through
When you are in crisis mode your energy is all over the place. You are stressed, perhaps having anxiety issues, and your flight or fight response is completely turned on. When you are in extended crisis – days, weeks, months and so forth – you start to experience the seesaw effect between the burst of panicked adrenaline and the crashing exhaustion when it wanes.
If you are doing magic or devotional work, feeding your bonds, you should have steady control of your energy. It should be matching the work and effect you want to illicit. When you are in panic mode your senses get tunnel vision. It is all about how to save yourself, so that is what your mind is focused on, and thus the primary information getting processed will only be those things. Crisis mode also puts our mind into a state of lacking. We are hyper fixated on the solution and it is usually something we can not access for whatever reason, there are barriers we have to find a way to cross.
These are not the energies we want to be feeding our bonds with, especially if those bonds are new or newer stages of development. They are also not the energies we want bleeding into our normal day to day magical practice. At some point this crisis will be over because nothing lasts forever, even though it may seem to at the time. When it is, if you have been feeding your normal routine with that energy you have risked training your energy and mind to associate it with the work – thus when you do that work you might bring yourself back to that energy.
The mind is a tricky place and we need different approaches.
Hyper Focused on the Problem
It is not uncommon that during a crisis we would turn to magic to help. After all, that is one of the reasons we do magic, to shift and alter energies into our favor or to produce favorable outcomes.
In and of itself this isn’t a bad thing, but when the crisis itself becomes the center of all our work we run into similar situations as those who are powering through. We can get stuck in the lacking mind-set and can get tunnel vision when it comes to the solution. Often seeing one solution, hold onto that, and craft our spells around that. Yet there is always more than one solution to a problem though. There is a bigger picture we may be missing, that we can not see yet, because it is hard to think beyond our crisis when we are in it.
When we hyper-fixate on only the problem at hand, we are also feeding that problem all our energy. It becomes the center of all our waking moments. It is hard not to during a crisis because it is a crisis. I get that, but even in crisis there are still other parts of our life that are positive. If we hyper fixate on the problem, our mind starts to dismiss the positive parts, and if enough time goes by, they too can fall into a crisis creating a bigger mess.
“Just put it aside for awhile and then pick it back up later.”
Out of the three, this is the one I disagree with the most, because I have watched it be the most detrimental for people in the long run.
I get the premise – “You are not in the right head space” – “You don’t have the energy” – “Your energy feels chaotic” – and so forth. What I think they may be missing though is that our magical work and spiritual connections are another way we can successfully move through the crisis. We use these modes on our good days to improve our lives and ourselves. When we need this the most though is when we are drowning – they can be the life line to help us come out the other side.
Then there is the aspect of our bonds – Deities, Guides, Spirits, Entities – that we have built and nurtured in the good times. They are like any other relationship though – If you put them on hold you risk damaging them or lessening them. Think of it like a friendship – If you ghost your friend for months and then just pop back up one day like nothing happened, it may work for you but that friend may have some different feelings about it. You are also not in the same space anymore than when you left it. Time has passed, things have happened, and the bond has weakened. It is going to take time and effort to rebuild it back to where it was.
This gets a little more complicated depending on what type of bond was there before, how deep the bond was. If I ghosted my Goddess, it would be equivalent to ghosting my partner, someone I had made commitments to and devoted to. I broke trust in that ghosting and there will be repercussions and changes in that relationship, perhaps permanently.
No matter if we are talking practices, skills, or bonds – if we put them down for awhile, when we go to pick them back up it is not picking up from where we left off. We will have work to do just to get them back to the strength they were before.
Then there is the extreme cases where it becomes such a long time, that they either never go back, or when they do it feels like starting over. I have seen people take a long break in their practices because of life changes and crisis modes. They feel they can just pick it back up and be where they were and get frustrated when that is not the case. Some end up quitting altogether.
Blended Approach
Each of these pieces of advice on their own have merit to them but also some very potentially bad consequences. If we blend them though, we can not only stay engaged but use that to overcome our crisis.
We use magic to shift the energy in our favor, and we need that most during a crisis. We rely on our spiritual connections to help us see what is hidden from us and to support us along our path. We need some down time to regroup and gain clarity. So what can all this look like in a crisis situation?
Craft spells that are not just focused on the situation at hand, but also to boost yourself during this. Storms and Towers happen and sometimes we are just caught in them. It is important to also focus on our strengths and the positive things in our life during it. So aim some spell work directly at the crisis, to start shifting and altering the outcome in your favor. But also include spells to be bring harmony within yourself, to give you strength and courage, and for self-care. You are in crisis but you are still living beyond that too.
Craft spells that help keep the positive aspects in your life at the forefront. It is easy to get trapped and only see what is crumbling, but it is never everything. There are also still positive aspects, even if you have to dig a bit. Do spell work to enhance those, to keep them in focus, and to feed them. This is not only good from an energetic level but also from a mental state – It allows us to see beyond just the destruction and hopelessness and cracks a door to find real solutions – for the mind to see the opportunities to help us move out of the crisis.
Use the bonds you have created and fed to help you through this. Lean on them for added strength, clarity, and suggestions. I am not above laying down and crying at the feet of my Goddess when things are really bad. There is a comfort in Her presence in those moments, even if Her response is “Get up and let’s deal with this.” It may sound harsh but it isn’t. Crisis is a time to work, not lay down and give up. As long as I am breathing and moving, there is hope for something new, hope for a solution, hope for the next moment. She reminds me of this and is showing we are doing this together.
My Deities see the larger picture when I do not. I see one road and fixate on it. They see others, and as long as I am connected and asking, They will show me different ways to see and approach the problem. The way out is rarely the road I thought was the only answer, and the outcome a greater positive then I expected. They are “Guides” for a reason – so let Them Guide.
We do need more down time during a crisis to keep re-centering our energy, to ground within ourselves, to gain some distance and clarity. We need some of that good Hermit energy, but for purpose, not to hide away. Instead of using to fixate on situations you can’t control (other people and their actions, the state of the world, and so forth) use this to fixate on what you do control (how you react to the situation/ other people, your actions, your words, and what is important to you). Use this time to nurture and care for yourself, doing things that make you feel strong, confident, loved, and balanced.
None of this is easy in crisis mode but all of it can be done. It won’t look like it does when you are in a state of calm or normal daily chaos, so don’t try to make it that. Find what actually works for you, to help you move through the crisis, instead of being consumed by it.
Just because you are not wholly consumed by it doesn’t mean you are ignoring it – you are doing what you can do in it. Just because you are solely fixated on it doesn’t mean you are choosing the right actions to really resolve it.
Compassion for the Self
Crisis moments are hard – why they create a crisis. Have compassion for yourself in them. Know that you have the strength to find a solution or overcome. Know you have the tools and spiritual support system in place to back you during it. Use all of them.
It may not end the way you want. It may take your life in a whole new direction. There will pieces to pick up and ones to discard when it is all said and done. Have compassion for yourself. Nothing lasts forever, not even our storms. Life changes, we change, and even if we do not see it yet, this new direction may lead you to the one you were dreaming of, even if not in the way you expected.
You will make mistakes. The outcome may not end the way you wanted. It will be ok, because as long as there is a tomorrow, there are innumerable possibilities ahead of you.
Where I am now is not where I thought I would be 10 years ago. It was not the direction or plan – but it is so much greater and more wonderful then I could have dreamed of then. It’s not perfect, I still have ups and downs like we all do, but how I move through them has changed and it has changed everything.
You are not alone. We all struggle, especially right now. Keep breathing, keeping connecting, and lean into your power. Let it help you weather this too.
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