A Storm In The Sunshine: Navigating Emotions in a Magickal Way

by Roman Delgado

The wheel turns once more. The sun becomes stronger, the trees bloom and the world returns to life. The whole world seems to be filled with joy and beauty. Yet not all of us are ready or able to embrace the joy of the season. How many of us feel buried under a large weight of depression, anxiety, panic or many other emotions that, in all reality stop us from embracing the magic of the season.

I have been struggling with my own emotions for quite some time. I am under the proper care of mental healthcare professionals, yet pills and therapy don’t quite make the symptoms go away. It was in a search for tools to deal with my own emotions that lead me in a path to healing and Magic. I began with Reiki, Massage, Aromatherapy, Shamanism and many other form of spiritual healing. Each has contributed greatly to my tool belt that I use in my times of need.

One of the greatest blockages I have in my path to joy is my struggle with Anxiety and Depression. Many others I have met have empathized with me or even agreed with me in my struggle. I started my path to understand a spiritual way to deal with Anxiety and Depression both in Massage Therapy School over 2 decades ago. There is a concept I call “ Muscle Memory” in times of stress and trauma, we tend to put stress and tension in very specific muscle groups. So when we finally relax and release years of stress being held in those body parts, memories of the original stress and trauma often come to surface to be released along with muscle stress. I lost count in the time I spent as a massage practitioner of the many people who broke down crying in my massage table, remembering the reasons why they became stressed to begin with. I lost count of the cleansing, healing tears shed as I did my work.

Where am I going with all of this you ask? Hang in there with me I promise I will make a good point soon and give you a small token of appreciation: An easy practice to use for most people to deal with Anxiety and Depression that has helped me a great deal in my own experiences with said struggles. In an energetic level there is an equivalent to what I learned in Massage School. In my Reiki Training and Practice, I have seen how the energetic blockages found in the human energy field, are often connected to emotions that have not been properly processed. When breaking apart the energy blockages, and by result began to process them; I have seen countless people have deep emotional releases. Many cried, screamed and even laughed. All types of emotions have been let go of when we released energy. This is where the world of flesh and the world of spirit overlap! The powerful energy blockages held in the human energy anatomy often have equivalents in the physical anatomy. While I cannot speak for physical illness as I am not a physician and I will not pretend to be one. I cannot help but admit the large number of clients who have reported to me the relaxation provided to them by Reiki in more than one level.

So where is the Magic in all of this? Well while studying Witchcraft and Wicca I have learned to see emotions in a different way. Some emotions are very much in alignment with the Element of Water. They are fluid, powerful and ever changing. Impossible to nail down or forever hold ( and when we try is much to our detriment, but more on that later) other emotions are fiery and spicy! They rise up from our belly and root chakras, and seek expression. While fiery emotions are the ones we normally need to express the most, they are often born from the waters of our sorrows: Anger normally protects the wound!

When we try to eat our emotions instead of giving them health expressions. We tend to develop blockages around our throat and lower chakras. With time I have seen people develop physical issues in those areas too, with makes me wonder about the mind-body connection ( But I should let those topics to be discussed by doctors)

My own quest to not eat my emotions began with Reiki. I have no idea how many times I performed Reiki on myself during stressful times and broke down crying, releasing emotions that I had prior a great difficulty processing on my own. Yet Reiki helped me! In doing so I formed my own mantra about emotions: “Feel it, felt it, let it go!” Which brings me to the evolution of those experiences. Once I began formally training in Wicca both with my Coven and with Wolston-Steen Theological Seminary ( Found at www.wiccanseminary.edu ) I began to further understand the energetic makeup of my own emotions. How they connect to the elements, my own energy anatomy and development as a human being. I wish could talk more about all of that here, however I do not believe I have the skill to do it justice. That portions of the Seminary’s training took an entire year to complete!

Yet what I understood is that when we are in distress many of us close off. What do I mean by that? When we are in distress we forget to “ Feel it, felt it, let it go”. We also close our own energetic connection to God and Goddess. We isolate ourselves from our connection to the earth and nature. In doing so we lose our own ability to ground and center.

Not being able to ground and center creates energy blockages and imbalances that are more severe than usual. That in turn creates a soup of negative emotions within us that has no real place to go. It is through our own connection to Divinity, The Earth and Nature that we release most of those types of energies.

How do we reopen then? How do we learn to feel safe in a world that seems so overwhelming and out of our control? Well, first we must realize that there is one thing that is always under our own control ( at least most of us) Our own actions! When we find control internally we begin the process of regaining control of our own lives.

This is a pivotal point in finding tools to deal with our own emotions in a Magical way! If can’t control ourselves we cannot perform Magic in an effective way, and we fall victims to our own actions!

The most effective way I have found to deal with my own emotions in a magical way is to change the way internally perceive them. The way we see and label things is a huge part of Magic! A simple word in a spell can change everything, don’t believe me? Think of the difference in a job spell when you use the word Career and the word Job!

In more recent times I reached out to me Patron God Njord, the Vanir God of the Sea for Norse Myth. He has been teaching me many things. One night not too long ago, I woke up late with a very nasty panic attack. I felt his presence very strongly. I felt his touch on my right shoulder as if he was there to comfort me and help me calm down enough to go back to sleep. Eventually the panic attack faded, but the memory of him did not.

A few days later I approached his altar, lit a candle and gave offerings. I asked him for tools to deal with the issues with Anxiety and Panic Attacks I experience. He told me something that has changed the way I deal with watery emotions forever and its quite simple. I taught me to not see my Anxiety, Depression or even Panic as an icy blockage in my energy system. He wanted me to see it as warm flowing water that flow through and out of me. He taught me to let the ice melt and go out the bottoms of my feet into the earth. So I am no longer closed off but ground and center, as well as open myself to him as my projective version of Divinity.

This particular way of doing things helps me a lot with my Anxiety and Depression, not as effective with full blown panic attacks. But I know that the better I get at it, the more comfortable I will feel asking Njord for more tools for helping with my panic attacks.

Magic is here to help us in our time of need, what are some of your tools in magic that help you navigate the seas of your emotions?

Roman Delgado is a Psychic Reader and Shamanic Healer at Teotl Tonalli Intuitive Arts. He is an active member of the Keepers of the Flame Coven, ATC (The Ever Green Hearth) Please check our Community Connections page to find ways to connect with Roman or other members and Affiliates of The Ever Green Hearth.