The Incredible Magick of Massage
by Night Owl
zone3
Ahh, massage... touching and being touched... energy
focused and released. Each touch, each breath, each stroke
sends energy coursing through our own bodies and through that
of the person receiving the massage. His or her breath sends
the energy back, forming a continuous moving river of
wonderful life energy that releases tension, builds health and
opens both massage giver and receiver to love and healing.
How can we use magick in massage? In both magick and
massage, we build, focus and release energy for a multitude of
purposes. Both magick and massage share the same foundation.
So adding magick to a massage, or including massage in some
types of ritual, can be easy and increases the effectiveness
of both.
Begin your magickal massage by focusing your attention and
your intention. Think about and plan what you wish to
accomplish. Then set up the space as you would for a ritual.
Prepare yourself. Pay attention to your attitude, your
intention and your goal. Breathe, stretch, flex, center,
ground and breathe some more. Ignore or brush aside
distracting thoughts. Stretch the tension out of your own body
before you touch another. Do you wish to be a channel for
healing love? Do you wish to focus courage, daring, strength
or power?
You are going to use your energy to assist another person
to relax, release tension or enter an altered state and heal
themselves. Clear yourself and alter your own consciousness
first. Focus your own energy on opening yourself to becoming a
channel for your intention.
In the beginning, it is a good idea to have a list to
assist you in remembering all the details. After practice, you
will be able to improvise and follow the flow of your creative
energy. It is easier to build a strong foundation of knowledge
if you initially pay attention to detail.
The room should be clean, with a table or pad for the
massage. Have beautiful music playing softly. A tape of
Tibetan bells, or the sacred trance music from almost any
culture, will give an important energy boost and give you both
something to focus your conscious minds on.
Other than the minimum communication for guidance in
lighter or heavier touch, or for changes in position and other
mechanics of the massage, it is a good idea to avoid talking
most of the time. Massage was the occupation for the blind in
old Japan, and you may find it much easier to focus on your
hands, and the energy flow, if you keep your eyes closed.
If it is warm enough, leave a window open to let in fresh
air. If not, air the room thoroughly before the massage. Some
people enjoy candlelight and incense or burning herbs. Have a
clean soft sheet or large towel for the person to lie upon,
and another to cover up with. A soft cotton blanket is also
good as a cover. The receiver will become much cooler as they
relax and let go of muscle tension, so it is important to
cover them to keep them warm enough. The giver will be doing
the physical work so will be more comfortable if the room is
on the cool side. Both the giver and receiver can be clothed,
nude or anywhere in between according to their own comfort
levels.
A deep massage is much easier with oil, so any clothing
worn and the covers used should be washable. Many oils can
used for massage. Each person will need to experiment to
discover what she or he likes the most. A mixture of vegetable
or nut oil, with little or no scent, will work for most
people. There are also many oil and lotion mixtures available
commercially, but be sure to smell them and rub some on your
hands and arms before you buy a whole bottle. Some of the
strongly scented ones will become nauseating when applied to
the whole body, and each oil has a slightly different "slip"
to it, so feel free to experiment. It is possible to do a
completely adequate massage with no oil, but it is more
difficult and long hard pressure sweeps are impossible.
To do a complete massage takes at least an hour, but brief
work on the neck, shoulders, hands or feet can be very
relaxing when time is limited.
Receiving a massage is less complex than giving one.
However, the receiver can increase their stress release and
healing by drinking a glass of juice or pure water, and doing
some stretching and deep breathing beforehand. Once on the
table or pad for the massage, the person receiving can
continue to consciously relax, open, breathe and give feedback
to the person doing the massage. If the massage is too deep
and is more painful than wished, or if it is not deep enough,
the person doing the massage needs to hear it.
Giving and receiving massage is very intimate. It is
important that both people be bathed, have teeth brushed,
nails clipped and filed and so on.
If the massage giver carefully matches breathing with the
receiver, it will increase the depth and power of the
connection. Plus, after matching breathing, the giver can
begin to breathe more slowly and deeply and the breathing of
the receiver will probably match and also slow and deepen.
Many different methods are used to prepare the energetics
of the space and control the energies during the massage. A
common one is to sit for a few minutes in meditation after
preparing the space and invite healing spirits to join you and
aid you in your work.
Healing has always been an important part of the Craft.
Most traditions have goddesses and gods known for their
healing skill and power. Research to learn which ones are the
most compatible with your energy. During your meditation,
request that they join you and guide you during the massage.
Placing statues, icons, stones, crystals, elements and other
sacred objects around the room can invite the energy they
represent to be present and to assist.
Consider the idea that the part of you that you call your
"self" is just one of several consciousnesses within you. Your
physical body also has a "mind" or "consciousness" of its own,
one that does not have word language. It is possible to relax
your conscious mind and allow your "body mind" to take over
and work with the body of the person you are massaging. It is
difficult to describe how to do this, but by lightly ignoring
your thoughts and focusing completely on the nonverbal
feedback you receive through your hands, intuition and other
senses, you can allow this "body intelligence" to teach you
what to do. As you do massage consciously, your skill in
stepping aside from your own agenda and just being present
will increase.
Massage gives as much pleasure and healing to the one
giving as to the one receiving. As you practice, your skill
and strength will increase, but even a person with no
experience can give a good massage by remembering a few
things, as follows:
Keep breathing. As you pick up tension from the person you
are massaging, unless you remain conscious of your own body,
you may make several common mistakes that will greatly lessen
your own pleasure and that of the receiver. Tension being
released by the other person will accumulate in your hands and
arms, and you will tighten up your breathing in response
unless you remind yourself to consistently breathe down into
your belly, ground and send the tension down into the earth.
Pace yourself and go slow. If you pick up tension from the
other person, you will tend to massage faster and faster. Slow
down and breathe.
Have juice or herb tea for you both to drink during the
massage. Particularly afterwards, the receiver should drink a
glass of water and the giver should wash their hands in
running water to help balance themselves.
Many people prefer to begin a massage with the face, hands
or feet, or with the palm of the right hand over the heart of
the person being massaged and the palm of the left hand over
the massage giver's own heart, so giver and receiver open to
each other. Or you can start by making long, light sweeping
strokes from the feet to the head to begin to balance the
energy flow.
The type of massage done on the face, hands and feet uses
very small movements of the fingers. Lightly press and probe
around the bones and feel the structure of the muscles. Be
particularly gentle and careful around the eyes, and avoid
uncontrolled movements anywhere. The muscles can roll under
the skin if you press hard without having good control. Such
pressure can hurt, so don't do it.
Constantly watch or feel the energy of the person you are
touching. Do not allow yourself to drift off into thinking of
something else. Every once in a while, stop and shake out your
hands and arms.
Massage slowly with long sweeping strokes from the ankle to
the hip, from the hand to the shoulder, from the thigh to the
top of the shoulder. Always do the pressure strokes toward the
heart, as that is the way the valves in the veins work. The
long sweeping strokes can be quite hard moving toward the
heart, and then light on the return.
Knead the muscles as if you were kneading bread dough or
softening up clay to sculpt. Squeeze and probe with one hand
and then the other, relaxing the hand not in use between each
squeeze. Holding your own hands partially contracted between
squeezes never allows your own muscles to rest, and you will
tire much more quickly. Be conscious of the mechanics of your
own body, and do not put it into positions where you will hurt
your back, or anything else, while doing a massage. When you
learn to manage your consciousness, breathing, grounding, body
mechanics and energy, you will feel much stronger and more
balanced after giving a massage.
Pause every few minutes and check yourself over to assess
your own energy. Never hurry. It is better to massage less of
an area slowly than to try to cover the whole body in a rush.
Remember too that the mechanical squeezing and stroking of the
muscles feels wonderful, but it is not an attack. Lightly
stroking a person who is completely clothed, while breathing
deeply together, can be more helpful than a hurried massage
the person tenses against.
Allow yourself to experience the wonder of being present
with another person, the wonder of one body with another body.
You will both be in a state of bliss by the end. Take your
time then to breathe together quietly for a time, still
touching, and then thank the spirits who have assisted you and
separate.
Once you have finished, allow the receiver to remain lying
down if they wish while you stretch and slowly return to a
more ordinary state of consciousness. You might add one last
pinch of incense to the burner or ground the remaining energy
through touching the earth, stroking a plant, kissing the
statue of the goddess or god you follow or any other finale
that creates completion. Offer juice or water to the receiver
and go wash your hands and face while thanking the Goddess for
this opportunity to be of service in such a lovely way.
Massage is an incredibly nurturing and sensual experience
that can be shared by people in all kinds of relationships.
Massage can also greatly increase the intimacy of sexual
sharing - particularly if you and your partner have had a
difficult day and are not finding it easy to get into an
intimate mood. Nothing can beat massage to help you both relax
and open to desire. Or, if your partner is under so much
stress that he or she seldom has the energy for sex, giving a
"no strings attached" massage is likely to bring sexual
thoughts to mind. This approach can be tricky, though; it
really does need to be done without a sexual agenda, or your
partner will end up less willing for your touch next time.
We are creatures with high touch needs living in a society
with a low touch tolerance. More touch would improve our
health, disposition and well-being. A recent study found that
premature babies in intensive care given 45 minutes of massage
a day were able to leave the hospital days earlier and need
thousands of dollars less in medical services.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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The Incredible Magick of Massage
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