I have a small ritual that I call The Lady’s Lap.  It is a way for me to write down my worries, fears, prayers, and the things that keep me up at night.  Over the years, this ritual has taken place only in my mind, sometimes on a real actual notepad, and sometimes just a little bowl to catch scraps of paper.  The Lady’s Lap is an exercise in faith and dogged persistence.

I write down things that I need to get out of my head, much like Dumbledore’s Pensieve in J.K. Rowling’s exceptional books.  Then, I put them into the Lady’s lap.  I give them to the Goddess.  There are things I just can’t handle on my own, and the Lady’s lap is big enough to hold the whole world’s weight and then some.

Have you figured out where the persistence comes in?  Let me show you.

How many times have you had something that really bothered you and you did a spell or said a prayer or screamed “Mother Goddess HELP ME!” and then, after you relinquished the problem to the Lady, you went immediately back and started worrying incessantly over it again?  Yep… thought so.  Don’t worry, I do it, too.  I might even be more compulsive about it than you!

It’s actually a pretty human thing these days to worry over things, try to control the world, try to save everything and everyone from anything and anyone we see as a threat.  We need to be able to let go, unclench our manic little fists and relax.  We need to be able to crawl into the Lady’s lap and just be held in that peaceful place where we can hear the heartbeat of the world beneath our cheek.  But while we don’t usually have trouble finding that place when we are in dire need of it, we don’t always lay down our burdens easily.

Learning to let go of things is a vital part of educating yourself magickally.  When we do spells and we continue to worry about them, wondering if they’re working, wondering how long it will take for them to work, it’s like tying a pair of cement shoes to a butterfly.  We “ground” the energy by tethering it with our own fears and frustrations.  Nothing can reach the astral because we’ve basically touched the butterfly’s wings so much it can’t fly at all.

Next time you have a concern or a spell to do, visualize yourself releasing what you are holding onto or what you have created.  Realize the delicate nature of that moment of release and resist the urge to grab for it as you let go.  The Lady is more than capable of handling what you give Her, and the Universe is more than abundant in its ability to fulfill your energetic request.

While Mother is more than happy to give you hugs and kisses and feed you and help you with your Craft projects, She also wants you to let go of the apron strings and let Her handle things.  And we all know what happens when we get under Mom’s feet.

We get grounded.  Literally.  Sometimes, the hard way.

Photo by Eddi 07 (via Flickr).