Keepin this one short because Black Witch isn’t feelin too good. :<

I’ve been studying paganism off and on since ‘01. Throughout the years I’ve been through things and it has made me a very angry person and I believe my quick temper is effecting my relationship with my girlfriend. Do you have any advice on cleansing myself from negative energy? I haven’t self-dedicated myself but my god of worship is pan. Thank you and I appreciate your time

– Robbie Y.

I had responded to him and he clarified that he wanted meditation exercises to best cope with anger, which is good because I thought he was going to ask for spells. (You’d be surprised how often that happens.)

I have anger issues myself from past personal experiences and bottling it up so I understand totally how that can make a person feel. Left unchecked, it’s like playing musical chairs with a more destructive version of yourself. You may pass up on experiences because of worrying you’re going to explode, lash out or do something regrettable. The version people see of you is more of a captive of trying to keep your own fury down instead of your actual self and that can suck when it comes to personal relationships because the third wheel is the anger which can very easily shoot everything to Hades in a hand basket if not appeased as soon as possible.

The best you can do is get some counseling. Meditation will help you control your anger but if that anger is derived from something, which is what you mentioned, then it’s best to extinguish the core instead of simply go after the emotional run-off it created, otherwise you’ll be in the same song and dance with your anger until you can’t take it anymore. Think of it like a fire, you can’t just fan away the heat if you want to get rid of the conflagration. It may keep a couple things from burning or burn a little slower but it doesn’t truly help the fact that there’s still a fire going. So try to extinguish the fire and find someone to talk to and can help you.

As for meditation, you can use the fire metaphor and visualize water being forced into the core of the flames, dousing it.  You can also visualize the fire in a tightly sealed flameproof jar burning off the sticks or whatever best symbolizes your triggering experiences with either rain coming down from the top or water coming up from the bottom taking out the fire bit by bit. Just like a real fire, it’s going to take time to beat down the flames so do that meditation but also try to see someone you can talk out your problems with.

Don’t want to discourage you but there aren’t a lot of counselors for Pagans practitioners (which is necessary because once you step outside the norm of better known religions, it can put you at risk for incorrect treatments and diagnoses). However, this site Pagan Therapy can help narrow it down and don’t let it keep you from looking because there are some good therapists out there to help you untangle your problems and keep them from getting worse.

Okies that’s all the Black Witch for this week! Remember the Black Witch meet and greet is a couple Saturdays from now so keep your eyes peeled on the Black Witch Fan Page for info! Here are the basics:

Where: At the Washington Monument in Baltimore, MD
When: June 9 @ 12 PM
Why: Meet Black Witch and socialize with other Black Pagans
What: Meet and greet. If it is not too far a walk, to a metaphysical shop and library. There will be cupcakes.