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9 Pagan Ways to Manage Depression, by Terence P Ward

(Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal.)

Depression is a suffocating and miserable experience, and periods of depression can be both debilitating and life-altering. Symptoms not only include suppressed emotions and reduced energy, but also brain fog and body aches. Struggling to think or act can impact life plans, from education to family to career, and behavioral changes can result in loss of motivation, as well as struggles with addiction and other health problems. The percentage of people who experience depression is on the rise, but incredible progress is being made when it comes to treating this complex condition. Pagans can do well to supplement both traditional and emerging treatments, such as medication and therapy, by addressing the spiritual harm that results from periods of depression. This is a condition that impacts the body, mind, and spirit, and treating it on all three of those levels has the potential to multiply the effects of just therapy or medication alone. Here are nine ideas for how to proceed.

1. Pray. According to Courtney Weber, "You should go to your altar every day, but if you're in a bad place, go three times a day." Pagans may uncomfortable with prayer; the late Judy Harrow said it, "feels like begging." It doesn't have to be that way. If your entire relationship with a human is you asking for favors and gifts, then talking might feel like begging after a while, too. Try simply telling the gods about your day. Perhaps if you're also in the habit of leaving offerings, you might catch them in the mood to intervene. Spending time with your gods should bring comfort in any case.
2. Meditate. To focus attention on something like a candle flame, or to cease thinking altogether, is a way to quiet the conscious mind. This allows deeper parts of the self some space to heal, a respite from the barrage of recriminating thoughts common during depression. This is sometimes considered a form of shifting consciousness, but at its best this is an altered state that puts consciousness in the back seat and allows other parts of the mind to drive instead. It can be surprisingly difficult to meditate at first, particularly if the mind is filled with runaway thoughts, but it's not impossible. Even starting with just one minute at a time establishes the habit, but try to extend that by a minute as often as you can. A solid goal is to have sessions that last at least twenty minutes each, but take as long as you need to in order to reach that point.
3. Connect. Seek out a person and have a conversation. Silence is also fine, as it speaks volumes. There is healing that comes simply from being in the company of others of our own kind. We evolved from tribal primates, and our spirits respond to one another. We can feel like we're completely alien during a period of depression, that we are shunned and ostracized, or forgotten or mocked. Those introduced thoughts make avoiding the healing presence of other humans feel justified. It's important to exercise discernment—people who have harmed you in the past may harm you in the future—but companionship is a necessary part of the human experience.
4. Remember. We are open to depression in part because of the trauma experienced by our ancestors, and inadvertently passed down to us as our habits, beliefs, and capacity to manage stress. Our ancestors also have an interest in our own success, and understand us in ways that no one else ever could. Call upon the ancestors for resilience when all seems bleak and hopeless.
5. Laugh. Life is funny—all parts of life. Some of the best comedy comes out of suffering, because the spark of humor is all the brighter when it flares in darkness. Laughter shakes our body, mind, and spirit, and allows for a reset of all three. Think of a time when something funny kicked off uncontrollable laughter. Recall how you felt when you have basked in the afterglow of laughing deeply and fully. Laughter is a gift of the creator gods, a way to recenter into our truest selves. Give yourself permission to receive this blessing with all of your being when that is possible, but use discernment! There are times when it's best to restrain that guffaw welling up. There will be times when it feels wiser to quash even a chortle, but always silently honor the feeling, and thank whoever you hold holy for this incredible gift.
6. Move. Our bodies are parts of our full, sacred selves. In depression it's easy to heed the call to physically slow down, to become one with the bed or a device like a phone or television. The body's stillness is often reflected by a fixation on negative thoughts. Social worker Barbara Rachel taught me a saying used in Alcoholics Anonymous: "Move a muscle, change a thought." Start simple if you must: leave the remote control on the television stand, or your phone on the other side of the room. Work up to walking around your building or neighborhood, spending time gardening outside or tidying up inside, or taking up an active hobby like bicycling, mall-walking, or hog-calling.
7. Ground. A state of depression can include the sensation of heaviness in the body, but this is not the same as being grounded. More likely, that's negative emotions sucking up the energy needed to move the limbs about. Grounding is to allow that emotional charge to pass into the earth. Sometimes it is easier to ground with the help of another person, such as a tree, a stone, or a human. Pay attention to how it feels when another person is helping to ground you, as you can tap into that sensation when grounding yourself.
8. Purify. Acts of purification are intended to clear out spiritual clutter that accumulates around us all, the result of living a mortal human life. The first step in purifying a space is to clean it, and the first space that should be cleaned is one's body. In periods of depression, even basic hygiene can seem like too much effort, but a good scrubbing from head to toe will at least temporarily elevate mood and restore energy. Tackling a cluttered or untidy home space may require help, depending on how bad it's become, but it's worth it: the home is a reflection of the heart and mind, and improving the outer environment impacts the inner in turn. The spirit of depression finds no value in a clean and ordered home, a mind free of clutter, or a path to the gods unfettered by pessimistic thoughts or stacks of boxes in front of the altar.
9. Commune. Spend time with people who are not human. Walk among trees, spend time with pets, care for houseplants, feed local birds, work in a garden. Feel sand between toes, sunshine on the face, or dirt under fingernails. Attune to the spirits of place, be they of the land or the home built upon it. Walking is an opportunity to pay attention to local spirits, whether or not they are incarnate. There are even forms of walking divination that one might try while on a mini-walkabout; I recall that author Tom Cowan taught me a Celtic walking divination once upon a time.

Depression is a condition that impacts the body, mind, and spirit of anyone experiencing it, and treating the body, mind, and spirit in concert is going to yield the better results than avoiding one or another aspect. The voice of depression encourages us to avoid behaviors that are going to be the most effective in that treatment, too. The above list is about intended to aid the spirit, and to a lesser extent the body. None of these suggestions is a substitute for getting treatment from a mental health professional, someone trained in the healing of the mind. Asking our gods or other spirits for help when we are in crisis is a good idea, but most of the time our gods are going to help us through a mental health professional. The gods work with the tools that work best.

Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal. Copyright Llewellyn Worldwide, 2022. All rights reserved.

I am very spiritual, have had plenty of psychic readings, and have tried to practice the Law of Attraction several times, I can't seem to stop believing that I've been cursed. It's like I can't catch a break in life. I've always only been allowed just enough to survive. I've never dated anyone longer than six months and I only ever have enough to just get by. I have bad anxiety and sleep paralysis all too often. Do you think I am cursed? I need some hope that things will get better. It has been two years and I'm still in love with my ex. I need a way to remove all this negativity and receive some positive vibes from the Universe.

Nicole

Susyn:

Usually it is our own thoughts that keep leading us back to the very place we do not want to be. As you know from your study of the Law of Attraction, the mind is very powerful. However, if we do not feel that we deserve wonderful things in life or if we are holding on too tightly to the past, our efforts will to manifest what we want will fail.

The harder we try to make things work, the more difficult they can become. This is because we tend to approach these troubles from the wrong angle. Instead of forcing outside circumstances to change through intellectual means, we must change what we are doing to move out of negative or restrictive cycles.

To begin, I recommend that you freeze all aspects of your life that are holding you back. For details on my freezing ritual, visit the free downloads section under spiritual tools at Kajama. Start by freezing the ex that you are still in love with. Then perform a separate ritual to freeze the intellectual or emotional energy around you that believes you are cursed. If there are any other people or circumstances that seem to be working against you, you can freeze them as well.

Once you have put a stop to all the emotional situations that are keeping you stuck, you can begin to transform your life in a more empowered way. Basically, the freezing rituals will help you break free of the past so that you can create a more prosperous and successful future.

During this process, it is imperative that you rid yourself of negative thinking. Your email lists a series of troubles that you have been unable to resolve. I would like you to rewrite this list, taking out the negative statements and replacing them with positive affirmations.

For example, you say, It's like I can't catch a break in life. I've always only been allowed just enough to survive. I've never dated anyone longer than six months and I only ever have enough to just get by. Change these statements to read something like, The Universe supports my efforts and is already opening new doors to me. I am loved and Spirit is bringing me my ideal partner. I have all I need each day and more.

Each morning, repeat these affirmations to set a positive tone for the day. In the evening, make a list of all your blessings and give thanks to Spirit. If you begin and end your day in this manner, you can eliminate the negative thoughts that are causing you trouble and begin to manifest greater success.

*****

Oceania:

Thinking you are cursed causes anxiety and sends you into the instinctual survival mode of fight, flight or flee. Through deep breathing and self-talk, you can help your body return to a natural, relaxed state. A good self-help book is An End to Panic by Zuercher-White.

I do believe you are cursed, however - with the self-imposed belief that you've been cursed! This is a belief you can change with practice. Think and say out loud: I AM BLESSED. You don't have to believe it; if you just keep it up, it will take hold in time. Write the words on post-it notes and stick them on your mirror, refrigerator and computer monitor. Stick a post-it under the chair you sit in so it can influence you subconsciously.

Email or text yourself the message. Send a tweet or post it on Facebook. Have a t-shirt, button or coffee mug made with that affirmation. Thinking, saying, writing and reading words are the mind's way of lifting weights and making a thought stronger and more automatic. When an old thought pops in, notice it and then choose a new thought. This is like changing the channel on a television to something more pleasant.

Change I can't catch a break in life to I have more blessings than I know what to do with! Change I've always only been allowed just enough to survive to I find creative ways to be of service to others, and I get paid for doing it!

Take any job and give thanks for the opportunity to be of service, or think of something you love to do and how it might benefit others. When I moved to a new area and had no established clients, I thought about how I could make money in the mean time. I love animals, so I put flyers on all the doorsteps within walking distance about my petsitting and dogwalking service and soon had money coming in.

There are low-cost counseling centers available, and many therapists offer sliding fee scales. It would be useful to get feedback on how you come across to and relate to others. In regards to dating, I like this quote by Rumi: Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.

You may find yourself fearful of giving up the notion that you are cursed. Sometimes it's easier to believe we are at the mercy of an outside oppressor than it is to take responsibility for our lives. Remember: you have the power to disperse the negative vibes you believe are plaguing you by taking daily baby steps towards greater physical, mental and spiritual health.

Astrea:

Many times in life we hear, "You will always have what you NEED, but not necessarily what you WANT." Your spirit must have needed to experience the feeling of leaving your human body, and the suggestion in the next chapter of Sylvia Brown's book was all it took to get you there.

Even though you hadn't read it yet, your SOUL recognized the title of that chapter as something it had been seeking, and your soul, knowing that you had that reference to read after your experience, got with it and out you went!

While I don't usually recommend her books, Sylvia Brown has a wide reaching and powerful effect on lots of people. A Gemini like you would be able to relate easily to her writing and put it to good use. Synchronicity - you gotta love it!

I like your description of "getting caught." That's exactly what it feels like, isn't it? One minute you're free and hovering above the room, and the next minute, ZAP! back down into your corporeal form you go!

As a little kid, I loved that "feeling of return." With practice, most of the time we can control that event, but sometimes, when our physical ears hear a distracting noise or something else occurs to knock us back into reality, back we go. With practice you will be able to control your return better.

I find it interesting that you were visiting your mother-in-law and not someone in your own genetic family. Evidently, you and your husband got married for reasons that are even deeper than love. His family's interest in "psychic stuff" will nurture your children in such matters and help them to grow into their own abilities.

You'll never have to be concerned that when your daughter visits them, she'll be discouraged from exploring her own psychic life and power. My parents encouraged me to develop my psychic senses in a time when it wasn't nice to even discuss such things in public. Heck, it's STILL not considered a great topic at the dinner table in some families!

Your kids will get to talk about it ALL and ask questions and read and study. This is going to give them such an edge in life! Talk with your husband about how you want to present this to your kiddos, so that you are united in your approach and ready to tell them their experiences are all natural and okay.

A word or two of warning: Geminis often have difficulty staying grounded in REAL LIFE. Don't get so strung out on your ASTRAL life that you neglect what you're doing here on Earth.

You are at the beginning of a long journey to learn where your power really lies. Try to be patient with this process and take your time.