This week, I have a magical homework assignment for you that’s “due” next week.
I have a thing for summer school vibes, even though I loathed actual summer school as a kid. Actually, maybe it’s more summer camp vibes. (I can’t wait to write a romance novel set in an adult summer camp!! 😍)
Point being, every summer I find myself eager to return to magical foundations, approaching the basics from a fresh POV.
This week, I want to break down sensing energy with your hands, because it’s important for casting spells, charging magical objects, and so many other witchy tasks.
Next week, we’ll build on this with a different energy exercise. If you complete this week’s homework, you’ll be able to compare your results and supercharge your energy-sensing skills.
As always, we’ll use the basics as a springboard into some fascinating Jungian Magic stuff. Ready? Let’s do this!
Sensing Energy with Your Hands
Grab two objects, one living 🍊, one inanimate 📘.
Get comfy somewhere you won’t be disturbed, and set the two objects before you.
Close your eyes. Take a minute to settle in, bringing your focus to your breath to draw your attention inward.
When you feel calm and centered, open your eyes, and hover your hands around the living object. There should be about an inch between your skin and the object.
See if you can sense a subtle field surrounding the object, which might register as resistance pushing faintly against your skin, a light tingling, or even a hint of air, almost like breathing.
If you’re not feeling anything yet, try slowly moving your hands a smidge closer, seeing if you pick up on that subtle “pressing” resistance as you move into the object’s energy field.
When you’re done, pause and shake out your hands.
Repeat this process with the inanimate object.
Do you notice any difference in sensation between the two?
I tried this with a peach and tape dispenser. With the peach, I felt a stronger zone of resistance, mild tingly sensations, and a slight airy movement. With the tape dispenser, the resistance was fainter, there was no tingling, and I felt an overall cooler feeling.
If you didn’t feel much, that’s okay! Try rubbing your palms together vigorously before doing the exercise again. This can take practice, so don’t be discouraged if you’re not getting much on your first try.
What’s Actually Going On Here?
If you did feel something, you might be wondering: Is this all in my head? And the best answer I can give you is: it’s both in your head and in your body—and maybe something bigger, too.
Metaphysical POV: The Palm Chakras
You have minor chakras in your palms—energy centers that allow you to sense, give, and receive energetic information. These chakras are said to be especially sensitive to subtle frequencies, kind of like magical antennae.
I remember when I completed my Reiki Master training, I was obsessed with sensing the energy of absolutely everything and trying to describe it in great detail. (In hindsight, I was probably super annoying to be around for, like, months. 🤓)
When you hover your hands over something living, those chakras may be picking up on the object’s biofield—its energetic signature—which can feel warm, tingling, magnetic, or like soft pressure against your skin.
Scientific POV: Your Hands Are Wired to Feel Everything
Nerd time! Your palms are one of the most nerve-dense areas of your body. You’ve got a high concentration of sensory receptors, including:
- Merkel cells – texture and pressure
- Meissner’s corpuscles – light touch and vibration
- Ruffini endings – stretch and warmth
- Golgi tendon organs – tension and movement in muscles and tendons
These receptors don’t just detect hard contact—they’re also sensitive to minute changes in temperature, air movement, and electromagnetic shifts in the environment.
So when you’re hovering your hands near a peach and feel a kind of buzz, push, or halo, your nervous system is probably registering micro-differences. The more you practice tuning in to these sensations, the more refined your perception becomes.
What you’re doing here is more than just sensing energetic peach fuzz.
You’re beginning to feel how your body responds to the world around it, seen and unseen—and this is the same psychic radar that can help you detect emotional energy, the arrival of an unconscious part, or the activation of deeper archetypal patterns.
In next week’s post, we’ll build on this skill with another energy exercise and use it as a springboard to explore:
- The difference between instinctual and archetypal energy within your system
- How energy activates stories inside the psyche (and how those stories shape your life)
- What all of this has to do with casting more powerful spells
See you then.
Happy Full Moon in Sagittarius! 🌝
