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Has anything of the kind ever happened to anyone else? A hangover-type experience the morning after you work magic or do a spell or draw power into yourself?

I was working magic last night in a ritual. It was my first experience making a runescript, and I also consecrated the first runeset I've made for myself.

I didn't imbibe anything during the ritual that would cause any sort of hangover, by the way. used pomegranate juice as a ritual drink instead of wine. (I had some candles lit, and I never do anything during a ritual involving fire that would cloud my judgement. Been through one house fire, don't want to go through another.)

(Fair warning, this is where I go all non-academic about a personal experience using magic. You have been warned)

The thing that was different from the other times I've worked magic (to varying degrees of success) was that I went REALLY deep into a meditative state while preparing for and going through. It was a sort of trance, and I think it was the deepest I've ever been in.

I could feel the energy of my Goddess while I sat in front of Her altar and made the offerings. I could feel Her blessing and love. I was euphoric, but completely, almost hyper-aware of myself and my surroundings.

I had complete faith in my abilities and in the powers I was invoking. I could remember exactly what to say and do. Every movement and word felt right. I felt very positive and very powerful.

I could feel the energy and power I was calling on building up inside me and moving through me. I could feel myself directing it in the ways I wanted, I could almost see it. And when it ended and I let go of the power, I still felt a kind of warm glow. I was very tired, and almost fell asleep sitting in front of my altar after I blew out the candles. I managed to crawl across the room and into bed. I went right to sleep; and I slept REALLY hard.

It was an amazing experience, and one of the most powerful magical moments that has ever happened to me.

HOWEVER...

When I woke up today I felt like I'd been hit by a truck. It was EXACTLY like a hangover, except I didn't have the sour stomach. My head was pounding and my entire body hurt whenever I moved. I was dizzy and exhausted even though I wasn't even up all that late (for my schedule, anyway) and I slept a good eight and half hours. My hands were shaky and my brain felt foggy. It was dreadful.

I'm usually all right in the mornings--not exactly a morning person, but I do okay. But man...I can only think it was because of all the energy I used last night.

I've been up awhile, I've eaten and had some sugary tea and ibuprofen and taken a nice walk. I feel much better, maybe still a little achy and dazed. So...whats up with that?

That's exactly it! I think part of the problem was I wasn't thinking and was essentially drawing all the power I could reach directly into myself,using my own body as a conductor. And it worked...I'm not denying its effectiveness. I'm already reaping the benefits of the spell I cast.

But my body just wasn't used to it. I responded well at the time, but it was like a rush that will eventually wear off. I'm not strong enough yet to handle so much raw power. I need to learn to control it a bit more first.

Still, the past is the past. I goofed up, and I got off pretty lightly, I'd say.

You can't change what's done. All you can do you can either run from it or learn from it. (Yeah I saw The Lion King the other day. @_@) So I choose to learn from it and figure out a way to use all the power at my disposal without exhausting myself.

My next endeavor will be consecrating a special tool--a spring-wound pocketwatch my boyfriend gave to me. Because its a gif from the man I love, s it allready has strong energies of love, pleasure, joy, and tenderness. I'm using it as a storage device, kind of the way

Since it must be hand-wound, I can make that a kind of daily ritual of increasing and securing my power (as well as making sure it tells the correct time), and the back has a flat glass surface that
's perfect for writing a runescript to draw positive energy and power to it. I can put it in a pocket or around my neck. I figure, this way I can store all the excess energy I need and draw on it at will, taking what I need and sending any excess energy back into the pocketwatch.

This isn't a Asatru practice, or at least nothing like any Asatru practice I'VE heard of, but it feels right to me, and since my Goddess admires creativity and cleverness, I think she'll look favorably on something experimental like this.

Up till now, I've been more concerned with developing a connection to my Goddess in a religious aspect. I pray and ask help and make offerings more than I work any spells or channel any energy. But I feel like its time to start using my ability. I know I have it, and I've felt recently for a number of reasons like certain ancestral spirits (namely my deceased twin, my uncle, and my grandmother) are telling me to stop wasting it or ignoring it and start using it again.

So yeah. Maybe I'll blog about the results and share what I've been doing, though I'd like to perfect my technique a bit first.

That sounds like a plan. I'll just have to get myself used to it again. @_@

I've never had that exact experience but I have suffered the consequences of overdoing it when it comes to magic or energy work. The worst that ever happened was nausea, cold sweat, shakes, and dizziness. Essentially the symptoms of hypoglycemia. I ate and drank something sweet and after a little while I felt much better.

I've had less intense experiences since then but I'm in agreement with the idea that if you reach beyond your ability (whether in magic or at the gym) you will feel the backlash. You acclimate to it with time and experience. You have to push yourself to gain anything. Pushing too much can hurt though so be careful.