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Make it Real for Me

00:53 / 04.02.03

I've read The Invisibles, and I've heard about some magick techniques, like lucid dreaming and astral projection, but I haven't been able to do any of that kind of thing. So, I'm looking for advice on easy techniques to break into magick. I'd love to do something like lucid dreaming, but I'm looking to start with something simple, that is likely to get results. Any tips?

02:14 / 04.02.03

Easy magick? Sigils. There are a number of how-to threads here and elsewhere, and Pop Magick on Grant Morrison's home page covers the basics as well.

Beyond that, it ain' neccessarily easy. It's a question of being able to sort out the little voice of intuition, hear it over the drone of daily habit and the anesthesia of wouldn't it be nice if... that leaves you vaguely dissatisfied and without the ambition to actually make something change. It's the will to make something happen without the little niggling thoughts that it might not work, you might be better off without, it's spozedto be just the way it it was for your parents and siblings and friends, the chorus of "I told you so" practicing ahead of time just in case...

Advice? Learn to meditate. Learn how to control your mind, figure out what it is that's doing the controlling. Take up a physical discipline - yoga, martial art, archery, whatever - learn to control your body and body-based energies. KNOW that it isn't your mind that has mastery over your body.

Good luck!

07:14 / 04.02.03

keeping a dream diary is a good start - I'm sure there's some tips on it here somewhere. If you persist with it, you'll be able to do the lucid dreaming thing eventually, and I think it's good to get a handle on your psychic life anyway. With lucidity, I found it useful to get the habit of asking myself if i was dreaming all day - do a doublecheck every 15mins or so, especailly in the evenings. Eventually this will carry over into your dream life, and you'll become lucid. It just takes a bit of practice - it's hard not to wake up at first.

I'd also add read widely, try get a handle on what interests you. All the best!

16:34 / 04.02.03

as far as lucid dreaming goes, you can do a google search. I als had this FAQ sitting in my favourites list:

http://www.lucidity.com/LucidDreamingFAQ.html

17:12 / 04.02.03

You can't get any easier than sigils. Sigilize for something simple at first and then give it a couple weeks for it to happen (and it will happen).

14:55 / 06.02.03

Thanks for the suggestions. I've got a notebook for the dream journal, and I'll be sigiling something tonight.

09:28 / 07.02.03

In the back of your diary I advise noting down coincidences and weirdness. Pretty soon you start to see themes and threads in your life you might not otherwise have noticed, and that maybe the world is trying to tell you something. I also advise reading loads about it and daydreaming a lot!
I adhere to a kind of 'critical mass' theory, once you get past a certain point, magic starts to snowball and gets easier and easier. It might be hard at first but like meditation and lucid dreaming, keep at it and it will come. Best of luck!

Warewullf up North

14:39 / 07.02.03

Lucid Dreaming is well worth the effort.

Keep a notebook by you bed and when you wake up, DON'T MOVE! Just allow yourself a couple of minutes to remember your dreams (for some reason, moving causes your brain to think about other things and dreams can be entirely forgotten in an instant.)

When you're ready, write down whatever you can remember. If it takes up a page, fine, ten pages, great! If it's only a couple of key words, that's fine, too. You'll be amazed how quickly you'll start remembering entire dreams.

One reason for this Dream journal is the identification of repeated symbols/actions (called "Dreamsigns"). Say, for example, upon reading your journal you notice that you always dream of clocks. Next time you see a clock in waking life you'll ask yourself "Am I dreaming?" Do this everytime you see a clock and you'll eventually start doing it in your sleep, which leads to Lucid dreams!

(My "dreamsign" was pushing my hand into a solid wall/mirror, so in waking life I would try to push my hand into walls as a Reality Check. I started doing this in my dreams and it's how I started Lucid Dreaming!!)

The importance of the Dream Journal cannot be overstated.

Also, if you're interested in getting into magick, I would suggest starting off with Witchcraft. (I did.) It's nice, relativly easy and there is plenty of info around.

It's best to pick a discipline and stick with it until you've achieved enough results to throughly convince yourself that magick is real. Then, if you wish, you can move on to other traditions.

23:13 / 11.02.03

One reason for this Dream journal is the identification of repeated symbols/actions (called "Dreamsigns"). Say, for example, upon reading your journal you notice that you always dream of clocks. Next time you see a clock in waking life you'll ask yourself "Am I dreaming?" Do this everytime you see a clock and you'll eventually start doing it in your sleep, which leads to Lucid dreams!

I've started the dream diary, and I've been taking down the odd coincidences and occurrences that occur in my waking life. And, with this post I've found another one. When I was younger, I always used to dream of clocks, as what you are, before you're born. So, it's interesting that you mention that as an example of something you'd dream about. I think that deservies to go in the diary.

Warewullf up North

10:54 / 12.02.03

Ain't magick grand!