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Skrying : You any good at it?

rising and revolving

01:23 / 14.09.05

This is something I was wondering about - it seems to me to be one of the basic "Magicians Utility Tools" - in the same sort of category as being able to raise a bit of energy, and being able to tell a bit of energy has been raised.

However, talking to a mob of people I work with, I realised that a bunch of them had put off the whole skrying thing as "too hard" - which it's not, I reckon.

So, I was wondering how many people here get up to a bit of peering into the spirit realms (aided or un) and whether anyone wants to offer tips and hints to get over that first step?

illmatic

12:51 / 14.09.05

I realised that a bunch of them had put off the whole skrying thing as "too hard"

*gnashes teeth*

which it's not, I reckon

You are right. But it depends on what exactly you're trying to do....

If you're talking about working with spontaneously arising visual images as a source of insight/information, most books on it state that the most important thing is just to "accept" the first image or whatever that comes, no matter how absurd it seems. Rather than censoring it out in favour of something selected by the ego as being more profound/worthy/sexy etc. through, no matter how absurd it seems.

I really like Diane Glouberman's book "Imagework" for this sort of approach. It's a really excellent resouce. I've had some very interest results with it, articulating things I didn't quite want to own up to, that sort of thing. My partner also has had some excellent results in this direction.

ghadis

22:03 / 14.09.05

I think that a lot of the idea that scrying is "hard" comes about with the idea that you have to sit in front of bowl of inky water or a crystal or something, focusing so hard your eyes pop out, until you get a "message" of some sorts. I don't really see it like that at all. It's about letting go and adjusting your perception in a way that allows a communication to begin. Whether thats with yourself or something outside of yourself is neither here or there. There is no concentration or forcing it involved.

I've used mirrors and bowls of water in a more ritualised setting and they've always been very usefull but when i think of scrying i think of looking out of train or car windows or walking down a street and taking in all stimuli, whether it's visual, tactile or auditory.

This is not the same as being awake and aware. It's having a definate "goal" in mind and recieving a "communication" to follow up on.

Less searchable M0rd4nt

22:23 / 14.09.05

Depends on how you define skry. If you mean general divination w/Tarot ect., I'm pretty darn hot. If you mean "stare at a bowl of ink/crystal/other shiny surface until pictures appear" then I suck. Not because it's hard, just because I'm a bit crap: I second-guess everything. Then I third-guess. Then I fourth-guess, and then after that I think I may actually create-some-sort-of-complex-fractal-guess.

I do find that I get images and messages come through when I'm reading tarot much as they would if I were skrying using a bowl or a mirror, and I've got quite good at catching those and interpreting them. These days I'm being poked back towards the whole crystal gazing thing; it'll be interesting to see where that goes.

ghadis

22:59 / 14.09.05

That's what I mean. It's quite a vague and shaky term isn't it. It covers a huge range of practices but is used often in a very precise way to mean looking into something shiny to get very clear results. No wonder people get shied off and think that it is hard. The same thing happens with "energy work" or "working with the astral plane".

I've been chatting to a couple of friends recently who expressed the same misgivings about "astral work" being too hard and i just think it's really bloody easy. It takes a bit of work yes, but i really feel that its not about working and working to gain a new skill but more about slightly shifting the walls a bit to accommodate the skills you are already using in abundance.

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