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Glenn Close But No Cigar
17:10 / 02.04.07
Hello, and thanks for reading this far.

For some time now, I've been feeling a desire to develop what for want of a better phrase I'll call a magical practice, and I'd like to humbly ask for your advice.

Now, I realise that it's important to examine where this desire might come from, and whether this might be better met by other activities. It's not about wanting to have a body of specialist knowledge I can master (a concept I find doubtful from a 'wise person knows they know nothing' perspective), or about an aesthetic attraction to various magical traditions' visual / verbal trappings (engaging as they are, they seem ultimately unimportant, and appreciating them it seems to me should not be distinct from, say, appreciating Piero della Francesca or Beethoven's 9th), or wanting to attain a grade, power over others, or recognition as a mighty! mage!. It's not even necessarily about wanting to do good, something that I think I might better achieve through everyday acts of kindness than through anything more abstract. In the end, I suspect what I'm wanting to achieve is a broadening of terms in which I understand and engage with the world - not a rejection of the empirical or philosophically mainstream in favour of 'hidden knowledge' (seems to me that everything from an old woman's words of wisdom to Wittgenstein's Tractatus are very powerful, and both are easy to access) but rather something more lateral.

In terms of advice, I think what would be helpful is not a reading list, but rather a thinking or doing list. What questions should I ask myself? What might be useful exercises to undertake? I'm not really looking for anything denominative here (say, a specific ritual from a specific tradition, with all the bells and whistles) but rather something very simple, even perhaps very 'ordinary', that will sensitise me to, and make me consider, what it means to act and effect change.

Again, thanks for reading. I look forward to hearing your thoughts.
 
 
illmatic
17:48 / 02.04.07
Well, this might not be what you are looking for, for reasons I'll come to below, but three very good basic practices are:

1) Keeping a dream diary. Write your dreams down first thing in the morning. Don't worry if you can't recall anything at first it will come. Try and differentiate between different types of dream (those produced by different sleeping conditions, those seemingly reflecting the days events, those containing symbolism etc.)

2) Start familarising yourself with a divination system and doing readings for yourself and others (best way to learn is by practice!). Tarot, Runes and I Ching are probably the three favorites.

3) Begin a basic meditation practice. There are reams of instructions out there to confuse yourself with, but think in terms of keeping it simple. Sit still, relaxed but alert, watch your breath, let your thoughts arise and fall without getting involed in them. Everytime your mind wanders bring it back to the breath. Don't beat yourself up when you fail or praise yourself when you succeed. Just it let it happen in a non-judgemental way.

I've found each of the above very profitable. There's lots of good material about each of these on this site.

I mentioned above my post perhaps not being what you are after, because I don't see my practice as being about creating change in the world etc. That's changing for various reasons, but all change begins at home and each of the above can produce changes in you if you let them. One of the fruits of mediation, being calm and ceasing to be overwhelmed by the world can be seen as willed self-change and a necessity before acting in any other way.

If it is the world you want to act on, rather than a more introverted practice, I think you can find a useful model in the well formed outcomes of NLP. Run each of your ideas or desires through this model and see where you get to.
 
 
the Kite
17:48 / 02.04.07
I strongly suggest some kind of meditation practice.

The Golden Dawn, Crowley, and the IOT, to name but a few, all recommend one version or another of meditative exercises, borrowed and 'improved' by streamlining, from Indian tradition.

Two main forms of 'meditation' may come in particularly usedful for your stated aims. The first involves stilling one's body and mind, clearing the decks, so to speak. The second involves practicing clear visualisation.

In the practice of altering 'reality', you may then use the first form to 'wipe the board clean' of random stuff you don't want in your altered reality, then from that state of mind use the second form to visualise clearly what you do want, as though it has already happened.

Goals and values.

Get clear about what you really really want. A variety of methods suggest themselves. Only then can you honestly visualise it having happened. This leads to ...

Self-examination. Regardie famously recommended psychoanalysis as a prelude to beginning magical practice. And I've seen enough crash-and-burns now to kind of agree that we need to pay attention to the strain under which we put our minds. Any process will do which encourages an accepting truthfulness to oneself and what we may find out about ourselfs.
 
 
the Kite
17:51 / 02.04.07
Apophenia beat me to the punch, but I endorse that whole post. I would add, keeping a journal. Memory fails, distorts things, gets lost in the blizzard or recent events. Keep a magical diary and have an archive of your practice.
 
 
Less searchable M0rd4nt
17:52 / 02.04.07
Buy a kitchen timer.

I really cannot stress this enough.
 
 
EmberLeo
18:04 / 02.04.07
Hmm...

Find definitions and methods of both Centering and Grounding that actually do something for you, and get really really good at them before moving on to other stuff.

I can't tell you how many people I've met who got into deeper woo without really mastering those two things first, only to have serious issues with it later.

--Ember--
 
 
Ticker
18:11 / 02.04.07
I'd add start paying more attention to your environment. Get to know where you live from different perspectives, as in what kind of trees/plants/animals/people are around you? Practice improving your ability to observe. Could you say something was out of place or changed? Be playful with it and see what you can learn.

Pay attention to things that affect you. Do you have favorite places, favorite times, and so on. Study yourself and your world with wonder. Don't judge automatically just try and be more aware.
 
 
Quantum
18:13 / 02.04.07
Centering and Grounding? Sorry, I'm only joking, but could you be more explicit?

Apophenia is right, also do make sure you get a timer.
 
 
Glenn Close But No Cigar
18:25 / 02.04.07
Thanks, all of you.

Meditation, certainly, seems like a very good idea. The (apparent, although I'm sure not actual) simplicity appeals. Dream diary also sounds interesting, although I'm not sure what the benefits of a divination system might be. If anyone can elucidate, that'd be great.

Apophenia, I think I perhaps wasn't clear about what I meant by change. What I'm after is a broadening of how I understand the way I shape myself / the world, and way the world shapes me. I'm a little chary of NLP from my various readings about it, especially what appears to be its mechanistic modelling of the human mind, and its adoption by salesmen, politicians etc. in order to shape others to their ends. Then again, babies and bathwater.

Kitchen timer?
 
 
captain piss
20:00 / 02.04.07
I guess people would say divination is a useful way of training your mind's intuitive capabilities, getting access to what your unconscious (or more of the whole you) thinks about a problem or dilemma. I've found it surprisingly useful, although i'm not sure it works (well, my experiences with tarot reading over the years have often felt quite astonishing), but it can give a thought-provoking or wide-angle view on a situation you might be confronting.

I read an amazing book on meditation a few weeks ago, called Meditation: a Foundation Course and I think it’s really the simplest and most useful thing I’ve ever read on the topic. It’s really got me back into the practice (makes me think: why the fuck did I ever stop doing this?).

There’s a really useful bit suggesting that the magic ingredient of the whole thing is ‘self-separation’. In other words, we spend most of our lives completely identifying with our own thoughts. But meditation is remembering to just observe them, to separate the observer (your own awareness) and the observed (your body, thoughts, emotions – whatever is going on). The idea is that you keep remembering to go into ‘observer’ mode and just watch things.

Another quite cool bit:
Why is meditation so centred on stillness?
Because stillness is behind every creative and meaningful thing you do.
If you are a scientist or a plumber and want to solve a problem – what do you do first?
You go still. You look. You have to go still to look, to see. You look at what’s happening or has happened in front of you. You can’t perceive unless you’re still. You don’t reason or think. That comes after.
 
 
Less searchable M0rd4nt
20:03 / 02.04.07
Kitchen timer?

Most people, no matter how far out they are, can do something for 15 minutes.

Many people can do something for 10 minutes.

If you can't do anything for 5 minutes, you need to be not a magician for a while.
 
 
illmatic
21:05 / 02.04.07
I've found it surprisingly useful, although i'm not sure it works

I'm not sure it doesn't too be honest. I've found it frequently tells me exactly what I needed to hear, at exactly the right time. FableOfBees: you can see it as a way of getting advice, getting an alternate take on a situation, or a receiving push towards a decisive decision when you're dithering. I use the I Ching myself.

I'm a little chary of NLP from my various readings about it, especially what appears to be its mechanistic modelling of the human mind, and its adoption by salesmen, politicians etc. in order to shape others to their ends.

I know what you mean, but just 'cos it's been used by wankers (and possibly designed by wankers) doesn't mean it always is and has to be so. Have a look around for Seth's posts on the subject on this site for a model of good practice. It's model doesn't strike me as particularly mechanistic - rather it uses loads of jargon so it's practitioners can sell expensive courses to business people. Good magic, arguably.

What I'm after is a broadening of how I understand the way I shape myself / the world, and way the world shapes me.

Mediation might be useful for that. As well as sitting meditation you can try and take the insights into everyday life and listen to your internal dialogue - you can find stuff on this in NLP also.
 
 
EmberLeo
22:26 / 02.04.07
Heh, more like Ground
and Center, actually.

Sorry, I'm only joking, but could you be more explicit?

Sure, though I am concerned that if I'm explicit, I'll be specific enough to defeat the purpose. The method I usually do is several steps long, but can be done quickly with practice. I often allow myself to take a few minutes to complete it, but after all the practice I've had, I find I can do this in a few breaths most of the time. If I'm having trouble, I'll go back to the long method. If I'm having lots of trouble I may even ask a friend to talk me through it (that's the nice thing about having access to the community around here).

-------------
Centering is locating and focusing on your center of being. Physically it's usually considered to be around where your center of mass is, but I equate it far more to where your seat of Identity is - where the essence of YOUness lives.

First I focus on my breathing, slowing myself down for a moment, calming breaths, slow and steady. I want my pulling in or up to match inhales, and letting go, or dropping to match exhales.

Next, I focus on the world around me, and how I'm spread out through it. I am connected to all the people and places I love, all the tasks and worries I'm distracted by, my own past, and potential future. All of these take bits of me away from my Self that is Here, Now. So, as I inhale, I pull my energy in from those connections. My past I leave in the past, I let go of my future for a while. I don't disconnect from my loved ones, but I pull my energy out of those connections like water flows out of a pipe. I set my worries aside, outside myself, and pull all that IS myself INSIDE my body for a while. If I need to do this in phases, I exhale while I change my focus, and inhale to pull each step inward.

Finally, I turn my focus inward, and find my center of balance, physically. I focus on how all my energy stems from a sort of glowing egg that is in the center of myself. I take a moment to consider my own Me-ness, and the intrinsic value of my glowing Self.

Grounding I do immediately after Centering, most of the time. It's a process of establishing your presence within a Universe of other beings, and connecting with the Earth. I personally find it balancing to Crown when I Ground, thereby also connecting with the Divinity of the Universe.

Starting with my focus in at my glowing center, I then drop a tendril down, through my body... through the floor... through the ground... through the crust... through the mantle... down, down to the glowing core of the Earth. Then I pull just a bit of that energy up and up, through the mantle, the crust, the ground, the floor, up through my body to energize my center.

Crowning, I then take that connection up through the rest of my body, through my head, through the air, through the roof, through the sky, past the stars, past the blackness of space, to a place outside of space that is glowing with Divine Light. And I connect with that glow as well, and bring it down to me, through space, past the stars, past the sky, down through the roof, down through the air, through my head, to my center.

I let that circulate, with myself between these two sources of Light, inhale UP, exhale DOWN.

Then I relax, and let the focus go. I AM. I am HERE. I am NOW. I am ready to work.
-------------

This is not the only way I know of to Center or Ground. I know people for whom this description does not produce the desired result - it's too metaphorical, not concrete enough, or the scale is just too big. Those folks may connect with the surface of the Earth and spread sideways from there, across the fertile soil. I know a woman who first went through the exercises by digging her hands into her garden, and focusing on the physical connection before she could even begin to visualize such a connection in meditation. Whether or not you find this particular description useful, actually physically digging into the Earth for grounding is a good idea at least every once in a while.

My point isn't that you must do THIS, but that you must find a method that works for you to establish your sense of self, here, and now to be sure you begin any significant energy or magical work as a whole being.

--Ember--
 
 
NyteMuse
00:21 / 03.04.07
Actually, if you want a _really_ broad, generic answer, I'd say practice living in the now/being fully present and doing things with intent. Focus on what you're doing, and just be there. If you're eating, concentrate on each bite and all of the tastes, smells, sounds that go with it (this goes with the earlier suggestion of being aware/observant of your environment)

That's been one of my biggest stumbling blocks; when I'm doing something repetitive or that requires little brain, I tend to think outside the moment, and think about what I have to do when I get home or next week at work. This makes meditation and magical acts a bit difficult... If you practice mindfulness for a few hours a day, I believe it can help any magical act/practice or any mental thing in general, and it can easily be done in any environment (driving to work, doing your job, etc)
 
 
Less searchable M0rd4nt
10:51 / 03.04.07
If you start having problems with electrical goods, watches or cameras, stuff like that, you're not grounding enough. I used to have this thing where I would routinely become completely invisible to the cameras that open automatic doors for you. Hosing off the foo icks with cold water a few times a day helps. At least 3 times a day. Hands and feet.
 
 
Quantum
12:26 / 03.04.07
I've found it [divination] frequently tells me exactly what I needed to hear, at exactly the right time apophenia

I'd add to that, that it often tells you what you *need* to hear instead of what you *want* or expect to hear. Like an honest friend, it can make you squirm and face what you're trying to ignore or avoid. Which is useful.
 
 
illmatic
12:35 / 03.04.07
True dat.

I forgot to say, I really liked XK's post. I'm trying to keep nature notes at present. It's really interesting, watching the randy birds and squirrels chase each other and trees blooming, though not self-consciously magickal as such.
 
 
archim3des
16:06 / 03.04.07
I'm about two years into trying to cultivate a "practice" and still consider myself a probationer, or neophyte, not something I would have thought years ago. Patience is a definitly a virture acquired during this past year for me, whether it developed because i focused on strengthening that part of my personality or as a response to so many failed spells is beyond me. Meditation, journaling, and diviniation seem to have been my major focuses, and for the first two have been pretty well above, so I'll deal with divination.

You asked 'why divination', which is a valid question, beyond just attempting to develop your intuition. In my view, divination systems; Tarot, I Ching, Occidental geomancy, the various different kinds of runes to cast, etc. are generally a language of psychological experience expressed archetypally. After spending a significant amount of time trying to identify the events in your life with specific archetypal categories, i've found that one begins to think in terms of archetypes. In the sense of life as a holistic story or path, fitting into these archetypal models, two years ago, I would have said death was the end of a thing, and now I could make a case for, and believe, that Death isn't just the end, it's also Atu XIII. Death is the transition point in between Atus XII, The Hanged Man, and XIV, Temperance. which are also the Navitoth for Mem, and Samekh on the Tree of Life, and so on. I've found that studyig a divination system has equipped me with a new language to describe experience, and novel ways to express them and myself and my work, and brought me closer to a magical understanding of language and man.

You dig?
 
  
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