Foundations Of Magical Training

[RiverSnake]

The following is an excerpt i found in a recent book i read entitled Practice of Magic: An Introductory Guide and i thought it would possibly be useful for those interested in Magic and the Occult. I highly recommend the book, this is only the 2nd chapter and it is filled with gems and its only $8 bucks on Kindle. Enjoy.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Practice-Magic-Introductory-Guide-Art/dp/0877288070/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1356896193&sr=8-1&keywords=Practice+of+Magic

 

 

 

 

Chapter 2

 

Preparing to Practicing

 

"Despite any of the various accoutrements required in the various modes of magical practice, the primary instruments of magicians are their consciousness, their mental faculties, and the physical bodies which house them. To become magical practitioners students must begin training the conscious mental faculties.

 

Regardless of the particular practice that students intend to master, the first steps on the path are the same. Potential magicians must learn to relax and quiet their physical bodies. Once this is accomplished, they learn to take control of their minds. Until these two steps are mastered there is no sense in going further into the study of any of the various forms of magic. The mastery of these two steps may take willing and enthusiastic students three or four years under the direction of an able teacher. For neophytes working without the benefit of the direct instructions of a real teacher, it may take considerably longer.

 

In our age of "i want this right now," there is a constant search for easy methods and quick solutions. In fact there is no royal road to magical practice, any more than there is a royal road to any other skill or ability. Those who promise quick and easy solutions to complex developmental processes are usually either charlatans or people who have nothing real to offer students.

 

Developing yourself for the practice of magic requires a considerable amount of patient effort which is devoted in small bits of time over the course of many years. Eventually the performance of various exercises become a habitual part of life. At this point you begin to make progress that gradually becomes apparent.

 

The first exercise my own teacher gave me was a relaxation exercise. I was given the exercise in the same form that it is given below, and told that i could see him again once i had mastered the exercise by practicing it for at least three months. I returned in four months with the exercise, to my knowledge, completed mastered. My teacher worked with me for about an hour, and showed me that i had only begun to scratch the surface of the exercise. He then sent me away with the admonition to return only when i had mastered the exercise. This time it was six months before i felt that i had some mastery of the exercise and was able to return to him for further guidance. I still practice this relaxation exercise on a daily basis, and intend to do so for the rest of my life.

 

Relaxation

 

The tensions of daily life permeate us with their nervous energy. We become unknowing receptors for the thoughts and emotions of others. Until we can learn to relax to a certain depth, and rid ourselves of tensions of daily life, we are not able to act on the world, much less to discipline our minds. All that we can do in this over-active state is react to influences exerted on us by the world around us.

 

We can not become ourselves if we are full of muscular and nervous tensions that constantly demand our conscious or subconscious attention. We have nothing within ourselves to develop if we are simply reacting to the influences of the physical and non-physical world around us. In this situation--the situation in which most people live---we are not able to really express our fullest potential.

 

Human beings were intended by their creator to become forces in the universe. We cannot become active forces in the universe if we are assailed by the universe to the point where we are so fully distracted that we have no time to act on the world in which we live. Relaxation, learning to free ourselves from external tension, is always the first step in development. Until we can live on Earth in a relaxed and stress-free manner, we are not going to be able to learn how to act on Earth in any real way.

 

The relaxation exercise is simplicity itself. All that is required is that you relax your physical body as completely as possible for thirty minutes per day. During this time you should learn to ignore any thoughts which may present themselves to your mind. Do not try to blank your mind, just ignore any thoughts which may enter into it. Concentrate your mind only on relaxing your physical body. Relax yourself by releasing all of the tension from your muscles. Simply lay or sit comfortably, and mentally direct your physical body to relax. This is all there is to it.

 

Because this exercise is deceptively simple, many people ignore it, to their loss. If you are sincerely interested in improving yourself, to say nothing of learning to practice magic, you will use this exercise to your advantage.

 

Once you have practiced this exercise for atleast six months you should be living your life in a considerably more relaxed state. You will find that this will be of benefit to you in your everyday affairs, as well as giving you some insight into the process of preparing yourself to practice magic.

 

The next exercise is one which Aleister Crowley used to develop his magical abilities. Although at the time he received this exercise he was a member of the Order of the Golden Dawn, and considered by most of his association to be an accomplished magician, he really began developing his magical abilities on a cruise to Mexico. On board the ship he met a man who was also a mountain climber. In conversation they discovered that they were both intending to climb the same mountain.

 

In further conversation Crowley revealed his interest in magic to his new acquaintance. The man was not impressed, because he had observed that Crowley was unable to concentrate his mind. He gave Crowley the following exercise, which Crowley mastered on the cruise. One he had mastered this exercise, he found that his magical abilities improved greatly as a result.

 

The concentration exercise is given in substantially the same here as it was given to Aleister Crowley. When you master the exercise you will find that you have gained control over your mind.

 

*Examine any common place object: a lead pencil will do. Observe and note as many details as possible in the object. Now set the object aside, and write down as many details as you can recall from memory. Describe the object completely from memory.

 

*Now reexamine the object, seeking for new details. Put it aside, and once again write down all the new details you discover.

 

*Lastly, close your eyes, and in a state of relaxation, visualize the object in your mind's eye. See the object in your mind as it is in the physical state, visualizing all of the details you have noted in it. Hold this image as long as you can, adding all of the details you have found in the object.

 

Practice this exercise with a different familiar object every day for at least three months, while continuing to do your relaxation exercise. This exercise will develop your ability to pay attention. It will also begin developing your ability to observe and concentrate upon objects. You should begin this exercise with simple things, like tableware, pencils, pens and the like. As you perfect yourself with these objects, you may go on to more complex things such as the decor of a room,pictures,....etc

 

As i mentioned, these exercises seem to be deceptively simply. However, they have a real, positive, and lasting effect on those who master them. You should take the time to master them if you are serious about striving to develop yourself in any way." Practice of Magic: An Introductory Guide to the Art

 

 

-My 2 cents, Peace

Edited November 4, 2013 by OldChi

[Zhongyongdaoist]

Good old Draja Mickaharic! I used to recommend his Spiritual Cleansing to my students. Of course my treatment of it was all within the context of the first book of Agrippa's Occult Philosophy. I've only read his early books from the 80's Spiritual Cleansing and A Century of Spells and that some time ago. Still the natural magic procedure which he recommends have more value than people would think. The natural world is full of magic.

Edited December 30, 2012 by Zhongyongdaoist

[RiverSnake]

Cool stuff Zhongyong,thanks for the insights. Been thinking about getting some his other books. Guess there all pretty high quality works. I find his focus on practicality quite refreshing.

 

-My 2 cents, Peace

Edited December 31, 2012 by OldGreen

[RiverSnake]

I found this post interesting and rather than make a new thread I thought this would be a good place to share it, for those like myself just beginning to grasp the occult. I don't know if I agree with his list of "core techniques" but it was a good list nonetheless. I have learned a lot from reading his blog (Taylor Ellwood) he has a tony of gems there. Enjoy


The six core techniques of magic

"There are six essential techniques that a magician utilizes when doing magic. Although we might come up with a variety of derivatives of these techniques, from my own observations it seems that all derivations ultimately boil down to these six essential techniques. Here is an overview of each technique:

Invocation: This is an act that involves drawing an entity or person’s consciousness into your own for either partial or full possession. The benefit of doing this can be to obtain information, achieve union with an entity, or as part of an offering ritual to the entity. I’ve experimented with the process of invoking one’s self into an entity or person, because I’ve found that invocation is a two-way street. Invoking yourself into someone else can used to help that person work through a trauma, though it can also be used for less ethical purposes[1].

Evocation: This is an act which involves evoking the entity (or person) into the environment around you. Evocation can also be used to evoke emotional forces or behaviors so that you can work with them in an external environment. Evocation is typically used when you want to manifest a specific possibility and need help from an entity to accomplish the task.

Divination: If you want to obtain information, divination is technique that can be used. It typically involves using Tarot, runes, ogam, or some other kind of symbol set that is randomly shuffled or mixed before he person draws and then places the cards, runes, ogam, etc into specific patterns. The cards, runes, ogam are read in order to obtain the information that is desired. There are also other techniques of divination, that rely on entheogens or other forms of hyper stimulation in order to create visions the person can then interpret.

Enchantment: An enchantment is an act of magic that is directly done by the magician to bring a specific possibility into reality. The magician directly applies magical force in order to make the possibility into a reality.

Banishing: Banishing is used by the magician to ground and center him/herself, while cleaning the space of any lingering magical energies. Banishing can also be used as part of daily practices to help focus the mind and will of the magician.

Astral projection: Astral projection is where the magician projects his/her spirit or mind into the astral planes. The magician will do this in order to do a magical working on those planes or to access resources that wouldn’t be found here. My personal take on the astral planes is that it’s partially derived from our imagination and is where we can directly interact with imaginary time in order to find possibilities that we’d like to bring back with us to reality.

Are there any other core techniques you would and if so what?"

Link: http://www.magicalexperiments.com/the-six-core-techniques-of-magic/


My 2 cents, Peace

Edited May 2, 2013 by OldGreen

[Unseen_Abilities]

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Edited January 31, 2014 by Unseen_Abilities

[DragonsNectar69k]

 

Invocation: This is an act that involves drawing an entity or person’s consciousness into your own for either partial or full possession. The benefit of doing this can be to obtain information, achieve union with an entity, or as part of an offering ritual to the entity. I’ve experimented with the process of invoking one’s self into an entity or person, because I’ve found that invocation is a two-way street. Invoking yourself into someone else can used to help that person work through a trauma, though it can also be used for less ethical purposes[1].

 

So that is what happened! When I started reading about magick and practicing I unfortunately had a run in with a under cover satanist who used magick for nefarious purposes. I did not find out who this person really was until I began noticing astral attacks and such when I would dream at night. This individual would ask me to hold magickal 'objects' for him, stupid me not knowing that i was merely giving this predator a link into my subconscious. Eventually I cut off communication with this person, but this is very real. Especially when your dealing with a individual who has low self-esteem and blames the world for their problems. I learned the hard way, but it was a lesson well learned. I studied the the phenomenon so much I can literally feel when others are unknowingly looking to control me or take my free will away. You can feel it near the stomach area, as if some one tries to take a hold. Conflict of interest, to say the least.

 

What are some good techniques besides grounding to dislodge others? I usually tend to push back when I feel this phenomenon happening or imagine some one's arm breaking. I guess I should be asking what is a good form of exorcism rather than banishing...? Should be on the list! lol!

 

Thanks for posting this by the way!

Edited May 7, 2013 by DragonsNectar69k

[Unseen_Abilities]

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Edited January 31, 2014 by Unseen_Abilities

[DragonsNectar69k]

"In our age of "i want this right now," there is a constant search for easy methods and quick solutions. In fact there is no royal road to magical practice, any more than there is a royal road to any other skill or ability. Those who promise quick and easy solutions to complex developmental processes are usually either charlatans or people who have nothing real to offer students."

 

Quoted for its truth, that I have been realizing lately; Wrong reasons become right on the other side of night.

 

What I have found most of the time, is most people tend to have some kind of middle man in the astral realm. An entity that sort of does of the behind the scenes work. Whether this person is a necromancer, a magus, a witch, a priest, etc. There seems to be so many different entities in the astral realms Gods, angels, demons, etc.

[RiverSnake]

A question for those whom have mastered the concentration/visualization exercise that Draja talks about. Does it help you with lucid dreaming?

 

My 2 cents, Peace

Edited November 4, 2013 by OldChi