Magicians with ADHD: a thread

[Cassandra]

In my case it's mostly when it comes to meditation that I end up having issues, which is kinda funny since I can daydream so vivdly and even when doing something else.

I don't know how this works.
Also, despite actually loving to find scholar-type materials about magic and etc., usually I don't have the attention span necessary to read it all if the authors use hard words or speak a lot before getting to the point.

No problem when they're direct and talk a lot, just when they beat around the bush a lot.


When I "get in the zone" during my daydreams I get massive boosts of energy(while also spending it physically so I end up calm) and when it comes to the physical side of things(in general and for magic as well), it's as if I can actually focus better through physical acts(for example, even though I can daydream just fine normally, if I start walking or running it's like getting into an altered state to me).

Both body and mind finally united.


Not sure I understood the question or know my "spikes".



"It" bring the spikes?

When I was a kid, but they never seemed to work with me so I stopped.If I do physical activities I can somewhat manage it, maybe it's why acting works for me too as that is a mental activity that demands a lot from your body.

With magic or with ADHD?

Forget meditation, those daydreams are the essence of manifesting! They are (I believe) what meditating is all about!

I have never been able to 'empty my mind of thoughts'. I think maybe medication can help with that, according to people at my local ADHD support group, but why bother, when it's so useful for magic!

Post automatically merged: Dec 21, 2024

I find that I primarily accomodate by utilizing pathworking and meditation and visualization, t's really hard for me to have the motivation a lot of the times to gather up all of the rituals.

I take the stimulants for dual depression and ADHD, but they probably negatively impact my Magickal work because while they do help with the depression, I abuse them and they are an attachment I have to shed. My doctor knows I abuse them and take more than prescribed and she increased the amount I'm allowed ro take when I told her.

Sometimes my mind really wants to fit the pieces together like a puzzle and understand how things fit together, and it leads me into some really weird places trying to, which I can't really help.

Yes! Daydreaming takes on a whole new meaning when you realise visualisation is a big part of actual magic. I think the rituals are for those who don't have this natural ability, for me, simple prayers have always been enough.

 

[WZRD_N17]

I have adhd and its been a rollarcoaster ride but since I was child,I would always win chess trophies(hear me out). I never read books on chess, i was never formally trained but I would murder opponents for breakfast. I have made some opponents quit before the game unfolded and that's due to strong will and what i was visualizing(they felt my mental force).

I was always drawn to occult studies which is interesting but now more than ever, I had known along time ago that meds role in this matrix tends to destroy or slow down certain qualities we possess rather than help us control what we have. I love how one person spoke about the hyperfocus effect because that is one of our powers. People would ask me how do I stay focus with ADHD in a chess game. I would tell them I'm here to Win(fun times) but looking back, i was super passionate about it, I had a strong Will which is crucial in what we perceive to be magick.

I think,understanding how the to trick your brain into loving(heart chakra) something through visualization and meditation. Seeing your ADHD as a super power rather than a curse will go along way not just in life but also in Magick but you really have to know thyself.

This is my opinion as a guy who got diagnosed with 30 mg of ritalin since grade 3.what I know is ,others may have taken more and may have different experience to what I have experienced.
Hope it was helpful

PS- I don't use meds anymore.

 

[Shade]

ADHD is sort of feeling like an alien in a world of binary, people with adhd tend to (imo) learn more through the senses (phenomenalism) and this all is intuition based, if you apply your will and mind it helps focus all the little things you pick up subconsciously. It’s really quite amazing when you are able to calm the mind and focus on your intuition and apply that focus on the goal your higher self is pointing you towards, you will it to be and you have little skills to make it happen.
belief is a tool and adhd helps you shift your perception and be in tune with others perspectives.
But only when learned to wield it in a conscious and observing way.

 

[magick&psionics]

Quite a few people with ADHD on the forums, and I always end up commenting on it in other threads.

Maybe we could have a thread just for this topic?

Some prompts:

• How does this make magic/mysticism/etc harder for you?
• On the other hand, what strengths does ADHD bring? David Shoemaker says the process of invoking your HGA will eventually bring in every single part of you and every tool you have - so that's going to include ADHD. When I go into hyperfocus, I can read and absorb a huge amount of material, for eg.
• ADHD people are often "spiky" - they are great at some stuff and terrible at other stuff, rather than being average-competent across the board. (So a graph of their abilities would be spiky angles, not a rolling curve across the centre). What are your magical spikes
• Do you have any magical techniques for managing it or working with it?
• Do you take meds? If yes, have you noticed any interactions with your magical practice, positive or negative?
• IDK, any other crossover topics?

Please make a separate thread if you're wanting to say that:

• ADHD isn't real or is overdiagnosed
• ADHD is caused by... anything. Separate conversation.
• Have you tried....? any diet or non-magical advice that could be found with a google search. Trust that we've already googled it.

If you don't have ADHD, but you have similar executive function struggles, feel free to contribute though. Like, every parent with a kid under 2 basically has circumstantial ADHD due to lack of sleep.

Post automatically merged: May 9, 2024

One thing i mentioned in a recent post was that the idea of making habits as small as possible (aka "Atomic Habits") had never worked for me, because it's not exciting.

Counter to all the advice, I am far more likely to follow through on something big, complicated and demanding, because I get excited and motivated about that, which gives me the brain chemicals required to do the job. Doing Helios Unbound, a theoretically huge project that people wouldn't recommend to a person with ADHD, is EASIER for me than just building up a little daily habit, because the size and challenge of it motivates me. (Also, the magic changes every week or month, so it allows for novelty within a structure of consistency.)

The biggest secret to all of this, IMO, is know thyself. How does my brain ACTUALLY work, not how i think it should it work. And then do what works for your brain, even if it seems silly or weird or childish or like you "shouldn't need it". Even a lot of ADHD advice is only a good fit for like half of ADHD people. It really is something you have to hack out for yourself imo.

Alot of the mind control techniques from Peter j Carroll helped me a little with my ADHD

 

[Rora]

I just recently started taking meds for ADHD and anxiety, I think it's not so good for my practice because it kind of smooths the world out, gets rid of the corners that I usually trip/obsess on. On the other hand, if I need an extra burst of creativity/mystical madness... Just "accidentally" skip meds and the craziness starts again, not sure if it's one of my mental issues in particular or a combination of them.

 

[voidcat]

This is long but a lot of thoughts I've been thinking lately:

I think my adhd affects a lot of impulse control issues that I need to work on. Particularly patience. Adhd messes up impulse control and i get an urgency to say everything and anything on my mind without thinking on the consequences. I blurt out things all the time even when I know i shouldnt. I end up struggling to wait wanting to do everything now not later. I forget things constantly due to my adhd so I obsess and hone in on things that I feel I need to solve and do now or I end up afraid I'll forget. Also in the moment of thinking often everything feels the same level of importance same level of loudness in my head. So I end up thinking i need to say it then. Afterwards I figure out wait that wasn't that important. And often it isn't. Often I could've waited to say this or that but because it pops in my head it feels important. Often I get called immature because of this but I don't know how to manage it. I've never been taught. I've just been medicated my whole life until adult hood then it felt so normal I never figured it's an issue till the past year or so. So now I've messaged my therapist about it.

Also has anyone heard of adhd as a developmental disability? Thing about developmental disabilities they refer to anything that impacts development. This dont mean you have a younger mental age. In fact deafness and blindness are both developmental disabilities in certain cases. With adhd ot just means your impulse control issues and emotional development are impacted in those domains. Not that you developed mentally slower or faster just that those domains were impacted causing your development to be different in some way.

I also struggle making this clear to folk cuz the developmental domains thing with how my autism is one. Often I don't get treated like an adult because people think autism must mean you have the mental age of an 8 year old so therefore you should be incompetent of what others your age are competent of. I have the cognitive function of a 23 year old. I'm 23...

Like I am able to outdo my peers in many areas but can't tie my shoes easily because my fine motor skills are not the best. Or I can budget do money well but ask me to do something fast paced most can do and I won't be able to cuz I can't process it fast enough. This doesn't mean I am younger then others just that my development was not the same. My brain is different. My brain still developed to adulthood just not the same way.

With adhd the issue that impacts developmental functioning is executive functioning. Impulse control issues, emotional dysregulation, memory issues and processing, etc...

Edit: basically what I'm saying is the term developmental disability is too broad. It's basically a fancy way of saying this persons developmental functioning is impacted so they are not developing the same as their peers in some area. When they are disabled. Their development isn't going to be like a nondisabled person's. Like a person with a lower limb difference isn't going to walk the same as a person without one. They are likely to learn slower how to as result. Their brain is going to develop like a disabled person with the cognitive, physical, and emotional impacts that disability has. With disabilities that impact cognitive issues it's not that they aren't an adult mentally it's that their abilities are different then their peers due to disability so they may not grasp concepts their peers may be able to. But their mind still likely developed and grew just differently. I think it's good there's categories to it at least...but there's a ton of variety.


How this impacts the occult I'm still working on.

Post automatically merged: Today at 2:50 AM

- I don't use meds anymore

I don't either. I was on them my whole life till my teens. I was like 108 pounds and then suddenly being reintroduced to Adderall as an adult I lost weight and ended up 98 in a matter of weeks without trying. It killed my appetite. So I got taken off it. That was a few years ago

 

[FireBorn]

I just turned 53 this year, and I was diagnosed in February. Fifty-three years of life, and I had zero clue. This means I spent most of my life thinking I was broken and weird. But I’ve built a cool life, even with that belief. Special Operation in the Army, Business Owner, Travelled, Did super cool shit, fun shit, lived nightmares, all of it undiagnosed.

I have ADHD. Neurodivergence is not my identity, I flat-out reject that. But I do believe neurodivergence is a superpower when it comes to magick. At least, it is for me. I’m speaking only about myself here, because neurodivergence is a spectrum and includes more than just me.

Strengths of My Neurodivergence in Magick:​

• I can clock patterns in real time that most people would miss. Micro-expressions, subtle vibes, what’s meant versus what’s said, body language is something I’m hyper-aware of, consciously.
• I see patterns in everything, all the time. And when it comes to magickal patterns? You bet, I can spot them faster than most.
• Magickal trance is a breeze for me. Non-linear thinking is a requirement for deep trance, and that’s where I excel. I can shift and flow with it. I can lean into paradox without losing my way, and that’s crucial when working with spirits. I can learn from them deeper because I can handle complexity without breaking.
• I learn quickly. Sometimes it even scares me how fast I pick up on new concepts or practices.

The Downsides:​

• Socially, it’s more challenging. Not a huge problem for me, but I can’t do the small talk, the social lies, the shallow interactions. Authenticity is everything to me. That means I keep my circle tight and real.
• My rote memory sucks ass. I can’t do magickal systems that require repetition or memorization of each step. If I focus too much on the ritual steps, I’d miss the demon standing right in front of me. It’s hilarious and frustrating all at once.
• Books. I dont read like others. I skim super fast. Most books are boring when it takes forever to get to a fucking point, I just cant. So I rarely read books about magick. I just hate it.
• Cognition? Off the charts. My intuition is on point. I’m good with social cues. But when it comes to details and following linear steps, I’m not your guy. Concepts, ideas, and abstract thinking? That's my world. I fly at 10,000 feet and sometimes can’t be bothered with the ground-level stuff. And this has bitten me in the ass more times than I can count.
• And yes, I’ve got aphantasia, no mental imagery, so visualization practices are an extra challenge. But honestly, I don’t think that’s tied to ADHD.

On Managing My ADHD Without Medication:​

I rejected medication. I’m high-functioning and didn’t feel the need for it. Instead, I focused on understanding how my brain works compared to neurotypicals. The world is built by NTs, for NTs, so I had to learn how to build a bridge.

I also spent a shit ton of time learning how to manage my dopamine and norepinephrine. These are super important for neurodivergent folks, and learning how to replenish and balance them has been a game-changer for me. I can’t tell you how much that’s helped me in my day-to-day life, and in my magickal practice.

Magickal “Spikes”​

I have major spikes in my abilities. I’m great at certain things, terrible at others. The graph of my abilities looks like jagged peaks, not a rolling curve. But that’s where my strengths lie.

The magickal spikes I experience are where I truly excel:

• Spotting patterns
• Tuning into energy and synchronicity
• Magickal trance and deep learning

But I can’t do the day-to-day rituals that require memorization or linear thinking. And that’s okay.

Conclusion:
I might not fit the mold of the “traditional” magician. I don’t have all the books memorized, and I sure as hell don’t follow linear ritual structures. But I’m in the game. And when magick is about intensity, flow, and deep learning, I’ve got the tools to navigate it. ADHD isn’t my crutch, it’s my tool.

Magick is about understanding yourself. Not forcing your brain to work how it “should,” but finding what truly works for you, even if it’s a little weird or “childish.”

To anyone with ADHD or similar struggles: you’re not broken. The world is just built for a different way of thinking. Magick and mysticism can absolutely be navigated in a way that works for you. We’re all just finding our unique pathways to power. Don’t force it. Let your brain be the tool it was meant to be.

I think I hit all the points from the OP. If i missed anything, I tried lol.