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I put this thread together for the sole purpose of providing solid ground for which the reader can stand in their journey through the endless depths of occult knowledge. With that in mind I will keep things brief and simple.
Magic is a lot like Intelligence, Strength, or Power in that it is used to help achieve or maintain goals.
Most of life's goal involve security, safety, glory, recognition, attention, fame, happiness, love, pleasure, fun, connection, or satisfaction.
Mundane means such as intelligence and strength can help us make, achieve, and/or maintain goals but they do have limits.
To put it simply magic is a way to overcome limits while in many ways using the same tools to get the job done that you were already using, with magic they are used differently be it by application or location. The goal is to use magic to make yourself and those you care about happier while improving quality of life.
If we consider magic a unique way to approach life and to make it better how do we begin to do that specifically?
Perspective, practice, and persistence.
Perspective involves keeping an open mind and attempting to expand awareness around whatever magical exercise or ritual is being performed. Perspective is such a crucial aspect of occult practice that it should be kept in mind or consciousness as much as possible because it's benefits extend from the supernaturally surreal to the morbidly mundane (I really meant boringly but it didn't alliterate with mundane).
Practice is what you do and this plays into perspective. Beginner occultists will likely be doing something very new to them regardless of what practice or practices they decide to pick up. Practice can improve one's perspective and also provide significant life change for beginners much akin to going to dedicated newbies after going to the gym for 3-6 months.
Persistence is simply, pick up a habit and keep on doing what you're doing.
All this stuff is important to keep in mind when approaching occult practice. I wouldn't consider this contribution complete without some exercises to play around with:
-Meditation-
Adopt a meditation posture, hold it, relax into it.
Breath, in and out.
Choose something to focus on and synchronize focus with your breath.
After getting through what I call a breaking through period of anywhere from 5-15 minutes (much shorter for adept meditators but a newbie should hit this level at least briefly before around 20 minutes) you will feel a touch of mental tranquility. This is a good sign and ideally the focus of this kind of meditation to at will achieve this state. That state along with extended periods of focus can act as a recalibration for mind, body, and spirit.
The biggest thing with meditation is persistence, 1 minute a day is fine, even 10 seconds. The most important thing is to start and to keep on moving forward.
-Journaling-
A good practice for everyone, you do not have to be an occultist.
Take the time everyday to jot down thoughts and reflections. For occultists this can be especially valuable when journaling about dreams or keeping a record of perception during an intricate or deeply involved working.
You could write a spellbook if you're feeling up to it. If you're not a serious occultist a spellbook will be more of a creative writing exercise than an exertion of will. There's nothing wrong with creative writing, grounding actions in reality is enormously helpful for achieving meaningful results and not becoming insane.
-Energy Work-
I am an amateur. Keep that in mind as you continue reading. I will be overjoyed if my insight can help you but keep in mind that I am not an expert and I do not have an extensive collection of disciples hiding around the corner of this web page. Take everything I provide with a grain of salt and figure it out for yourself. Havin said that I want you to take full advantage of any information I provide especially if that information is beneficial or helpful to you.
Super simple and well worth the effort. Apply attention to a random part of your body. Picture an orb, a fire, feel it glowing and burning.
Move the burning orb through your body and feel it warm and energize your bones, blood, muscle, nerves.
Due to thermal functions of feet, hands, and face you may be able to feel this sensation most effectively through any of these body parts.
A full body relaxation technique using this orb visualization or simple attention focused on relaxation is an exercise in energy manipulation. It is also an effective way to help put yourself to sleep, improve stress management, and increase bodily awareness.
-Karmic Work-
I honestly put this in as a subtle FU to one of the staff members, a playfully subtle FU.
What is Karma? Karma is every action you make and it's relative value. Ultimately karma comes down to morality and something of a balancing act between suffering and happiness. If you cause a net decrease in suffering there will be a good karmic outcome. Good karmic actions are determined by a variety of factors including intentions, mood, and situational outcomes.
It comes down to a simple combination of morals, do not screw other peoples, environments, or people over, especially intentionally and try to be a good person. If this doesn't suit your life simply use Karma, your actions, and their results as an exercise in understanding causality and expanding your perception. I say this because either way you work it Karma can be considerably beneficial to you.
-Casting Spells = Primordial Intent = Acts of Will-
This whole thread is supposed to be about practical magic. Practical magic is casting spells, sometimes. Practical Magic is more about engaging in life experience in the way the most effectively helps improve understanding, synergy, and freedom. The goals of practical magic are to know more about the world and how all the pieces work together, improve individual ability to enact change (or not as may often be the case), and the ability to choose what you want with your life.
To perform practical magic the most crucial detail is desire. This involves clarity, knowing what you want and why. Practices like meditation, journaling, energy work, and even karmic practice play into knowing yourself and what you truly want to do. This self knowledge is crucial in navigating the world of the occult. Primordial Intent is the origin of what you desire. Desire is important, without it we would probably be dead.
You can use will to modify desires depending on where they stem from and the ability of your will. What it all comes down to is creating a clear picture of what you want and then working on getting what you want.
Some people want the girl next door, other's want a donut, happiness, a horseback ride through central park, a trip on a roller coaster that flies at 300mph straight through the center of hell. Doesn't matter what you want, knowing is half the battle. The doing piece is still a doozy, difficulties may vary.
Magic is a lot like Intelligence, Strength, or Power in that it is used to help achieve or maintain goals.
Most of life's goal involve security, safety, glory, recognition, attention, fame, happiness, love, pleasure, fun, connection, or satisfaction.
Mundane means such as intelligence and strength can help us make, achieve, and/or maintain goals but they do have limits.
To put it simply magic is a way to overcome limits while in many ways using the same tools to get the job done that you were already using, with magic they are used differently be it by application or location. The goal is to use magic to make yourself and those you care about happier while improving quality of life.
If we consider magic a unique way to approach life and to make it better how do we begin to do that specifically?
Perspective, practice, and persistence.
Perspective involves keeping an open mind and attempting to expand awareness around whatever magical exercise or ritual is being performed. Perspective is such a crucial aspect of occult practice that it should be kept in mind or consciousness as much as possible because it's benefits extend from the supernaturally surreal to the morbidly mundane (I really meant boringly but it didn't alliterate with mundane).
Practice is what you do and this plays into perspective. Beginner occultists will likely be doing something very new to them regardless of what practice or practices they decide to pick up. Practice can improve one's perspective and also provide significant life change for beginners much akin to going to dedicated newbies after going to the gym for 3-6 months.
Persistence is simply, pick up a habit and keep on doing what you're doing.
All this stuff is important to keep in mind when approaching occult practice. I wouldn't consider this contribution complete without some exercises to play around with:
-Meditation-
Adopt a meditation posture, hold it, relax into it.
Breath, in and out.
Choose something to focus on and synchronize focus with your breath.
After getting through what I call a breaking through period of anywhere from 5-15 minutes (much shorter for adept meditators but a newbie should hit this level at least briefly before around 20 minutes) you will feel a touch of mental tranquility. This is a good sign and ideally the focus of this kind of meditation to at will achieve this state. That state along with extended periods of focus can act as a recalibration for mind, body, and spirit.
The biggest thing with meditation is persistence, 1 minute a day is fine, even 10 seconds. The most important thing is to start and to keep on moving forward.
-Journaling-
A good practice for everyone, you do not have to be an occultist.
Take the time everyday to jot down thoughts and reflections. For occultists this can be especially valuable when journaling about dreams or keeping a record of perception during an intricate or deeply involved working.
You could write a spellbook if you're feeling up to it. If you're not a serious occultist a spellbook will be more of a creative writing exercise than an exertion of will. There's nothing wrong with creative writing, grounding actions in reality is enormously helpful for achieving meaningful results and not becoming insane.
-Energy Work-
I am an amateur. Keep that in mind as you continue reading. I will be overjoyed if my insight can help you but keep in mind that I am not an expert and I do not have an extensive collection of disciples hiding around the corner of this web page. Take everything I provide with a grain of salt and figure it out for yourself. Havin said that I want you to take full advantage of any information I provide especially if that information is beneficial or helpful to you.
Super simple and well worth the effort. Apply attention to a random part of your body. Picture an orb, a fire, feel it glowing and burning.
Move the burning orb through your body and feel it warm and energize your bones, blood, muscle, nerves.
Due to thermal functions of feet, hands, and face you may be able to feel this sensation most effectively through any of these body parts.
A full body relaxation technique using this orb visualization or simple attention focused on relaxation is an exercise in energy manipulation. It is also an effective way to help put yourself to sleep, improve stress management, and increase bodily awareness.
-Karmic Work-
I honestly put this in as a subtle FU to one of the staff members, a playfully subtle FU.
What is Karma? Karma is every action you make and it's relative value. Ultimately karma comes down to morality and something of a balancing act between suffering and happiness. If you cause a net decrease in suffering there will be a good karmic outcome. Good karmic actions are determined by a variety of factors including intentions, mood, and situational outcomes.
It comes down to a simple combination of morals, do not screw other peoples, environments, or people over, especially intentionally and try to be a good person. If this doesn't suit your life simply use Karma, your actions, and their results as an exercise in understanding causality and expanding your perception. I say this because either way you work it Karma can be considerably beneficial to you.
-Casting Spells = Primordial Intent = Acts of Will-
This whole thread is supposed to be about practical magic. Practical magic is casting spells, sometimes. Practical Magic is more about engaging in life experience in the way the most effectively helps improve understanding, synergy, and freedom. The goals of practical magic are to know more about the world and how all the pieces work together, improve individual ability to enact change (or not as may often be the case), and the ability to choose what you want with your life.
To perform practical magic the most crucial detail is desire. This involves clarity, knowing what you want and why. Practices like meditation, journaling, energy work, and even karmic practice play into knowing yourself and what you truly want to do. This self knowledge is crucial in navigating the world of the occult. Primordial Intent is the origin of what you desire. Desire is important, without it we would probably be dead.
You can use will to modify desires depending on where they stem from and the ability of your will. What it all comes down to is creating a clear picture of what you want and then working on getting what you want.
Some people want the girl next door, other's want a donut, happiness, a horseback ride through central park, a trip on a roller coaster that flies at 300mph straight through the center of hell. Doesn't matter what you want, knowing is half the battle. The doing piece is still a doozy, difficulties may vary.
