Using strong emotions for charging?

[Butterfly Affect]

Probably a newbish question but whatever.
I'm thinking of not just things like sexual energy, but things like anger, excitement, etc. I'm probably going to see if I can use my anger for sigils. I don't know what effect it'll have yet. Maybe I'll experiment and try other unexpected emotions, like shame. Or despair. Seems interesting.

 

[HoldAll]

Here is a quote from Peter J. Carroll’s „Liber Null & Psychonaut“ from the chapter „Gnosis“:

Emotive arousal of any sort can theoretically be used, even love or grief in extreme circumstances, but in practice only anger, fear, and horror can easily be generated in sufficient strengths to achieve the requisite effect. The wellknown ability of fear and anger to paralyze the mind indicates their effectiveness, yet the magician must never lose sight of the objectives of his working.

The main difficulty I see is in generating intense feelings in the abstract, i.e. without thinking about someone or something that triggered those feelings which may be easier with some emotions than with others. Carroll may be right when he specifically singles out anger or fear because many people carry a kind of diffuse anger in them all the time; for others a certain groundswell of vague anxiety is practically a part of their personality. Other people may require something to be ashamed about or afraid of, for example, and it’s probably not easy to conjure up such an emotion without constantly thinking about its source.

I personally tend to avoid the energy metaphor because it invariably evokes a basically neutral force like electricity. Electrical energy can be used to power your toaster, TV, computer, for all kinds of appliances, and it doesn’t matter how it’s been generated, whether from burning coal or oil, a pile of uranium pellets, solar panels and so on. This would be a prime example for how that metaphor (and its involuntary association with electricity) is misleading – intense hate, for example, can be considered ‚energy‘ in general but is it suitable for success rituals, for example? Hate ‚energy‘, again unlike neutral electricity, has a certain tinge to it that may spoil a ritual performed for more benign results.

Anyway, the use of intense feelings as a driving magical force is mostly a chaos magic method where they are used as ‚propellants‘ for sigils. Most other magical rituals (and correct me if I’m wrong) seem to require calm solemnity and focus or the arousal of subtler and more stable emotions like quasi-religious awe; reciting a psalm and then suddenly going berserk with anger seems like a jarring inconsistency. However, I cannot speak for the LHP, it’s adherents are probably more able to integrate sustained ‚negative‘ emotions into their rituals. But whether LHP or RHP, it’s the ritual itself that engenders feelings in 'classic' magic, not the operator‘ specific emotional makeup and its expression.

It’s also a question whether you are able to control these emotional forces sufficiently, arouse them at will and then put them back into the box again, so to speak. That’s perhaps the only instance where emotionally repressed persons have a certain advantage exactly because they have this (excessive) iron control - but then they might have difficulties to pry those intense feelings out of the box in the first place.

So yes, anger can be definitely used to charge chaos sigils – if you can handle it. I’m not so sure about shame or despair though, they seem to be more self-destructive and directed inwards but it really depends on what kind of person you are, I guess.

 

[Sabbatius]

Probably a newbish question but whatever.
I'm thinking of not just things like sexual energy, but things like anger, excitement, etc. I'm probably going to see if I can use my anger for sigils. I don't know what effect it'll have yet. Maybe I'll experiment and try other unexpected emotions, like shame. Or despair. Seems interesting.

HoldAll is spot on.

In my practices, it is a matter of focus and taking the focus with what I have built up within and releasing it into the intention of the focus. As an example, I will use drumming:

While drumming, I will feel rhythm, the sound, the motion of hitting an object in sequence; I begin to move to the rhythm, my body begins to move on its own as I start moving around the drum(Its a barrel drum), I begin to chant, I start spinning as I dance around and beat my drum, I twirl and dance and stomp my feet as I beat on the drum; my head swivels in unison to the beat of the drum, etc.

I hope you see where this has built from single strikes on a drum to create focus to release for my intention.

 

[Shade]

The issue with using anger or fear is the “as within, so without concept” I.e. hopping yourself up to those negative feelings your body doesn’t know if it’s real or not, it’s our thoughts that control the well being of your body,
Theoretically yes, can use anger or fear to charge a sigil if you can direct it properly, but imo it’s similar to sexual release charging. Except with sexual release you can extend it over a period of a week or more by edging, and that can be healthier, then only release when the sigil is at its apex or don’t release till the sigil is starting to work (which ofc may be harder for anyone less disciplined to go such a long time)
the excitement, happiness or even a calm state with precise energy flow can work just as well.
it’s of my opinion that it’s more about the sigils purpose on how you charge it rather than just going with what is easiest or convenient at the time.
This isn’t by any means a law that I know of but - just from practical experience, A good source of energy is determination, this covers many different aspects you use sigils for, but it’s not as easy as it requires just as much discipline as any other practice.
I personally don’t recommend anger to use as a sigil unless it’s something for revenge Or forgiveness (letting go) likewise, fear to charge a sigil unless you want to bring that fear up which may be good for shadow work but not so much sigil creation unless the sigil is made to redirect or diminish the fear..
facing your fear while holding the sigil in the forefront of your mind if it’s meant for courage really helps. It’s using the “belief as a tool” concept as well as reinforcing the sigils purpose.
Just keep in mind when your emotions go a certain way, your body acts accordingly, it’s best to use fear and anger in ways that advantage your inner self.
Yes it’s possible I just don’t want to give you bad advice by saying, “oh sure that’s fine go right ahead” … everything has its own consequences. That’s one of the reasons why the phrase concerning “know yourself” is so important, it’s to mitigate any harm during any type of ritual, whether invocation, evocation, sigil creation/charging or any ritual for any specific purpose.
You want to have a balanced disciplined mind and a clear cut aim to your goals.

Go right ahead and find out what works for you. I’m just trying to save you some time, effort and any damage to your physiology. But we are all different, and yes fear and anger can be used to charge a sigil.
I just felt like me outlining the purposes of charging may be helpful for future endeavors and the best way to utilize your energy.

 

[Robert Ramsay]

I can tense the muscles in my upper and lower back to briefly produce an excited heightened state, a little like riding a rollercoaster. I've found it very useful for launching sigils. The basic idea is to get the conscious mind out of the way while you programme yourself. As @HoldAll says, you can go the other way and use meditation to empty your head for the duration of the working - more difficult, but it lasts for as long as you can maintain the meditation

 

[Butterfly Affect]

Yeah these are cool answers. It's pretty interesting how people will have different experiences and different unique takes. For me I can sometimes be hard to focus when I experience an intense emotion, so redirecting that into a different source can sort of "transform" it into a different energy. Can make me a bit light headed and fatigued afterwards though.

 

[Altan]

The way I understand how it works is that the very intention of magic is based on a motive. Behind any motive is emotion, or there is no sense of energy in whatever you are intending. The detail is what we mean by an emotion. Being whimsical is an emotion, any mood is an emotion. Most probably, however, confuse feeling the emotion with acting it out, like weeping, shouting or waving the limbs around.

For esoteric purposes, the emotion needs to conduct in a body that is relaxed as the energy is experienced. So you can be hysterical with a straight and relaxed face, and feeling turmoil with the same. So if you do love magic, be in love. To do defense magic, be justified, firm and righteous. Emotions that are forced do not connect as easily with the intent of the magic because they lack an organic continuity with the purpose of the magic.

So focus on the very subtle energy of the emotion so that it penetrates everything through and beyond the body, even if in one's imagination (where else would it be?), propels the consciousness without chewing up everything in its path.

The point is that if the emotion is artificial. If I am greedy and have to act angry to justify what I want to take as if I am wronging a right, it can backfire. I am not speaking of some karmic concept, but simply that contrived focus takes its toll on the psyche over time. If emotions or energy don't flow naturally, then internal blocks may be present, and that might need attention first.

People tend to be result oriented to the point they miss how those results can best come about. This is regardless of what the claims are. They can be true, or not. It's just that we can't easily discern that when we don't pay attention to the process because the outcome keeps calling.

All emotion is energy. The way to make it useful is to make it compatible and not harmful to the body-mind. That means hidden, or subconscious mental patterns can get in the way. Transforming emotions to a different energy means transmuting the consciousness driving the emotions. What are its motives? Intense emotions wanting pay-back for example cannot be transmuted to a love-spell because hatred is involved.