[Opinion] When is the asceticism "good enough" for you?

[Nagaram]

Very common step in a lot of magick is to be as ascetic as possible. This is fasting from various pleasures such as meat, sex, and even water in some cases.

The point seems to be as prep for an altered state of mind. Not shocking that the edges of hunger induced delirium will let us more easily transition into an elevated altered state, but this is kinda dangerous.

Do you have any limits on how long you will fast before a ritual? Or do you just regularly fast a little bit so that a mild but constant state can be maintained?

Further, are there any non-social dangers to something like sexual abstinence? That seems to work by causing some sort of hormonal imbalance to get us closer towards an altered state, but doesn't seem to risk delirium.

What kind of fasting is the most important in your practice? Just meat fasting and dedicated veganism? or is Vegetarian enough?

 

[Robert Ramsay]

I don't bother with any of that stuff, and I'm good with that. "A puritan is someone who gets a guilty pleasure out of denying themselves something" + Ambrose Bierce

 

[Nagaram]

I don't bother with any of that stuff, and I'm good with that. "A puritan is someone who gets a guilty pleasure out of denying themselves something" + Ambrose Bierce

I'm a fan of occasionally fasting for stoic and health reasons.

But consistent puritan denialism is how you become a hateful soul in my opinion.

"I am suffering by choice and you should be suffering by force"

Which is a plague on American society at least.