Mantram and Visualization - Open Sourcery #5

 

Mantram

If you have been following along from the beginning, you should now know how to become aware of your body, relax your body, breath rhythmically, and focus your attention on your thoughts. Ideally you are doing this for 15 - 30 minutes twice a day, if not don't sweat it just keep at it. These are the exercises that will help your practice to be successful regardless of your path.Now I will introduce the next stage, Mantram. Mantram is beneficial on many levels, it helps develop concentration, lowers stress, and transform consciousness. For these reasons alone mantram would be recommended, but my reason has to do specifically with training your mind for the task of spell work. Many spells work on the principle of Raising Power, this is usually accomplished through repetition of key phrases. I will discuss this in greater detail, but first let me explain how to do mantram.

Once you have relaxed your body and mind, and are breathing in rhythm, recite a simple phrase over and over again, either audibly or silently. Try both techniques as they yield different results. It's really that simple to initiate, but takes a while to master. I recommend using a timer, mala beads, or a Witch's Ladder to aid in your recitation exercises. As for the mantram itself, there are many out there, and many people use something from the eastern traditions or if you are inclined towards Hoodoo christian prayers may work for you. Personally, I make up my own mantras and then use Google Translate to translate them into German or Cyrmu, my primary ancestral tongues. My primary mantra is "ich bin im Frieden mit allem was" which is rough German for "I am at peace with all that is." Try to find something that resonates with you and syncs rhythmically with your breath work.

 

Visualization

Visualization is absolutely one of the most fun Mind Expansion Techniques of which I know. The limits are only defined by your imagination. Let me take a moment to discuss imagination. In our modern, scientifically materialistic world is has become vogue to dismiss thoughts and dreams as "mere" imagination. In fact one could argue that there is an ongoing war against creativity and beauty that could be referred to as the Genocide of the Imagination. Despite this,scientists quite often use visualization techniques and dreams to help them figure out complex problems. Imagination is where ideas are born, and without ideas there is no advancement. If no imagined that the Earth was round our history would be very different, and if no one had dared to dream of long distance communication devices, you would not be reading this now. Never let anyone dismiss your ideas as just imagination.Ideas hold power.

Okay, enough of the diatribe, time for nuts and bolts. The who, what, where, when, and why of visualization. There are as many ways to visualize as there are people teaching visualization. The method I first learned is very similar to the "Eating a Lemon" exercise described here:

Eating a Lemon Visualization Exercise:

Imagine you are in a kitchen somewhere.

On a bench is a basket of lemons. You reach out and select a ripe yellow lemon. You feel the weight of the lemon in your hand..., you slide your fingers over the smooth waxy skin... feel the dimpled texture... You lift the lemon to your face and breathe in that lemony smell... and then you slice the lemon open. As the bright yellow flesh is exposed you see the juice run out... a lovely lemony citrus aroma fills the room. You cut a slice and put it in your mouth. You bite down on it .... the juice runs over your tongue... your mouth fills with the taste of lemon juice...

For more of these exercises go this website for Visualization Techniques. You can also try the techniques described at MindExpansionTechniques. Since I have mentioned the use of visualization in spell work and I do not currently feel like devoting my time to writing on this subject yet, let me direct to others that have; the Beautiful, the Practical, and the Technical. Once again I cannot stress enough the importance of these exercises, add them to your above exercises at least twice a week. Spell work will come later, for now, concentrate on the visualization only.

Recommended Readings

The time has come dear padwan for studies of an intellectual nature. I highly and strongly suggest that the serious student of the occult and magic study the following books, they will give you an understanding of the Magical World Perspective. The list in no particular order;

1. Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft by Raymond Buckland
2. Magick in Theory and Practice by Aleister Crowley
3. A Witches Bible: The Complete Witch's Handbook by Janet and Stewart Farrar
4. Real Magic by Isaac Bonewits
5. The Red Book by Sera J. Beaks
6. Quantum Psychology by Robert Anton Wilson
7. The Magician's Companion by Bill Whitcomb

That should be enough to get you started, there will be test next month. Seriously though, read and practice, read and practice and then read some more. A quick study of Library Sciences might prove to be helpful. Test the theories, do the exercises, write it all down and then share what works and what doesn't. This is the beginning, welcome aboard.

 

Open Source Experiments

Hello dear ones. Today we will begin our grand experiment with Open Source Magick. My inspiration for lies heavily in the currents of Chaos Magick and Pronoia. Being well versed in the D.I.Y. ethos of punk rock and the Burn community, I approached magick with the same sensibility. One of the main attractions to witchcraft, for me was the break from orthodox religions. Then I found Wicca, which along with the OTO and Re-constructionist Paganism presented an Orthodoxy of Witchcraft. So I clung to the shadows and practiced alone rarely discussing my beliefs with anyone. Then in 1993 I found a book called Liber Null by Peter Carroll that changed my ideas about everything. Suddenly I realized I was not alone in my thinking that the principles behind magick were not dependent upon cultural symbols or belief in a specific god or goddess. Reading  Austin Osman Spare, furthered my exploration of self created systems. I have over the years come to incorporate several systems and ideas about magick and sorcery into my own brand of spirituality. I resisted the urge for years to share these ideas with others until friends new to the Craft began asking for advice and pointers along the Way. Helping others made me realize that are certain principles that i can share for the self directed individual to use to engage in the Great Work. Without further ado, I present Open Source Magick.

Fucking Around vs. Science

As Adam Savage of Mythbusters fame so succinctly said, "Remember kids the only difference between screwing around and science, is writing it down." This is something almost every tradition agrees on, get a journal of some sort and write down everything. Now what form this takes is entirely up to you, some people only use leather bound journals and only write in them with magical inks, and call it a Book of Shadows. Sounds cool huh? I personally use college composition notebooks and call them Experiment Logs. The form is not as important as the practice. By recording all of your workings, experiments and explorations, you will begin to discover what works and what doesn't, but more importantly you will find what works for you. We are not all musicians or metalworkers, like wise cartomancy may not work for you as well as Wormwood Wine. Either way write it down.

Daily Practice

The idea of daily practice has only become part of my routine recently, however  I strongly believe one should begin with daily devotions. In Hinduism this practice is called Bhakti, and can include many different types of devotion. In her book, Crafting a Daily Practice, T Thorn Coyle, lays out an eight week program for finding a form of daily alignment that works for you as an individual, I highly recommend it. Other ideas include Mindfulness Meditation, candle gazing, Hatha Yoga, or Resh. Resh is a technique that was developed by the A.·. A.·. to help one be more connected to the natural rhythms of the sun. You can find the ritual here. I have developed my own form of resh, mainly because I don't really relate to Egyptian Mythology the way Aleister Crowley did. Mine is based on my own visions of the Solar Anima and the Lunar Animus. I cannot stress enough the importance of daily practice.

Body Awareness

One of the dangers and pitfalls of doing magick is becoming ungrounded, or lost in the Aether. Many grounding rituals can be found on the internet, but I believe developing body awareness to be the most efficacious. Lets start with an exercise from Dr. Israel Regardie, it is rather simple to learn. First lie down, on the floor or in bed either one. Now be still and pay attention to your body. Feel your skin. Notice sensations in your body but try not to judge them, just accept them. For instance do not think "my knee hurts" just notice that you feel something in your knee. Do not try to suppress your thought or do any kind of special breathing, this is about being aware of the monkey meat you inhabit. It is far to easy to be distracted by all the devices that rule our post modern lives. Unplug and tune in. Start with 10 minutes a day, then move to twice a day and then work your way up to 30 minutes twice a day. When you begin to notice the wind blowing on body hairs or feel your skull from the inside you'll know why this is important.

During the next month I would like for you to do the following Body Awareness exercises in addition to the one described above. Find a balance beam and play on it, bonus points if you can balance a broom on your hand while crossing the beam. Do an inversion, either on an Inversion Table or by hanging upside down if you can. The last exercise I would recommend is to either visit a chiropractor, an acupuncturist, or a massage therapist. Bonus points if you do two or all three.

Banishing

Perhaps the most important tool in your magickal kit will be a proper banishing ritual. This will help you to create a liminal space for rituals without interference from outside. It will also serve as a signal to your brain that what you are doing is not part of normative experience. The most commonly used and therefore easiest to learn is the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram. An excellent example can be found here. There are other banishing rituals such as this one found at Hecate's Cauldron. One of my favorites is by Phil Hine and can be found here. I also agree with what Phil says about the importance of doing a banishing ritual, even if you decide to use a different form, read his page. Just to hammer home the point on the importance of Banishing Rituals, read this article by Coyote 433. Finally I would like to add that amongst Chaos Mages you will find the expression, "Banish with Laughter." I fully agree with this and found an article that saves me the trouble of explanation, read it here.

Groundwork

I cannot stress enough the importance of this foundation. All other work you do will depend upon establishing these basics. So to recap, write it down, do daily practice, increase body awareness, and learn to banish. Let me say it again this is the most important work you will do. Everything that follows hinges on this. Write it down. Do daily ritual. Become more aware of your body. Banish daily. That covers month one, come back next month for the next installment of Open Source Magick. In the next few days I will also be posting about the conclusion of my Water elemental workings and the beginnings of my Earth workings.

Be blessed and keep up the Great Work.

Cthulhu Heart Chakra Meditation

 
There in the dark I saw Mahakala dancing through a hail storm as Thor in his goat drawn cart beat out lightning with Mjöllnir. On past Hecate at the crossroads smoking cigars with Legba, to cross the cemetery where the Grateful dead invite me to feast. Tonight's errand takes me further still, I promise to return, everyone does they say. There beneath the dolmen, on past Weyland the Qayin's forge, deeper still I must travel. Finally I stand before Gwynn Ap Nudd, so saturnal in demeanor. He knows why I have come, to find the way in. He informs me that I must take to wild places, skyclad and wild with drunken ecstasy, then I will find what I long for; freedom. So back to the surface I must go and quest for the Wyld Wood....

 For extra fun listen to all three of these videos at once, adjust the individual volume as needed.

Trust me on this. Do some Pranayama and Mindfulness Meditation. Sound is powerful. This one is for you Joseph Shuffield.

Opening the Gates of Air

New Moon Air Working  

At the last new moon, I began my series of elemental workings by performing a short Air ritual. This ritual was designed simply as a beginning, a gate opener if you will. I won't go into all the details  as they are unnecessary for understanding my undertaking. Suffice to say that a triple flame was involved which opened a rainbow gate, and the flashing of said flame aided in imprinting my sigil. Later that night I was awakened by a dream wherein I was shown all my faults and how to work on them, deep shadow magick. So the work begins. A series of Hypnagogic dreams follows over the next few days. One involves going down into Kiva and being told by the Elders to use my gifts more wisely to be a Spirit Guide. In one dream Grandmother Root tells me that I belong to her and as one of hers she will teach me the plant ways through the spirit.

The strangest dream came last night, one day before my next working. Thoth, Egyptian God of Scribes and Magick, and beloved of Crowley (this is important for reasons that I will explain shortly) appears to me in a desert in the East. He shows me my natal chart, and begins to explain that the preponderance of my planets being in Gemini, my birth sign, makes me naturally inclined to the magickal arts. Thoth then goes goes on to explain that my birth-date, May 29th, is the Day of Quicksilver, which further reinforces this current. He admonishes me to stop denying myself and urges me to drink from a fountain that I had not previously noticed. After slaking my now overwhelming thirst I see a tapestry hanging between two palms, Thoth urges me to approach and enter. The tapestry has a symbol on it which I now know is the symbol of Shamash, the Sumerian Sun God. This where the Crowley connection becomes important. I go behind the veil where I meet the High Priestess, seated upon a throne that resembles a winged lion. She tells me that to unlock the portal for the next level of my work I must begin performing Resh. This startles me a little, as I am not now nor have ever been an aspirant to the OTO. Like most pagans and magickians of the twentieth century, I have read Crowley's works, probably more than most who have not joined the Temple, but I remain firmly secure in my solitary practice. In my dream I ask why  a God and Goddess of the Moon would be leading me to solar adoration. The answer was that they knew I would trust these forms. Upon hearing this I awoke. Unable to return to sleep immediately I decide to check my Facebook news feed, where I found this article by T. Thorn Coyle.  I was floored.

Now I am doing Resh, and preparing for my next working Tuesday night on the first quarter moon. I am excited and nervous about what the future holds, but I began this work to gain a deeper insight, and so I shall see it through to the end. I do not know what the sign of my grade is, nor do I have a superior that has taught me any adoration, but I can meditate and I can assume god forms. Where this is leading, I am not sure, but I have confidence in my endeavours. As always I will keep you informed as to my progress. Keep up the Great Work. Blessed Be!