Developing Ability
These steps are intended for
those just starting out or wishing to improve their metaphysical, magical
or psychic abilities. They can be used by the beginner as well as the
adept.
Use the following Steps beginning
with the first one, to improve all craft-workings. All people are capable
of these things, but in the modern world few actually take the time to
open up their psychic and intuitive side, and improve or increase their
abilities.
The "time" periods
given for each step are general, and intended only as a starting place.
This is enough time to learn the Four Steps and how they aid in magical
workings, but nowhere near enough time to realise the potential these
steps can bring, which could take a life time. But for now, the goal is to
understand the Steps and the reasons why they are important, as well as
being able to use them. Move from one Step to another when you feel you
have achieved these goals.
Meditation
Sit down by yourself in a quiet
room. Sit upright in such a way that the spine is in a relaxed position.
Be comfortable. Think of your muscles and bones and, relax them.
Next, close the eyes and breathe
in for a count of ten, then out for a count of ten. Try to even out the
in-breaths with the out-breaths, keep the 10 count at about the same speed
but make sure the breathing speed is comfortable for you. You should not
breathe too fast or slow, just what is comfortable for you.
You are trying to regulate your
breathing so that you are taking in the same amount of air as you are
breathing out. This calms the body.
Clear your mind as you do this.
If done right and your room has no distractions to your thoughts, the only
sound you should hear is yourself counting to ten.
You are trying to clear the mind
of all but your counting. The idea is to eventually train your body to
breath evenly, even when you don't count to ten. Then the body stays
'balanced' to forces around it, leaving you to use certain abilities more
successfully.
The purpose of this meditation
exercise is to calm the body and clear the mind. Learning to do this well
will help to stay in a more even, receptive (and powerful) state allowing
the mind to better concentrate and focus.
Concentration
After a few days or more of the
meditation exercises the mind and body will be better balanced and open to
letting the psychic elements grow. The body will naturally stay in a more
receptive state that increases the minds ability to concentrate.
First, select a simple object, a
crystal, a piece of wood, something not greatly detailed. Again, sit down
in a quiet room by yourself.
Make sure you are comfortable and
if needed, start with a few minutes of the breathing/meditation exercise.
Best results will be achieved if the breathing is balanced or even and the
body is in a state of calm.
Next, pick up the object you have
selected and look at it in great detail for five minutes. Examine
everything about the item that you can observe by sight.
Then close your eyes and picture
the object. Concentrate on this for a few minutes; try to make its image
the only thought you allow in your head. Then open your eyes and see how
close you are to an accurate image. Repeat this procedure a few times
until you feel you have the image very clear in your mind.
At work or play, pick up an item
and look at it carefully. Set it down for a few hours then look at it
again. Try to get so good at picturing something that you no longer find
anything about the object that you didn't picture. Switch to a different
item when you feel you are doing well at picturing something accurately.
The purpose of this exercise is
to train the mind to be able to focus on ONE item or image as clearly as
possible. This will improve concentration, which improves the ability to
visualise.
Continue doing the
breathing/meditation exercises twice per day. Once while counting the ten
counts like before, but make the second time for doing the concentration
exercises. Try to "subconsciously" keep the breathing balanced,
in and out, without thinking about it as you concentrate on your item.
Visualisation
When you have achieved the
previous steps with some degree of success (practice makes perfect), you
will be better able to concentrate in ways necessary to putting
"power" behind a thought. This involves the ability to focus or
visualise something.
Continue the breathing exercises
twice daily as before. Always use one of these periods just for breathing
and meditation. But during the other period do this; instead of selecting
an actual object to concentrate on, select something you haven't seen.
Start with something simple, an
apple for example. Picture it in your mind, every detail of it you can
imagine. Keep this image in your thoughts and picture that apple often.
Try to get where it looks identical every time and you can picture it
perfectly. Move on to another object when you feel you can picture
something as clearly as if it existed and you had seen it in real life.
After you have done this with a
few objects, try it with an emotion. Think of an emotion, one you know the
"feel of" would be a good place to start, but for the sake of
this example we will use the emotion of Love. Once per day, during one of
your two daily breathing/meditation exercises, create the feeling/emotion
of love inside your chest/heart. Then, 'picture' that emotion.
The purpose of this is to learn
to powerfully 'throw' an emotion at something, or someone, which in turn
will help to increase the effectiveness of your spell or ritual work.
This is more easily done if you
can picture an emotion as being something solid (since we know we can
throw something solid, like an apple).
Picture the emotion (love in this
example) as it might appear if it were a real and solid 'little funnel
cloud' with swirls of air moving in different directions, a certain
height, speed, whatever you choose. It can look how ever you wish as long
as you try to remember exactly what it looks like, each time practice this
Step.
It is recommended that you
picture this 'container of wind', or image full of emotion, a couple of
times daily, whenever you are able to concentrate for a few moments or as
often as you can without mentally exhausting yourself. As with the apple
in the previous Step, learn to picture an emotion clearly (as a gust of
wind).
Keep in mind this Visualisation
of an Emotion is something that can help increase the power behind a spell
or ritual. On the one hand it is a simple tool used to create successful
magic. But it is also a way to train the mind to act with the
emotions to better focus and empower metaphysical abilities.
So far we have learned to calm
the body and clear the mind. Then to clear the mind of all but one thought
(or image). Now we are learning to concentrate on and visualise any
image or object of your choosing, including images and emotions not
usually seen, for the purpose of bringing them into the material world.
Practice this exercise for at
least a few days during one of your two daily meditation exercises. Try to
get good at picturing at least one item or image (that is not a visible
thing) before moving on. It is recommended that you try to 'picture' or
visualise an emotion as if it were a real solid thing in front of you,
feel it and see it! This will improve other skills later. Move to the next
step when you can picture at least one object or emotion clearly, each
time you 'view' it.
Projection
At this point hopefully you have
learned to increase your ability to concentrate and visualise an image
and/or emotion in your thoughts.
Now we learn to 'throw' or
project that image or emotion into the material world. Emotions are the
key to successful projection. Whether it's an image, thought or desire,
the proper emotion, strength of the emotion, and ability to direct and
project that emotion is the key to successfully working many forms of
magic. The best practitioners of witchcraft are those who can build an
extremely strong and powerful emotion in themselves and then focus or
project that emotion successfully outside of themselves into the material
world.
To practice this step, during one
of your two daily meditation periods concentrate on any desired emotion.
Use the before mentioned emotion of 'love' as an example. Again, think of
how the feeling of love feels inside yourself. Concentrate on the feeling.
Build the emotion up so strongly inside yourself that it seems almost too
strong to stay inside. Learn to visualise the emotion as if it were as
real as a brick, or gust of wind, then work on throwing or projecting it.
To do this think of throwing a
ball to someone, if you need to, throw a ball a few times to get the
'feel' of the action. Think of how your body physically feels when
throwing a ball. Once that feeling is in your mind, trade the ball for the
emotion. In this case the powerful emotion/feeling of love you have been
building. Picture and 'feel' the emotion as (or inside) that gust of wind,
or ball, and practice throwing it as hard as you can. Aim for the sofa, or
something else where you don't damage anything.
The purpose of this exercise is
to improve your ability to strengthen an emotion behind a thought or image
and throw or project it at a desired target.
Practice this exercise at least
once per day during one of your two breathing/meditation periods.
Eventually, you will feel you actually, physically, threw something
'solid' (like a ball or brick). And both mind and body will feel slightly
exhausted, just as you would if you spent the day throwing a ball or
brick! Practice these steps until you feel you are good at building an
emotion (or picturing an image) and throwing/projecting it where you wish.
Here is an example of how to
apply this ability to spell-casting. Let’s say you are casting a love
spell. At least three or four times during the spell take a moment, build
the emotion of love as strong as you can, and throw it 'out into the air'
at the individual target of the spell. The best way to describe this
feeling is to picture yourself as a vessel, holding that 'wind of emotion'
we discussed before. Throw the wind (emotion) from the vessel (you)
into/at the object of your spell (items and individual).
If your work involves candles and
incense, throw or project the emotion at the candlelight and the incense
smoke as it spreads into the air.
Picture that 'wind' or gust of
emotion, full of love, and aim it first at the objects used during your
spell, then at the individual the spell is targeted at. You don't need to
physically see the individual, hopefully at this point you are good at
visualising the individual, so focus the emotion at the image of the
individual in your mind. Always finish a spell by directing your last, and
hopefully strongest, emotion at the person or individual target of the
spell, not the items.
With practice, you can learn to strengthen the emotion behind a spell as well as how it 'feels' to throw it out of you.
The better you are at both, the more effective your spells will be.
©Copyright Nathan Ludd 2008 onwards