Beginner work
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93,
First of all, I'm sorry. This is going to be a very long post... please bear with me. I've been reading the A.'.A.'. student list, getting towards the end of it... My practice is sparse, mostly acquiring theory. I'd like to change that, though. I've worked with Liber O and E quite a bit. I've commited the Star Ruby, LBRP, GRP, Middle Pillar ritual (with all 10 names and spheres utilized), and have worked with Reguli a few times... I generally banish daily and use the middle pillar exercise a few times here and there when I feel I need to balance or strengthen my aura.
Realizing that this is the very beginning of the work, starting out here in the earthy energies of Malkuth I reason that bodily purification and mental equilibrium should probably come early on. I'm experimenting with nadisuddhi pranayama and the various poses found in the Hatha Yoga Pradapika. I'm having trouble with mayurasana and padmasana mostly, the rest I think aren't too bad. I hold them each for one minute, trying to keep my breath steady... not always so easy doing these, haha. Afterwards lying in savasana for a while, then 15-20 minutes mantra yoga using a ka dua, tuf ur biu, etc. mantra. For results, as mentioned in Liber E I usually become very hot in various parts of the body during pranayama, most often the head. Sweat breaks out, sometimes pours out lol. I've experienced the "automatic rigidity" many times also, but not as often as the sweating. Sometimes I also get a pressure right above the bridge of my nose which will persist for sometimes 10 minutes, sometimes half an hour. It doesn't hurt, i'm just aware of it.
I've read that without the nadi channels being purified, prana/kundalini can't travel through the sushumna. This is pretty central to the whole system, so I feel nadisuddhi pranayama should definitely be of utmost importance now (as well as watching my diet, hah!). How can you tell if the nadis have been purified? What I've read so far is that you feel light, pitta is increased, etc. This isn't very specific... What about the chakras, do they need to be properly opened and purified as well? How do you go about doing this? Also, I will say I've worked with the methods of SSS and some other kundalini exercises with some interesting results, but haven't stuck to it for fear of the results, lol.
Still more about yoga... working with dharana has been very difficult. It's hard for me to keep the imagined object in my mind, it fades often and sometimes it's just downright hard to see it. I've only really worked with the first sections dealing with tattvas in Liber E, I didn't think I should move on 'til I can at least manage the basics of the practice... I find it much easier to maintain visualizations in a ritual context, but for some reason a single object escapes me. Any pointers? >_>
On to questions pertaining to ritual... I don't use any planetary invocation/banishing, only Star Ruby and pentagram rituals. Is this bad? Should I use the LRH daily, also? I personally dislike the ritual and greatly prefer the form of the Star Sapphire. Would this ritual be a good replacement for that invocation? Also, how do you banish after a Star Sapphire, as there is no banishing version of the ritual. Is this dangerous? I remember "invoke often" and "inflame thyself with prayer", after all.. the ritual is working with solar energies, right? Maybe that's not so bad, hehe. Also, still being firmly rooted in Malkuth, I feel I should probably be working with the elements more formally. I feel I do have deficiencies in certain elemental departments and I'd like to try to correct it some. To do this, couldn't I just invoke the element using the GRP, assume an appropriate godform and try to ground the energies of the element in myself? What godforms are appropriate to this, though? Should I be invoking the archangels of the quarters, elementals, or could I use the egyptian depictions found in the actual A.'.A.'. signs for a simple practice? Or... would it be better to just create talisman to accomplish this?
Sorry, this post has been all over the place and far too long, sorry for the bore. Any advice from more experienced practitioners would greatly appreciated. I'm getting ready for my probationer exam so I think it's time to refine my practice, or rapture if you will a bit more.
93 93/93
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@Kraven said
"Also, how do you banish after a Star Sapphire"
You don't. That which the Star Sapphire, properly and successfully done, invokes is the One Thing you will never wish to banish; nor should you.
"...still being firmly rooted in Malkuth,"
That would be a most extraordinary accomplishment at the beginning level you are describing! Most people need a couple of years of top notch work to become firmly rooted in Malkuth.
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@Jim Eshelman said
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@Kraven said
"Also, how do you banish after a Star Sapphire"You don't. That which the Star Sapphire, properly and successfully done, invokes is the One Thing you will never wish to banish; nor should you.
"...still being firmly rooted in Malkuth,"
That would be a most extraordinary accomplishment at the beginning level you are describing! Most people need a couple of years of top notch work to become firmly rooted in Malkuth."
Ah, sorry.. My choice of words was poor. I suppose I'll commit the Star Sapphire and begin using it as well in light of what you've said, hehe. I'd forgotten that the ritual could actually be an invocation of the HGA. Anyone care to elucidate on some of the other concerns I expressed..?
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"Sometimes I also get a pressure right above the bridge of my nose which will persist for sometimes 10 minutes, sometimes half an hour. It doesn't hurt, i'm just aware of it."
I am a beginner at meditation as well and this is one of the first things I have noticed as far as physical phenomenon, my first reaction was that this is the "third eye" opening and I have tried to almost imagine myself using this eye to focus on a tattwa, but I am no expert here, just speculation.
"I feel I should probably be working with the elements more formally. I feel I do have deficiencies in certain elemental departments and I'd like to try to correct it some."
A very simple exercise I have done to become more in tune with the elements is a different version of Liber Resh. Each time you say the words imagine yourself covered in the color that corresponds to which direction you are facing. So if you are facing south at noon, imagine yourself covered in red, feel yourself hot and dry as you say the words. This is from Kraig's Modern Magick and there are many other good excercises in that book for gaining a command of the elements. Check it out if you can.
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@Laertes said
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"Sometimes I also get a pressure right above the bridge of my nose which will persist for sometimes 10 minutes, sometimes half an hour. It doesn't hurt, i'm just aware of it."I am a beginner at meditation as well and this is one of the first things I have noticed as far as physical phenomenon, my first reaction was that this is the "third eye" opening and I have tried to almost imagine myself using this eye to focus on a tattwa, but I am no expert here, just speculation.
"I feel I should probably be working with the elements more formally. I feel I do have deficiencies in certain elemental departments and I'd like to try to correct it some."
A very simple exercise I have done to become more in tune with the elements is a different version of Liber Resh. Each time you say the words imagine yourself covered in the color that corresponds to which direction you are facing. So if you are facing south at noon, imagine yourself covered in red, feel yourself hot and dry as you say the words. This is from Kraig's Modern Magick and there are many other good excercises in that book for gaining a command of the elements. Check it out if you can."
Thanks for the suggestion, I'll check that out in Modern Magick. Er, maybe someone should close this thread? It's just going to take me more research to get all answers I'm looking for, lol.