Assumption of Godform's.
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"How long do you stay, or how long should one stay in the assumed form?"
The duration of the practice, i.e. for Morning Resh hold the Ra form throughout. When keeping up with a regular routine of exercises that requires the assumption of multiple god forms at different points, I see it somewhat akin to 'changing clothes.' I have also heard of yogis maintaining a god form for prolonged periods of time outside of ritual in their everyday lives, so as to take on the characteristics of the God and become of him/her. By simply assuming the form and holding it such changes are said to occur in the yogi's behaviour and perception. It's referred to as Deity Yoga in Tibetan Buddhism.
"do you step into the form? Do you watch it grow from the heart until it surrounds you?"
I tend to let it envelope me. It is difficult to say where the assumption begins, usually from the top down, but it is more of a cloaking in entirety. Once wrapped in the image make it more complex. The more details you can hold when assuming the god form, the more efficacious it will be.
"Do you make a mask, or a full body?"
When working with Egyptian gods as in Thelema the head of the god is of utmost importance. A simple robe for the body seems to suffice, although it can't hurt to include the characteristic features of the body if the required concentration to do so is present. With the tantric deities in Tibetan Buddhism like Vajrayogini the body takes precedence, such as her necklace of skulls, the lotus, sun disk, moon disk, and the prone human she stands upon, the position of her legs and arms, and the weapons she carries.
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@RifRaf said
"How long do you stay, or how long should one stay in the assumed form?"
For what purpose? Practice? Or a particular ritual? And, if the latter, what ritual (or what type of ritual)?
For example, some situations call for consciously holding the identification throughout the whole working. Some call for assuming it once to make a link, then letting the mind move on to pay attention to other things. Some call for only building this right before a critical theurgic moment. Etc. etc.
"How do you unify your body with that of the Gods, i.e. do you step into the form? Do you watch it grow from the heart until it surrounds you? Do you make a mask, or a full body? I've heard of a few different methods and would like to see how others do it."
I just form it fully made as overlaying me. BTW, most people already are carrying an unconscious image of how they look - and, if the practice of conceiving of a theurgic image is difficult, it might be easier to find the image one already is holding of oneself and change that to something new. (Often, it's what's getting in the way anyway.)
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@RifRaf said
"How long do you stay, or how long should one stay in the assumed form?"
As long as the ritual calls for/as long as you think is right.
"I understand that staying in the position until the aspirant "connects" with the God is the desired outcome, and however long this takes should be the perscribed amount of time."
How long it takes to get that desired outcome IS the 'prescribed amount of time.'
"However, in section III of "Liber O" we are told to practice assuming Godforms ("This book is very easy to misunderstand...") and usually the beginning student probably isn't going to have a good enough imagination nor will they be fully "equipted" to be taking on elaborate and enduring Invocations in order to bring their consciousness to that needed level while standing there in the form. "
Hence why theyre told to simply study the images of those gods and imagine that image enveloping them... you can add verbal/mental invocations later if you so desire.
"How do you unify your body with that of the Gods, i.e. do you step into the form?"
Scan the body upwards or downwards thinking this hand is the hand of [whatever god] etc. much like certain Hermetic-Egyptian rituals (my phallus is the phallus of Asar) except keeping all the 'parts' to the same god rather than the gods.
" Do you watch it grow from the heart until it surrounds you? Do you make a mask, or a full body? I've heard of a few different methods and wold like to see how others do it."
Those both seem valid. It seems like there are many ways and each person's imagination is very unique... I get 'blocks' when I try to do some things certain ways then I try a different way and it comes on quickly (an invoked state-of-consciousness for example)
IAO131
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@RifRaf said
"Yea, practice is more or less what I was trying to address in this thread. How does a beginner know when they have "successfully" Assumed a Godform in practice?"
There are different levels of success. A beginner's practice should focus on such things as clear visualization of the form, the ability to hold this stable in the mind for several minutes at a time, some kinesthetic identification, etc.; and, with a little more progress, the ability to, at least briefly, have some psychological identification with the god, the sense that this is who one is.
The kinesthetic things may vary, and are best if they are spontaneous, For example, the first time I successfully assumed the form of Thoth, my eyes were suddenly on the side of my head instead of in front - I had to turn my head side-to-side to see. Surely this was a psychological trick of the brain, but it's exactly the kind of brain shift you want. Osiris' green color is from embalming fluid, and at least once, as Osiris, I smelled this and the decaying skin. If you're a man and become a goddess, you should suddenly feel the weight of breasts. And so forth.
"If you were assuming the form of Hapocrates would you meditate and then "jump into" the Godform, do you stand (if you are assuming the standing form) and build the form around you astrally and stand there until you feel you had enough? I assume neither answer is absolutely correct, but I am talking "in general"."
There are different techniques; but, in general, I build up the form around my physical form and gradually bring it into focus and make it real.
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@RifRaf said
"I was writing a small piece on this practice and wanted some input before finishing up. Also, I don't think to many people have gone into enough detail concerning the actual practice (except Regardie) and there are still a lot of unanswered questions floating around about this important practice.
How long do you stay, or how long should one stay in the assumed form? I understand that staying in the position until the aspirant "connects" with the God is the desired outcome, and however long this takes should be the perscribed amount of time. However, in section III of "Liber O" we are told to practice assuming Godforms ("This book is very easy to misunderstand...") and usually the beginning student probably isn't going to have a good enough imagination nor will they be fully "equipted" to be taking on elaborate and enduring Invocations in order to bring their consciousness to that needed level while standing there in the form.
How do you unify your body with that of the Gods, i.e. do you step into the form? Do you watch it grow from the heart until it surrounds you? Do you make a mask, or a full body? I've heard of a few different methods and would like to see how others do it."
For me it depends on the opperation. When I was in a GD order, I functioned as an "officer" of the order. In that case the assumption of the Godform was a lot more work. What I did was a) achieve a meditative state b) perform the Middle Pillar ritual - repeating the divine names in each center in number, to the letters of the godform I want to use c.1) create an astral shell of the Godform (utilizing the energy build up from the Middle Pillar ritual) c.2) shape the astral form as though molding clay... c.3) kept the eyes hollow (like a mask or an empty shell) d) step into the form with the sign of the enterer and seal it with the sign of silence. e) try to see your self and the environment wtih the senses of the form. also sometimes a square tile was used in flashing colors, with the God's name written in Coptic on the underside
I had various levels of success with that method... the peak of which was when the Hierophant of the order that I was in, performed a ritual to seal the godform. it felt like shrinkwrap snapping to my skin.
The above takes a long time.
If you're talking about the Adorations of Liber CC... Personally I don't do the above. It would take so much time. I inhale the name, and imagine it filling up my lungs (the name), while trying to visualize the form of the God... and on exhale stating the name of the god... that's it.
It's a different experience.
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Sure: Apostrophos.