a controversial question
-
@Ra-Imhotep said
"I don't know if this has been covered in the past, and I really don't know if this is an appropriate question for me to ask on this forum but I really would like to know if smoking marijuana has any affect on the efficiency of the magician's work. I'm on a hiatus from smoking and performing magick at the time however it's something that's been on my mind since I began to take up magical training."
Part of the answer to this question always is that it differs with the individual. So many physical, evironmentmental, and (especially!) psychological factors enter into this. (And that doesn't even yet enter into the issue of frequency, dosage, purity, etc.)
With that caveat about individual factors, I believe there are three general points that are true and relevant:
-
Health - physical and psychological - makes a huge difference.
-
Some categories of drugs (which, for some people, includes marijuana) can expose a person to states of consciousness and characteristics of reality and its maleability to which one might not get exposure otherwise.
-
However, relying on the substance to produce the state after an initial period of exposure is conterproductive IF one's goal is actual personal growth. Once you know the route and what it looks like, it's worth it to learn to get there yourself.
I don't know any hard and fast rules applicable to everyone which can be built on top of those principles; but the principles themselves seem sound and consistent with experience. Within that, individual decisions have to be made in context. For example, someone who is familiar with altered states, in preparation for a certain kind of work, might find that smoking a little weed opens the door a bit to what they are doing. Another person (or the same person on a different occasion) may find that, instead, it dulls exactly the faculty needed, or dissolves the subtle channels that are needed for the particular work, etc.
-
-
I have a personal experience with weed and magick in combination. I did the LBRP during a high and the visualization and intensity of its connection to whatever the ritual does exactly was fantastically enhanced compared to doing it in a sober state of mind. In fact, I did what Regardie recommended to people who have some illness that prevents them from doing the ritual physically, and did it with a mental projection of my astral body.
What happened was not that I strictly sensually felt the effects as I do while sober (feeling like a newly charged battery), but instead I understood the concept of combining the archangelic forces to balance me and forming a connection between visualization and feeling; it was as if "looking" (I am mostly visual, so my thoughts are most often images) at four great locks of nature aligning themselves according to the quadratic angles of the universal cross, and feeling their effects on me, which was very powerful, even while only doing it mentally. The same kind of visual abstractions with the Qabalistic Cross and the pentagrams, of course, but the archangelic stuff was without doubt the most interesting part, because I felt like I understood something I couldn't perceive in normal consciousness.
With that story in mind, as you probably know, weed is superb for analyzing deep and abstract concepts, but not so good if you have to hold a lot of information in your head at once, but if you know the rituals by heart, it seems to me to be only an enhancer.And I have a question on this theme as well: Is "Roll Away the Stone: An Introduction to Aleister Crowleys Essays on the Psychology of Hashish" any good, if anyone here has read it?
-
93,
Thanks guys. Malaclypse the very first time I performed the QC & LBRP I had just got done smoking a blunt and within 15 minutes of finishing the ritual I physically felt as if there was a constant stream of energy traversing through my body from top to bottom and right to left. It was so strong that I felt like I was being pulled in those directions. I'm not really one to be do rituals after toking up but I have to admit that I never felt those sensations sober. I've experimented in the past though, astrally performing the rituals stoned (which was crazy in and of itself), performing the rituals and then smoking afterwards, etc. I guess my first experience with the LBRP validates what you said Jim about smoking weed opening a door to access some stuff not readily accessible while sober. I really appareciate your comments though, as some of the people reading this are prolly stoned right now
ooooooooh 
93
93/93 -
@Ra-Imhotep said
"the very first time I performed the QC & LBRP I had just got done smoking a blunt and within 15 minutes of finishing the ritual I physically felt as if there was a constant stream of energy traversing through my body from top to bottom and right to left."
Ah, I had the sensation instantly, like pressing a power switch. That was the main reason why I thought psychedelics are positive to use in order to gain some alternate perspective on the rituals. Sounds like it's also good for focusing on specific energies, I guess.
-
93
I do not believe that marijuana fits the description of "strange drugs" mentioned in the Book of the Law.
My opinion is that the natural psychedelics that Native Americans and others use for religious ceremonies better fit what was intended.
Having said that, at the end of the day, if you're using something and it turns into a crutch then whatever you were aiming for initially is now further away from you.
93, 93/93
-
Precisely. Always unto Nuit. I used to see cannabis, when I was a frequent user, as a tool to gain inspiration in my drawing and writing, and as such it was a real boost. Also, psilocybin has been by far the best psychologist I've ever gone to, and the best mind opener, but I wouldn't dream of taking it to have fun a friday night.
-
93
Ra-Imhotep, it's always a good idea to keep a respectful relationship with the plant itself; think of it from an animist perspective. Marijuana is very feminine, I'm sure you've noticed; Mary Jane right? Comes on like a warm, soothing blanket, but prone to flighty emotional states; if you ever get 'the fear' or paranoia then she is displeased. It's the disposition of the plant; its spirit. Indigenous people recognized that and so had many ways to show their respect; it can turn on you at anytime. And some plants just aren't suited to everyone's temperament. If Mary Jane works with you well, then by all means use it, in moderation but it is a short-cut and it's also temporary; she won't help indefinitely. And like a jealous girlfriend, might not always get along well with other kinds of energy; so in magickal operations you should take this into account. But there's far more unforgiving plants people deal with. It's always somewhat risky though. -
93,
Thanks El. I posted this a while ago, but coming back to it now that I'm smoking a again and resuming my magickal practices is kinda cool. It's funny that you mentioned marijuana being feminine because just last night I smoked a blunt with some of my friends and I was thinking the same thing. She's completely inert until you spark her up (kinda like Binah and Chokmah
even down to the use of fire for stimulation). I kinda treat myself to a smoke when I'm done with my work. I like my mind to be pure during magickal operations. But again, thanks for advice and insight. I will keep this in mind whenever I have a date with M.J. 93 93/93
ShariyfP.S. This makes 56 posts....I'm an official "Gold Member"
"I love goooooooooooooolllld" -
“RECALL, O MY SON, THE FABLE OF THE Hebrews, which they brought from the City of Babylon, how Nebuchadnezzar the Great King, being afflicted in his Spirit, did depart from among Men for Seven Years’ Space, eating Grass as doth an Ox …O my Son, yester eve came the Spirit upon me that I should eat the Grass of the Arabians, and by Virtue of the Bewitchment thereof behold that which might be appointed for the Enlightenment of mine Eyes. Now then of this may I not speak, seeing that it involveth the Mystery of the Transcending of Time, so that in One Hour of our Terrestrial Measure did I gather the Harvest of an Aeon, and in Ten Lives I could not declare it.” - BoT
-
Funny, I was just having a conversation about this today, so i figure I'll share my thoughts.
In my experience, there is a fundamental mindset necessary for use of psychoactives in any spiritually-based endeavor, and this relates to what Jim and Elkeid have so appropriately brought up:
The influence of the substance must be viewed in relative terms, and all insight gained analyzed as a "difference from zero" for lack of a better phrase. As an explanatory example, my experiences with psylocibin have led me to understand it as having a Watery nature, the most obvious representation of this is an increased receptivity to all forms of energy. With that in mind, I have enabled myself to explore the functions of my mind WITHIN THE BASIS of that form of energy (Water), the efficacy of such being markedly improved by the use of the fungae. One must understand the nature of what is being dealt with, and then use this knowledge to create the dependent variable in one's little psycho-spiritual experiment.
Too often as a younger experimenter did I mistake my revelations to be based in Absolution, instead of viewing them in this more scientific perspective.
In essence, I believe that use of psychoactives must constantly be subjected to a variety of experiments in order to remain effective, as their effects are tied to their nature and therefore can only penetrate one mystery so far.