Daily Practice & Visualization
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Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law.
I am practicing rituals daily that involve visualization. Sometimes I can visualize clearly and other times the image is faint or cloudy, or comes in and out of view. The best experiences are when I visualize clearly and feel emotions.
I would assume that practicing every day would enable me to visualize more clearly more often.
Yet I find I have a resistance coming up: I fear that by practicing every day, that I will "wear the ritual out" - that by daily repetition, it will become too familiar, and I won't be able to feel anything. I would compare this to having a favorite song, that brings up strong emotions, but then playing the song everyday, you get sick of it and don't want to hear it anymore.
So I am hoping the more experienced people here can comment on this process and reassure me that practicing every day won't "wear it out".
Thank you,
Love is the law, love under will.
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Rituals tend not to wear out
The scripts wear out. The magician wears out. But the ritual tends not to.
We get bored and tired. We encounter resistence in ourselves, especially as breakthroughs are close. We avoid for some other reason.
Or not...
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@Tamara_Tornad said
"So I am hoping the more experienced people here can comment on this process and reassure me that practicing every day won't "wear it out"."
It's my experience, Tamara, that you have nothing to worry about. On the contrary, daily use is liable to take you to a deeper level.
You can't practise visualization enough in my opinion. The visualizations - and the correlations across the other senses - are the fulcrum of magic.
Best wishes,
Michael.
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Thank you, I needed to hear that. I am practicing every day, and I find some days are better than others. I guess I am too hard on myself, I want it to be perfect every time.
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@Tamara_Tornad said
"Thank you, I needed to hear that. I am practicing every day, and I find some days are better than others. I guess I am too hard on myself, I want it to be perfect every time."
We'd all like it to be perfect every time, but creative work isn't like that. There have been several periods in my life of sustained daily Workings along the lines of Liber Astarte, section SSS of Liber HHH, Liber V vel Reguli, etc. It's always the case that there are some days that are better than others. We're all different in temperament, but for me progress in these and other Workings has rarely been a matter of smooth and gradual progression. Sometimes there seems to be little or no progress: a falling back, even, when all you can do is persist.
Many years ago I undertook a Working based on Samekh, sticking to the traditional build-up enshrined in that instruction. Because of this build-up of intensity, I was anticipating something dramatic happening once the eleventh and final moon arrived. Well, it didn't; and the crushing disappointment and sense of failure pushed me close to abandoning the Working. However, I persisted - even though it felt like I was just going through the motions - and the Working bore fruit in its own time.
Essentially, magical working is not simply a question of perfecting technique, but of forging contacts with the magical current.
Best wishes,
Michael.
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93 TT.
I just wanted to comment that in my daily workings, there has come that feeling of not wanting to 'Over do', or wear out the Ritual.
This is very common in daily ritualistic work. I can say that visualization is so very important. Especially when one is working Astrally.
I think if it feels as if the Ritual is getting to familiar, then this is a good thing.Soon, one can perform such rituals without going through the physical motions, and accomplish it purely on the Astral, through visualization.
(Of course manifesting it on the physical as well)Bottom line...Continue practicing everyday:-)
93 93/93.'.
James
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93
Thank you, This is reassuring. I was visualizing better a couple weeks ago than I have been the past few days. It made me worry, why am I doing worse?
I've never practiced visualizing every day before, it's new for me.
- Tamara
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@Tamara_Tornad said
"93
Thank you, This is reassuring. I was visualizing better a couple weeks ago than I have been the past few days. It made me worry, why am I doing worse?
I've never practiced visualizing every day before, it's new for me.
- Tamara"
Hello Tamara
I don't think you need worry about the fact that you fluctuate with what appears to be variable results. Greater familiarity may well breed contempt, but only at a superficial level, the level which wants entertainment and stimulus. At another level, greater familiarity breeds greater competence, and a deeper appreciation and "resonance" between levels, both psychological and (if you accept the theory) "extra-planar".
For your own reassurance, too, don't necessarily assume it will all be "up". That's simply a need for stimulus (which, I would suggest, may be 99% of the motive for 99% of practitioners). And much as it may be a minority opinion, don't be too hard on yourself if you decide to occasionally take a day (or even a week or month) off from the discipline. As the Sufis say "Sometimes even the tautest bow must be unstrung". Just be wary of this being the ego's way of avoiding discipline.
TaMo