Magick WITH tears.
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@Elmida said
"even though it's hard in my physical condition to do so properly (I'm obese, working hard on getting it fixed by getting more exercise and a healthy diet) and it has worked for me, in a way"
Can't speak for anyone else, but regular practise of the LBRP and Middle Pillar led to an awakening of instincts and tapping into my evolutionary drive. That eventually led to working out at the gym more, recovery of health, getting turned on to the Paleo Diet and losing weight.
Little scientific sidenote: the sex hormones (estrogen/testosterone) are responsible for inhibiting lipoprotein lipase, which is responsible for fat production. When people become obese, they become lethargic and libido drops - not only because they feel unattractive, but because these are side effects of fat production, which is regulated by genes. The solution is to eat foods that boost the sex hormones (or, even better, get off carbs and sugars completely).
If you ever run across a magician who is a little rotund, chances are, he's losing testosterone via sperm loss
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I dunno, at least for myself, I've been quite chubby and quite thin, masturbated compulsively and abstained, and I've observed no correlation between the frequency of masturbation and body weight.
I have, however, observed a very direct correlation between diet/exercise and body weight.
If every time you see a chubby person you want to picture them masturbating, don't let me stop you. However, the science of the matter is that while ejaculating causes subtle short-term drop in testosterone, sexual activity causes long-term increases in testosterone production.
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Well, I qualified that observation with "chances are" because it is not an absolute formula. Fat production is determined by each person's respective genetic makeup and every case will vary. Moreover, as noted earlier, if obesity causes lethargy and drop in libido, the image of a fat person masturbating furiously would seem contradictory, no? What is incontrovertible is that sex hormones inhibit lipoprotein lipase that, in turn, are responsible for fat production and distribution of fat around the body that, in turn, are determined by genetics.
But the levels of sex hormones are merely one part of a much larger picture â namely paying attention to diet â when it comes to obesity. I worked out 3x a week at the gym, trying to get lean, but only put on weight rapidly. The reason is because I ate like a horse, without paying attention to WHAT I consumed, after a workout. As soon as I started paying attention to, and changing, my diet, I rapidly lost weight within 3 weeks. More important than the vanity factor, eliminating all carbs and sugars from my diet led to a lucidity and clear-headedness and feeling of being energized that I haven't felt in years.
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93,
Alright, I took a comfy seat to read all of this stuff and it's helped a lot. It made me both laugh out loud and sniffle a little, which is good I suppose.
I suppose the most important thing I learnt from your messages is that it comes with baby steps and that it takes time. With the whole peer pressure thing of having to perform and show results, I think I was taking this too quick. Part of me probably expected me to read the Book of Law, fully understand it in one go and be a full time proper Thelemite. Which, of course, will never work. A friend of mine has been a Christian for 10 years now and still doesn't fully understand the Bible. Actually, I think I'm doing it wrong here again: why am I once again comparing myself to someone else? This is personal. It's about my emotions and spiritual progress and it'll come when it comes. And it'll only come when I work toward it.
Believe me when I say that the "sitting there and panic about it" is my usual (mostly unknowingly) approach on all things, whether it's cleaning up my room, paying the bills or passing a school exam. I do know that's not how things work but I sometimes just need a little prod to get back on my feet again. Your wise words of 'do what you can as much as you can and progress as much as you can' did give me heaps of motivation to get to it again.
I do still read the Book of Law every week (found it online) and do discover more and more in it the more often I read it. Only now do I realize that that's how it works. It's very hard to find the other books online and The Law Is For All isn't even published here in the Netherlands anymore. I did find a copy of it on thebookstoredepository and the good news is that they accept PayPal. So I do want to give that one a try now. Then maybe when I understand that one better, I'll move on to the next.
I've also decided that I'm going to wait with contacting the OTO until I'm ready. I've had the whole approach wrong up 'till now and I need to get my own mind straight before I contact them. Despite not being very young (I'm 22) I still live with my parents because I can't afford a place of my own yet. Until I'm more independent, I'm keeping this to myself.
Also, I love your approach on Magick and rituals, Ash. My biggest hobby (and hopefully, in the future, job) is writing fiction and novels and when I write, I see it in front of me. It actually happens inside my head. When my character is sad, I feel sad. Same when she's happy. Eventually my characters become part of me. That could work VERY well with accepting rituals.
Now, for Yoga, which approach do you recommend? I have this silly (again with the silly) application on DS (yes, the handheld console) that let's me choose short programms for specific things like 'get rid of your fears' or 'get your desires under control'. It has immensely handy instruction videos. Could I keep using that or is there a specific way I need to do it?
About my obesity: I love cookies and I dislike walking. There you have it.
One last thing: men ARE bastards. Just when I thought I fully embraced my lesbianism, I come across the most charming and handsome guy ever at the jewelry store and he completely messed up my mind. Phwoar, did he give me weak knees. The jerk.
Actually one MORE last thing: I love you guys, you're real lifesavers.
93, 93/93
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@Elmida said
"It's very hard to find the other books online"
Check out the recommended links on this site. The "Libri of Aleister Crowley" is Wonderful if you're looking for resources and books! The parent site itself is great as well. "8 lectures on Yoga", by Crowley accessible on that site, is a favorite for the theory and down to earth (and very humorous) explanation of the "why".
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But that was an apple, which my diet does allow. CONFUSING.
I did real, proper yoga this morning and last night and now I just DID it without having odd expectations or too many mental distractions, it went great. I could smell the fresh paint (mum did the hallways) and the flowers so much more and I could actually feel the fabrics of my clothings on my skin. It was really odd, but definitely NOT bad.
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Sounds good! Those are cool phenomena that pop up notably during early meditation/Yoga exercises. Just keep at it and record everything that you experience - getting more familiar with any given exercise will allow you to figure out what things are important to write down and what things aren't. That record - your Magical Diary - is super-duper important.
93, 93/93.
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@Elmida said
"
Now, for Yoga, which approach do you recommend? I have this silly (again with the silly) application on DS (yes, the handheld console) that let's me choose short programms for specific things like 'get rid of your fears' or 'get your desires under control'. It has immensely handy instruction videos. Could I keep using that or is there a specific way I need to do it?"One thing I wish i knew was that there is merit in just sitting in a chair, or on a cushion with your legs crossed. It's pretty damn basic. IMHO unless you want hatha yoga as part of a fitness regime, throw all the yoga pose books out and just pick an easy one. i.e. sitting with crossed legs or on a chair.
A good guide to yoga, which basically rehashes Crowley and includes some yoga exercise stuff is the Weiser Guide to Yoga for Magick. Very cheap little book. ( Crowley has his own 8 lectures. and other writings but they're very brainy). honestly I would keep it simple. I get excited by pictures and images and so forth in elaborate yoga books, but at the end of the day you want to clear your mind.
I'm constantly shocked that yoga meditation, which has such a great simple message of trying to shut OFF one's mind, is constantly distorted by pop culture into "people just sitting there thinking about XYZ."
Also, yoga is much more accepted in society than magick. So it's easy to just meditate and most people will sort of respect that.
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93,
I'm not sure how to read your reply. Are you saying that sitting in your chair and meditating is the BETTER way of doing yoga because it turns your mind inwards? Or was that slightly sarcastic? (Hard to pick up in text)
Also not sure about the tone in your last sentence.
93, 93/93
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I think he's implying that sitting in a chair and meditating is basically the core of what Crowley taught as far as Yoga - it's Raja Yoga, Union by Will. What mainstream society understands as "Yoga" isn't really what Crowley was talking about. What he was talking about is closer to what we would call "meditation."
I personally do recommend reading Crowley's "8 Lectures on Yoga," because, although they can be kind of unclear at times and they're not exactly a step-by-step instruction manual, they are good at conveying the essence of his teachings about Yoga and about the intended hierarchy of practices. (This is intended to lead to this, and this is intended to lead to that, etc.)
(Also his humor is rather comprehensible in that series of lectures for whatever reason - it's like he finally perceived that not all of his readership would be able to follow his jokes and he simplified them and made them a bit more obvious.)
I would personally agree that sitting in a chair and meditating is the "better" way of doing Yoga, if the goal is spiritual attainment. If the goal is something else, then maybe not. Nothing wrong with so-called Hatha Yoga (or what the mainstream understands as Yoga), but it's not intended to get one to any particular attainment, and is rarely what Crowley is talking about when he says "Yoga."
(These views come from the East, by the way; what we got in the West is a rather watered-down McDonald's version of what was taught in the East.)
93, 93/93.
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93,
Pff, thanks, it's a bit of a relief to know that I don't have to be worried about not being able to fold my leg behind my head or something. I did find the poses in which you sort of stretch out and meditate (such as the Antenna Pose and Extended Child Pose) working a lot better than all those complicated muscle-ruining things. Meditation works great for me.
93, 93/93
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@Elmida said
"93,
Also not sure about the tone in your last sentence.
93, 93/93"
You said you're concerned about your parents or whoever being upset about you doing "magick." Well, I was saying yoga is a lot more acceptable. It's pretty innocuous to find someone sitting in a chair.
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@Escarabaj said
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@Elmida said
"93,Also not sure about the tone in your last sentence.
93, 93/93"
You said you're concerned about your parents or whoever being upset about you doing "magick." Well, I was saying yoga is a lot more acceptable. It's pretty innocuous to find someone sitting in a chair."
Very true, yes. I've been doing yoga and meditation for a while and nobody has ever made a remark on that.
And no, Vlad, I can't! There's quite a lot of fat in the way, heh.
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Double post, but still, little update: I've found a Thelemite in the Netherlands that can also offer me great help. It helps a lot to be able to communicate with something about these things in my own language. He was able to tell me that he's only met two or three other Thelemites and that they too had little contact with others.
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@Elmida said
"Double post, but still, little update: I've found a Thelemite in the Netherlands that can also offer me great help. It helps a lot to be able to communicate with something about these things in my own language. He was able to tell me that he's only met two or three other Thelemites and that they too had little contact with others."
This developement has got me thinking.. Since you've made this contact, has that feeling of outsided-ness and intimidation diminished some? If so, maybe what I was confusing is that it's not so much an 'understanding' that has to be obtained, but rather a sense of belonging/fellowship to help rid that initial anxiety.
Just a thought.
-ANEA
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I suppose it's also a part of it, but what the guy basically told me that there isn't really a Thelemic society in the Netherlands at all. It's kind of hard to feel like I'm part of something that isn't actually there. To be honest I feel more connected to you guys than to any Thelemite here, because I'm actually talking to you.
But yet, the thought that I'm not alone and that there are others who get what I get is a big help. And speaking to them in your native tongue is an even bigger help. I never knew how to phrace "Do what you Wilt shall be the whole of the Law" in Dutch, but now I do and that feels much better. It's more 'understanding' than 'belonging', but maybe that's also because I've finally managed to drop the thought that I HAD to join the A.'.A.'. or OTO. You can't join what's not there, and I've managed to realize that I can do it on my own too.
I hope that answers your question.
Try thinking about it this way - maybe someday you guys can be the ones that newbie Thelemites go to, so that they can remark to you,"wow, I thought I was the only Thelemite in the Netherlands!"