Temple Atmosphere
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A discussion on another thread about the G.D. Vault got me thinking about an issue I've been turning over in my head for some time. For the last 14 months I've had the 2nd bedroom in my apartment set up as a Temple. The room is used for spiritual work & nothing else, though no direct attempt has ever been made to consecrate the room, at least not of outside of standard purification with water, consecration with incense, etc. as part of a larger ritual. It's been wonderful all along having a space for the work, but about 5 months or so ago I started to notice a real change in, for lack of a better term, the "atmosphere" of the room. It's gotten to the point where I actually have to spend a moment or two mentally preparing myself before stepping into the room. When it first started happening it was actually uncomfortable & I ended up having enormous difficulty getting into the room to get any work done for a few weeks; some convenient excuse always seemed to arise just as I was getting ready. The effect of simply stepping into the room & taking a deep breath is about comparable to a decent performance of the LIRP & LIRH in another space. (Also, not that it matters much, but one of the few people I've let enter the room noticed the "atmosphere" -- & without being primed for it).
I've done quite a bit of work over the past 8 or 9 months toward getting my rational, analytic mind to take a backseat to simply doing the work (one of the reasons I rarely post here anymore), but I keep returning to the question of what, exactly, has happened to the room. It's not that "energy" has been built up there. I raise energy & then banish it again on a regular basis. I know what that feels like, and this is different. There's definitely the sense that the room has become sacred space, but I've been in other places that felt that way -- some even more so -- but none had the same physical & mental impact that my Temple does. Although I've adapted to the phenomenon & have come to deeply appreciate the boost it's given my work (doing magick anywhere else is kind of disappointing these days), it's still a demanding enough experience to walk in there, that if I'm tired or in a bad mood or otherwise not at full strength & need to go into the room for some reason (to replace a robe or grab an old journal or something) I often end up putting it off until I feel better. If nothing else, it's made all the precautions and rules surrounding the Holy of Holies all seem much more reasonable!
I'm at a loss for how to conceptualize what it is that's happened to the space & wondering if others have had similar experiences or have some insight into the situation. Is this a common occurrence? Does it correlate with certain rituals or practices, or is it just the effect of having a dedicated space? As I write this, it occurs to me that performing some sort of ritual dedication of the space might help formalize my relationship to the phenomenon & thus make it easier to work with. Are there specific methods or procedures that might be appropriate for dedicating the space (other than the creation of a Vault, which I think is rather beyond my level of skill and attainment)?
(Oh, and if there's any question, I invoke every morning, banish every evening, and always use appropriate opening & closing banishings & purifications for more extensive work.)
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Congratulations on having your life together enough to have your own dedicated temple. I'm really impressed with how you described it. I know its defiantly possible to charge a room up like that, and I have often wondered how I could do it. Unfortunately, I think I might have inadvertently once charged up a space with negative energy so much that people wanted to leave. (Of course they gave other excuses)
It sounds like from your post that you use a lot of tools, robes and things. Does the room have any special decor to it, or is it pretty ordinary looking with nothing out of the ordinary on the walls etc?
It also sounds like from you post, you do use it as a storage room of sorts, hence your need to go in there at times other than ritual.
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I can tell you that the feeling is normal in a space that is regularly consecrated by ceremony. When you read the magical grimoires and they describe laborious ceremonies of donning the robe and such, it is for this very reason. If you feel you are not prepared to enter that space, you should immediately pray to your angel asking for his intercession before you enter. I had many short prayers that I would recite as I entered my temple and put on my robes, but now they have all been reduced to a simple knock on the door.
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@Shadow Self said
"It sounds like from your post that you use a lot of tools, robes and things. Does the room have any special decor to it, or is it pretty ordinary looking with nothing out of the ordinary on the walls etc? "
The walls are generally bare unless I'm doing Enochian work & hang the tablets. The center of the room is taken up by a double cube altar & there are appropriately colored candles in the quarters. Other than that, it's empty. Which is very effective, because the rest of my apartment is filled with stacks of books, papers, art supplies, etc."It also sounds like from you post, you do use it as a storage room of sorts, hence your need to go in there at times other than ritual."
I store things in the closet. In a perfect world I'd have some kind of antechamber with the closet off of that...@HounganRocky said
"I can tell you that the feeling is normal in a space that is regularly consecrated by ceremony."
Thanks
"If you feel you are not prepared to enter that space, you should immediately pray to your angel asking for his intercession before you enter. I had many short prayers that I would recite as I entered my temple and put on my robes, but now they have all been reduced to a simple knock on the door."
Recently I'd been using Surah 112 as a mantra, and started chanting it a couple times before entering, and then keep going as I robe, light candles, etc. It seems to work nicely. I'd never thought of knocking, though, I like that. A well timed knock in ritual can be very effective. -
Another point i forgot to mention is talking a short magical bath. It doesn't need to be looking and can be a few short minutes in a cold shower. Bardon talks about using cold water to remove negative energies.