@Frater ALLAShALLA said
"93 93/93
"Yes, that's what Crowley did, and he was quite happy with the stinging oil that resulted. But it's not a product that a non masochist would want to apply liberally.
"
HAHAHAHAHA:) I am sorry but this is sooooo TRUE:)
There is no law beyond Do what thou wilt."
Yes, it's very true. I think I'll have to dilute mine a bit, ahahah.
Can the oil be made with the raw materials in separate jars and mix them later or will this turn out muddy? Don't want to resort to buying essential oils but the equipment to extract them isn't budget friendly. 
@Vlad said
"It's good, but continue with the work. Consume it, and pierce further into ecstacy
"
Thank you for the encouragement Vlad, it's all too rare. I will be working to do just that.
Quick question. While contemplating Adonai, is it normal to break down in tears at an influx of all consuming love? I've had this happen to me several times in the past few days and it's one of the most beautiful and touching experiences I've had in my life. I've felt this before many times when life has presented me with seemingly insurmountable opposition. Could this be a genuine experience or is it more likely a construction of a weary and bruised ego?
Ah, this is awesome! I want to make one now. Nice work!
@Alrah said
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@TheSilent1 said
"I agree Alrah this discussion is becoming very interesting, it has actually been opening some terrific dialogues with some fellow practitioners. Maybe we will shed some light on a great mystery, yes?"
It is possible and certainly worth investigating. 
Perhaps we should look closer at the data? If you could show a study that indicated alternate nostril breathing carried with it any sort of benefit not found in the zazen method then it would go a long way towards validating the model of the Ida and Pingala as they are affected by the breath. But if not - then it would not invalidate the idea of the Ida and Pingala either. "
By blocking one of the nostrils completely or partially, or both partially like in digital pranayama, you will inhibit the flow of air much more than you would than by just placing the tongue on the soft palate. By slowing the breath like this you're getting a benefit by itself. Not sure if it actually causes psychological changes like some claim e.g. nadis influencing right/left hemispheres, or balancing lunar/solar principles, etc. Interesting stuff, I'll watch this thread haha.
@Laertes said
"whoa, i didn't mean to start such a fierce debate, i plan on committing myself to some hatha yoga before assuming my asana even watching some videos of instructors seems to set my mind in the right place.
Another question though about the switching nostril thing. all of you have made good points regarding this practice, my only question is, if I do decide to do the nostril exercises, won't I eventually have to switch to regular breathing (in nose, out mouth) because if I am constantly moving my hand to close my nostrils how will lose awareness of my physical body? Of course I understand that as a beginner this isn't a major concern right away but eventually does one abandon the nostril exercise?
again thanks for the replies since i live in bumble {****} nowhere right now it's great to have access to real people and not just books. hopefully i will get into a phd program in a big city in april/march, where I can find official instruction since State College PA isn't really cutting it now."
I think it's a great idea to start hatha yoga, it's a meditation in itself lol. It's helped me remain in seated postures for longer periods than I could without having a nice stretch before hand, too. If you want to try using both nostrils, go for it, although you should exhale from your nose and not your mouth in most cases. I think I said it earlier, but take it slow when increasing the periods of inhalation, exhalation, retention, etc. You don't want to strain or injure yourself.
@Laertes said
"93,
I am a beginner at meditation following Crowley's instructions in Book 4, eight lectures on yoga, and a couple other sources that escape my mind at the moment. I've been trying to do at least 30 minutes a day, focusing on asana, pranayama and dharana. Asana is going well (using the dragon posture), it is quite painful but Crowley does not sugar cote the fact that this is completely expected. My dharana has improved greatly using a red triangle as my focus, but surprisingly it is easier for me to hold my focus on moving objects (a rotating red triangle or a flipping white cross for example) than a fixed one. Since Crowley says a still object should be focused on before working your way up to moving objects, should I just skip ahead to moving objects or try to focus on a still object first?
Also pranayama is EXTREMELY difficult for me, whether breathing through the right, left nostril, or both, I can barely breath in for 5 seconds and out for 10 for more than a few minutes before I feel like I am suffocating. Any advice here, I am in good cardio-vascular shape but I suppose that doesn't necceasrily mean pranayama would come easy to me. How long does it take to work up to say 10 seconds in, 20 seconds out, I feel like Im making no progress in this department. I am wondering if the posuture is making breathing difficult, with my back and head so stiff and straight breeathing deeply is impossible but if I am in a more comfortable position I can breath like this quite easily, it is almost as if the dragon posutre hinders my ability to breath in deeply, any help is appreaciated.
93 93/93"
I've had similar problems with pranayama before and had to slowly work up the slower breathing rhythms. I'd suggest BKS Iyengar's Light on Yoga and Light on Pranayama. They're encyclopedic in their scope of the amount of information covered on the topics of Asana and Pranayama practices and go over somewhat the higher stages. Iyenger also builds his method from Hathayoga Pradipika, Shiva Samhita, and the Yoga Sutras... All books which Crowley suggests in the student reading list. They can be bought used on Amazon and are fairly inexpensive.
@Laertes said
"
"Sometimes I also get a pressure right above the bridge of my nose which will persist for sometimes 10 minutes, sometimes half an hour. It doesn't hurt, i'm just aware of it."
I am a beginner at meditation as well and this is one of the first things I have noticed as far as physical phenomenon, my first reaction was that this is the "third eye" opening and I have tried to almost imagine myself using this eye to focus on a tattwa, but I am no expert here, just speculation.
"I feel I should probably be working with the elements more formally. I feel I do have deficiencies in certain elemental departments and I'd like to try to correct it some."
A very simple exercise I have done to become more in tune with the elements is a different version of Liber Resh. Each time you say the words imagine yourself covered in the color that corresponds to which direction you are facing. So if you are facing south at noon, imagine yourself covered in red, feel yourself hot and dry as you say the words. This is from Kraig's Modern Magick and there are many other good excercises in that book for gaining a command of the elements. Check it out if you can."
Thanks for the suggestion, I'll check that out in Modern Magick. Er, maybe someone should close this thread? It's just going to take me more research to get all answers I'm looking for, lol.
@Jim Eshelman said
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@Kraven said
"Also, how do you banish after a Star Sapphire"
You don't. That which the Star Sapphire, properly and successfully done, invokes is the One Thing you will never wish to banish; nor should you.
"...still being firmly rooted in Malkuth,"
That would be a most extraordinary accomplishment at the beginning level you are describing! Most people need a couple of years of top notch work to become firmly rooted in Malkuth."
Ah, sorry.. My choice of words was poor. I suppose I'll commit the Star Sapphire and begin using it as well in light of what you've said, hehe. I'd forgotten that the ritual could actually be an invocation of the HGA. Anyone care to elucidate on some of the other concerns I expressed..? 
93,
First of all, I'm sorry. This is going to be a very long post... please bear with me. I've been reading the A.'.A.'. student list, getting towards the end of it... My practice is sparse, mostly acquiring theory. I'd like to change that, though. I've worked with Liber O and E quite a bit. I've commited the Star Ruby, LBRP, GRP, Middle Pillar ritual (with all 10 names and spheres utilized), and have worked with Reguli a few times... I generally banish daily and use the middle pillar exercise a few times here and there when I feel I need to balance or strengthen my aura.
Realizing that this is the very beginning of the work, starting out here in the earthy energies of Malkuth I reason that bodily purification and mental equilibrium should probably come early on. I'm experimenting with nadisuddhi pranayama and the various poses found in the Hatha Yoga Pradapika. I'm having trouble with mayurasana and padmasana mostly, the rest I think aren't too bad. I hold them each for one minute, trying to keep my breath steady... not always so easy doing these, haha. Afterwards lying in savasana for a while, then 15-20 minutes mantra yoga using a ka dua, tuf ur biu, etc. mantra. For results, as mentioned in Liber E I usually become very hot in various parts of the body during pranayama, most often the head. Sweat breaks out, sometimes pours out lol. I've experienced the "automatic rigidity" many times also, but not as often as the sweating. Sometimes I also get a pressure right above the bridge of my nose which will persist for sometimes 10 minutes, sometimes half an hour. It doesn't hurt, i'm just aware of it.
I've read that without the nadi channels being purified, prana/kundalini can't travel through the sushumna. This is pretty central to the whole system, so I feel nadisuddhi pranayama should definitely be of utmost importance now (as well as watching my diet, hah!). How can you tell if the nadis have been purified? What I've read so far is that you feel light, pitta is increased, etc. This isn't very specific... What about the chakras, do they need to be properly opened and purified as well? How do you go about doing this? Also, I will say I've worked with the methods of SSS and some other kundalini exercises with some interesting results, but haven't stuck to it for fear of the results, lol.
Still more about yoga... working with dharana has been very difficult. It's hard for me to keep the imagined object in my mind, it fades often and sometimes it's just downright hard to see it. I've only really worked with the first sections dealing with tattvas in Liber E, I didn't think I should move on 'til I can at least manage the basics of the practice... I find it much easier to maintain visualizations in a ritual context, but for some reason a single object escapes me. Any pointers? >_>
On to questions pertaining to ritual... I don't use any planetary invocation/banishing, only Star Ruby and pentagram rituals. Is this bad? Should I use the LRH daily, also? I personally dislike the ritual and greatly prefer the form of the Star Sapphire. Would this ritual be a good replacement for that invocation? Also, how do you banish after a Star Sapphire, as there is no banishing version of the ritual. Is this dangerous? I remember "invoke often" and "inflame thyself with prayer", after all.. the ritual is working with solar energies, right? Maybe that's not so bad, hehe. Also, still being firmly rooted in Malkuth, I feel I should probably be working with the elements more formally. I feel I do have deficiencies in certain elemental departments and I'd like to try to correct it some. To do this, couldn't I just invoke the element using the GRP, assume an appropriate godform and try to ground the energies of the element in myself? What godforms are appropriate to this, though? Should I be invoking the archangels of the quarters, elementals, or could I use the egyptian depictions found in the actual A.'.A.'. signs for a simple practice? Or... would it be better to just create talisman to accomplish this?
Sorry, this post has been all over the place and far too long, sorry for the bore. Any advice from more experienced practitioners would greatly appreciated. I'm getting ready for my probationer exam so I think it's time to refine my practice, or rapture if you will a bit more.
93 93/93
Slightly off topic... The signs given in Resh have elemental correspondence. Do they have anything to do with the tattvic flow from the sun described in the G.D. papers on the tattvas? i.e. the signs of LVX are given at dawn, when akasa is the predominant element radiated from the sun...
@Iugum said
"
@Kraven said
"93,
During the Preliminary Invocation what role do the Elemental kings play? In the rubric their sigils and names are given at each of the quarters. What are you supposed to be doing here? Also,
93, 93/93"
Have you read the Scholion, it its entirety, in Liber Samekh? It explains, better than anything else can, what is happening, why it is happening and it also helps immensely in practical matters.
"I'm assuming the barbaric words are to be memorized (difficult making the grade signs and reading from a notebook at once)?
"
I assume that you meant barbarous names, and not barbaric? I'm not nit picking here, just trying to fully follow you and (if you did mean barbarous) to clear up the language in order to help and/or direct future help."
Hah, yes, I meant barbarous. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction..
93,
During the Preliminary Invocation what role do the Elemental kings play? In the rubric their sigils and names are given at each of the quarters. What are you supposed to be doing here? Also, I'm assuming the barbaric words are to be memorized (difficult making the grade signs and reading from a notebook at once)?
93, 93/93
I figured I'd post this for the benefit of other members... A hatha yoga class can help out big time with lower back pain during meditation. As for pins and needles and legs falling asleep, just elevate your butt when you're sitting in a cross-legged asana.
So... what lineages are currently in a period of speech?
I've had similar problems trying to meditate for +30min. In I've been thinking of going to a local yoga studio to learn more of hatha yoga to stretch the body and get it ready for meditation. My biggest problem seems to be pins and needles and my legs falling asleep, which as above stated, is probably circulation.
My name's Kraven, I've seen some good stuff on these forums just lurking and I decided I'd join... I've been collecting and reading the books for the A.'.A.'. student list and reading dion fortune, israel regardie, pete carroll, spare, others... been interested in occult for a few years, meditating and practicing on and off. Looking forward to learning some new stuff here...