College of Thelema: Thelemic Education

Wait, I thought he was referring to semen?

I remember when I had a divorce, I would have a lot of anxiety and panic attacks. I'm being treated for a mood disorder now, but not my depression. Back then, I was relatively new to all of this so I wasn't doing anything consistently. I started doing LBRP every day, sometimes twice or three times a day to keep those negative energies at bay.

I truly feel that ritual helped me become a better more stable person, and helped me cope with the stress of my divorce in a positive way. I also meditated quite a bit, but Dharana was difficult because I couldn't control the bad places I went to after the first hour.

I can't say much for other disorders or poisons in our life, but I feel that I helped myself immensely.

I view LBRP not only as a banishing ritual, but a protective and grounding ritual. I view middle pillar as a healing/rejuvenation ritual. These two together every day or more seems to help with things the OP is talking about.

@ThelemicMage said

"Jim's suggestion sounds a lot better than say,

Constant, astrologically and goetically timed, hardcore invoking of goetic demons a whole week before you move.

Unless the people moving in enjoy things like hauntings.

Would anyone say that using a banishing hexagram ritual after a pentagram ritual would fit different kinds of banishings for the different invoked energies there?

It's just that when I banish with hexagrams, it feels more macrocosmic, more of a large-scale thing, that connects in different ways, and perfectly with pentagram rituals.

93"

Well, to be fair, I should probably banish using hexagrams. I've done quite a number of Jupiter, Mercury, and Venus variations on the Greater Invoking Ritual of the Hexagram in the past year.

Would as a simple LBRP suffice, or am I gonna have to do a GBRH?

This feels like a really amateur type of question, but I'd rather bounce the idea off some people anyways.

I'm moving soon, and I've used my apartment for plenty rituals in which I choose not to close with an LBRP or Star Ruby. As such, my place is kind of a melting pot of invoked energies.

I feel that it would be the polite thing to do.

What do most of you do in a situation like this?

Have a general purpose, but do not make it an exercise in fulfilling said purpose. The more you think/care about fulfilling said purpose, the more likely you are to suffer from 'lust of result.'

I've decided to care, but not care. Whatever may happen, I just record in my magickal diary and move on.

@ThelemicMage said

"In Liber Samekh, it states in the Element of Water that Babalon is the bride of the great god "ON", and the line below it refers to another female who is the bride and sister of the great god "ON", "by the power of eleven."

Am I correct to assume that ON is the "Son" of Babalon, "Gate of", and that ASAL ON AI is the sister/bride of the god ON?"

When I first read the passage, I just assumed Crowley was talking about himself. He refers to himself as the Beast - which Babalon usually rides upon. He refers to himself as 'sunshine' also, so I just assumed he was talking about himself again in some cryptic way per usual.

"by the power of eleven" 11=magick.

@Faus said

"See, my opinion is not about the different mechanisms or experiences but the final valuable for a magician, Astral Travel. You need to get out and explore the other side.

In this context the drug use loses very much of its meaning, for me, since someone can actually be trained to attain it without drugs. In other words my experience makes me believe that they are not the Philosophers Stone but a beginners tool.

About the receptor, height affinity for a receptor is not a signal that it is something more useful or evolved, on the contrary, promiscuous molecules generally are much more useful to keep a healthy feedback in the brain. And there are many different kinds of 5-HT receptors, DMT only has affinity with a couple of them (or it would be anxiogenic)."

If anyone comes upon this thread, I hope they read the bolded part of this quote. Very very true.

@Faus said

"Just something about DMT and biochemistry. It is not drug that is hallucinogenic, it is the receptor in the brain. Almost all neurotransmitters are potential hallucinogenic, there is nothing special about DMT."

The human brain is a powerful thing, man.

After experimenting with various drugs, I feel the statement "there is nothing special about DMT" to be a little inaccurate. Sure, some people put WAAAY more stock into it than necessary. However, no other drug I've experienced truly takes control over your conscious and wrangles you in such a way that DMT does. It is a very common chemical in nature. I think because its natural applications are somewhat undocumented and uncertain we like to make up wild answers about why it really exists, calling it a "spirit molecule" or some such. I do think that DMT allows for one to have a much much more meaningful journey than any others that I've tried.

I feel like it's an easy cure for a spiritual "writer's block." Though, I wouldn't depend on it but once every few years to act as a cleansing tool and a reboot for your mind. It helps you see what's already there, but in a way that you just couldn't put your finger on beforehand.

You don't need DMT to do this, but it sure does make it easy.

@ThelemicMage said

"Well, if your own jury is out on the fetus thing, as it is with certain branches of science and that can be a good standpoint, then you might say that as soon as the fetus' pineal gland produces the first amount of DMT, then everything past that is hallucination.

Don't want to go that far, then the first REM sleep/stage a fetus has in the womb or later on, is the last point he would experience before everything else that comes after being hallucination.

And if this is the case, which it probably is, then the mother is still in hallucination, which would make the child a hallucination as well.

"

Everything is really just a hallucination, emanation, or whatever if you think about it kabbalistically.

Star Sapphire, perhaps?

I'll echo the sentiment on Energized Enthusiasm. There's also this: www.sacred-texts.com/oto/lib451.htm

There's also a book I've been reading by Lon Milo Duquette and Christopher Hyatt called Taboo: Sex, Religion, and Magick. It's a good starter kit for lesser magick and also has some examples of step-by-step ceremonial types. There's a good chunk of Crowley stuff in there, but I found all of it to be pretty useful. Especially if you're looking to do some Enochian Work.

I made Ayahuasca (mimosa hostilis + banisteriopsis caapi, DMT + MAOI) once, before I even came to fully understand Thelema. I had read Book of the Law, but little made sense. I had a myriad of different sensations, feelings, and experiences for five to six hours. I learned much, and I saw many things. There were many revelations that I had about the universe, creation, and the way things were.

I documented most of it in a book I recently published, but in such a way only I'd understand what I'm talking about. In such a way that would possibly entertain others. Maybe.

It taught me what ego death really was, and many other things. When I finally started learning more about Hermetics, much of my Ayahuasca trip started to make a lot more sense. When I started studying and practicing yoga, a LOT more started to make sense. I feel that the Ayahuasca trip opened myself up to being more receptacle to Thelema and Hermetics.

I'm not going to argue that you did or did not see Nuit. Nuit can take many forms, and many feelings. Based on your understanding of Nuit, perhaps you felt that she literally came to you. Based on my research and personal experiences with DMT, I can completely understand why someone would feel this way. Based on the nature of DMT: a chemical that secretes from your pineal gland during death/near-death experiences and the nature of Nuit, this completely makes sense.

However, I think it might be more accurate to say that you used a frame of reference to explain what was going on. It might be best not to get too hung up on whether you envisioned her or if she came to you. Many people report that they see 'aliens' while smoking DMT. Again, not trying to discredit how you feel, but it's entirely possible that you used a frame of reference and saw Nuit while other people see 'aliens.'

Like Jim said, try to learn from it the best you can then move on.

I've always found a great deal more of visualization and intensity happen with the eyes closed. Especially so with the Middle Pillar Ritual. Having my eyes closed and just visualizing everything always seems to have better results than spinning in circles, waving wands, and physically vibrating names. However, if someone is just getting started they'll probably want to do it physically before doing it eyes closed/mentally so that you can train your brain to act how it's supposed to act even without the physical movement.

Also, I've started doing a variant of the Middle Pillar Ritual in a different way than most of my buddies. I just wanted to run it past some of you guys to see if you had any advice, tips, or tricks. I just feel like sharing something, so there's that too.

I vibrate names, visualizes colors for each body part, and I do this 2-4 times before moving onto the next one. When I get to the bottom I repeat this process but in reverse, working my way back up. Once I make it all the way back up, I feel like there's a very massive concentrated surge of energy going through me.

Before, when I didn't work back upwards, I'd just feel energy pulsating downwards changing colors for each section.

When I work going back upwards, I really seem to lose myself and just feel a long vine of energy descending from an unimaginable height to unknown depths. Like I'm finishing a circuit on a board, instead of simply grounding that electricity.

My only real question is, am I defeating the purpose of the Middle Pillar? I feel like it's doing what it's supposed to (what I perceive the intent should be.) I just haven't read anyone else doing it this way, so I wanted to see if anyone else had similar experiences.

@Frater Potater said

"This sure is a funny time to be alive!"

It could always be worse. At least folks like us aren't being hunted down and murdered anymore.

This topic is always a frustrating one that I've adjusted several times over the years.

I try to speak plain language and tell them that it's a brand of spirituality I align myself with that says I should try to find my True Will, and not interfere with other people's True Will. Then I tell them it's fairly libertarian. Then they usually nod in agreement.

I live in the bible belt, so if I go too much past that people will usually think I'm in a cult or worship Satan. Telling them how I find my True Will is something I save for much later.