by Jeffrey Benner,
High Priest, Aglaian Triad of Wicca
© 2000 by Jeffrey Benner
Within many WitchesÆ covens there is a strong reliance upon ceremonial magick as a means of achieving life goals.
We hope to persuade you, by means of this paper, that physical acts, external environment and behavior have their place in our work. They are important, but a more effective means of achieving life ambitions and goals than a ceremonial approach would be to use the pure powers of the Mind in attunement with Cosmic Mind through the vehicles of concentration and visualization. We propose that our efforts should overwhelmingly go into non-physical mental/spiritual/psychic training, and that only a small (but ultimately important) share of our time, energy, and money go into the physical side of doing the Higher Work.
Even though we have written this paper for neo-pagans, and Wiccans in particular, we have framed many of the ideas in general enough terms that those of other religions and spiritual paths should be able to read it unhindered by belief or training. All human beings, regardless of background, need to learn and use visualization to become truly effective in the world.
We do not know one definition of ceremonial magick with which all ceremonial magicians could agree. For the very limited purpose of this monograph, we propose defining ceremonial magick as any set of physical rituals or use of physical implements, usually in conjunction with physical celestial or astrological events, as a means of bringing about desired changes in our life.
We realize that this definition is a gross over-simplification, but it isolates a common subset of characteristics of all ceremonial practices.
We would consider most of what some call spellcraft to fall under this category of ceremonial magick. Candle magick, knot magick, use of herbs, poppets, incantations, burial or burning of objects, construction of witchesÆ bottles, medicine bags, charms, collection and all manner of use of crystals, and the like would, for the purpose of this paper, satisfy our immediate definition of ceremonial magick.
Any time we use a physical procedure and expect changes in our life that would not be a rational, conventional outcome of such a procedure, we could consider ceremonial magick. For example, composing a resume and sending it out to people who might be interested in employing you would have a conventional outcome in most peoplesÆ minds of your achieving employment. Most people would not consider such a physical routine magickal by any means. But, on the other hand, if you lit several candles of different colors, while wearing a certain gemstone, at the time when the moon is in a certain part of the sky, you are embarking upon a physical routine which is not conventionally related to finding a job.
In most cases ceremonial magick is based upon the principle of sympathetic magick. Sympathetic magick says that like objects can induce effects based upon their characteristics. For example, magnetite or another naturally magnetic mineral might be used to ôattractö circumstances to an individual. Hematite, because of its mirror-like appearance, might be used to reflect ôblack magickö back to the perpetrator.
First, we would like to emphasize that physical ritual is important, and at the end of this monograph we will outline how we think physical ritual is most effectively used, and under what circumstances, and where it stands in our prioritization of effective techniques. What we will be critiquing is not physical ritual but a belief that physical ritual and physical objects in themselves can have significant magickal effects in our lives.
The appearance, smell, shape and other apparent characteristics of objects form the basis of their particular use in sympathetic magick. A root with a pronounced phallic shape might be said to help a man with impotence. A blood-red stone might be said to impart fiery energy to a person, and so forth.
What is obvious here is that the determination is strongly anthropocentric, and based upon impressions from the lower five senses. We are judging the supposed magickal abilities of some item based upon their appearance to us. We human beings have a shared evolutionary history which has given us sensory apparatus and instincts different from other animals. There is evidence now that humans may have inborn instincts of fear for snakes and spiders, probably because of our long Paleolithic cave-dwelling past when snakes and spiders were important health threats. But not all animals share these fears. Certain smells are aromatic and appealing to us, but cats and other animals find the odor repulsive. One herb may look like human genitalia, but not like another animalÆs genitalia.
We are supposed to believe, with ceremonial magick, that these herbs, stones and the like have universal spiritual vibrational effects when used in magick spells. But the associations which these physical objects provoke for our subconscious have everything to do with how are brains are hardwired, our cultural history, and the limitations of our sensory apparatus. Another species, attaining sapience, could see colors, smells, textures, and so forth completely differently. We presume that such a species would involve completely different objects in their ôceremonial magickö, if they developed it.
The sympathetic correspondences are all entirely relative to the capabilities and history of the species doing the magick. It is all relative to our background and has nothing to do with the objectÆs inherent qualities. We feel that this really robs ceremonial magick of its claim to be using or invoking universal powers in their work.
The apparent lack of an experimental method in the work of ceremonials is, to us, troubling. We feel that it is important to try different approaches, see what works, and constantly keep notes on what works and what does not. We feel compelled to abandon practices which seem ineffective. We have no doubt that most ceremonial magicians have open minds about different ways of doing things, but we do not see them methodically noting failures and keeping track of lack of progress.
We feel that lack of progress, and outright failure, are important indicators of whether a technique is effective or not. We should keep notebooks and be ready to acknowledge defeat in pursuing a given approach.
One of the things we thought we left behind when we left the traditional conservative religions was the crutch of faith. We felt when we embraced Wicca we had finally found an experiential religion open to improvisation and discovery. On the subject of magick, however, we have found many people sensitive to criticism of technique and very little questioning of how techniques arose or whether they even work. It has devolved into a matter of faith for so many. We wish to challenge that.
We feel that the complexity of typical physical ômagickö makes it difficult to practice on a frequent basis. And we feel that frequency is more important by magnitudes than purity of practice. Many of the exercises we advise our students to undertake are really only effective if done on a daily basis. Much of it should ideally be practiced two or three times a day. Unless one can compress an exercise into five minutes or less, it will be difficult to get a student to practice it multiple times per day.
We have seen the advice given to always draw a circle and salute the four quarters before doing any kind of work. Many of the exercises given in books such as Modern Magick go a good deal further in complexity. We used to teach the Lesser Banishing, but gave up doing so when it became obvious that students were so intimidated by the length of the material that they were not using it in their daily lives (we were also not sure it was helping them).
We feel that effective ômagickö is as natural and effortless as breathing. We should not feel that we have to set up a ritual space with candles and incense, and saluting the directions, every time we do something which involves the Higher energies, though an atmosphere conducive to inspiration certainly is important when available.
Anything which interferes with studentsÆ daily practice of the techniques needs to be carefully evaluated.
We especially, most expressly, do not feel that a single ceremonial magick ritual will, even if done correctly, lead to the desired results. No matter how complicated it is, no matter how beautiful the execution, we do not believe that a single repetition of a complex visualization (even if done very proficiently) can equal the efficacy of daily repetition of a simple visualization with no elaborate ritual.
Another related problem is the feeling of the Wicca student that she must buy some such crystal, or crystal ball, or go out in the forest and gather such and such herbs, in order to do magick. Such actions, if done in the proper context, can help magnify visualization. We will go more into this later in this paper. But the most important issues in the effectiveness of magick are purely internal, on the mental and psychic planes.
Stay away from the overly complicated and too much expenditure of money or physical effort. Anything, which keeps you from doing the work today and every day, should be questioned.
We do not agree with the advice and common impression that magick should only be done at astrologically propitious times. For example, some say that magick requiring increase be done under New Moon energy, and magick requiring completions and decrease be done under Full Moon energy. Avoid moon in void of course, avoid work involving communication during Mercury retrograde, and so on.
We believe that psychic/mental work needs to be done every single day until your objective is achieved. We believe you may work a little harder or a little less at some times, influenced by astrology. Some ritual acts which do not need to be done on a daily basis, or anything where you have some timing discretion, can be done at astrologically propitious times. But we see too often the belief among Wiccan students that the only time they need to do their magick is on the nights of the New and Full Moons, during celebration of Esbats.
The lack of frequency of application is, we believe, one of the key reasons for the failure of students to achieve their life objectives using magick.
Often the source in a book on magick for an herbÆs, mineralÆs or other itemÆs association is unclear, and may be a personal association on the part of the writer. A big problem we have with ceremonial is that there are really no guidelines or standards for good practice. There are numerous holy wars and apparently no agreed standards.
Why should I do some ritual in Modern Magick or any other book and believe that the magick is effective? Why was it set up this way? What is the history of the particular magickal practice? Is it age-old or did someone make it up recently? If a person fabricated it on her own, why cannot I fabricate my own ômagickö and rituals?
We feel that much of ômagickö is the product of personality and history. There seems to exist no external standards for judging whether a magickal practice is sound or not. Rather than chase around a dozen different versions of some spell, wondering which one to use or which author to trust, which ôexpertö is the most ôexpertö, we would rather look elsewhere for life-transforming techniques.
As we will note at the end of this paper, physical ritual and visualization involving physical objects, and some ceremonial magick when powered by visualization, are valid and can be powerful. Much Tibetan Buddhist and Hindu yogic tantra uses physical ritual parallel with powerful internal visualizations. The use of such techniques by Buddhist monks however follows a long training period when pure visualization and concentration techniques are taught. Seekers on that particular Path spend long hours developing ever increasing powers of concentration, until they can maintain an unwavering visualization for hours on end!
Our experience is that new Wicca students have an enormous amount of work to do increasing their powers of concentration. Most do not develop this ability well enough to do even simple visualizations. We feel that most day-to-day occult work should remain at this simple level for these students, because they cannot maintain a strong visualization and simultaneously engage in complex ritual. Sometimes we must try, but I believe that the kind of complex rituals we see in the Lesser Banishing are only effective for practitioners who have spent hundreds of hours developing their ability to concentrate.
We easily grasp the necessity of the grade system in high school and university work. We accept the need for a system in training in the martial arts and bodybuilding. We would not attempt to read a post-graduate level paper on nuclear physics with no previous training in nuclear physics; yet magick is often presented as a one-step-and- yer-there process.
We believe that the propagation of popular texts on magick, and Qabalah, has confused many students, because many of these texts are really quite advanced and difficult but sold in popular venues where the emphasis is on sales not teaching. Students attempt to leap into the hard work before they have mastered months of easy lessons. If they have no prior training in an occult system they can become hopelessly enmeshed and unable to proceed because there is no concept of levels of difficulty and mastership. We believe these books should be sold with a little ôageö disclaimer similar to childrenÆs books, where the book is presented as appropriate for First Grade, Second Grade, and so on.
Psychic and mental proficiency are developed like any other muscles, with weeks and months of hard work and much pain and frustration. Monastic retreat may not be possible for most modern students of the occult, but we need a system of training and we need to recognize that some subjects, particularly Qabalah, are too advanced for the beginning student. We must thoroughly master basic skills before embarking on tantra and complicated ritual.
Our final criticism is just that magick does not seem to work for many people. We all know people who are supposed to be practitioners of magick, but who seem to be very unhappy and maladjusted. Often they barely have the means to sustain themselves. They often have problems relating well to other people. They are frequently heavily dependent on others. They are supposed to be teachers, but seem sometimes to be needier than their students! We have all heard stories of Aleister CrowleyÆs life and his many issues and problems with mental disturbance. If you have experience working with ômagickalö people, you will know that he has many modern dysfunctional counterparts.
We are not saying that all ceremonials are unhappy, impoverished people, but one would think that if ceremonial magick were as powerful as people say it is, that these people would be doing better than average, and not worse. What we see among ômagickalö people that they seem in many cases (but not all, definitely; we know some really very happy and successful people who use ceremonial) to be less well off than people of similar demographics.
We would propose that you attempt to achieve life goals and life transformations, not through ceremonial magick, but rather through the combined methods of prosperity consciousness and visualization.
These are very common-sense ideas. Prosperity consciousness is also referred to as the Power of Positive Thinking, Positive Mental Attitude, success consciousness, and abundance mentality. It is a philosophy and way of life first developed by such writers as Napoleon Hill, W. Clement Stone and further developed recently by the author Stephen Covey and many others. The basic idea of prosperity consciousness is that we are surrounded by invisible and visible wealth, and that only the limits of our own mind, cognitive problems, bad attitudes, incorrect worldviews and lack of harmony with the Divine stand in the way of achieving every worthwhile goal.
Visualization is the process of asking the Divine Mind for help through a visual thought image. It is a specific process which needs to be followed very carefully. It is similar to prayer and affirmation, both of which we will consider in this paper as allied techniques. We believe the most concise and useful description of the visualization process can be found in the book by H. Spencer Lewis titled, Rosicrucian Principles for Home and Business (see Bibliography). Many other writers have dealt with the topic of visualization, but others frequently omit important steps, so we recommend the Rosicrucian (AMORC) writers on this subject.
The basic idea behind prosperity consciousness is that until we deal with the deeper issues behind a problem we are facing, we cannot know what a true solution might be, because we donÆt know what the real problem is.
If we feel we need a red sports car, perhaps we really do need a red sports car. Or perhaps we are trying to impress members of the attractive sex, which might be better met through some other means. Or perhaps we are trying to invoke envy in a former partner, which would be a negative goal and one not worthy of Divine assistance.
We need to study ourselves in the light of prosperity consciousness to determine whether the goal we are seeking is really something we need, really helps us, and has only good impact upon others. Prosperity consciousness points us not only to ways to achieve goals, but helps us to determine whether the goals are the correct ones for us at this time.
We recommend Stephen CoveyÆs Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (see Bibliography). This book will help set you on the path toward finding your true life mission, better relationships with other people, and will help you find balance. The book is compatible, so far as we can see, with all religious beliefs and spiritual paths. We also like W. Clement StoneÆs Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude, which we would recommend as a companion piece to Seven Habits.
We are not going to make any attempt to describe the different systems and recommendations in those books. They stand on their own. If you have not delved into some aspect of prosperity consciousness, though, we can safely say that you are going to have trouble achieving your life ambitions. Possibly, you are not even aware of what you want to do with your life. These books will start you on your journey.
We believe you are not ready for visualization and appeal to the Higher Powers unless you have first done the necessary contemplation into the source of your appeal. Prosperity consciousness will speed you in the right direction, if you let it.
We will assume at this point now that you have broken your problem down into its smallest components. We will assume that the goal is in harmony with your life missions, does only good for other beings, and is at the simplest level of complexity to meet your needs.
Simplicity means elimination of unrelated details. For example, my first thought is that I want to buy a new Chevy Blazer. Then, I realize that it could be any vehicle with adequate carrying capacity. I realize that the true reason I thought I wanted the Blazer was because I needed more room to take the family on camping trips. But other vehicles have similar or greater hauling capacity, so at this point I visualize any truck or sports utility vehicle with large capacity (or maybe smaller children). But wait! Are we at the greatest level of simplicity yet? Because I was thinking a wanted a new vehicle. Maybe I could get by with a used vehicle instead. At this point, I end analysis, because I am sure that I have refined my goal to the simplest visualized objective. I have refined the imagined goal to its atomic, indivisible level.
Visualizing overly complicated goals may be thought of as dictating to the Cosmic. We do this when we have not done our homework in thinking something through. If we dictate to the Cosmic Mind, it is certain that the visualization will not work.
Visualizations are very literal messages to the Divine Mind. The Divine Mind has aspects of a computer. That Mind will act upon the exact message you dispatch to it. If it cannot / will not execute your instructions in their entirety, it will not attempt to interpret it otherwise. Your visualization will abort. You will feel a vague discontentment about the message, and introspection will allow you to refine it to the correct image. But nothing will happen, because you asked for the wrong thing.
A big reason why we recommend study of prosperity consciousness is that it is very easy to ôget it wrongö until you have worked this kind of analysis into a regular life philosophy.
Diagram 1 - The Process of Understanding and Visualization.
This is the very important first step, where you acknowledge that you have a problem, malaise, source of unhappiness, need or desire which is being unmet and which you have either believed up to this point you could do nothing about or which you have no idea how to resolve. You decide you would like to eliminate the problem or the source of suffering. This is the beginning of your journey.
Many people go through their entire lives failing to acknowledge a problem and also failing to resolve the issue, dying bitter and unfulfilled. These people also fail to learn an important karmic lesson, and must repeat it in the next lifetime, until finally learned.
It is at this point that we recommend studying the insights of prosperity consciousness.
Read what books we can find which deal the issue at hand. We learn as much through conventional inquiry as possible. We also read inspirational texts, and study the ômeta- methodö of prosperity consciousness as a tool for resolving all such problems. Talk to people who might have further insight. Watch TV, videos, even study the Internet for ideas and information which could help you. DonÆt forget to use your local library. Study with your purpose in mind. DonÆt let yourself get scattered.
Apply all that you have learned conventionally to the issue at hand. Think through your situation. Keep a notebook, brainstorm, write down your ideas. Make quiet time for yourself to think. Draw pictures, paint, sketch, do whatever creative process helps you think. At this point you may want to cycle back to #1, Study, to read more or ask questions of people you trust.
Once you have exhausted the conscious resources at hand, imagine the basic problem as it now appears to you. Hold the picture for about a minute. Ask the Cosmic Mind for help with this problem, then release it to the Higher Self for resolution.
This assumes some ability to concentrate and hold a mental picture unwaveringly. If this is new to you, you may do the best you can and still get results. Practice will improve your ability to concentrate.
Once you have released the image, relax in an open but passive state of mind for five to ten minutes. If you have had training in meditation, assume an aware meditative state. If you have not had training in meditation, get some! But for now attempt to keep your mind blank but at the same time stay aware of all thoughts and impressions which may come to you. If you feel a little sleepy, and dream images, come, this is a good sign. Frequently answers to your question and information which will help you solve your problem will come to you in this state, just before drifting off to sleep.
What frequently happens at this stage is you will have a breakthrough insight which will take you back to #1, Study, or #2, Contemplation. You will go back, reread some book with greater insight this time, or look into some avenue of thought which had not occurred to you before. You will then #3 Concentrate and #4 Meditate again, and get a little, maybe a lot further in solving your problem this next time.
We call this the Cycle of Understanding because the likelihood is that you will cycle through these four steps more than once before you solve your problem. It is important at this point to acknowledge our debt to the Rosicrucian Order (AMORC) which in public monographs teaches about the Triangle of Concentration, Contemplation, and Meditation. What we are presenting here is a variant of that model of cognitive problem-solving.
If you are not successful the first, second, or more times, keep trying on a daily basis. Perseverance is omnipotent. At the end of the Cycle, you will understand your true goal, what you need to achieve in order to find happiness. If it is still something you need Cosmic assistance with, you need to follow the Cycle of Visualization / Affirmation / Prayer.
Visualization is the mental creation of a visual image of the desired goal. Though we call it a visualization, if done in vivid detail there may also be sounds, smells, and tactile sensations developed in the picture. It is only done well if we are already accomplished in the art of concentration. Doing visualization regularly can assist one in developing strong concentration. As they say about pizza, even bad visualization is good visualization. That is, the practice of visualization brings benefits no matter what your level of accomplishment.
Visualization is literally enlistment of the aid of the Infinite in achieving our life change. It is not just a motivator, though it will do that. It is not just a way of getting in touch with the subconscious, though it does that too. It is a tool, which the user will soon find verges on the miraculous in accomplishing tasks thought impossible before. It enlists powers which conventional science and psychology do not at the current time admit exist.
The successful visualization user will find herself become amazingly ôluckyö and will find doors opening for no clear reason. Apparently unconnected events will manifest and make realizing the dream possible. The unconvinced will become suddenly enamoured of an idea, and the unavailable will become receptive. Visualization is more than some writers on the subject grant it to be.
The circumstances: We do visualization anywhere we can close our eyes for five minutes without distraction. When possible do your visualization in a sacred place, whether it be sanctum, altar space, temple, forest clearing, or other sacred (and convenient) space (but do not wait until you are in such a place, more than a day, to do a visualization).
When doing visualization you should be seated in any comfortable position. It should be a quiet place where you will not be interrupted by the phone or a tap on the shoulder. Have a watch or other timer nearby. Close your eyes during the process. Breath evenly, exhaling completely, inhaling completely, slowly, until relaxed. Less than six such breaths should be sufficient.
We usually teach that the cycle of successful visualization contains eight steps, namely:
Whatever you visualize, no matter how imperfect you may feel about it, will be conveyed to the Cosmic Mind. So work with whatever you can manage, it will still work better than not doing visualization at all. You will also improve with time.
But with that having been said, the vivid, detailed visualizations work best. As much as possible make the picture realistic. Three-dimensional objects should be visualized from all sides, with good color and texture. The advanced visualizers will feel that they are standing in a real place (which they are!). Try to maintain details unwavering for the one or two minutes you are holding the picture. Keep the image stable. You should be in the picture too, standing there as an active observer. Remember you are building a real place. This mental picture is real, it is a world you are building which will have reality independent of you.
If the visualization involves a person, try to have a photograph available that is fairly recent, and try to get the face, hair color, height, etc. correct. Include their name, past memories of the person, and where they live. Try to feel during the visualization that you are connecting psychically with some part of the actual person at that moment. If the visualization is positive and helpful to the person (as it must be) there will always be a portion of the personÆs soul personality that will be attracted by your visualization.
The visualization must be presented as a finished product. If you want the new job, the visualization must be of you already in the job. You must also feel that you already have the job, supreme confidence that the job will be obtained. If you want a car, visualize yourself driving the car. If you are healing a child, visualize the child happy, running, playing, no longer emburdened by the illness.
Do not visualize negative things. By that we mean do not visualize the absence of things, rather always visualize the presence of things. For example, suppose you want the car because you are tired of having to carpool to get to work. Visualize you having the car, driving the car. Do not visualize not having to carpool. Do not visualize the things you are doing now that you are unhappy about.
During the visualization you are always in the present tense, and you are experiencing complete happiness with the resolution of your problems.
If you want harmonious relations with someone you are now bickering with, visualize these people as getting along well with you, as perfectly happy with their relationship with you. Visualize yourself as also happy with them. Do not picture the current strife, because in this mental world you are building there is no room for strife.
If someone is attacking you, picture the person enveloped in a bright light which completely surrounds them. Picture the personÆs Higher Self (and no matter how ôbadö we perceive a person to be, we all have one!) speaking to the person, guiding them to a better path. Always resolve unpleasant situations with people through visualization by emphasizing ways to improve the person and improve the relationship. Never, never, follow the advice by some writers on magick which represents people being bound, hurt, limited or harmed in order to prevent them from harming you. Every unpleasant situation with another person is a learning experience, for both you and them. Visualize them being lifted to a higher plane through understanding, which helps both you and them. Remember, as the Tibetans say, our enemies are often our best teachers.
The reason many people fail at visualization is that they do not have strong faith that the visualized goal will be attained. Remember, it is not you who is doing the materialization of desired goals. It is not you who are ôdoing the magickö. You are only petitioning the Cosmic for work to be done. Basically, you are sending a mental ôemailö to the Infinite. The more concisely you compose your message, the more successful the process will be. But you, and your powers, are finite. The Cosmic Mind has boundless power and capability.
At first you may feel your faith may be a leap of faith, but feel it, in the knowledge that faith and confidence are essential components of successful visualization.
Later, as you experience consistent success in your use of visualization, your simple faith and confidence will be replaced by the confidence of experience. It will become a natural and instinctive part of the visualization process.
Be mindful of your feelings all during the visualization. If you feel doubt, instantly replace it with confidence. Remember your ally is unstoppable and your goals are virtuous and sound.
The intended goal must be backed by strong emotion. If healing a sick child, really feel the love for your child. If you want a promotion in your job, feel the pride of leadership in your organization, the sense of responsibility and hope for the future. Every positive emotion you can summon which is appropriate for this task, summon. Strong, positive emotion will intensify the visualized image and add fire to the thought which you are forming.
A visualization without strength of feeling is an empty, insincere thing. If this is a truly important thing to you, you must already have strong emotions associated with it. Find them and feel them during the visualization.
The visualization should be held, in unwavering form, for around two minutes. The whole process might end up taking about five minutes. Visualization longer than five minutes is not really doing anything for you. If you have developed a strong image, it can be sufficiently developed and dispatched in two minutes. If the process is taking longer, it is probably because your mind is wandering and your concentration has been interrupted.
Try to keep a watch by you during visualization, make sure you are not going under two minutes or over five minutes on the visualization. Later the timing will become instinctive.
If you really want to work at the visualization, donÆt try to keep the process going longer at a sitting. Rather try to do it more times during the day.
This is probably the most important part of the process. After building a complete visualization, you must ôreleaseö it and go about your business, totally forgetting the matter. Release means, imagine tossing the image to the Infinite and saying, ôwell, itÆs in your hands now,ö and forgetting about it. As long as you were visualizing, the image was trapped in the conscious mind. But when releasing, the thought becomes available to the Cosmic Mind and the real work begins at that point.
The moment you do the release it is good to remain in a ôdynamic passiveö state of mind, thinking of nothing, focussing on nothing, but aware of everything, for a minute or two. This will improve the effectiveness of the visualization. Remember, the keywords for this state of mind are calm, unfocussed, but aware.
Release means to ôgive it upö with complete faith that the work will be done in a way beneficial to you and others. Release means not thinking about the matter later in the day, daydreaming about it, or worrying about it. Doing this means developing the ability of mindfulness, the ability from minute to minute, moment to moment, to be aware of your thoughts and constantly correct thoughts which stray from your purpose. We cannot state too strongly not to daydream, obsess or worry about the problem. Only think of it when you are in the process of assimilating new information or ideas about the problem. DonÆt keep thinking of the ôsame old same old.ö
Daydreaming and worrying hinder the Cosmic Mind in doing its work, and they do you no good regardless of whether you are using visualization or not. Daydreams and worries about a problem you have resolved to eliminate through visualization remain ôstuckö in the lower mind, where nothing is being done with them except causing you stress and distraction. Daydreams and worries are mental wagon ruts, a kind of habitual thought which can run unchecked forever; a noise which prevents you from hearing intuitive impulses or obtaining other useful information directly from the Cosmic Mind.
If you are having problems with the issue not thinking about it, just resolve not to think of it until the next time you do a visualization. As we will note in the next section, the visualization can be and should be done several times a day, so you will not have to wait long before you can focus your concerns on the issue again. The more you do visualization effectively, the more easily you will be able to forget concerns and be relaxed about problems.
The ability of release can be difficult to develop. Do not be surprised if you are not successful for a while, or if your thoughts continue to wander. As your ability to concentrate increases, you can apply this ability to greater mindfulness. Mindfulness will gradually increase in quality as well, but do not expect to be aware and in control of your mind every moment of the day. Just try your best, and every time you fall down, just get back up again.
Do the visualization daily at the least, though it would be better to do it more than once daily. If once daily is all you can manage, that will still be fine. There are benefits in terms of speed of realization, and improved skill, in doing the visualization more than once a day.
Remember, donÆt put it off, it only takes five minutes each time. Before leaving for work in the morning, and upon arriving home in the evening, would all be good times.
If you are having difficulty getting organized to do the work, try marking the times you do the visualization on your calendar or datebook. This will help you to stay on track, and will identify times when you are slacking off.
You need to work on the mundane plane to bring your dreams to fruition. That means doing all the conventional things that would be associated with your goal. The visualization is an empowerment, not a crutch. Every reasonable thing you can think of to bring your dream closer, do it. Work hard, steadily, persevere. The mystical plane will get you past all the rough patches, but you must still work very hard to attain your goal.
And finally, very important: Thank Goddess or the God of your Heart for helping you attain the purpose, once achieved. Never forget gratitude.
You should just start using visualization as soon as you need it, and not worry too much about the component talents that make up a good ôvisualizerö. If you are doing the visualizations, and can devote extra time to strengthening your basic skills, you should work on concentration, attaining strong meditative states, and mindfulness. Concentration is the ability to hold a thought steady in mind for a long period of time, or maintaining a state of awareness, or maintain an attitude steadily. Meditative states consist of states of mind which are passive yet active. They permit the flow of thoughts between ordinary consciousness and the Higher consciousness. Mindfulness flows out of concentration, and is the maintenance of constant awareness throughout the day of oneÆs mental state, actions and environment, and maintaining a state of constant correction when thoughts and actions do not match the personÆs desired state of being.
Learning how to develop these skills to an advanced state is the work of a lifetime. In the writerÆs experience, the Rosicrucian Order (AMORC) and Buddhist Tantric teachers and other Tantra Yoga teachers would tend to be good avenues for learning more.
Prayers and affirmations work on the ôauditoryö senses a similar way that visualization works on the vision center of the brain. Prayer is a message dispatched directly to the Cosmic Mind. We believe a prayer of thanks in the morning and evening before bed help to establish and maintain a pipeline to the Higher Self throughout the day.
Prayers should be inspiring, filled with thought of benefit to other beings, and both express gratitude and desire to be of service. They should be short and heartfelt.
Affirmations can be done at odd times throughout the day. They are messages as well, but they are being sent more to the immediate subconscious mind and serve to help the individual change habits and unconscious and semi-conscious conditioning. An effective affirmation should be short, written out before spoken, and phrased in clear, simple language. It should echo the goal expressed in the visualization. A similar path through the ôCycle of Understandingö should be followed in developing an effective affirmation as that which we followed in developing an effective visualization.
A good affirmation is a strong counterpart to the visualization, and can be spoken at times when you may have difficulty finding a few calm minutes to do the visualization.
As we promised earlier in this document, there is a permissible role for the kind of physical ritual popular in the Wiccan community within the framework of this system of visualization. It is an overlay to effective visualization practice, not a replacement.
We typically see students instead running initially straight out to the ôNew Ageö bookstore and spending lots of money on overpriced crystals and jewelry, and so-called spell books and components. The mental/psychic work seems an afterthought to them. Often this occurs because of the external emphasis in many books on spellcraft and ômagickö.
If students have the mental/psychic aspects of the work down pat, and want to add something to the magick, searching for components to a strong physical ritual can help strengthen the thought form and really put power into the application of psychic will. But the physical ritual should follow long practice of the internal work.
Once we have a good, strong visualization and are practicing it on a daily basis, if we still have time and energy and an opportunity, we may create a ritual to commemorate the goal we are trying to achieve. It should be an afterthought, not our primary means. We may cast a charm, a spell, perform a brief ritual by ourselves or with friends. It does not matter, what does matter is that we understand that we are commemorating on the physical plane work which is mainly being done on the psychic plane.
Putting together a ritual for other close friends gives them the opportunity to help you with combined group visualization. The physical ritual brings immediacy to the joint work that makes sympathy and harmony easier. A ritual for others brings the visualization into your community of close, trusted, inner co-workers.
Ritual makes it clearer to you that something is real. Strong emotion and depth of feeling is important, and emotions can often be aroused with great passion by a good ritual. The act of preparing the ritual, buying or acquiring materials to do it and getting other people involved can also give one a sense of self-sacrifice that is important in doing work.
Creating a ritual which features giving some kind of offering also makes clear to one that something good deserves thanks to the invisible realm.
If you do the ritual, have some part of it consist of quiet visualization. Don't let ritual actions get in the way of effective concentration.
Remember to have an element of closure in the ritual. Retain some item from the ritual that can be buried, burned, or otherwise transformed when the goal you are seeking is attained. Remember to thank the Cosmic Mind for goals once achieved.
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This page created 11/13/1998 Last updated: 01/06/2000 This "Aglaian - Using Visualization Effectively" Page © 2000 by Jeffrey Benner. Permission must be obtained before reproducing in any format. There's no government Like no government