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I'm curious to know what everyone practices. since i haven't seen this question posted, i thought i would ask..... what do you practice??? what skills do you like to work with? do you like to summon unnameable entities? do you like to dream walk? do you cast sigils? if you're into it, let me know...

sylas vael wrote:I'm curious to know what everyone practices. since i haven't seen this question posted, i thought i would ask..... what do you practice??? what skills do you like to work with? do you like to summon unnameable entities? do you like to dream walk? do you cast sigils? if you're into it, let me know...

well hell i'll go first since i'm awake and bored and listening to monks:

i practice hoodoo, i work with what is known to us as thought-forms, i don't summon shit, i don't know what 'dream walk' means but i do walk in dreams (also i do a lot of lucid dream work so maybe you mean that?), i don't cast sigils anymore.

:>

Like Jack-O-Diamonds, I too work with thought forms a lot, I am not comfortable "dragging up anothers' demons", moreso referring to their baggage and everything else they have accumulated along the way. I know my servitors well.

Largely, I practice in Chaos magic, ceremonial but occasionally I move out into other fields. I do what works for me.

Nice... and thank you for the replies. i too rarely work with other peoples entities. & i agree with the "accumulated baggage" reference. i primarily work with sigils & servitors. im a basic chaos mage, i find rpg books to be a good source for ideas & influences. & yes, by "dream walk" i was referring to "lucid dreaming". random examples i chose for the question.

As you know servitors/thought forms/etc largely cannot know more than you do, even though they can be tasked with retrieving knowledge which you both learn.. so I purchased a servitor from a couple, one a psion the other a mage. They are widely trusted, I took a risk but it has indeed proven to be quite the beneficial experience. However, there is a barrier there between myself and that servitor, dare I say an intimacy. I know my servitors inside and out, given I created them.

I have been investigating harnessing that which is known as a daemon however is little more than a bit of angry energy turned inadvertently into a servitor. (Great personality cleansing exercise this one).
A warning which bears mentioning is that one has to be careful given the potential for problems when using negatively created entities, ones' own quirks and deep seated baggage from eons ago, things which have been long forgotten, can work their way in.

Imagined daemons and beasties as a child? Used to suffer horrific nightmares? They might still be in there.. Know thyself, lest you do damage.

I actually don't do a whole lot of practical magic, with real world goals, I just don't feel the need. Most of my practice is aimed at inducing spiritual growth, improving my physical, mental and spiritual well being, getting in touch with nature and the universe, etc etc.. I do dabble with psychic abilities, since I think they have a lot to teach us about how our reality really works, as well as providing a good yardstick for measuring psycho-spiritual development, but actual 'spells' or workings with material goals are something I do maybe once or twice a year, and often just to test out a new concept which I've come across.

I work with a few group entities, i.e. not my own private entities, some Reiki, I do work to manifest things in my life, but mostly it's self-development stuff. I've been doing ashtanga vinyasa yoga daily (except saturdays) since january now, does that count? hehe I do a bit of sigil work, but not a massive amount, although I do have sigil tattoos I work with, so, I guess in a sense I'm always using sigils, lol. (Not entirely true, most of the time they're "asleep" until required).

I like to think my strong points are channeling and invocation, but I can't say for sure objectively... I consider myself a tantrika, so, I try to approach life with a certain attitude which I consider to be a magical technique unto itself..

I'm starting to work on things like dream recall, so that I can progress to lucid dreaming and work my way round to astral/OBE stuff.

Vashta wrote:I work with a few group entities, i.e. not my own private entities

I am curious, have you found any entities that have picked up "baggage" along the way, from repeated invocations and such?

Very good at:
Sigil work
Servitor creation
Wish fulfillment
Dream walking and what I think of as "dream building"

Fairly good at:
Hoodoo, or a form of it
Witchcraft (agnostic varieties)
Charms
Dancing meditation
Mindfulness meditation

Novice at:
Herbalism
Tarot
Divination via crystal ball
Yoga

I do magic for fun, rather than for any serious reasons (although I'm interested in learning more about healing work as a possible profession). My practice involves a lot of herbs and little trinkets that I make or find, because that's what strikes my fancy. Urban witchcraft (although I'm very connected to nature, I've just been forcibly separated from it) or chaos witchcraft would probably be a useful description of my practice. I just say I'm a magician/witch, depending on who is asking.

Vashta wrote:
I'm starting to work on things like dream recall, so that I can progress to lucid dreaming and work my way round to astral/OBE stuff.

if you need help i have plenty of tried and tested techniques [geek2]

I would consider myself a shaman, but that label isn't totally accurate because I'm useless with plants and potions and whatnot. [lol] I deal almost exclusively with the spiritual; you know, ghosts and poltergeists. I mainly focus on spiritual barriers and protections. I also occasionally dabble in runic divination and the rare sigil, though I haven't had much success with sigils.