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Hello!

I suppose along with my beginner questions, I should make a brief introduction. Ever since my early adulthood years (age 18ish), I've been more spiritually inclined than not. It began with a surprise kundalini awakening when, one night during a terrible Texas lightning storm, a large clash of lighting woke me up out of a dead sleep, and I thought for certain whilst in sleep paralysis that either I was having a seizure, or I was somehow being electrocuted by the lightning that had just happened. It was my first experience with that sort of thing, the sleep paralysis, and without knowing what it was but knowing what it felt like, it began occurring if I happened to sleep a particular way or at a particular time of day, and it was a completely unwanted and terrifying experience.

After discovering that such a thing was related more to what some people called the gateway to astral travels, one could say I fell into the rabbit hole. And after finding a PDF of Tyson's Sexual Alchemy online through a website for new age arm chair gurus, the rabbit hole deepened and I began learning about Crowley and sex magic. While the extent of my sex magicking has only ever been through long sessions of edging with focused intent, I discovered very quickly that I was either particularly lucky with what I focused on, or that it happened to work for me. And from there, I began questioning whether or not the material I'd read in Sexual Alchemy would work as well. I always liked the idea of imaginary friends, and since that seemed to be Tyson's entire angle on spirit summoning, creating an imaginary friend, I became intrigued by that and tried it out.

I didn't go the entire nine yards, mind you. All I did was figure out a name for my bosom friend, made a sigil from that name, created a picture to use as a way to focus when I communed with him. I can't say definitively if it ever got me anywhere. Within three weeks, while attempting to astral project (it should be noted, I've only ever achieved what is technically a lucid dream), I happened to dream of my bosom spirit friend--or /someone/--and had the most realistic sex dream, along with a first ever for me, an in dream orgasm. But quickly after that, I had a rather nightmarish night where within my dreams I couldn't breathe, and when I awoke half-asleep it felt like I was still being choked. In my dreams I kept running into the next room over to tell the people I was living with at the time that there was something in my room, and every time I went back to it, the presence would be there trying to choke me.

Whether or not the experience was real or imagined, I can't say, but it scared me enough that it was possibly enough to poison whatever confidence I'd had in the experiment, so I stopped trying to cultivate the relationship with my imaginary friend and dropped the experience altogether. I'm objective enough as a person to realize that everything I'd just mentioned is all probably my imagination running wild, but there is always the question in my mind that begs an answer. "What if?"

___

If the pattern hasn't been set yet, you can see that I tend to store a lot in my dreams. Dreams are very important to me. I dream vividly, and they are a focal point of my thoughts. It's been a while since I've actively pursued astral travel, but every so often when I happen to awake accidentally to the sleep paralysis, I do enjoy the vivid lucidness that comes with... well.. whether it's a lucid dream or OBE, I can't say; it seems to be all one in the same to me, or two likenesses of the same kind.

I began dreaming of Beleth about three or four years ago, both as a separate entity and as a vessel or some sort, and that through him, I was able to experience the monsterous aggression I felt toward myself. These dreams had a very marked pattern, in which I was either confronted by a hideous man who would either attack me or make me feel increasingly uncomfortable, and after ruthlessly beating me into submission, would calm. The dreams in which I was his vessel, I was the ugly man that would find women and either beat them into submission for rape, or to end them.

What I suspect is that because of these dreams I'm projecting a connection to that name that doesn't actually exist. And yet, the connection is there, and I do feel compelled to attempt contact with this particular spirit.

So, here are my beginner questions:

Aside from energy focus and the energy work that goes into hand movements, what is the purpose of a detailed ritual in summoning? The cleansing, the evoking, the dismissal, etc.

Several texts I've read have talked about the importance of setting clear, defined boundaries. Others have talked about creating 'shields', such as a protective sphere of light, or even the act of cleansing itself. In itself, these seem to be defensive / protective measures, and in practicing such measures, does that not create the expectation of something to be wary of? And when you create the expectation of something to be wary of, does that not project into your work?

Assuming that I went through with my idea of trying something so ambitious as trying to cultivate a friendship with Beleth by doing little more than the imaginary friend communion described in Tyson's material, what is the possibility of that even being a feasible thing--a friendship with such a prestigious entity--or would it simply be a waste of time?

littledeadybear wrote:Aside from energy focus and the energy work that goes into hand movements, what is the purpose of a detailed ritual in summoning? The cleansing, the evoking, the dismissal, etc.

To really understand this, you need to study the principles of Natural Magick. Agrippa is the classic resource to go to for this, though someone also recently pointed out Doreen Valiente to me as well.

littledeadybear wrote:Several texts I've read have talked about the importance of setting clear, defined boundaries. Others have talked about creating 'shields', such as a protective sphere of light, or even the act of cleansing itself. In itself, these seem to be defensive / protective measures, and in practicing such measures, does that not create the expectation of something to be wary of? And when you create the expectation of something to be wary of, does that not project into your work?

It only creates the expectations like that while you're still an amateur, unable to exercise a disciplined mind. I carry protection talismans and amulets with me all the time, but I don't expect to get in trouble. I just have gotten into trouble so much that I feel its better to play safe than sorry. I was in a car wreck last year that I most certainly didn't expect (I've never even gotten a speeding ticket), and my car was almost totaled, but I got out without a scratch. And that's one of my less notable stories.

littledeadybear wrote:Assuming that I went through with my idea of trying something so ambitious as trying to cultivate a friendship with Beleth by doing little more than the imaginary friend communion described in Tyson's material, what is the possibility of that even being a feasible thing--a friendship with such a prestigious entity--or would it simply be a waste of time?

Depends on what you want to do with your magical career. I ended up sort of befriending Marchosias after asking him how he would like to be portrayed as a character in one of my novels. Marchosias is most definitely not an imaginary friend, though. Heh.



~:Shin:~

First of all, Shin, I can't express how grateful I am that you took the time to respond to my questions. Aside from the questions answered, it lead me on a little click-click adventure I found your meditation guide--something which I know I've needed to work on for a while, both for projection and for what I want to accomplish. It always warms me to the soul to think that experienced individuals such as yourself choose to bother with us casual dabblers.

To really understand this, you need to study the principles of Natural Magick. Agrippa is the classic resource to go to for this, though someone also recently pointed out Doreen Valiente to me as well.

It looks like the first few pages gave me my answer. I like what Agrippa calls them, external trappings. I guess I sort of already realized that the purpose of rituals and rites were more to focus your thoughts and an easy anchor point to funnel your will through. It also answered another question I had yet to ask a few pages on, about how one distinguishes whether or not what's going on through their head / their experience is real or imagination, and I do like his answer--that imagination with intent /is/ real, just on a different level.

It only creates the expectations like that while you're still an amateur, unable to exercise a disciplined mind. I carry protection talismans and amulets with me all the time, but I don't expect to get in trouble. I just have gotten into trouble so much that I feel its better to play safe than sorry. I was in a car wreck last year that I most certainly didn't expect (I've never even gotten a speeding ticket), and my car was almost totaled, but I got out without a scratch. And that's one of my less notable stories.

It might seem doltish of me, but I guess I hadn't considered the use of protection talismans and what not outside of what their immediate purpose seemed to be: keeping boogeymen and baddies away, or keeping spirit bosom buddies in line. Your explanation makes sense.

Depends on what you want to do with your magical career. I ended up sort of befriending Marchosias after asking him how he would like to be portrayed as a character in one of my novels. Marchosias is most definitely not an imaginary friend, though. Heh.

I don't share a large amount of ambition for a magical career, which probably begs to question why I chose Beleth to get googly eyed for. I would say a primary goal is to actually achieve mental projection at will, rather than having to rely on a crutch of being in a semi-wakeful state. To be in line with what my purpose is, and the nature of myself. Those malicious dreams where I explored a terribly aggressive and masculine side of myself, while acting as how my thoughts project him, I imagine there's a particular purpose in sorting all that out. Perhaps I want to be able to channel that ferocious, fearless, aggression and sheer will in my life and balance my blatantly passive personality. More than that, I think what he's said to offer--love--that makes for a pretty swell spirit in my book.

Before you summon things you should practice banishing for at least a year. Preferable two.

Desecrated wrote:Before you summon things you should practice banishing for at least a year. Preferable two.

Please forgive the question, but the practicing banishing seems to imply that something would already be there to banish. How would I practice that? Unless, you mean having a more accomplished dabble summon for me while I practice the banish--which is an appealing idea, I wish I had some idea of how to get in contact with occultists in my area, but I'm moving to Edmonton in like 4 months anyway.

Sigh.

It would be nice of such broadly accessible communities exis Ted that focused solely on practicing and training. From my brief searches a year ago, it seemed to be a fairly exclusive lot in general.

Desecrated wrote:Before you summon things you should practice banishing for at least a year. Preferable two.

Actually, Desecrated, I'm curious why you offer this advice. It seemed like from several posts I've spotted from you, you're of the belief that spirits / ancient beings are 'shadow speak' so to speak, and that one is actually just accessing parts of your subconscious that such names represent, or some sort of Jungian idea such as that.

When it comes to the advice about practising banishing for a good period of time before doing anything big, I would extend that same advice.

It's a good idea to at least have practised that kind of ritual for long enough to know that you'll be able to banish the hell out of anything that you may need to banish. It's not gonna do you any good to only have a technical understanding of banishing if you run into trouble. Plus regular banishing is a good habit anyways, it's good practice for the more intense rituals, and will help keep the astral or subconscious junk from piling up, think of it as like an astral shower haha.

One thing a lot of paradigms seem to have in common is lengthy mental training and preparation before jumping into the deep end. Whether that be mastering preliminary rituals like the LBRP, or mastering the ability to achieve a state of gnosis, it's probably a good idea not to cut corners.

Another purpose I like to think of banishing as having is keeping you sane. Summoning demons, involving yourself with spirits, and stomping around in your subconscious has plenty of potential to make you a little crazy lol. Banishing helps to clear all the junk out, clearing the slate, and create a concrete boundary between magical consciousness and regular everyday consciousness. I'd rather play it safe than risk having my magic start to interfere with my daily functioning.

insomni4c wrote:When it comes to the advice about practising banishing for a good period of time before doing anything big, I would extend that same advice.

It's a good idea to at least have practised that kind of ritual for long enough to know that you'll be able to banish the hell out of anything that you may need to banish. It's not gonna do you any good to only have a technical understanding of banishing if you run into trouble. Plus regular banishing is a good habit anyways, it's good practice for the more intense rituals, and will help keep the astral or subconscious junk from piling up, think of it as like an astral shower haha.

One thing a lot of paradigms seem to have in common is lengthy mental training and preparation before jumping into the deep end. Whether that be mastering preliminary rituals like the LBRP, or mastering the ability to achieve a state of gnosis, it's probably a good idea not to cut corners.

Another purpose I like to think of banishing as having is keeping you sane. Summoning demons, involving yourself with spirits, and stomping around in your subconscious has plenty of potential to make you a little crazy lol. Banishing helps to clear all the junk out, clearing the slate, and create a concrete boundary between magical consciousness and regular everyday consciousness. I'd rather play it safe than risk having my magic start to interfere with my daily functioning.

I looked up the banishing ritual.

From my stand point of a novice, I just don't deem that necessary. At least, not yet. The things that had scared me before (the being choked in my sleep one, for instance) stopped the second I stopped putting energy and thought to it, but perhaps maybe in the future if I desire a complete reset, I'll complete the ritual in full and practice it.

But...

BUT.

I do deem Bardon's instructional and explanation relevant and worthy to my needs. I'm going to purchase a special diary for note taking and I'm going to use Google calenders to set up morning and night time practice of all three first steps for the next month. I will use that time to reflect on what I feel being in communion with Beleth can do for me, and solidify end and between goals. Completing and mastering step 1 is my current goal.

I will also use the month to sort of test the water that this is something I want to fully commit to.

And during that month, I'm going to make frequent trips to this forum for inspiration.

Thank you so much, guys!

The deal with the banishing is a lot like the deal with the protection amulets and stuff. The expectation of trouble is only there if you expect trouble, and has nothing to do with the actual use of the practice.

Banishing is a lot like physically cleaning out a room. You're not expecting more dust and dirt and clutter to show up (though it likely will, eventually). You're just cleaning. Likewise, a good banishing cleans out the metaphysical atmosphere of a space or room, cleaning the energies and aura of the place. It actually doesn't always make real, powerfully present spirits go away, especially the LBRP, but Banishing is a good practice for lesser issues.

The LBRP, one must note, was not originally an external Banishing exercise. That's not what it was designed for. Rather, it is an internal banishing, an exercise in refining your own soul that works much like Bardon's Conscious Breathing or Accumulation exercises. The effect that it has on the external atmosphere is simply a side effect, and if the ritual is done right, it is a side effect triggered by the refinement of your own soul and aura.

With Bardon, after about Step Three or so, you can usually Banish simply by force of will or by using one of the exercises learned up to that point. For example, I can expand my Awareness to encompass an entire room, and then exercise Conscious Breathing to change the atmosphere of the whole room. Bardon gives other specific instructions for changing and Charging rooms somewhere around that part of the book, too.



~:Shin:~