Paradox / Correspondence - Belief Destruction

[blindwake]

It has occurred to me that when I read a book on magick, I always end up with a list of mental connections that I need to make sense of the book's practical section. It's like the act of reading is equivalent to scanning for mental connections. I find that I only ever make leaps in understanding my personal paradigm when I absorb enough connections to break it by destroying a belief I usually hold to be true.

It occurred to me that it's very possible to just make a list of correspondences similar to Crowley's 777, but in a less esoteric and more practical way. It's like reading correspondences is an advanced version of symbol skrying, and I literally absorb knowledge almost by osmosis when reading them. Below I give an example of how I use my correspondences for practical work:

I'm feeling sick, what do I do? First, examine situation from a rigid paradigm like hermetics with the four elements (in this case, but any paradigm would work).

Why am I feeling sick? I don't know, but I feel really hot. Hot is associated with the element Fire. Therefore, I need more water to balance off the excess of Fire. What things bring about more Water in me?

Bass Frequencies
Cold Showers
Raising Emotions to Surface
...etc.

So I go listen to bass heavy music and take a cold shower and see if that makes me feel better. If it does, then the correspondences are functional, if not, I alter the correspondences to fit the reality that trumps my logic (thanks Spida for that phrase, it's extremely useful).

Now, imagine you had an entire list of things associated with each element and could easily look through this list to figure out what is most in excess within your body. You'd be able to easily make new connections yourself, and the list of correspondences would seem to grow all by itself. This is half the battle.

In order to be able to use a list of correspondences in an arbitrary paradigm, you have to be able to get comfortable in the paradigm; even if you don't agree with parts of it. So, also make a list of paradoxes designed to destroy beliefs and bring yourself closer to an understanding that knowledge is only ever contextually useful, and so, should not be irrationally held like a keep sake. I call paradoxes Philosopher's Stones, because they are what you get when you apply alchemical refinement on the process of alchemy itself; an indestructibly solid philosophy that cannot be broken down further; an unbreakable stone; a circle.

I find that if you read over paradoxes enough, and study them, you can find incredible insights into what normally seems mundane in your life. The trick is to realize that anything you believe to be true is only true within your current context. Magick changes the context considerably, so attachment to beliefs is actually dangerous in my experience; especially when I try to apply magickal happenings logic to mundane reality logic. Context becomes more important as you realize that many things are more than they seem to be.

So, skry paradoxes within contexts in order to just clear the mind for the perception of usually ignored correspondences. A paradox itself isn't actually necessary per say, just a thought that you normally don't have, and ideally that makes you a little sick inside. It's not good to feel bad, it's just that you really do need to get out of your comfort zone.

Here are some examples of mind breakers:

All subjective truths are objectively false.
The Earth is flat. The Earth is a sphere. Both are the same thing.
High level patterns are mostly identical to low level patterns.
Causation cannot cause itself to exist.
Opposites attract. Similar things also attract because they are attracted to the same thing.
Death is good because it makes way for more life. Death is bad because it destroys life.
This statement is false.
...etc.

I usually have difficulty explaining my ideas. Does this make sense at all?

What I'm actually suggesting here is a section for paradoxes and a section for correspondences (with numerous sub sections in order to provide easy access to the correspondences based on your preferred paradigm).