ForumforAstral
Ok, ladies and gentlemen. In one of my recent posts I cryptically spoke of a technique I'm currently testing. In fact, I'm still in the train of doing it, but the technique looks quite promising already, so let's talk about it.
The rationale for the practice comes from two assumptions. One is of the existence of subtle/imaginary body that is the source of most of the psychic/visionary phenomena, and the other is that the visionary states, such as dreams (conscious - "lucid" - or not) and astral projections form a continuum. Strengthen this "subtle" body, and your ability to enter into the altered states without the use of any external "stimulants" will increase. Let it wither, and so will your visions and dreams.
This occult principle was quite well understood by the magical orders that have been formed in Europe in the end of the nineteenth century. Both the Golden Dawn and Ordo Aurum Solis had practices that targeted this imaginary body and were aimed at strenghtening it. The Golden Dawn version was called "The Middle Pillar", and the Aurum Solis called its practice "Clavis Rei Primae" ("The key of the primal matters"). Both exercises were, in fact, an odd concoction of Eastern practices and the western Kabbalah - on one hand we had "white light" visualization and "energy centers" distributed across the body of the practitioner, on the other the positions and functions of the "energy centers" were influenced by the Kabbalistic ideas. While the exercises were quite workable, their authors could not let go of their Kabbalistic baggage, so ultimately the techniques were influenced by theoretical rather than practical considerations.
I've worked with the techniques described, in fact I worked with both of them. I can attest that, according to one's internal makeup, one will achieve some degree of success when doing either. Still, after the nearly-fatal clash with one of the inhabitants of the World Next Door about 10 years ago I was struggling to regain the full ability to enter the visionary states I've had back then, and neither exercise brought me near to this goal.
That is, until I've let go of the established ways and found my own.
THE TECHNIQUE:
The position of the body is irrelevant, however it is advisable that the hands are not clenched or put against any solid surface. While mantaining any position that is comfortable or available to me at the moment, I simply imagine a stream of air (most preferably colorless air) entering the palms or the soles of the feet at the moment of in-breath, and leaving them as I breath out. If I find it difficult to focus on both hands or both feet, I choose one hand or foot, breathe in and out of it, then another, and repeat the procedure.
I choose to target the hands rather than feet most of the time.
THE RESULTS:
The benefits I'm currently reaping are both psychological and, one might say, "astral". The exercise relieves my fatigue, and also stimulates dreaming - ever since I started doing it I had nearly-regular dream recall. One of the dreams I got in this "testing period" was conscious (or, as some would prefer, "lucid"). Another one was nearly so. Both were incredibly vivid. I've been trying to test it with Aurum Solis "exit technique", without any result so far.
THE PRECAUTION:
The technique is experimental and should be used at one's own risk. I still don't know if there are any side effects.
Feel free to experiment and post results, but please take the precaution. We're in unknown territory here. And unknown territories, as was well known back in the day, can be home to monsters and dragons. We can never be sure one isn't lurking out there.
Edit: Corrected the sentence structure here and there.
