Another Late Night – An Update

 

The following article was originally published two years ago this day [14 Jan. 2013]. It may be a strange coincidence that I thought to repost it – exactly on the same day it was first released – but then I do not believe in coincidences, only cause and effect. Thus, there is a message in this post for one, some, or all of you. Over the last six months I have received five requests for help with what was being described as “psychic” and/or “demonic” attacks (with two being from ceremonial evocations that went very poorly). I listened to each contactee for an hour, asking the essential questions, and believe that four of the five cases were legitimate, with two of them involving a non-human antagonist. What is most unfortunate about the situations described is how unwilling or unable the individuals were to take any significant action to correct their lives. While all had done the usual laundry list: 1. contacting psychics, magicians, or gypsies to magically fix their problems for them; 2. went to clergy, usually a Roman Catholic priest to request intercessory prayers or even an exorcism; 3. attempted some modest ritual or prayer practice on their own; none of them were successful and that is why they were coming to me.

 

However, by the time they have contacted me they have spent whatever resources they have, are untrustworthy of the very people they are initiating contact with, and have relinquished nearly total control of their lives to whatever external and/or internal neurotic forces that are plaguing them. While not impossible, there is little that can be done at a distance when the main contact is the client and is operating solo and unreliable. For anyone who has not dealt with it directly, the degree of chaos that spontaneously arises in these situations is staggering – and by this I mean – simple things like the inability to maintain a telephone conversation because the call is constantly dropped (over a dozen times in one instance), static and other interuptions, or messages not being retrieved, up to what we would call paranormal phenomena. (Or even, the three efforts it took to load this article for distribution...)

 

Out of these desperate situations, two things have become apparent to me: the failure to understand the nature of one's own mind is at the root of it all.

This does not mean that all of what is occurring is a psychic projection, a neurotic episode being projected onto the world, but that if the client had any understanding of their mind and how it works, none of these experiences would be occurring or could be more easily dealt with. The constant projection n of power and authority outside of one's self, along with the ease and simplicity with which the element of fear is induced creates a psychic feedback loop that is difficult to break – and is food for whatever is feeding off the situation, be that a psychological diagnosis or a preternatural force.

This lack of understanding and fear is not limited to the clients, but is also widespread within the esoteric community as well. While there are many “fools who would rush in where angels fear to tread” I am surprised at the number of people who call themselves practicing occultists – particularly those who have written books on 'psychic self defence' - who are not only unable, but unwilling to help in situations like these – all out of fear. What is not surprising is the number who willingly charge $300 or more to do 'rituals' at a distance to 'cleanse' or 'exorcise' the 'spirit'. I would love to name names....

For this reason much of the material in the first half The Inner Way – The Power of Prayer and Belief in Spiritual Practice was aimed at helping the reader understand the basics of their own mind and belief system in not only their life, but the lives of others as well. The second part of the book contained an introduction to theurgical practices - several of which can be used to alleviate the suffering of oppressive s psychic conditions – as well as a host of other more pleasant situations.

In the past, after many requests, we have held a seminar on defensive magic, exorcism really, that taught the basic means of addressing such situations. If there is sufficient interest we may hold one again this year. So please contact us if you are interested. Until then, please read the article below, as well as The Inner Way (at Amazon), learn to pay attention to your own mind and how it works, and you will find, that in the end, not only do you not have to be afraid of what goes bump in the night, but you can be of real help to those who are – and help them learn that they do not have to be afraid either.

Dear Friends,

 

As many of you know I am extremely recalcitrant to openly discuss personal psychic or esoteric experiences in a public format and reserve them for periods of direct instruction. However, because of the upcoming seminar on theurgy that is being offered, and a nudge from a certain elsewhere, I am obliged to detail certain things to you so that you know what you are getting into. Since receipt of this newsletter and its postings is completely voluntary on your part, it is assumed that you have come to this place out of the desire for Light. To this end, Light will be given and our relationship is one of teacher and student. Therefore, with our communication being under the guise of instruction, I will discuss the following.

 

When we enter into the Path, particularly a magical path, there is often little if any concern for others. The entire notion is one of power, or possibly knowledge, but rarely of compassion. Yet Nature does not yield her secrets easily, and certainly not to the vain. To understand Nature, we must realize our oneness with Her, and in doing so, with every living being in all four directions of the three worlds. If we are willing to assist them, then they will be willing to assist us, and if our motives are pure, or at least of equal parts altruism and self-interest, then we can expect some degree of help from the visible as well as invisible worlds. But to get this assistance, we must pay our dues. We must make ourselves of use to others, and that includes the invisible, and those who traffic in it. 

Shamanism, Folk Healing, and Theurgy

If you are reading this, it is assumed that somewhere inside you desire to enter into the invisible domains, and experience not only what they have to offer there, but how such oddities can and do interact with the physical world, and the world of the senses. Traditional magic has long dealt with this transition zone, and yet despite the direct role of healing in classical and contemporary magic, modern magic has seemed to abandon it in favor of vague astral travels and psychological explanations. In short, the World of Man becomes the center point of the Cosmos, and the World of the Gods, Demons, Elementals, even Animals, is seen as little more than an individual's unconscious projection. While there is much truth to that idea, it is far from the entire story.

Folk magic is one of the few remaining areas wherein this overlap is dealt with on a regular basis, and in part, understood. Folk magic is almost exclusively concerned with daily needs, and most importantly healing. When we seek to heal, we become less ceremonial magicians and enter into the domain of shamanism. While such boundaries are not fixed, if is important to use modern language to describe this perception of roles. In truth, a good magician or shaman are one and the same. As Bruno said, a true magician must be a Physician, Prophet, and Magus, all in one.

To heal the ills of another using metaphysical methods, say other than spagyrics or alchemy, we have two basic methods: first, we call upon divine powers, often seen as external to us, and seek to direct them to a desired end; secondly, we use our own inherent or acquired powers to effect the healing process. The first method is most common and is a form of prayer commonly called theurgy. The second method is far less common, rooted in classical magic, and also a form of theurgy. The difference between them is fairly simple.

 

When using prayer alone we do not enter directly into the world of the one seeking help, but instead direct our attention towards it, and seek a third party intervention, be it God, and Angel, or something more ambiguous like cosmic love or a sense of well-being. In the second method we enter into the other person's psychic world, that is their unconscious, to some degree and through a variety of methods, reorganize their unconscious forces and bring hostile and destructive forces to light so they can be integrated. Now, this is all well and good, and sounds mighty psychological until we bring into consideration that not all problems are caused by an individual alone. That is, be it the cause, or the result, some people actually do have psychic parasites – be they Elementals, ghosts, or demons – that feed off of their neurotic or even psychotic tendencies and are not willing to easily surrender their host which is acting as their breadbasket. Dealing with these 'other beings' has long been the practice of classical magic and shamanism, but for now, is all but a forgotten art – nor is it an easy one, or one without a personal price. Given our upcoming seminar on theurgy, I would be ethically negligent if I did not give you a glimpse of what you are getting into when you enter into this Path. So, here we go.

Welcome to My World

The last week was a little busier than usual, in addition to professional and personal obligations the amount of requests for what can be described as 'metaphysical assistance' was higher than usual. The week started out with a series of emails culminating in an hour long telephone call with a shamanic practitioner regarding a particularly difficult client, total time involved, about two hours. This was quickly followed the next day by a Masonic brother looking for information on several Rosicrucian groups, as he was being encouraged to join one or more of them by a fellow Mason and as a father of two was looking for some advice so as to save time and money. As a fellow Mason I obliged. Total time involved, one hour. Then came the requests direct and indirect, that is, on behalf of someone incapable of asking for themselves. There were two of these. Total time involved, about one hour. It is now Wednesday and the fun will begin. Two posts for the newsletter on karma, total time, two hours. By the end of the week there were be two emails from individuals asking for spiritual guidance, one of which can more easily be directed than the other, and one who needs focused and directed attention to deal with spiritual breakthroughs as a result of a simple but profound form of payer, and whose spiritual mentor is not available. Herein, total time involved, two hours. Two requests from very ill people for spagyric tinctures, total time to pack and ship, another half and hour. None of this included the usual half-dozen emails a week from people known and unknown to me who simply want to chat, complain, or seek attention – all of which used to get short and polite replies, but are now deleted to save my time.

 

Then there was the request for assistance from an individual who has been plagued by a profound string of “bad luck” for several years with all of the usual personal, health, financial, and relationship problems that go with it. In other words, normal human problems on steroids. So, using methods taught to me by one of my teachers, I proceeded to bring in some real help to this person and those around him, as such misery is like a vortex that seeks only to grow. 

While the initial work appeared to go fine, it was not until later that night that the actual work began. The dream was strange, as to be expected, and only semi-lucid. That is, at times I knew I was dreaming, and at times I did not. In it, and to save considerable time I am condensing the content, I encountered the following core scene:

 

 

I am trying to clean up some dog shit that is hidden under very tall grass, as I want it removed before the owners of the property arrive. There is a wonderfully stocked closet to my right, all is very bright, and the tools for cleaning are neatly arranged and easy to access. The border between interior (house) and exterior (yard) is not clear and moves back and forth. I am surprised at the quality and quantity of cleaning materials and mention it to my wife who is with me. The grass is dry and tall, and as I clean there are shards, large and small, of broken glass everywhere. My dustpan breaks to pieces, and something is tugging on my pants. I say to my wife, “Now they are just messing around with me.” At that point I walk a few feet to a small, flat embankment on the other side of which is a large dark body of water. In fact, except for the cleaning supply closet the entire scene is dark. I stand still and perform the qabalistic cross, and before I am done there is a tremendous howling, a roar like a hurricane, the sky and water are moving like a cyclone, lights begin to go on in the house in front of me (but the windows show the interior to be empty and no one inside), and I hear a voice scream, “You pervert!”

I awake. It is 12:30am, or one and a half hours since I went to sleep and it will be 3:00am before a fall asleep again, and this time a restless one with several minor dreams of the 'ho-hum' variety (although I did particularly like the black spiders with yellow stripes). Between waking and returning to bed there will be a series of prayers, and notation. My wife will wake and ask me where I am going, I will respond, “to my room for a little bit”. The smell of incense late at night, low murmur or special chants and mantra, coupled with knowledge that this is nothing new, keeps her from asking anything more. If she is nervous about it, she no longer says so and goes back to sleep.

 

For those unfamiliar with symbolism here is a brief interpretation of the symbols involved.

 

The dark landscape is the neurotic unconscious of the client, and the bright closet of cleaning supplies are the tools of psychic intervention being used. The tall dry grass is the hiding ground of the neurotic tendencies, or the so-called, 'snake in the grass'. This is also a subtle hint of the snake, or serpent in the Garden of Eden (the pure mind), and possible external influences or psychic parasites of one form or another. The dog shit is simple: the apparent or presented problem, the shards of glass are the real problem. Hard to see, large and small, exceedingly dangerous. My wife (not her in reality, but simply a female figure in the dream) is the presence of Sophia, Wisdom, guiding me in this process. The flat embankment is a boundary of the individual unconscious and greater psychic forces, and the house is the ego structure of the client. The cyclone shaped winds are the psychic channels and forces within the body of the client, and in fact, the entire terrain is the psychic center within which these energies are being played out – as it is its own little world. This is the lunar centers, as well as watery ones, so we can say the sexual center (or secret center in Vajrayana) is the main focal point of the crises. The qabalistic cross on the rise, is an attempt to bring stability, balance, and clarity to the juncture of inner and outer, and recognizes that other beings maybe involved at this point in the client's illness. The lights going on in the empty house are awakening within the clients consciousness, here, in the form of crises, as the voice cries out, “You pervert!” Thus, a sense of deviance, perversion on some level, or of simply being different with inadequacy dominating the client's mind and life.

 

In summary, the client is very hardened and well defended against change despite what is said verbally, and psychic parasites are most likely involved and actively defending their 'meal plan' against any attempts to be dislodged, hence the poor sleep on my part. Healing can take place in this case, despite the dream, as the 'howling from the pit' and trashing is central to dominating the forces involved and their ultimate healing and where needed, expulsion.

 

Oddly, after getting some rest, I was awakened in the morning not by my alarm clock, but by four pokes on the inside lower right thigh, just above my knee. I thought it was my youngest son, only to look and see no one there. I lay in bed and contemplate reciting a particular chant, but instead attribute it to my own mind waking my body up for the day, and make a very large pot of coffee. It is too easy, even with experience, to let one's imagination run away with itself.

 

The above is somewhat typical from my experience.

To be good requires practice, and one once word gets around that you are good at 'fixing' people's problems, you will be spending between two to four hours a week assisting others in some fashion. If you take on the role of teacher at some point this amount of time will double, and nearly all of it without any form of material compensation (more often than not at a real cost to you), often for people you will never meet in person (courtesy of the internet), and who will rarely even say “thank you”. As my great-uncle Eddie told me decades ago, “People will come to you after they have tried everything else, and then wanting a miracle will get it, and rarely even say 'thank you'. Remember, of all the people Jesus healed, only the Roman Centurion said 'thank you' when his servant was healed.” Remember this, and remember it well.

 

It may appear that I am trying to discourage you from taking up this area of study, and that is partly true. If you seek to be a healer it is important to know what it is you will be working with, and here the diseases of mind and body are often of an unusual character, and at times have some teeth. We cannot be afraid of getting infected anymore than a medical provider can be concerned of such things, as by recognizing what we are dealing with allows us to take the necessary precautions without exaggerating or minimizing the risks. Good magicians are by definition good healers. This also means that there is a cost involved in helping others, and a big one, so like those who have walked this path before us, we must realize that this is not a normal life one leads, despite all appearances to the contrary. Compassion is our greatest tool, for healing ourselves, and for healing others.

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