Big Book of Scribbles

If you have half-thoughts or notes you'd like to keep for later, but don't know yet where to put them or what to do with them, you can post them in our Big Book of Scribbles!

Enough people are like me in that they have important thoughts that they want to hold onto, but haven't yet fully developed them in a cohesive and understandable manner due to time constraints, writer's block, or any number of reasons.

The goal of this thread is to set aside undeveloped thoughts so they can be returned to and developed in a time that is convenient for the author. I find this to be nurturing in such a manner that we don't force our brains to the point of physical exhaustion, burnout, or loss of what to do next. We can come back with fresh eyes, whether ours or others, if wished.

I will periodically tidy the thread up by consolidating multiple posts by a single member in such a way that they are properly recorded and identified by date and order of posting.

As soon as some time frees up for me, I'd like to sit down and devote some time to writing more about altered states and my experiences with them. I'd love to see you write a post on un-hinging, as that sounds incredibly interesting to me. Just throwing that out there. :3

[VASTLY UNFINISHED]

A Word of Caution

Mortars and pestles are used more in medicinal and herbal preperation. I remember my grandmother having it around because it would be easier to take her medication when it was ground and put in a drink (though only the medications that would allow for such a thing; it is not always wise to grind pills, especially if you don't know what you're doing). If you're wanting to look more into using it, then I would look up mundane articles as well as Alchemical articles (where they are popularly associated to begin with).

Before starting herbal work, I always have suggested getting to know the medicinal and physical effects of different plants as well as (I've picked up on) telling people to learn how to safely handle and prepare herbs. There are some that are poisonous and dangerous to work with that can be used if handled with caution (and one is not being an idiot about things in general).

Herbalism is something that could easily go awry if you don't know what you're doing and people can legally get in trouble for misleading others into harm's way (even if unknowingly), so a safe piece of advice to give on the matter is to start with what herbs can be found in the kitchen or the grocery store.

Getting Started

Different people have varying interests in herbalism as to how they incorporate them into their practice, what the herbs mean to them, and what aspect of the plant they are using. Herbalism is a hard thing to get into at first for some because there's just so much information out there and it might be hard to know where to start.

This is a thread I originally made in DaL (posted November 12th, 2014) that I decided I wanted to re-work and move over here.

Also posted here:

alfadottir.tumblr.com/post/102496958100/personal-introduction-to-energy-work

Introduction

I find that a lot of animals and children tend to be more psychically in-tune with their surroundings because they don't have society telling them (yet for children) that what they're experiencing is not real. So in essence, I try to get people to re-learn what they already know instead of teaching them something entirely new when it comes to energy sensing and direction.

Cosmology

Everyone's beliefs are different and I encourage people to develop your own understanding of how things work (even if that means you have an understanding of an existing one). To start people out, I talk about the cosmology I was introduced with. Exposure often leads to curiosity and further research.

Physical- Bound by the laws of science, this is where our waking consciousness resides most of the time. Magic and other spiritual matters do not directly change this plane, but can influence it.

Examples of Typical Work- Science, medicinal herbalism, altar building, physical expressions of various traditions.

Etheric= The densest of the subtle planes, many of the realms and other places tend to be tied to physical places. Energy work here is typically harder to do if you're not used to it.

Examples of Typical Work- Remote viewing, projection to physical places, more direct influence of the physical plane (without actually changing it directly: an example is Sillieh's Soul Sprig work), and a portion of deep trances such as mediumship

Astral = Considered a cosmic plane, energy work, in my belief, is mostly done here by most people as it is less dense and easier to work with. Realms and other locations in this plane aren't typically associated with physical places.

Examples of Typical Work- Pathwalking/projection to realms not tied to the physical, magical work to create influence various situations, higher self work, communication with spirits, and various other things.

Some things to keep in mind with this paradigm are concepts like subtle body theory (where we exist in all planes at once) and that each plane is a template for the one next to it (As Above, So Below/Sympathetic magic best explains this as actions in one plane reflect actions in another. This is why we don'tneedto consciously sense and direct energy to perform our spiritual and magical practices.

Beginning Sensation

When it comes to physical sensation, our sensors fire off information through our nerves to our brain to process and then that is sent back to the original sensors for us to finally consciously know we felt/heard/saw/etc. something. I find that similar is true for sensing energy, so let me explain something;

Our conscious mind is very linear and analytical, so it does not process energy very well on its own. I find that our subconscious processes the energy we sense with our subtle bodies in a way that our conscious minds can understand better. This tends to be why we can better understand energy while in altered states of consciousness (meditation, trance, etc.).

With this in mind, there are two things that I like to remind people to think about when sensing energy: impression and intuition. Going back to the comment about building upon what people already know, I want people to think of a time where they felt there was something "more", like they were not alone or if they had a strong feeling that they should do something and it turned out to be beneficial.

Recognizing that sensation can manifest in any form, people can differentiate between it and mundane sensations by paying attention to their intuition. Everything will have a physical explanation, but if you pay attention to your instincts, you'll most likely develop a stronger sense of energy.

I think it is also important to note that I had troubles sensing energy when I had expectations of what it should feel like. I concentrated and focused too hard, which developed a mental block that I had to overcome. Once I recognized how the sensation of energy felt like to me, it was a lot easier to sense other kinds of energy and further the distinctions in my own mind and thus, my understanding.

To recognize energy on a grander scale, I (and plenty others) like to talk about how everything is connected. I like to get people to try sitting outside and sway a little bit. Recognize that every physical thing and person has a spiritual aspect as well. I then tell them to pay attention to what they feel when they are recognizing this connection. Spend some time getting to recognize the flow of things as, said before, it is different for everyone. It is important (to me, at least) to recognize the flow of energy and when someone connects to something larger than themselves, I feel it helps them realize their subtle body more.

Shaping Energy

The most basic form of shaping energy (in my opinion) is evocation, where one calls up energy outside of the self. Just as the subconscious uses sensations to help us better understand energy consciously, we can use sensations to call up energy. Most often, this is called visualization, but I find it extends to more than just visual sensations (and we'll get that more later). For example, to call up the energy of fire, one can recall the sensation of being around fire. The warmth, the scent, the colors, the feeling fire made a person feel. All that is used to bring up the energy again.

When working with energy, we can utilize different sensations to help direct the flow of energy. It is important for beginners in occultism to realize that anything we do with subtle energy alters the flow of the stream, rather than builds a dam to stop it, so to speak. This means that that, while we have the power/ability to affect change in our lives, we are not the only ones to do so. Literallyeverything in existence shapes existence.

Examples of shaping internal energy often shows up a lot in martial arts. Expanding on the "experiencing energy larger than yourself" concept, one can learn to direct the flow of energy of their subtle bodies (which may not be the same shape as their physical body) and a common exercise to do this is by utilizing the image of a tree. The subtle body is used as the trunk of a tree; the practitioner then reaches to the core with "roots" and to the cosmos with "branches" and then directs energy flowing from the roots, into the branches, and back down to the roots in a constant, ovular fashion.

Etheric Energy Work- Subtle body exercises that deal with aiding the physical body is one form of etheric work. For example; when one heals the subtle body to reflect in aiding the spiritual body. Another form is to curse another person by affecting their subtle body. To my knowledge, malicious Seidhr falls under this form.

Astral Energy Work- Shielding is a common form, even if not everyone uses it. There aremanyways to shield, but the most basic form is to recall a feeling where one feels like they cannot be touched. It is this safe haven formulates a "barrier" of negative or unwanted energies. While it can be adapted to etheric energy work, most people do not (as again, I feel that most people that I've observed in the occult communities actually work more with astral energy work on a conscious level.

- and how I go about them.

This won't be complete, but will exist due to a coven mate *coughjarlcough* insisting that something is better than nothing. As I gather my bearings more, I will include sleep studies and citations for common occurrences in dreams, how they affect people, and how to deal with them psychologically and spiritually. Expect that to be longer than this.

Recall

One of the most common things mentioned for this is having a dream journal, but sometimes it takes more to remember dreams. For me, something as simple as turning my head can jerk my awareness out of remembering, so when I wake up, I like to stay as I am and act as if I am still experiencing the dream. Concentrating too hard on trying to remember can cause a mental block, so it is best to let things happen naturally (let it flow, let it floow, I am one with the dream and miiind).

Once you are awake enough to do anything besides open your eyes and still retain your slumbered experiences, there are a number of mnemonic devices you can use in addition to jotting down notes. What I like to do is make sure I at least mentally go through my dream as if I were telling it to someone else. You can even be dramatic and imagine sitting around a fire and using exaggerated movements to captivate your audience. It is completely natural to remember things at later, seemingly random times.

Lucidity

Probably the most sought after dream work technique and probably one of the least important to me; this is where you have partial to full control over your dream. Many sources will tell you about sleeping a certain amount of time, waking, and then resting and all this other complicated crap I never did. My mother taught me how to lucid dream as a child by telling me to remember I'm dreaming while I am in a dream state. My first dream with such control was only partial and it took years of gradual practice to steadily lucid dream, so it's okay if you don't start to get results right away.

Speaking of which, it's okay to not lucid dream or only partially lucid dream. While you can get spiritual communication, projection (which I consider iffy in correlation to lucid dreaming), and ritual work done this way, there are practices that do not involve having control over anything in your dreams; psychical omens, dream reentry, and interpretation.

Reentry

This is a technique that utilizes trance to enter the dreamworld or recall a dream while in a waking state (I have found this technique in one book on Australian Aboriginal practice and nowhere else, however, I use it as a standalone technique; hence the double meaning). It can be used in the same manners as lucid dreaming as well as for deeper insight in the form of 'reliving the dream' and being able to ask questions to people, places, and objects that you might not have been able to before (it can also be ideal for people wanting more personal meanings for interpretation in a state closer to the waking conscious state and therefore possibly easier to understand).

As for how to do it, I would suggest utilizing whatever technique for entering trance fits best for you as well as remembering the dream. As I said before, let it flow and recall it as if you were still experiencing it to minimalize mental blockages.

Walking

There are two ways to go about dream walking and both involve your consciousness (sometimes spirit) entering another person's dream. The first way is synchronicity where both parties involved have the same dream and this could be due to higher selves communicating with each other, riding the same energy tide; you name it, it's probably a possibility. The second utilizes lucid dreaming and does not require both parties doing things to happen.

This is arguable one of the hardest dream work techniques as not everyone can recognize when it happens if it does happen. I don't have personal experience with this one, so it may be easier for others (different people have different strengths and what not). What I do know is that any of the other dream work techniques and uses can be utilized alongside dream walking if they have the conscious ability to do so.

Inspiration

I shall close the initial post of this thread with one of my core values; inspiration (from dreams in this case). While not all dreams are spiritually and contextually relevant, they can be utilized as places and concepts to visit again when not dream working. An example is visualizing a place from a dream while meditating, calming down, evoking emotion, or creating space to work with spirits (the list is endless, really).

As an artist, I utilize almost every aspect of my dreams whenever I can and in whatever way. It is my hope that others will be able to do so as well.

Serenading Trance

T'was singing and thought of these things. I need to flesh it out later to fully convey the thought process and how it applies to magical practice (as well as Vardlokkur/Song Trance on its own).

• Avoid flat notes by practices varying tones within each verse and think of it like you're using your throat and mouth to "shape the brushstrokes" and "paint your surroundings"
• Listen to your voice as if you were someone else; you'll want to sound as you're playing back a recording of your own voice.
• Use your voice to "ride the tones" of the song in order to help watch out for being offkey.
• Rise above mimicking the song to own every tone and verse for your own.
• Rolling and rocking the voice and the body in tune with instinct, beginning with small variations and movements and growing into a more "right" and intense state.
• (and just as a little treat, a bit about visions and how intonation can affect it)

How We Use the Forum

• Flesh out threads like an actual conversation (that continues).
• Talk about stuff important to us.
• Mark threads you like as favorites and them list them to Personified and or myself.

This is a reponse to a thread in one of the public forums where the original poster desired to become a horse. While I didn't feel up to tackling why that wouldn't necessarily be a good idea or providing alternatives, I did respond to another poster who made the ever-so-common claim that, "anything is possible and not to believe the haters." Here is my response for later reference.

There's a difference between "being a hater" and applying logic based on our current understanding of physical reality based in the sciences. A lot of people have come to understand that magic does not contradict science, rather that it can be something seen alongside it that influences paths of actions; physical energy is needed to make physical change and this is of sciences' domains; subtle (nonphysical) energy is needed for subtle change to occur.

Take for example the beliefs of animism, "As Above, So Below," and subtle body theory. These beliefs are not intrinsic to one another, but complement each in such a way that they are compatible enough to form an understanding of how reality works. Animism is the belief that every physical object or being has a soul or a spirit (essentially a subtle body) while the saying "As Above, So Below" is the belief that every physical energy has a subtle energy counterpart and that affecting one will affect the other (keeping in mind that one does not "override" the other, rather working in tandem). Subtle body theory states that we have bodies in all planes of existence (as an example, we have physical, etheric, astral, etc. bodies existing within the same general space).

Each of those beliefs work on the fact that physical energy is present for physical change to occur, which still "allows" (so to speak) for science to be observed. The reason these beliefs are considered legitimate, even if they are not universal, is because science still has a role in them. We cannot make claims of physical change to the level of biological transformation without having proof... which no one has provided, which means it will be contested until evidence is brought forth.

The reason spiritual beliefs aren't contested the same way as physical claims of grandeur is because we cannot isolate all of the variables in order to conclude them as facts or falsehoods. Why can't we isolate the variables? Because we cannot accurately measure subtle energy the way we can accurately measure physical energy to even begin testing for in/validity.

We, referring to people in general, have the understanding that we don't know everything there is to know, which can lead to claims like "anything is possible," This becomes problematic when said belief overrides all of the tools at our disposal that can be used to develop our knowledge and understanding and there are plenty of those literally at our fingertips. In conclusion of this point - if one is to make a claim of physical transmutation, they have to be prepared to test it scientifically and in a safe manner, which most folk aren't equipped to do (at least, safely).Until they are proved valid, beliefs in that area are going to be dismissed.

Today's scribbles regard threads I want to keep note of as I fully flesh them out before posting the final draft.

Initial Ground Work - Steps to take in building one's own understanding of how magic, spirituality, religion, and/or occultism fits in each of our lives. First present what you felt you knew and didn't know when coming into your practice/s and belief/s. How has that changed over the years? What were some things you felt developed into something you hadn't expected (or what were things you had expected, but wouldn't have described it the same way after experiencing it)?

A Note in Quality - Nearly everything should be written from a standpoint where any reader can understand the material no matter their previous understanding and experiences; from newbies to experienced folk, to people who "know the ropes" of the community, and to people who have never been exposed to common beliefs.

Ergonomics - I was beginning to write a thread about how to begin researching and this was one of the main things I wanted to discuss before typical and generic bits of advice. I'll have to continue fleshing this out as there was a lot more to it and I lost the initial thread it was attached to.

Re: Recommending Casters
By: Stabby / Novice
Oct 07, 2016 Post # 2

When it comes to people casting for you, there are some things you should consider before doing anything, including assuming anything about them. The first is that, yes, some people cast for money - practitioners providing the community a service has been around since there were any practitioners in a community setting and can be perfectly valid. Many were compensated as well, through a monetary value, trading services, or through barter, though this was not the case with every single practitioner.

You have to look at the setting in which magical, religious, or spiritual services are offered; most cases were and are someone who is more experienced in an area than the vast majority of the rest of their community. Much like you would call a plumber to fix a leaky pipe you wouldn't know how to fix yourself, you could call upon someone for their occult/etc. services. In this community, however, it is encouraged that we all seek our own paths as much of the knowledge is readily available for those who know what to look for and how to look for it. Because of this, there are few people who specialize in common practices because so many can do the same.

Even with this considered, it is still commonly accepted for people to offer readings for those that ask, though the tone is much different in people usually coming to the diviner for the reading. Not many psychics in this community actively look for people to read for unless they wish practice. Some ask for compensation whille others don't, and it's really up to each individual as to whether or not they feel that's right. We all have different ideas of morality.

If you're new to having a magical service provided for you, then it is often considered best to steer clear of those that ask for money and those that try to bolster themselves up to look better. As you get more experienced in interacting with others, as well as having a general sense of what magic is, what it means to you, and what it can or can't do in your eyes, then it will be easier to distinguish who is legitimate and who is faulty.

Some General Red Flags

• People who offer help without getting to know the situation.
• People who offer long lists of success stories that have little to do with what they are offering, or those that claim outlandish feats.
• People offering up their email to contact them outside of the site when there's a fully functional mailbox system in place here.
• Some like to avoid those asking for money, period. Personally I find if there are no other red flags and I get to know the person beyond their service and it's not the first thing I get to know about them, then I still proceed with caution.
• If you're a minor, do not engage with any person who comes to you with a service, asking for money or not.

There are a lot more red flags that come along with experience and the general rule of thumb is to trust your instincts - if you doubt them, ask around for more opinions.

"The Gilded Gutter" - A tavern-inspired thread from The Coffee Shop, oriented towards drinks, spending time together, sharing interests, and for letting loose whenever you just need that drink.

"?????" - A thread for sharing seemingly outlandish stories and explaining how many people, even plenty considerd respectable, have them and that we aren't alone in often strange experiences.

"Grove of Tomes" - An experimental name for a literary guide to all of our groups' materials and resources. Decided this name was prettier than a simple library and it might be more fun to work with on the author's side as well as the reader's.

Frickle frackle finish that damned Spell Submission Guide re-write~