I'm new here and to Wicca and had a question. In the various books I've been reading, the topic of visualization comes up pretty often, and poses a slight problem for me. I have no shortage of imagination, but it is visually stunted. I can't picture faces of friends easily or a character described in a book. I recognize my friends, of course, and am an avid reader. Images are just very difficult for me, unlike audio, scent, or taste.
So, my question is this; How important is the "visual" aspect of visualization? If I can imagine and believe with my third eye listening and smelling instead of seeing super clear, is that enough? Am I concerned over nothing? Or do I just have to accept I may never reach the magical heights of others? I'd be ok with that, since you can't change what you can't change, but I'd like some perspective.
Visualization is very important in magical works. We communicate with the Universe/God(s)/Whatever through images, not words. We have to be able to use it properly to convey our thoughts and intentions. However, it is relatively easy to develop. Just pick a small, physical object that you can hold in your hand and study it. Spend about five minutes on this. Then set it down, close your eyes and create a mental image of it in your mind. Make it as complete as possible and hold it there for a few minutes. Then, open your eyes and study the object again. See what you missed the first time. Then, mentally recreate it again. Do this until you have exhausted that object and then move on to another one. Regular practice at this will greatly help your ability to visualize.
Thank you for the reply. I've read about similar exercises and have been trying them out with little success. Still, if an image is what's necessary, then I'll just have to keep practicing until I reach my potential, however high or low that is. Thanks again, and have a great day!
There is an extreme end of the spectrum for this, called aphantasia. I won't suggest self-diagnosis, but it is entirely plausible that you don't visualize as easily as some people may.
Here's my advice: You know how you best hold concepts and expectations in your own mind. Use that in stead. Wile some aspects of visualization may become easier with practice, if it's something you simply have problems with, by all means do what works best for you. I've seen people with different abilities, such as synesthesia, use their differences to their best example. What I'm trying to say is, work with what you've got. We all have different aptitudes.
Thanks. I'll have to research that condition, because this has been a lifelong thing. I intend to continue trying to improve my ability to visualize images through exercises, but have been visualizing with my other senses as well, focusing on feelings. It's nice to know I'm not alone in having this issue.
I really suck with literal visualization as well. Even in solid meditation I can rarely form deliberate images in my mind. And when I do they can be fleeting at best.
Instead I think over the 'image' in detail. I read a lot as well, and I dabble in writing every nos and again. So, I think about what I want to imagine, and I describe it to myself in detail as if I was writing about it in a book.
For example if I am meditating on releasing negative energies, where some might picture a scene like sitting at the edge of water and 'feeling' it rise slowly and wash away my tensions I describe it to myself. I describe how the water is warm, with slight ripples as the up and down current bounces off my skin. How the water flows through me as well as around me, lifting free the negative energies like little pieces of dirt and carrying them away whenever the current shifts. Water rising and washing up, then lowering and carrying out.
I guess I would call it a narrative visualization method. ... Making use of literary descriptive methods to paint a picture in words.
It's less efficient I think, but it is at least an alternative. It might be worth a try.
