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Hello all

Lately I have been noticing shadows and movment that appear in my peripherial vision, but these things disappear when I attempt to look at them more clearly.

I remember reading people atributing this sort of thing to spirits but I dont know much about it. Im not jumping to wild conclusions but if someone knows anything about this please fill me in.

Also to the best of my knowlegde I have perfect eyesight, and if its relivent I have a degree of auric sight which is developing.

best regards
David

Veni Vidi Vici

Fear acts as a vital self preservation tool. But there is perhaps no greater poison to humanity.

Fear leads to fights and war.
Fear stands in the way of following our dreams
Fear distracts us
Fear creats negative thoughts, and the lore of sympathetic attraction will bring like to like.
Fear is often what makes people fail when they are capable of success

Many works of mind and magic require the absence of fear in ones mind and complete confidence. But is mankind really capable of fully removing fear from his thinking? Can this really be done? With common sence fully replacing fear as the main self preservation tool. And for those who follow the quest of 'becoming more than human' do you consider the removal of fear from our minds a vital step of self evolution?


Best regards David

Veni Vidi Vici

If one is to draw distinction between good and evil they also must have an idea of where they as individuals are positioned in relation to these two polarities.

There are people who make statements such as 'I follow the right hand path', I am good, or I practice white magic etc etc

And conversly there are individuals who are down right evil and nasty.

And the majority of humanity falls somewhere in between. What I want to discuss is the concept that mankind naturally harbours both qualities and a balance should be sough. The middle pillar of the tree of life.

I only have a mugs understanding of it but as many readers probably know Freud identified three aspects of the mind. The ID the ego and the superego. Here I am going to discuss the ID. For those that dont know the ID consistis of the subconscious primal urges of nature. Somtimes called the reptilian brain. The ID demands instant gratification, yet is controlled by the ego and superego.

Ok within the ID there exists two polarities, the eros and the thanatos. The eros is the life instinct, urges for repoduction, eating and other important things. NOW... the thanatos (also know as the death instinct) is the oposing polarity. It controls urges of violence, murder, sadism and even self mutilation. The urges of chaos. Now consider that this exists within every human mind. Man is a struggle between good or evil right down to the simplest part its mind. In our world we see people expressing both polarities and many of us will satisfy the thanatos in some form during our day.

My question is a simple one, if both polarities exist equally within man than should mankind not embrace both? In that they cancel out. By following just the good or just the bad we throw the whole system out of order. When observing the natural world it can be seen that when a balance is broken it can return to equalibrium violently.

This is just a spare of the moment rambling not a deep set belief. What are some other views out there???

Regards to everybody

David

I have always believed that it is a good and posiitive thing to put another person back on their tracks. However I have found that not everyone agrees with this. The author of the book I am currently reading thinks that to help people with big issues is to interfere with their spirtual development.

The question I put foward is where do you draw the line?

Or is this one of those questions which differs between those who believe in reincarnation and those who dont.

Figured this was the place to ask

Take care
David

Ok I was reading a little spiritual development book by Paul Fenton-Smith titled A secret door to the universe. The topic of magic comes up in the book and this is what he has to say

"Those who study magic are seeking a short cut to enlightenment, when in reality there is no short cut."

Yes i agree that there is no short cut but I do not see magic as an attempt to find one. Yes the ultimate aim of most forms of higher magic especially cerimonial magic is in one way or another the great rite. But you have to ask yourself what is higher magic other than the symbolic change of your own mind and the melding of the ego with the subconscious mind. If mankind posses the power to do this than in my opinion it is a natural ability of man, hence what is wrong with using it as a tool to enlightenment.

Im curious as to how many people seeking spirtual development are involved in magical practice and what others opinions of the use of magic are. Im only 17 and I grow on the criticisms of intelligent others so please fill me in!

Regards to all

David

I first started to see auras about two years ago and since I started doing some basic energy work my auric vision is rapidly getting much stronger. Im just curious as to how normal this is and how many people begin to see auras once they become involved in energy development. I would love any feedback to increase my understanding.

Regards
David

I wonder if someone could shed some light on somthing. In my local area in Brisbane Australia I have talked to three people two of which are close about a particular entity. It was first seen by my neighbour in our street about 15 years ago. And it was resently seen by my brother in a field about 2km away while out playing silly buggers in a car. It is described as a large wolf of immense blackness. Its body appears more enlongated than as for a 'real' wolf and the best part is that when it moves it does so in an effortless fashion that does not bounce as it moves, it more glides along. My neighbour who saw the creature on more than one occasion said that the second time he saw it the creature stoped its run down the street and stared up at him through his window. He described it as having his soul look through, and felt as if it could crush him if it willed. My brother described the same sence of being powerless. Another important thing to add is that it makes noice as it moves, so this sugests that it is tangible. The third person I mentioned has had knowledge on the subject was another witch. She described it as being an oracle(she didn't elaborate as to how) and its purpose is to search the souls of people for its master. However she was also a drug addict! The only idea I have is that it is some kind of energy feeder, and both people assure me that it is no ordinary creature. Sorry to be so long winded but hopefully Ive provided some food for thought!

Regards David

Wow this is some really interesting stuff Transplutonian! Great work with the research, this I will have to come back to and read more into this once Ive knocked off a few assignments. I had no idea about the relationship between REM and serotonin, this is really interesting!

Thanks for the great topic
David

Fight Club! "Just let go"

Donnie Darko is a close second, and recently I saw Requiem for a dream, which was profound. I love any movie which lets me enter an exciting head space.

Hi Blackstream

I really enjoyed reading your response, and I totally agree (my post is just a rant, not my heartfelt beliefs and ideas). But one point of my post within all the emotive babble I am really thinking about is the boundary between supporting humanity, or the well being of humankind, and being aware of the bigger picture. While yes mankind's dominance and the damage we have caused as a species is due to the natural instinct to reproduce and survive, our growth is unsustainable and the practices of man as a whole are most un-harmonious. As a human I want to support my species, contribute to our society and treat sick people/help others. As a consciousness constantly challenging and exploring the way I have been taught to think and reason these human ideas can be reasoned to be backward, unbeneficial to the wellbeing of my environment. The conflict between being a physical creature and being an aware or perhaps spiritual creature is something I'm trying to iron out.

The Astral Pulse is still beating regular and at a healthy rate, but hidden in its arteries is a silent and deadly build up, no it's not atherosclerotic plaque – its thousands of posts that didn't ever need to be made.

Well from tell-it-how-it-is Fat Turkey to the well spoken words of Gandalf I have to say as someone who as been here a long time, I pretty well agree. While Akensai came in with some good points also, and it is nice to think of the astralpulse having grown into a big community of all things 'un-worldly' – you only have to read the original threads in comparison to what is current to see what we have now is seriously watered down.

I think another unmentioned reason for this is that when the forum was younger and the community was smaller it seemed more important to sound clever. Which sounds silly but I'm sure some of you will recognise what I mean. People thought up threads that were really impressive, intelligent debates happened all the time and as a person new to a lot of things you had to study to keep up.

From the beginning experienced people helped others with their questions, at first the answers were really good ones, then the same questions kept being asked again, again and AGAIN. People with good answers (with the exception of a notable few) stopped answering and discussing the same worn out points.

The old posts are kept for a reason, and the site also has a search feature for a reason, why not look for answers in the old posts and then discuss new ideas you have from what you have read. Read web sites and books and then discuss them here, or read Robert Bruce's journal articles from the main site. Answering questions is work, being offered a stimulating idea and then sharing your own is conversation – enjoyable.

Rather then just complain and theorise about why things have gone bad, I'm going to try and find the time to do more metaphysical study and post some new and hopefully interesting things. And I think that if everybody who thinks the forum has gone downhill does the same things will improve a lot.

Well that's my rant,
Kind regards
David

Hi everyone

For anyone interested in the dynamics behind how thought forms are created please read this older thread, I had some ideas about it and 13 replied with one of the best explanations I've read. This is the link  //http://www.astralpulse.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=5271//

 
Hi Risu no Kairu,it is the energy of your thought, emotion and will which shapes the thought form into what it is, so in this sense it is created by your energy. This is no more harmful to you then thinking about anything else. But a thought form is capable of 'feeding' to sustain it's self, and it is possible that it could feed off of its creator to do this. This is a danger of a long term creation, what ever boundaries you neglect to define about the thought form can develop in unanticipated ways. So in other words you need to program it to seek energy from something else.

A much safer way to experiment with thought form creation is to start small and simple. A thought form doesn't have to be programmed to be intelligent and human like, it can be a single minded creation (for a single use) with very defined boundaries and a set time of destruction. Because the longer you keep a thought form for the greater is its ability to evolve into something you didn't want. Anyone can create a very strong thought form like Gandalf describes with enough time and effort, but very few people can clean up the mess when a thought form that strong turns into a problem. Dion Fortune in 'Psychic self defense' describes how she learned this the hard way, and the method she used to destroy her creation (modeled on the arcytype of the Fenrir wolf of Norse mythology).

One method to help reduce risk is to keep a physical link to the thought form, and charge this link to feed the thought form, and the object used should be easy to break apart and destroy, because you only want to keep thought forms for a short time.

There is a lot to understand to do this safely and effectively, a really good book on the subject is 'Magical use of thought forms: A proven system of mental and spiritual empowerment' by Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki and J.H Brennan. Although it is oddly written.  

regards, David    

Hi again, I just found this and thought it might help //http://www.lucidity.com/NL11.DreamRecall.html//

Hi ya!

Get a note pad or work book to record your dreams in, leave a pen in it and put it some where you wont mind getting it from first thing in the morning. Then in the morning if you remember the slightest thing from a dream write it down. This might be easier on a morning when you can sleep in. Your brain seems to learn really quickly when you write dreams down that you want to remember them, well I'm sure it's a lot more complicated then that, but that's what it seems like. Within two weeks you will find it heaps easier to recall dreams in the morning, but don't become complacent, keep recording them.

Another method is to look into the brainwave cycles during sleep, I don't remember the times of the cycles off the top of my head, but it shouldn't be too hard for you to find. But if you figure out when you should be in a longer session of REM during the early morning and set your alarm, get up, don't eat, talk or think about much, just go pee if you need to, wait till you are pretty well awake then go back to bed. You should kick off into a dream again, and this dream might be easier to remember, this is also used to help with lucid dreaming.

Hope that was of help

Kind Regards
David

Hi ya, I don't train in Tai Chi but I do train in Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu, which is certainly a very different art. But I believe all martial arts when learnt to some level- if the art is deep enough to facilitate it, create an awareness of body energy and the ability to control this energy. What did you want to learn about, if it's not strictly Tai Chi on your mind and its practice maybe I can help, or help you find your answers so I can learn something new myself, I'm very interested in the topic.

My teacher and I were discussing how the study of mysticism and martial arts can lead to the same knowledge and abilities, that both paths are ultimately the same. The conversation came up because even though I've only studied in the Bujinkan for a year or so I can understand the higher level principals he talks about from my pervious studies. Anyway he said to consider our 5th Dan test, in which the student sits facing away from the grandmaster who has a training sword, the student has to sense the grandmasters killing intent before he cuts and escape the cut – the point is that both the mystic/ metaphysics student and the developed martial artist will sense the intent to kill – BUT it's the martial artist that can do something about it. Just something cool that's been on my mind.

Kind Regards
David

Hi rhinegirl

Great argument! I hope this turns into a good ol fashioned productive astral pulse debate! I won't pretend for a moment that I am morally or ethically perfect, but here is my response.

Personally if magic were my ONLY defense against someone trying to harm me, someone I love or people I feel morally obliged to protect, I would try my best to 'use magic' to defeat said foe. But if I could smash their skull open with a rock I'd do that first.

Everyone has a right to defend themselves; nobody has the right to control others against their will – unless their will is to control you hehe [] In a nut shell – Consider this metaphor, our actions are like a stone cast in a pond, and the ripples created are reactions to our action, eventually the ripples reach the walls of the pond and the energy wave starts to travel back again toward its source. Magic is throwing a really big stone making really big ripples, and the size of the ripple returning to you – the source, will be bigger too, and the energy of the same quality first sent out by the stone you cast.

The quote you used from my post was used in the context of responding to a person thinking they can control others to alter them to make them fit his conception of a better person. I see a line existing somewhere between changing others using magic because you think you have the right to 'help them', and using magic to protect life and limb.  

I agree that we seem to live in a world of dominance and submission, but if you held in your hand a tool that could be used to help you as an individual rise above the dirt of society would you use it to do that? Or just make you and society worse off? You COULD be a damaging-self-concept ego freak and use magic to control others and satisfy you animalistic desires of being head Alpha chimpanzee, OR you could use it to make you a better person with a will so strong that others desires to control you are totally irrelevant, because you carve your own path without the need to trample on others.

But I'm sure there is someone around here who could give a much better, wiser answer then the above...hey maybe even me when its not 2am []  

Kind Regards,
David

P.S TheLuns, sorry getting off track is something Kakkarot and I seem to just kind of do []

Maybe we should talk about altering how others perceive us! A true art in itself and you get to keep all your teeth.

I agree Kakkarot, of all the diverse paths that ascend the proverbial mountain of shinny enlightened goodness rising above egotism is always present as a challenge, and also developing a clearer communication between the unconscious and conscious minds. Everything is the same. God so far to go and so much to learn! On a slightly different topic I have started keeping a dream diary again, it's so interesting how it makes remembering all of your dreams so much easier after about two weeks, a definite bridge between the minds is formed when your brain learns you want one. Still doing any martial arts these days?

Regards
David

Hi TheLuns

Please understand that it is the nature of the forums here that the majority of the people reading this are probably against the notion of it being ok to control other people, take the psychic self defense forum for example. What you are asking for instruction on is too many of us considered a psychic attack. It would be irresponsible to discuss, well in my opinion anyway.

Bringing people to your side in WHAT argument? While I accept that you may indeed be sincere in your wanting to help others, I challenge you that the key to aiding individuals with mental health problems is not controlling their minds and creating a false acceptance of your suggestion. Rather it is more working with conventional therapeutic communication technique, active listening in conjunction with therapeutic methods. And even exploring other therapeutic methods considered 'alternative' by the medical model. The main point is you help the individual relearn and prompt them to look at things differently, you give a man a fish you feed him for a day, you teach a man to fish you feed him for life. Keep studying.

Regards, David

Hi TheLuns

Yes it is probably true that you have obtained VERY little understanding relative to what you have already read, I'll offer you some constructive criticism.

Firstly how do you see a difference between "make people do what i want" and "make them more willing to agree with me"?  Irrespective of how you choose to word it, you are discussing the use of 'magic' to alter another person's lived experience outside of their knowledge and control. You also say within stating your goals that you are 'not evil', when what you are is very confused about what is right and wrong, and ignorant of your ability to make an apt decision regarding either. You see your ideas of right and wrong have merely been shaped by your experiences during your short life, just like the rest of us. What makes you think that your moral ideas that have developed are adequate to justify you in controlling another person's life for reasons YOU see as being correct? You state that you are a "servant of good" and have loving values, but there are many conflicting statements within your post. To say it simply, no person truly understands what is right or wrong well enough to justifiably take away a persons freedom of choice, this is not merely a moral statement but one reinforced by the observations of nature and the effects of karma.

So many people studying magic are destroyed by their egos, and here you are kicking off with purely ego driven goals. If you seriously want to study magic then perhaps consider that 'magic' is just the manipulation of energy using the natural abilities of man kind, it is a very normal thing. But by grasping an understanding of magic and using it to gain a greater connection to the cycles of nature, and or to gain connection to higher energies and evolve ourselves as beings it is a useful tool in becoming well balanced mentally refined people. If you use magic to further the wants of your ego such as status, respect and control you will eventually learn to get these things, but be a miserable failure of a being when things run full course.

Regarding what you can study that you will understand, books on the internet like you mentioned you have on hard drive are generally very old classic texts so obviously the language will be a little harder to grasp, go to any decent book store and start off with a book that appeals to you in the metaphysical section, there are thousands of books on the topic. If you research what area of magic interests you, for example ceremonial magic or Wicca, I'm sure some of us could recommend some great books to you.

Regarding the charging of money for magical training by lodges, peoples time is worth money because training you is work, and in our culture you work for money to buy goods to survive, materials to teach you cost money, and the training you are receiving is definitely of value. Even when learning spiritualism we still live in a world working on materialism []

Kind regards
David.

The important thing is we all survived.

The rules or factors that affect how magic works are the same as every other aspect of life, its just that in 'magic' things are more concentrated and potent. So to answer your question look at how everyday life works, and then consider the possibility of patterns you notice in life being magnified. It has been my observation that people who have hearts filled with love live in a world where they are loved by others, and the opposite is true for cruel people.

Simple rules provide a simple fundamental set of ideas, in this case what you put out into the universe is drawn to you. Try being a little critical with ideas and rules, who made that rule up anyway? Maybe it just sounded very poetic in the wiccan rede and it all went from there. How can you measure something to return to the equivelent of three times its projection when we are talking about subjective experiences not numbers?

Its just my opinion, but i feel everthing is science and people make rules like this because they see a pattern which they can't explaine, so rather than experiment and explore the concept they just make it something mysterious. If your interested in understanding why who we are and what we do determines what life sends at us you might get a lot out of studying the human energy system, how it works and interacts with the different levels of existance.

Kind regards
David

Cheers Ill look into finding a copy, thanks

Well yes [] maybe I should have added the words purposefully and 'magical' intent into the question, the point I'm trying to get at is there is (or I think there is, might be wrong) a distinction between the what is constructed by mass belief or thoughts about a being, say the Christian god or Micky mouse, and what is constricted when a person purposefully creates a being into existence in the plains for their own purpose. And when you construct something that only you have contributed to the creation of you have a greater element of control over the function of the being, as opposed to trying to manipulate the qualities of a pre existing entity with established boundaries.

So to be less broad than my last attempt at question asking...
So I wonder what happens if you were to create a being that was modeled on the masses idea of what a god or powerful mythical creature looked like, but you attempt to give it your own function? How will the pre existing being which is powerful and has been feed through worship and mass imagination affect your construct which has an element of association to it?

Hehe just add water! My cat has a similar problem...

A question Id like to ask is what are peoples opinions on creating a thought form which resembles a god form or a mythological creature?

Hi

I think if you go looking for rituals for making a pooka you might get led astray a little, perhaps you would benefit more from looking for information on how thought forms are constructed, not just how you do it, but why it works. Any being you create, be it a pooka (or rather a copy of), a guardian creature, or some cool little rat with green ears is bought into life through the same mechanism. It's a complicated topic to grasp but perhaps this is a dangerous area of magic to pursue without a sound understanding of how it works and what the risks are. Here is a topic I started a while ago on the astral thought relationship, one of the replies in particular was very helpful to me, maybe this thread will give you some ideas to look into if you choose to.
//http://www.astralpulse.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=5271//

Kind Regards
David