Visualization

[Quintessence]

The practice of visualization is a common one to many mystical traditions. Essentially a fancy way of saying "use your imagination," many books and trainers in esoteric traditions teach about the importance of developing this skill. There are many good reasons for considering it a practical foundation for mystical traditions. Visualization is a critical skill to develop for journeywork, or exploring the "inner" or "otherworldly" landscapes, as well as interacting with the denizens that dwell there. It is also used in spell work, either as an aide for focus and concentration, or as a direct component in its casting mechanism.

For those of you who practice visualization in your tradition (or who have interest in the practice), I would like to share a fascinating article that ran in the BBC science section recently:

Aphantasia: A life without mental images

I think that this article has some fascinating implications for the practice of visualization. I think in the esoteric literature, we tend to think of visualization as something everybody can do (and possibly equally well). However, it seems that this is not the case, and people's ability to visualize has been studied somewhat by the sciences. There are many possible things to discuss out of this article, but here are a couple prompts to get us started:

• The gentleman with aphantasia doesn't consider his condition a disability. Do you agree or disagree, and why?
• The article also talks about hyperphantasia. Might this be a quality that particularly powerful mystics, prophets, and the like of the past possessed? Is it a gift, a curse, or a bit of both?
• When you practice visualization, how clear are the images for you? Are you a strong visualizer or a weak visualizer?

As a reminder, please note that I chose to post this thread in a DIR. This thread is for discussion, not for debate, and is intended for those who practice or have interest in visualization.

 

[Iti oj]

Weak almost more like reading a book then watching a movie.

 

[beenherebeforeagain]

The practice of visualization is a common one to many mystical traditions. Essentially a fancy way of saying "use your imagination," many books and trainers in esoteric traditions teach about the importance of developing this skill. There are many good reasons for considering it a practical foundation for mystical traditions. Visualization is a critical skill to develop for journeywork, or exploring the "inner" or "otherworldly" landscapes, as well as interacting with the denizens that dwell there. It is also used in spell work, either as an aide for focus and concentration, or as a direct component in its casting mechanism.

For those of you who practice visualization in your tradition (or who have interest in the practice), I would like to share a fascinating article that ran in the BBC science section recently:

Aphantasia: A life without mental images

I think that this article has some fascinating implications for the practice of visualization. I think in the esoteric literature, we tend to think of visualization as something everybody can do (and possibly equally well). However, it seems that this is not the case, and people's ability to visualize has been studied somewhat by the sciences. There are many possible things to discuss out of this article, but here are a couple prompts to get us started:

• The gentleman with aphantasia doesn't consider his condition a disability. Do you agree or disagree, and why?
• The article also talks about hyperphantasia. Might this be a quality that particularly powerful mystics, prophets, and the like of the past possessed? Is it a gift, a curse, or a bit of both?
• When you practice visualization, how clear are the images for you? Are you a strong visualizer or a weak visualizer?

As a reminder, please note that I chose to post this thread in a DIR. This thread is for discussion, not for debate, and is intended for those who practice or have interest in visualization.

Fascinating, to channel Mr. Spock.

I can't see why it would be a disability, unless it could be documented that individuals with this condition can't function in some way.

Uh, sure, why not? I would suspect that many artists have hyperphantasia, or at least a higher than "normal" degree of being able to visualize. An artist friend/coworker used to show me pieces in the process (she often worked from photographs, and also used photographs in photoshop)--sometimes I could really see what I think she was seeing, what she was working towards, other times I could only see it a little, and sometimes not at all. Some other coworkers could see more or less than me at the same time. Becky, for her part, couldn't grasp why some could see it and others couldn't.

Most of the time, when I visualize, I see a kind of foggy, often murky image, except where I am focusing my attention. Not unlike my normal vision in some ways.

 

[Adramelek]

I sometimes use visualization before ritual workings to gain a sense of the atmosphere of and a mindset for the working to be performed, sort of a decompression technique. For example: walking in a desert of red sand towards a cyclopean black pyramid, with a great stairway guarded by two Anubian sphinxes laying on trapezoidal platforms on either side of the stairway which leads to the entrance of the pyramid temple. The journey inside towards an altar upon which radiates the Black Flame... My imagination is pretty wild.

 

[Quintessence]

There was something I ran across recently that remarked something to the degree of 'magick is applied imagination.' I'll see if I can manage to quote out more of that passage and start a discussion about it, perhaps in the non-DIR area of the forums.

 

[mystic64]

There was something I ran across recently that remarked something to the degree of 'magick is applied imagination.' I'll see if I can manage to quote out more of that passage and start a discussion about it, perhaps in the non-DIR area of the forums.

Quintessence, if you would, please post the topic address here in this topic so that I will be able to find it . Magick as applied imagination shure fits what I have studied and sounds like a fun topic!

 

[mystic64]

The practice of visualization is a common one to many mystical traditions. Essentially a fancy way of saying "use your imagination," many books and trainers in esoteric traditions teach about the importance of developing this skill. There are many good reasons for considering it a practical foundation for mystical traditions. Visualization is a critical skill to develop for journeywork, or exploring the "inner" or "otherworldly" landscapes, as well as interacting with the denizens that dwell there. It is also used in spell work, either as an aide for focus and concentration, or as a direct component in its casting mechanism.

For those of you who practice visualization in your tradition (or who have interest in the practice), I would like to share a fascinating article that ran in the BBC science section recently:

Aphantasia: A life without mental images

I think that this article has some fascinating implications for the practice of visualization. I think in the esoteric literature, we tend to think of visualization as something everybody can do (and possibly equally well). However, it seems that this is not the case, and people's ability to visualize has been studied somewhat by the sciences. There are many possible things to discuss out of this article, but here are a couple prompts to get us started:

• The gentleman with aphantasia doesn't consider his condition a disability. Do you agree or disagree, and why?
• The article also talks about hyperphantasia. Might this be a quality that particularly powerful mystics, prophets, and the like of the past possessed? Is it a gift, a curse, or a bit of both?
• When you practice visualization, how clear are the images for you? Are you a strong visualizer or a weak visualizer?

As a reminder, please note that I chose to post this thread in a DIR. This thread is for discussion, not for debate, and is intended for those who practice or have interest in visualization.

As a yogi who has been studying manipulating and controlling one's autonomic nervous system for forty years now, visualization makes things a whole lot easier . There are two ways of doing it, 1. Directly feel with your mind the areas that you wish to stimulate. 2. Use mental pictures to stimulate the areas that one's wishes to activate. Mental pictures work best especially if they have movement to them. The reason that they work best is that a mental picture can automatically stimulate a lot of areas at the same time with just one picture. This also works with video and other graphic art. And sound also does the same thing. A common example of this would be to visualize an individual that you find sexually attractive (adding movement gives things an extra kick) and your autonomic nervous system will respond with sexual arousal. A picture or a video will do the same thing. Or one can visualize or look at a picture that causes them to feel positive love and that will kick in the part of the autonomic nervous system that stimulates their heart center and immune system. A cute baby animal picture would be an example of that. The visual cortex of one's brain is a very powerful tool when it comes to stimulating the autonomic nervous system. It is hard for me to imagine a life without mental pictures/visualization, but at the sametime my wife doesn't visualize and she seems to get along ok .

"Might this be a quality that particually powerful mystics, prophets, and the like possessed?" Based on my sixty years as a mystic I would have to say that that is a "yes". And one can not do advanced magik or sorcery without being able to visualize and feel. The tools of a sorcerer are just things that anchor and enhance the visualizations. And, a really good sorcerer doesn't need the tools all they need are the visualizations.

 

[vaguelyhumanoid]

I'm working on developing my visualization. I've recently discovered a trance-like state I'm capable of accessing right before going to sleep. I'll be physically exhausted but mentally awake. I'll start perceiving dreamlike images while still conscious and just see where it takes me. I can partially control it; it's a mixture of conscious and subconscious elements. The most interesting part is probably that there are fragments of music floating around "over there". It'll be a couple seconds of music, often with lyrics, sometimes in the style of an established artist (one sounded like Tom Waits). If I focus on it enough, I can hear longer snippets, and sometimes remember them to "bring back". I've done this twice. The first time was initially unintentional, just kind of a weird ecstatic state. It was the stronger time, and I "brought back" a pretty awesome vocal melody for a song. The second time was intentional, and not quite as strong - I didn't remember the song fragment in the morning. It also is a bit tough to transition from the visualization state to sleepiness - it happens when I go to bed in an excited rather than restful headspace, thinking about spiritual/religious topics. The "world" I'm accessing is definitely an internal one, influenced by my mood and the things I've been thinking about during the day. It reminds me of a lot of some of the stuff that David Lynch has said about his transcendental meditation practice.

 

[mystic64]

I'm working on developing my visualization. I've recently discovered a trance-like state I'm capable of accessing right before going to sleep. I'll be physically exhausted but mentally awake. I'll start perceiving dreamlike images while still conscious and just see where it takes me. I can partially control it; it's a mixture of conscious and subconscious elements. The most interesting part is probably that there are fragments of music floating around "over there". It'll be a couple seconds of music, often with lyrics, sometimes in the style of an established artist (one sounded like Tom Waits). If I focus on it enough, I can hear longer snippets, and sometimes remember them to "bring back". I've done this twice. The first time was initially unintentional, just kind of a weird ecstatic state. It was the stronger time, and I "brought back" a pretty awesome vocal melody for a song. The second time was intentional, and not quite as strong - I didn't remember the song fragment in the morning. It also is a bit tough to transition from the visualization state to sleepiness - it happens when I go to bed in an excited rather than restful headspace, thinking about spiritual/religious topics. The "world" I'm accessing is definitely an internal one, influenced by my mood and the things I've been thinking about during the day. It reminds me of a lot of some of the stuff that David Lynch has said about his transcendental meditation practice.

Vaguelyhumanoid, the easiest way to almost instantly get to the state that you are exploring is to feel (quietly focus your mind on) the area that is just above the bridge of your nose and in front of your forehead. Your eye lids might flutter a bit because you are putting your self into the REM dream state. This also works if one wants to fall asleep fairly fast. If you are having a problem with the transition into sleepiness then the odds are that you have an upset stomach and need to take a tums or two (anti acid). What happens is that if your stomach is gassing up, this gass creates pressure on the diaphram which then causes one to feel restless and nervous. With a tums or two and a couple of belches things will go back to normal. Being in the REM (rapid eye movement) dream state when one is restless and nervous can cause some interesting dream experiences . One's dreams are usually somewhat turbulent and seem to jump around a bit. You can also sit quietly and focus your mind on that area with your eyes open and be in a dream state and awake at the same time. The very ancient Egypians called the area just above the bridge of the nose and in front of the forehead, "The Eye of Ra." And waking up that area was an important part of their life extension meditations. This is because when you wake up/activate that area it causes one's whole body to become energized with life energy (for lack of any other term). And then if you continue upward at a forty-five degree angle from that area you enter in to the area called the Source (some folks call it "The Heavens") and visualizations in the area of The Source, especially if one lifts their arms up toward The Source at a forty five degree angle, is how the old sorcerers used to work the stuff that they use to work.

Anyway Vaguelyhumanoid , what you have discovered and are exploring is where all of the ancient big ones started as novices. And from there you can also with your eyes closed slow your mind vibration activity down to the Theta vibrational level, which is the next slowest one from the one that you are exploring, and be in the mind vibrational level where all of the witchdoctors and shaman type folks play . Also controlling your dreams and doing visualization, if one can keep from becoming unconscious/falling into a deep sleep, is a lot easier.