Imagination is what magick is all about. It is the astral light, the “Azoth of the Philosophers,” as Eliphas Levi called it. It is through the imagination that we connect with our psychic abilities, communicate with angels and spirits, and express our magical wills. It is not “just imaginary,” but rather it is through our imaginations that we connect to the subtle underpinnings of the world of energy that surrounds us. Our consciousness is connected with all things, and our imagination is that connecting link between everything. But this power is most easily accessible to us when we have shifted our awareness more fully into our inner worlds.
ALTERED STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS
Consciousness is a continuum. It is through shifting our consciousness into unfamiliar areas of this continuum that our minds and imaginations give us access to paranormal experiences. But our minds are not mechanical instruments that clink from one gear into another, one moment in consensus reality, the next in some magical realm, although this does happen occasionally. For the most part, these experiences happen in a more fluid way. Strange things actually happen around us all the time, but we frequently do not recall them, because when we shift through states of consciousness, we often seem to forget what occurred in the previous state. How often have you woken up from a dream, feeling that something important or interesting had just been happening, but you are completely incapable of recalling what it was?
We are in fact conscious at all times. It is just that we are operating out of different states of consciousness, and there is some trouble translating between the layers. A sort of amnesia seems to block our recall between the states of consciousness, unless we are very careful to make sure that we remember what has taken place. I use terms like subconscious, unconscious, superconscious, but they are all your consciousness, and you are always aware on one or all of these levels. Even in the deepest sleep states, it is still possible to obtain meaningful communication with the sleeper. I have experienced this sort of communication both as the sleeper and as an alert communicator, conversing with a sleeping subject. In my hypnosis office I have had communications with a client, either through words or body signals, and the client has had absolutely no recollection of the communication. But meaningful information was passed in both directions, so the person was conscious on some level, and the therapeutic result was obtained. Some part of our essential consciousness is always aware. I have occasionally had full conversations with my sleeping girlfriend that she does not remember. If I ever realized she was asleep, I'm sure I would ask much more interesting questions!
One explanation that psychologists offer for altered states is that there seem to be different patterns of brainwaves associated with the basic distinct phases of consciousness when a subject is connected to an electroencephalograph (EEG) machine. Again, consciousness is a very fluid and elusive thing, so this model is a bit simplistic. All of these states blend into one another, and it is not possible to strictly say that one thing is always this and another that. Still, it is useful as a way of classifying general experiences. There are five basic distinct types of brainwaves: Beta, Alpha, Theta, Delta and Gamma.
Beta – brainwave frequency: 14 to 30 cycles per second
These are the kind of brainwaves that are observed by an EEG machine when we are in an active and alert state of mind. Many of us actually spend far less time in this state than one might suppose. This is a state of outer awareness in which we are focused on what is going on around us. This is the state we are in when we are jolted into full awareness such as when we must solve a problem, or when someone swerves in front of us while driving. It is the state we are in when we are seeking solutions, facing opposition, doing deductive thinking or any conscious, reactive state of mind.
Magick that may be conducted in the Beta State: for the most part, you should at least be in a light alpha state for any serious work, but occasionally you may have success with telepathic sending, intuition, insight, prophecy through flashes of insight, magnetic charisma or fascination in the Beta State. These lists are only meant to be suggestive. Please judge by your own experiments.
Alpha – brainwave frequency: 8 to 13 cycles per second
These are the brainwave patterns observed when a person is deeply relaxed and focused inwardly. It's often called the light trance. This is the state we are often in when watching TV or a movie, meditating, doing yoga, or driving long distances on the highway. Many of us spend a lot of time in this state.
When performing magical rituals, it is ideal to be in the alpha state of consciousness, but when we first start to do rituals, we are usually in the beta state, trying to remember all the steps, words and gestures correctly. Over my life, I have noticed that more complex rituals tend to actually not be as effective as simple ones, because it is the state of consciousness, not the ritual that is doing the magick. This is one of the many reasons why I have tried to keep all of the ritual elements in this book as simple as possible. However, that is my predisposition, and for you it may be that complicated ritual tasks help you get into the best state for you. There are plenty of sources for very complicated rituals in many good magick books. I am not going to reprint them here. But, no matter what rituals you use, allow yourself to do things wrong, attempting to remain in the relaxed and focused state rather than concerning yourself overmuch with ritual details. State is the key to success. This is true of all ritual, not just those to be found in this book.
Magick that may be conducted in the Alpha State: The majority of your work will be conducted in the alpha State, such as clairvoyance, clairaudience, clairfeeling and empathy, mental influence and fascination, intuition, traveling in the spirit vision (body of light), telepathy, spell-casting, manifestations, automatic writing, evocation, communication with other planes and so on.
Theta – brainwave frequency: 4 to 7 cycles per second
This is the state associated with extreme relaxation and the deeper trance states of advanced meditation or deep hypnosis. It is sometimes called the “hypnagogic state.” This is that usually brief time between waking and sleeping when images, sounds and mini-dreams seem to come into your mind of their own volition. When you focus your consciousness in this state you often have “peak experiences” associated with illumination and transcendence. You may also be actually asleep in this state. You usually do not have much awareness of your body in the Theta State, although you may feel vibrations, ripples or slowly spinning sensations. Many writers on the paranormal and the occult ascribe these sensations to the loosening of your astral or ethereal body. I will leave that to your own exploration to find out what you think. You will generally not move your physical body at all in this state, unless your subconscious causes some sort of twitch.
Magick that may be conducted in the Theta State: out of body experiences/astral projection, illumination, inspiration, intuition, channeling, communication with other planes, and past life experiences.
Delta – brainwave frequency: .5 to 3 cycles per second
This is the state of deeper sleep, sometimes both dreaming REM sleep and the deeper so-called dreamless sleep. However, dreamless sleep is a misnomer. Our untrained minds are always generating images, sounds and feelings even in the deepest sleep states. After nearly twenty years of exploring my mind I can say with confidence that we are always dreaming, always aware. We usually do not consciously remember Delta experiences without training and effort.
Magick that may be conducted in the Delta State: Out of Body Experiences/Astral Projection, Channeling/Mediumship.
Gamma – brainwave frequency: over 30 cycles per second
This is the state of hyper-alert mental activity. The Gamma brainwave has been observed in certain monks and yogis in states of higher consciousness, and may play a useful part in some remote viewing experiences. But we will not have occasion to focus on this state particularly in the techniques of this manual.
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So, let's take a look at these states in actual experience. The following exerc
ises will give you a practical impression of these states associated with the different brainwaves and their functions.
There are numerous light and sound mind machines, and other gadgets, gizmos and computer programs designed to entrain the brain to these different states, and I think these can definitely be useful. Many of the techniques in this book can easily be adapted for use with these brainwave entrainment devices. This can be a very useful method of working. However, I recommend that you also learn to get to these states without outside assistance, because these electronic tools can become crutches, just as drugs (and thinking) can become addictive. It is very simple to get into the alpha, theta and delta states, and we are free to use them anytime, once we are used to them.
Exercise 9 - Beta State – Waking Consciousness
Time Required: 2 to 5 minutes
Beta consciousness is the state of full conscious awareness, when your conscious mind is running things. No complex exercise is necessary to experience it. You are in this state right now. Any time that you are trying to understand something new, or deal with a difficult situation your brain will be functioning primarily with Beta waves. This state of consciousness is perfect for critical thinking and operating effectively in the outside world. We actually spend less time in this state than you might think. So much of our time is spent watching TV or doing mundane tasks that we are often in the alpha state in our daily lives. Here are a few examples of times when you will be operating in the beta state:
Working on a crossword puzzle
Rock climbing
Making a speech
Trying to seduce someone
Telling a funny story
Doing math
Really listening to someone talk about something important
Driving in difficult traffic
Building a piece of furniture
Solving a problem with your computer
Even in these tasks, we can often slip into trance or the alpha state.
1. Take a few moments and observe your state of consciousness at this moment. If you spend too long on this, you may actually slip into the alpha state. Keep your mind active. Go ahead and think about your day. What are you going to be doing with the rest of your day? How long do you have to spend on The Book of Magick Power today? This is your waking state, and on an EEG machine you would primarily be registering beta waves right now.
2. Record your experience in your journal.
Exercise 10 - Alpha State - The Light Trance
Time Required: 15 minutes to an hour
As I've mentioned above, we often find ourselves at least on the borderline of this state, so it won't be an unfamiliar place. This state has been called many names, the light trance, the magical trance, magical consciousness, daydreaming, meditation, introspection and countless other words too. It is simply the state of consciousness in which we limit our attention, relax and focus inward. Even if we are still looking outward, we are generally referencing inner states when we are in this state of consciousness. The brain slows down, and alpha waves begin to predominate. In this state our subconscious mind becomes more active, while our conscious mind becomes more docile. This is why this state is so perfect for exploring magick and the paranormal. As our brain slows down and moves inward we begin to notice things through our subconscious that we usually simply tune out. These are the beginnings of psychic and magical awareness. We are often naturally in the alpha state when we are:
Watching TV or a movie
Cleaning
Making love
Driving on the highway
Daydreaming
Meditating
This is the simplest method I have come up with so far for entering the Alpha State in a magical context. It may look a little long at first, but it is in many ways simpler and more direct than the technique I used in The New Hermetics. This exercise, or the next slightly faster modification of it, will be the first thing you do anytime you wish to conduct magick or psychic exploration. This exercise will actually provide two separate things for you. It will put you in the Alpha State, but it will also begin to connect you up with your superconscious mind, by visualizing a globe of light right above you, and this light shining down into your body. As the light travels into your body, you will be connecting up your subconscious and your superconscious, and this is a gateway to real power. You will count down very slowly from ten to one, as you send the light down through your body. As you are doing this, allow each part of your body to entirely relax. This exercise can be very healing and balancing as well as providing you with a useful skill. The key to success with this technique is to really allow yourself to relax as you are doing it.
1. You should find a place where you will not be disturbed for at least a half an hour. This may mean unplugging the phone. Don't worry! Those calls from the coast can wait!
2. Sit in a very comfortable chair, or lie down in bed. This latter may not be the best idea because it is very easy to fall asleep, and we do not really want that to happen.
3. Once you are seated, (or lying down) close your eyes and notice the feel of your body. Are there any pains or itches that jump to your awareness? Do you have to go to the bathroom? Take as much care of these things as you can before you begin. Once you start you do not want to be disturbed or move much if possible. Itches may plague you in the early stages of this exercise, but you will eventually overcome them.
4. Now that you are ready, you must simply begin to relax and focus inward. Take three or four deep breaths, allowing your body to relax deeply with each exhale, and then turn your breathing back to your subconscious.
5. Begin to focus on a spot right above your head, imagining a grapefruit sized globe of bright white light a short distance above you. This light is an access point to your superconscious mind. It is a connection to spirit and the divine, so attempt to feel a loving feeling emanating from this light, and allow yourself to feel love toward this globe of light. Your visualization does not have to be clear or perfect, just pretend that you are doing it right. It will work as long as you pretend and feel loving toward the light, allowing yourself to have fun and be relaxed no matter how dim or wobbly the image is. Your subconscious mind can also assist you in visualizing this light above you. Ask, and see what happens.
6. Imagine this light as shining down on you, and as the light touches your head, imagine that your head is beginning to fill with light. As your head fills with light, allow this light to relax the top of your head, your forehead, eyes, cheeks jaw and the back of your head, mentally saying to yourself, “ten.”
7. Allow the relaxing light to move down to your neck and throat, relaxing your neck and throat, saying “nine.”
8. Allow the relaxing light to move down to your chest and shoulders, relaxing your chest and shoulders, saying “eight.”
9. Allow the relaxing light to move down to your arms, hands and fingers, relaxing your arms, hands and fingers, saying “seven.”
10. Allow the relaxing light to move down to your belly and back, relaxing your belly and back, saying “six.”
11. Allow the relaxing light to move down to your groin and buttocks, relaxing your groin and buttocks, saying “five.”
12. Allow the relaxing light to move down to your thighs, relaxing your thighs, saying “four.”
13. Allow the relaxing light to move down to your knees, relaxing your knees, saying “three.”
14. Allow the relaxing light to move down to your shins, relaxing your shins, saying “two.”
15. Allow the relaxing light to move down to your feet and toes, relaxing your feet and toes, saying “one.”
16. When you have finished, you will be in the Alpha State. It may not be extremely deep into alpha, but you will be there. If you would like to go deeper, simply go through steps 5-16 again. You may find yourself experiencing odd sensations, and completely relaxed. If you fall asleep during any part of this, do not worry. You will be able to continue as soon as you wake up, and at that point you
will definitely be at least in the alpha state.
17. At this stage, you should just become acquainted with this state. Truthfully, you may not even be aware that you are in an altered state. You may just feel relaxed and hopefully filled with loving energy and light. All that has happened is that you've very slightly changed your perceptual conditions, and reduced the usual overwhelming number of signals from your physical body. Your focus has been turned inward, toward higher states of consciousness and your psychic abilities.
18. Simply observe this condition for a few minutes. You may hear voices, and you may see images. These will be of the same nature as the hypnagogic imagery that you may experience when drifting off to sleep. Although this will most likely not be anything of significance, you should attempt to remember what you have seen, and write it down in your journal. This habit cannot be emphasized too much, since it is the only way that you can objectively gauge your progress.
The Book of Magick Power Page 6