There is no doubt in my mind that the deeper you get into Magick, it can and will change your life. However, the deeper you get into it, the more you require knowledge on how to keep oneself stable. This is a very much needed and important aspect of all magick that is overlooked often and by many - why focus on the basics when you can go straight to astral projection, exploring reality, conjuring and invoking, right? Wrong.
People fascinated with the Occult direct their energy more often than not to higher levels resulting in their energy and concentration becoming unbalanced. The Occult is extremely interesting and people want to evolve as fast as possible but they forget that they’re not only spirits on the physical plane that very much governs with its own set of rules. You’re physical, so your primary creative purpose is physical functioning. Quid Pro Quo - U can live on Earth but there is a sacrifice for that; your highest spiritual attributes.
You have no idea how many loony magicians I’ve run into who have no balance and basic knowledge of magick. They more often than not get in all sorts of conundrums in the spirit world and end up being destroyed by their own minds so much so that their whole being shatters. Once in that state, they no longer perceive what is real and what is imaginary, what an awful fate.
So how does one keep from parting from his sanity while practicing magick? Here is my way… how to keep stable and sane while practicing magick, and more importantly how to avoid falling into insanity without control.
So the first thing is to work out. Seriously, if you are not happy with your body, get outside and work the fuck out. If you are unhealthy, you are putting massive limits on your magick and on your mental ability to be unfazed by shit. So not only is your energy all over the shop, your thinking is clouded, your discipline falters, you feel more depressed, consequently, you become un-grounded. If you take one thing from this guide, it is to get into a damn routine and pump out those workouts no matter what. This will prove to be the biggest game-changer for your magick and indeed for your life.
Don’t limit yourself, the LHP is after all about breaking those limits.
This should follow from working out. Eat to grow, but also spiritually and mentally. We are after all what we eat! Keep it disciplined, and this opens a whole lot of new avenues for you. You will be properly grounded, you will be stable, you will be growing stronger, and thus have more energy for magick.
And if you ever need a ritual to be extremely powerful, you can fast for a day or two to quickly un-ground yourself - controlled insanity, so to say. The best tip for eating is to read up on what your body requirements are, give it what it needs, but don’t pig out unnecessarily.
No friends, bad social skills? Practice it. If you are stuck in your home without socializing for weeks at a time, this WILL take a toll on you. Right now, whatever you say, you ARE in your physical body, and your physical body is a social animal. Without socializing, you will biologically destabilize yourself, this, in turn, will mess you up further in magick. Your socializing needs will be unfulfilled, and you will limit yourself magickally, by making yourself extremely vulnerable to doing loony stuff. Best tip I can give you? Start saying hello to every stranger you pass on the streets. Then after you’re comfortable, start asking them questions, such as “how you doing?”. Soon you will start making more friends and sexual prospects. Don’t let it take over your life - enjoy it, but remember your primary mission.
If you’re homeless, your magick will falter. Don’t shun material things. As Above So Below - money is not material, it is spiritual. You don’t need to be a billionaire, but get your finances in order. Make sure you are independent and stop doing stupid financial mistakes. You’re only messing yourself up, no one else.
The major benefit of focusing a part of your life intensely on work and career is that it grounds you. Make yourself love the grind. It will bring discipline into your life, accomplishment, and ability to develop your magick as you use it for work.
What I recommend here is to look into creating your own business. Your situation does NOT matter. No matter what it is, you CAN start your own business. Drop the excuses. Way too often you see magicians go off on a tangent on how they are vampires, demons, angels, or whatever else, incarnate, and spurt on about these great grand missions on Earth that they must fulfill. And way too often do you see them talking about the different titles they might have received, or being related to such and such spirits. This does not matter. What changed? Nothing. You are still here, you are still doing the same stuff. It does not bring benefit to you to think this, you are only stroking your ego. If you are privy to such information, take it into consideration, but don’t get obsessed with it, continue improving yourself. My tip for you - listen to your spirits, but with a grain of salt.
Keep in mind any fears you might have while doing magick. If you are afraid of something, it can get out of hand with magick. If you are afraid of possession, for example, you are vulnerable to obsessing over it after an evocation. And these obsessions can last for a long time, and seriously mess you up. Debilitating paranoia and insomnia can occur. Be aware of your fears, and REALIZE when you are obsessing in an unhealthy manner. You need to know that what you are reading and you need to develop a clear and concise understanding of it. The most obvious areas where this can apply are different conspiracy theories and information clouded with dogma.
If you are just starting out on your magickal journey, do yourself a major favor, and stay away from those, until you are able to sift through the bad to find the good. As you start reading more and more about magick, read and feel what the authors are portraying- do they feel and sound dogmatic, or even loony? Or do they seem grounded in reality and results? Use your intuition, and when you find someone that is grounded in reality, still take what they are saying with a pinch of salt anyway. Whenever you find a theory you feel strongly about, still be skeptical and look ever deeper.
Avoid sticking to one set of thoughts or ideas, do not believe everything, and keep in mind that not everyone is as they make themselves out to be. Be skeptical, question it all, and IF it works then use it, but be adaptable to change should you find something better.
Don’t fall into the trap of thinking you are finished. There will be greater heights to achieve. Keep evolving, more and more, and don’t let it get to your head. This ties in with the first few parts I mentioned. You don’t need physical titles for yourself and your magick. High Priest/Priestess, Arch-wizard, you don’t need that crap. In the greater scheme of things, it doesn’t mean anything.
And stay silent. Don’t tell others about your magick, unless it is a very rare, special case. Keep your workings secret, all of them. Keep evolving and keep silent. But bear in mind, silence is different than secrecy. Silence is more about letting the result of your actions do the talking. Some mages have fallen flat in understand that.
That is all.
Em hotep - Patrick Gaffiero