Hello all:)
I’d like to ask a few specific questions about magical development, but please allow me to tell you a little about myself, first.
I’m a practising Satanist (of the LaVeyan variety, for those who see a distinction), and I’m a ceremonial magician who has gravitated towards EA’s writings. I’ve successfully performed evocations involving Goetic spirits, BoA, KoF, elementals, angels, demons etc. I’m by no means terribly adept, but I find my work to be reasonably predictable and, at the very least, not just random chaos.
I’ve had success with rituals for academic performance, love/soulmate development, and the like (my desires are relatively tame). I’ve not had much success with magical assassination, however, although that is a separate issue.
My astral faculties could always be better, and although I can, usually (depending on how much I’ve been practising my basic exercises) evoke to a convincing astral manifestation, I am not terribly interested at this point in a full physical manifestation. I have had actual visual phenomenon I could only liken to psychosis or hallucination (as they were that convincing), although I do not use chemicals of any kind during ritual, and consider these occurrences to be a bonus rather than my ultimate goal (for now).
My questions, however, deal with psychic development in a few different areas. EA’s WoD has been my most beneficial book in that the exercises within have given me the best results and the fastest development of my career, although I now seem to have reached an impass.
I am able to relax to the point where my astral body separates from my physical, although I cannot transfer sight to it, nor move around in it. When I meditate in bed (every night), I can see the room around me through my closed eyelids with some clarity (outlines, shapes, ceiling fan etc) within about 15 minutes. I use a basic chakra charging technique, plus drawing light straight down into my chest and breathing it through my body (much like EA’s attainment of omnipotence light-breathing exercise).
At this point (about half an hour into meditation), everything seems to stop. My thoughts are very still, my visual field (behind my eyelids) is virtually blank like a screen, my other senses are dulled and my body is almost paralysed. It’s very relaxing, but nothing ever happens beyond this. I try to will my astral body to do something, but it never does, nor do I experience hallucinations/visions etc.
Are there any exercises you could recommend to get deeper into trance from this point? This is the same state I enter when evoking (except that I’m not lying in bed:) but again, it feels as though I could go much deeper, but I have no idea how to proceed. I’m particularly interested in how I can see my environment with more clarity. I reach out mentally and touch surfaces until they become “real” in my vision/imagination of their own, and I can sense their energies, but I’d like to be able to see them much clearer, like during astral travel (which I’ve only accidentally achieved a few times).
Any advice would be greatly appreciated:)
Kind regards, James.