Opinions on where a person should be

The only thing I think is crucial for daily practice is meditation. Now, what that means will vary but to me it is being in the present, paying attention, intense focus, or contemplation. Where should someone be? It depends on their goals, where they come from, whether they’ve had a healthy lifestyle, what system they’re using… I’d say that if you’re doing magick daily, within a month you should at least be able to manifest something tangible, and be able to make some kind of spirit contact. That’s a dedicated practitioner. A dabbler may expect to get that far in a year. But we’re all different and should never compare ourselves to external standards. These are all opinions.

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Well, I’m looking at it this way … While I’m unemployed, I need to be putting in work to improve myself, which means six hours self directed tech work, and six hours self directed magic work.
Minimum. Six hours sleep daily, daily exercise and a new modest diet. Any extra time goes to magic.
A timer is set.
If a year goes by and there is no substantial verifiable improvement, then it is time to reevaluate absolutely everything.

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I’ve been with the forum for over a year now and in that time if been researching and learning all that I can about the pantheon of entities/deities I’ve chosen to follow/work with. I’ve been collecting every book on Magick that I can get my hands, being unemployed for the past 6 months has slowed me down but has not stopped me. I read all of the threads on the forum and use what is helpful. I’m in the process of building my altar/temple for the entities/deities I’ve chosen. I read and meditate as much as possible. I must admit that the unemployment is a distraction. Good news is that I’ve been hired for a job I’m just waiting for them to take my finger prints make my identification and start training.

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Why put a time frame on magical progression, instead of using it when needed?

Progression and ascension happens when it happens. It’s not the same as having a daytime job that ends after 9 hours and call it a day.

There’s more to magic than doing rituals, evocations, invocations, curses or readings. A simple interaction with spirits is just as magical as anything else, and that can last in a 24/7 time frame. For some of us, it never turns off.

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That has been a habit I’ve been working on breaking out of. I’d set a date and time then something happened that I can’t meet that set time frame.

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Well, to measure progress. After eight years, my opinion is that I should be fairly adept by now, if not a Magus.
I should have been self sufficient and self reliant within a year.
I should be directing my life and spirit, rather than being blown about by the winds of change.

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Of course, that’s if I had been putting in six to eight hours magic daily. Which I had not been doing.

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So for a year, 2200 hours hardcore work minimum should show a beneficial, substantial, verifiable result.

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@Fuego1 - you can’t improve yourself if you’re putting too much pressure on yourself. I admire the fact that you work very hard, but you give yourself a hard time too. Part of magic should be fun and something you enjoy. You can’t enjoy it or focus on whatever it is you’re trying to accomplish if you’re burning yourself out. Don’t compare yourself to other people, if I did that I would have stopped practicing magic a long time ago. The most successful people in their fields all take short breaks or vacations once in awhile. Then try again. I took breaks too and I greatly benefited from them. Thats when my manifestations occur and my breakthrough ideas come. I came back motivated and on point.

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Yeah, I agree … But I still cannot honestly say I’ve put in adequate at minimum work.
Sure, I interact and read, and I’ve tried evoking.
However, relying on others opinion than my own realization that I’ve made contact is questionable.
So, at least in this month, doing daily basics and evoking two deities a day is beginning benchmark. A benchmark where I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I have had made substantial contact with the intended spirits.

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Oh man, that really hit home for me
Azazel had me burned out like, charred coal

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Have you asked yourself what you truly wish to accomplish? Such as a list to show yourself you are making progress? Have any checkpoints you have set out for yourself to gauge your own progress?

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I will be in daily contact with one or two people through PM, and updating my journal on here, but that will most likely be the extent over the year that I will be interacting here.

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Yes.

That’s a lot of “shoulds,” my friend, and not a single one of them is correct.

You don’t have to be or do anything. You do not have to practice magick. You are perfectly able to go back to a regular life. But something keeps you coming back, so be patient. 8 years does not a Magus make, not by a long shot. I’ve been at it for ten. It took EA over twenty years to be able to claim an almost 100% success rate. For Jason Miller it’s been 30.

You put way too many expectations on yourself with all the “shoulds.” As Belial told me, Spirit moves in its own time and it is pointless to compare your progress to others. You make progress every time you sit down to meditate. What made me stop comparing my progress to others on the forum, was taking the attitude that anything I do is pushing me forward in my Ascent, even if it is just a daily meditation of following my breath. That has greatly lessened my expectations of phenomena and lust for results.

I wish you luck on your practice. 8 hours a day is an insane pace that few could keep up for a prolonged period. The mind needs rest to process new information.

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Well, maybe you should redirect some questions, @Fuego1:

Are you doing magic to learn and gain knowledge and wisdom, or are you doing magic to gain advantage in the mundane world?

Personally, I don’t give a shit about the mundane world, as long as I manage to pay my bills and bring food to the table. Everything beyond that is just a bonus. I’m doing magic to learn, and to share my experiences to others.

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Both. My being poor and homeless doesn’t help me in any way shape or form. If anything it just prolongs hurting me.
Therefore helping the mundane helps the spiritual. Principle of correspondence.

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I’ve been there. I was homeless three times in the last four years. As Belial taught me, the physical and the spiritual are one. They are not separate. One affects the other.

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Being poor and homeless won’t help you any less with spiritual growth and magical practices than being rich does. I’ve been on both ends of the spectrum, I’ve been practicing magic for 20+ years. Money runs out, plus I had more distractions pulling me away from my goals. Now I’m in a spot in my life where I’m living like a house slave, just to make sure my daughter has a roof over her head. Magic practice does not solve everything, but I’ve learned to mediate effectively and utilize my energies to make my living circumstances more comfortable, kinda like how I was joking about on the TMW thread a few days ago with the Merlin cartoon, but really that’s me all the time. But don’t give up though, just relax on yourself a bit. This is a lifelong path and it’s not always an easy one.

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Refocus your efforts on developing your own energy and abilities. I don’t know where @micah is and I hope he doesn’t mind me using him as an example, but that man does energy work CONSTANTLY. He lives and breathes magick and does it constantly. I have been encouraged and inspired from him many times. Instead of giving up, regroup and redirect your attentions to you and your development.

You can also not judge your improvement by others. We all have our own pace. I think you are just not seeing and aware of your growth. I did the same and was amazed when I was tested and saw the amount i had learned. Do not be discouraged. You never loose until you give up. So just NEVER give up. I think things are changing over there right now too. That effects us and I’ve noticed many magucians saying similar things. Massively able magicians are saying they are not as connected etc. The energies are changing and ee have to adapt to them to communicate again. Keep working broyhers and sisters and KNOW that everything is fine. You are EXACTLY where you are supposed to be and soon, veey soon things are going to be clear.

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