The Kundalini Awakening

Warning : this is about spontaneous awakening. When trying to provoke it, do not work alone, without guidance of someone who experienced it and is capable of teaching and guiding you through the process - under rare circumstances, trauma could be experienced

A Kundalini awakening is the rise of - let's call it "spirit energy" for lack of a better word, from the base of the spine to the pineal gland (3rd eye), then back into the whole body.

Kindly note that this phenomenon is scientifically observed, notably in Qi-Gong practice.

Once it has reached the 3rd eye, it may also rise further to fully open the crown chakra or sahasrara, forming the mythical "halo" or "horns" of Light that are so common in divine imagery. See "The Chakra System" for more information on what the 3rd eye is.

The Kundalini Awakening is an extremely intense sensation which can be overwhelming in many ways. Its effect is to enhance psychic abilities - forever. It also rebalances all karma and causes minor physiological alterations (body shape might change slightly, for the best).

Even the early stages can bring overwhelming physical and spiritual sensations, as it gently proceeds to cleanse our chakras - thus expelling clutters and blockages, potentially causing stomach pains, back pains, neck pains, dizziness, intense tiredness, and also, times of sorrow.

A first Kundalini Awakening eventually feels, past the early stages and when properly accepted, like a full-body orgasm, a thousand times more intense than a regular orgasm - during mine, for two hours, I would be unable to type on a keyboard as I was shaking. During this time, the individual can experience hot/cold vibes, and sorrow as, once again, chakra clutters "pass through" on their way out.

However, past these frightening sensations, it is pure bliss, pure pleasure and energy, extremely intense dynamism, that can last up to several days, and has a healing effect on the soul and the body. Thus, it is very important if it happens to you, to fully relax, fear not, and let it come, let it flow gently, knowing that ultimately, through the storm and the pain, this powerful gift from within the body will make you feel better for the rest of your life.

The "path" to the Kundalini awakening cannot be directly taught or systematized, as it is the result of a personal reflection on the nature of reality, perception, and love. It is attained when a degree of balance and compassion has been established within the deepest aspects of the persona, thus, the closest we could get to offering a guide to this attainment is the loving-kindness meditation.

A handful of individuals, if one is very close to self-realization and a first Kundalini awakening, can grant shaktipat, a touch or presence which triggers it, however, this is extremely rare and pretenders are numerous, and it is by no means a reliable "way" - or a way at all. Still, if you meet such persons, consider them precious channels and try to learn from their experience.

The Inner Eye

The inner eye is not used here to describe the third eye itself. Although these terms are commonly exchanged, we use it as a generic label which encompasses abilities pertaining to "mental vision" - of elements located outside of the perceptive field of our five senses. 

The method is easy to apply. All one has to do is to shut off all mental noise. This aligns all levels of existence and allows..

1. Remote vision over distance, realms of reality, and time.
2. Proper use of divination devices like runes or Tarot.

3. Sharp empathy.
4. And helps maximizing the effect of all other abilities.

The trick is to use the voice in your head, and train yourself to gradually silence it, rather than abruptly forcing it to silence at once. When your hear that voice speaking, simply cut it. Shorter and shorter as you get used to this exercise.

For example :

• I want to... 
• I want...
• I wa... 
• I...
• ...

Once you are able to enter a state of mental silence, visions, sounds, and feelings will simply come to you, as well as information from a higher source that was previously inaccessible, while the mental dialogue was chattering away. To orient the process, think about your question or target before emptying your mind. And that's it. This can be used in combination with tools like Tarot, and good divination practice also allows dialog with any higher entity, such as divine guardians or higher selves.

See also: The Power of Now - as the state of "being in the now" is what we aim to achieve through the above method, complete presence in current activities.

The Subtle Body

The chakra system is one of the most important keys to understanding and developing one's non-physical abilities. Its exploration stems from the assumption and empirical observation of the fact that we have (at least) two bodies.

The physical body.
The spirit (or etheric) body.

The latter is subtle, not made of physical matter, and thus, cannot be perceived with the naked eye as far as most people are concerned. Although clairvoyance can be achieved, just as any other ability, by anyone, and allows seeing this "second body" in plain sight, as what many refer to as "the aura" - (the aura, described in the Bible too, being, in that perspective, the "Halo" of saints and angels).

Healing should also take into account the following bodies :

The mental body.
The emotional body.

The etheric body and physical body are connected through seven areas, referred to as "the chakras". Hereafter is a diagram explaining :

* Which physical glands or set of physical glands are connected to which chakras
* The names of each chakra

There are seven main chakras in the body. Some traditions recognize up to twelve, but the others are less relevant : these specific seven chakras are the ones we will use in the following tutorial series.

It is very important to understand that these two bodies are tightly interwoven, and equally important for the health and well-being of a person. The etheric body extends the physical body's capabilities, and sustains its functions. It is possible, through the etheric body, to support the physical body while performing uncommon tasks : some martial artists, in fact, use it to increase the resistance of their skin and make it immune to blades, or other weapons.

Chakras can be cluttered : clutters will inevitably influence the physical body and highly favor recurring pains, eczemas, allergies, etc. When healing such a chronic disease, one should try to first address etheric body limitations and blocks, possibly, mental and emotional body blocks too, and accompany this approach using physical therapy. Medication, often hazardous, should be applied only where it is absolutely necessary (in diabetes for example).

Chakra cleansing

In order to function at their best, chakras should be clean, and active in appropriate proportions : overactive chakras will also favor health impairments, such as social anxiety.

Unclogging the seven main chakras is the road to developing one's full abilities, including some which are broadly used, and regarded by current science as "paranormal" - for example, the ability to locate water sources and underground currents. Used by many companies worldwide, yet difficult to explain and prove using our scientific models.

How to cleanse the chakra system

1) Identify which chakras are blocked.

This is the first step. It can be achieved through simple personality tests, which will highlight the areas of our spirit impacted by inappropriate chakra activity.
Online Chakra Test (since global changes in etheric activity have occurred, this test might now report seemingly overactive chakras in many cases). This test also recommends ways to then clean or open up one's chakras.

2) Once the clutters have been identified, they should be cleaned and balanced from the bottom up. Self-reflection, meditation, psychology can start the process of cleansing chakras.

I highly recommend, for example, the book "Secrets of the Cube" to induce self-awareness and help cleanse the third eye chakra.

3) Additional chants, physical practices like yoga, mudras (hand gestures) can further cleanse one's chakras and unlock the individual's full potential. As per this article. Mudras are a specific form of "acupressure", and work by putting extremities of the etheric body in contact, or favoring etheric activity through physical postures.

4) Finally, other personal techniques have been brought to our attention, such as : sports, creative writing, music, painting (highly recommended for people who have an overactive root chakra) - any approach to exploring connections between our spirit and our physical body will have an impact on the chakra system's global activity.

Chakra cleansing, and the perception of their activity (tingles for some people, heat for others, vibrations..) are deeply personal, and vary from one individual to another. Thus, these essential tips should be considered as generic guidelines. We recommend you to elaborate your own chakra cleansing method(s) based on these guidelines, by testing the approaches which naturally appeal to you, and selecting the most effective subset for your astral/physical bodies.

Making it happen

Making it happen, whatever you want to make happen, simply takes a will, and a method. Whichever task we seek to complete, even if it seems big, once broken down into smaller steps, just becomes a group of small and accessible tasks.

This, of course, assumes that you presently fully possess the resolve and emotional means to take initiatives which will change your lifestyle. We all are truly conceived for a purpose, and grow when in line with that purpose, we thrive when we are fit to our environment - which is one of the ways in which "mental health" is evaluated : do we suffer from how we relate to our daily experiences?

In a world where evolution relentlessly animates and refines a variety of life forms, our qualities and defects, unique, make each one of us invaluable, a perfectly imperfect addition to a symphony, which, in and of itself, changes the whole melody.

Still, if the resolve to take life changing actions has not been attained yet, and if we feel emotional wounds holding us back, a first goal to consider could be to seek support. To obtain the kind of guidance which will allow us to fully use our resources. It takes courage, is rewarding, and also benefits from tried and tested methods. 

We recommend, in order to recover from spiritual, mental, and emotional challenges, the use of psychotherapy rather than pharmaceutical medication and psychiatry, which are generally impersonal and, in our experience, tend to address symptoms rather than causes. Psychotherapy extends the subtle principles established by Carl Jung, and requires the healer to experience the method as a "patient" first, ensuring responsible practice, oriented towards healing the spirit, as opposed to neurological or hormonal correspondences. Deep seated obsessions might benefit the assistance of hypnotherapists also, or responsible NLP practitioners.

Occupational therapy, a set of practices ranging from qigong to psychology, and proposed as a method intended to heal patients through occupation, activity, of the spirit and of the body, is also suitable for the desired early comfort in some cases. Depending on situations, other therapies, or self healing as explained in our healing tutorial series, might also favor an initial vitality and state of inner peace, helping us to truly realize and manifest our potential.

Once these roadblocks have been addressed, come big questions. "Who am I?" is the first, and the most important. We will see how to answer it in our next tutorial.

Who am I?

Balance

Skills

Pranic breathing

Pranic breathing is a way to breathe which stimulates the flow of "spirit matter" through the chakra system. This "spirit matter" is referred to in the following exercise and in many available pranic breathing methods as "prana". It is also known as chi, qi, ki, or ruach and is recognized across systems as the energy which sustains life, being the breath of life itself.

While it is not energy in the strict scientific sense, channeled prana produces measurable heat variations in the physical body.

The following exercise is often performed by practitioners and healers of all backgrounds to energize their auras and balance their chakra system before conducting a healing. One of the many methods to approach it is to :


1. Lay, sit or stand with your spine erect. (rooting)
2. Keep your shoulders relaxed throughout the entire breathing sequence.
3. Put your hands on your lower abdomen.
4. Place your tongue on your palate - on the roof of your mouth just behind your teeth. Keep it there throughout the entire breathing sequence.
5. Inhale slowly through your nose, allowing the air to push your lower belly out. Pause for a moment.
6. Exhale through your mouth completely, feeling your abdomen pulling in, contracting as you do.
7. This is one cycle of pranic breathing.

From : http://www.jing-qi-shen.org/pranic_breathing.html

However, there are many other approaches; the central element here is to learn to breathe slowly using the diaphragm. With practice, it allows you to direct prana to any given chakra or area of the body where it is needed, facilitating cleansing and healing this way.

It is not necessary to know pranic breathing in order to perform the other exercises, yet this simple meditation is a good addition to the healing toolset, and to one's life hygiene.

Self healing

For this series, we will consider that all humans have at least two bodies : the physical body, and the astral or subtle body. Chakras are the invisible centers which interconnect these two bodies.

Tantric healing, like other oriental medical practices, and reiki, affects the subtle body in ways that are tied to, and immediately impact, physical symptoms. Applied successfully, it can achieve or sustain progress and healing of complex pathologies.

Emphasis on sustain : since spirit and physical matter are very tightly interwoven, therapy should be used on both fronts at once - however, the influence of spirit over matter is greater, whether noticed or not, it is *always* more important to tackle the issue at spirit level than at the sole physical level. All necessary physical measures should also be taken, yet, it is the chakra system which will make the success of a therapy against the most challenging pathologies, such as nervous lesions.

Recommended - a clean and balanced chakra system. Please refer to tutorials about the chakra system, and pranic breathing for details - pranic breathing is not necessary, but it may help.

Healing the self : small scars, bruises, burns..

1) Start by rooting yourself.

Eg. choose a comfortable posture. Standing, sitting, it does not matter - as long as your spine is as straight as is possible to you. 

This anchors your spirit body in the broader "pranic network" which underlies all things, and will allow you to tap into forces from outside, namely, prana provided by planet earth and nature as a whole, in order to perform the healing.

2) Relax and open up your chakras.

There are many approaches to opening one's chakras : gestures (mudras) can favor it, as is the case for me, mind alone can do it, this is personal to each individual. Once your chakra system has been cleaned for the first time, you will have explored what works or doesn't work for you. With your spine "rooted" and your chakras open, you will start to feel a flow of "tingles" - or any sensation which, to you, signals your chakras - from root to crown. In and of itself, this is soothing.

3) Direct the flow.

You can "pull" this flow and "push it" with your mind, giving it impulses. For example, visualizing the prana as a light moving to a specific part of your body. With little practice, you will get used to directing this flow to the wounded area. This will accelerate the natural healing of the mentioned area - tremendously.

I can heal, by myself, a flu in 15 minutes, a burn in a matter of seconds, a scar takes more time - about an hour. Specifically, I use this after a bad move in sports, as a complement to stretching, in order to avoid muscular problems and pains. I rarely experienced muscular pain since I started practicing tantric healing.

It is as simple as this for most pathologies : lesions, viral pathologies, infections - living tissues re-growth to an extent, and some more complex tissues such as teeth, all can be treated this way regardless of the origin of the pathology.

4) Release what you did not use.

It is good practice to touch the ground, a tree, a stone, after you are done with this to release the excess of "spirit matter" and return it to nature (as said before, excessive chakra activity is as much a hindrance as low chakra activity).

On hand eczema and the hand chakras

Palm chakras

Hand eczema is a complex disease which is impossible to heal completely by a dermatologist. It appears on the hands and feet, most of the time, for reasons classic medicine is studying - there is no obvious connection between blood pressure, or composition, and this pathology. And no obvious connection between the palms and soles of the feet which could result in the skin of both areas drying out sporadically.

Medication for hand eczema involves heavy components like cortisone - and is mildly effective in most cases. It is also known to be tied to stress, but the connection, to this day, remains unclear in occidental medical practices.

I have suffered from it for years before finding what completely cured it for me. Believe it or not, it simply was a matter of activating and stimulating my palm chakras - tied to feet chakras - daily, for a few months.

You can activate these chakras by following the steps described hereafter.

• Rub your hands like sandpaper until you feel tingles in the middle of your palms.
• Separate your palms by one centimeter. Tingles remain.
• Separate your hands completely.

And you still will feel the tingles of your palm chakras, now opened and active. Practice this daily for some time (proportional to the time you left the disease untreated at spirit level - there is inertia, it takes sustained healing for long term diseases, in order for enhancements of the astral body to sink into the physical one) - et voilà! Done with hand eczema.

Active palm/feet chakras, albeit minor, also bring other benefits which will be covered in other tutorials. 

Healing

We saw in previous entries that it is possible to use "prana" from the surrounding environment, and channel it within the body to facilitate the resolution of ailments. This is what the main non-pharmaceutical healing traditions do : acupressure, massages, acupuncture all use the natural overall flow of prana and channel it in ways which help recovery.

We saw how to perform self healing using this prana. The same process can be used to heal other people, animals, even plants. This requires a few precautions though.

First, permission must be granted by the living being's higher self. There are a number of ways to obtain this permission : divination or prayer for example. Without that, pranic healing will have no effect at all on the target (some diseases are meant to serve higher purposes). However, while not needed, conscious permission is often enough to express the agreement of the higher self.

A second precaution should be taken : to cast a psychic shield. Because "polluted" prana might otherwise pass into the healer's body, transferring with it the original disease. Natural empaths may be subject to this issue. A workaround is to cast a psychic shield daily, specifically requesting that it "only allows what is meant for the highest purpose to pass through". It is also recommended to reaffirm this request immediately before doing a healing, in order to reinforce its protection, since many empaths have a tendency to weaken their shields when working with prana.

Prana can be "charged" either in constructive, or destructive ways. It can be tuned as either a tool to create or destroy form - which is particularly relevant to the usage of "chi" in martial arts. The prana which creates is channeled through pure love, the prana which destroys, through pure fear. Thus, everything up to this point is exactly like a self healing session, but we should now send our prana and love to the person/animal/plant we want to heal.

To help this transfer, one can picture the prana they mean to transfer as a ball, and place it on the wound - or imagine a link to the target and prana gently flowing to them. This is somewhat unique to each individual's perception and is similar to channeling it within your own organism - the only difference here is the need to focus on the target's body and wound (or other ailment). The psychic shield will filter what is transferred and only allow constructive exchanges.

Usage of the inner eye is also recommended to visualize the wounded / sick organs, and to help prana flow during the exercise. The goal is to restore balance to the activity of the target's etheric body : this often means pulling yin chi, dark prana, and pushing yang chi, golden or white prana to replace it. This is the "active" approach to healing, it can yield fast progress on large wounds and inflammations, at first. It should then be replaced by a fine-grained approach.

This second approach consists of simply coating up the wound or ailment in white light, constructive prana, and allowing our divine guardians to perform directly through that field. It is passive, effective and precise.

Through these steps, it is important to strike a balance, to allow just enough prana to flow in order for it to sustain the organism and gently boost its immune function to optimal levels, but not to overwhelm the patient's system or override natural healing mechanisms. This is learned through regular practice and experience, on a per-person basis.

Summary - Steps to healing another being :

1. Asking for the permission of the target's higher self
2. Basic pranic breath if required
3. Rooting
4. Grounding
5. Opening the inner eye
6. Casting a psychic shield
7. Sending love and prana to the target
8. Watching the balance/flow of prana sent during the operation

This process improves the health condition of the person/animal/plant up to restoring its original form wherever there is living tissue. Hands are a far superior vector, in which case the left hand will "pull polluted chi" while the right hand will bring in constructive prana, but they are not needed, this method is effective remotely too - this tutorial clearly considers the remote application, primarily.

It is, of course, also recommended to take all appropriate physical care before a pranic healing session : cold water for a burn, balms, etc. Self healing is faster than healing another person, yet the finest, most effective method of this kind is group healing (on a single target) - which seems exponentially more effective than the individual practice.

Finally, pranic healing, performed on healthy plants, will favour their growth, make it faster, the same way it accelerates the immune system. It is about channeling "life force", literally, to simply, and visibly, improve already existing functions - swellings or small burns disappear within minutes, a virus or infection also, cuts, wounds, may take a few hours. Treating damage to bones or teeth this way is possible - results have been observed even on nervous tissue.

Immortality

An interpretation of a set of meditations found in Taoism, Kundalini yoga, and other traditions. Here, we describe, after testing it ourselves, a version from "The Emerald Tablets".

This text seems to be related to a "predecessor" of the same name studied by major figures in our history, such as Plato, Aristotle, Isaac Newton or Carl Jung. It is an unusual and fascinating record of events and practices.

Translation of the Emerald Tablet which describes this meditation, allegedly written by Thoth, who some believe to be Hermes, and Enoch.

Desireth thou to know the deep, hidden secret?
Look in thy heart where the knowledge is bound.
Know that in thee the secret is hidden,
the source of all life and the source of all death.

This passage refers to common concepts of spirituality. The idea that the heart and relevant chakra, when our balance is not altered by the mind, connects us to the source of all consciousness, the origin of all prana/chi, of the the very breath of life and its flow.

See "The Inner Eye" for more details on the process of ending mental activity, and channeling a maximum amount of prana. Also see "Eckhart Tolle : The Power of Now". Both approaches allow us to express our consciousness fully, naturally, to align our levels of existence and tap directly into the purest flow of prana/chi.

List ye, O man, while I tell the secret,
reveal unto thee the secret of old.

The goal of this meditation, explicitly stated, is to control aging.

Deep in Earth's heart lies the flower, (a reference to structures derived from the Flower of Life)

the source of the Spirit
that binds all in its form.
or know ye that the Earth is living in body
as thou art alive in thine own formed form.

The text first describes here the principle known today as the "Gaia hypothesis", more and more plausible as research progresses. The idea that planet Earth as a whole functions as a single living being.

The Flower of Life is as thine own place of Spirit
and streams through the Earth
as thine flows through thy form;
giving of life to the Earth and its children,
renewing the Spirit from form unto form.

This is the Spirit that is form of thy body,
shaping and moulding into its form.

This passage describes form as the "product" of consciousness, flowing through the whole of planet Earth and living beings, from the center outwards. This is also known in various forms of meditation, with the process of "grounding", which allows individuals to channel a constant flow of "prana" from the Earth to the sky. This automatically happens when chakras are open and active, and the body as straight as possible and relaxed.

It is the core practice of all self-healing methods : a clean, balanced chakra system through which "something" flows. As above, so below, this flow literally comes from the constant interaction of the sun and the Planet. The Earth receives energy, maintains its own life, and oozes this energy out.

Next, the text presents the key to infinite physical life, and controlled "maintenance" of the physical body, similar to meditations oriental qigong and yoga masters advocate. Other traditions have slightly different variations of this same practice of "collecting prana" in half of the chakra system, then in the other half, in order to rebalance the whole subtle metabolism.

List ye, O man, whilst I give the secret so that
ye, too, shalt taste not of change.
One hour each day shalt thou lie
with thine head pointed to the
place of the positive pole (north).
One hour each day shalt thy head be
pointed to the place of the negative pole (south).
Whilst thy head is placed to the northward,
hold thou thy consciousness from the chest to the head.

Empirically, and in simple english :

1. Root, ground, open up chakras, and perform self-healing with your head pointing to the North, or East.
   Don't focus the flow, just let the prana pass through.
   
   One hour a day.
    
2. Do the same, with your head to the south, or west.
   
   For the same amount of time.

That's all there is to it. The alignment to cardinal directions seems to focus the flow of prana automatically, where it is needed. If alternating directions properly, one can fragment it in 30 minutes chunks, 20 minutes if needed. Less is not advised. This works, it seems, by partly, temporarily reversing the natural flow of prana through the subtle body. Somehow, it appears to literally reverse the biological clock. Visible effects include a softer skin, and hair pigmentation, after a few days.

My personal view is that the etheric body needs a certain structural harmony to perform at its best, and fully support the physical body, and that this balance is lost through our physical life time. This probably is one of the reasons why Buddhist monks tend to look healthy and vigorous until an advanced age, why they often appear "fresh" and dynamic.

This meditation is tightly interconnected to tantric sexuality, since a single climatic orgasm wastes days of practice and appears to destabilize the etheric metabolism. The full effect is achieved during the last few moments, and is deeply invigorating.

Concepts :: part 1

Ever wanted to know how the divine perceives sexuality?

Concepts :: part 2

The divine does not condone masturbation

Techniques :: part 1

Rather than treating love-making as a recreation, oriental spiritual practices refined it into an art  - that of transformation and bliss through the complete, mutual, and even bond of two persons. It is said to allow two lovers to rise into their divine essence, to reach Nirvana, and to heal all wounds. And this is accurate : tantric sex is an exceptional healing technique, similar to a Kundalini awakening in its permanent effect on the essence and bond of two partners. In fact, in many spiritual schools, it is considered to be the single most effective and safest way to raise the kundalini.

According to the Dalai Lama: "Although I am using this ordinary term, sexual climax, it does not imply the ordinary sexual act. The reference here is to the experience of entering into union with a consort of the opposite sex, by means of which the elements at the crown are melted, and through the power of Meditation the process is also reversed. A prerequisite of such a practice is that you should be able to protect yourself from the fault of seminal emission.

"According to the explanation of the Kalachakra Tantra in particular, such emission is said to be very damaging to your practice.Therefore, because you should not experience emission even in dreams, the tantras describe different techniques for overcoming this fault." With this in mind..

Making love by joining hands

1) Rub your palms together like sandpaper

2) Separate your hands by about 1-2 cms, and feel the tingles.. 

These are your palm chakras.

3) Connect your palm chakras to those of your partner.

And feel thoughts, and emotions, being exchanged between the two of you. This, as all other techniques described in this tutorial, allows partners to enter a blissful trance and achieve full-body orgasm. Prana exchange must be even, like a circle of love. During full-body orgasm, prana is magnified and circulated, but not drained. Profound well-being and satisfaction are the result -  neither person will experience the energy drain, disappointment,  or "let-down" that is so common after regular intercourse.

Breath, and the awareness of your breathing, will help to further facilitate this pranic exchange. Breathe slowly and deeply at first, sending love to your partner when you exhale, and breathing in your partner's love when you inhale. Allow each other's love to permeate your being in this manner, in a state of relaxation and surrender. Soon, you will both be filled with blissful light, in a state of profound union. You and your partner can further explore the dynamics of this energy circuit by placing your palm chakras over each other's hearts.

The tantric kiss

By joining 3rd eyes and heart chakras as in the above palm-to-palm technique, partners can experience the same effect with much more intensity.

Mutual tantric massages

Sitting in front of your partner (interlocked lotus is preferred, as in the "yab-yum" position, but any comfortable position will do), you can also gently massage and caress each other's spine, from the bottom up, to raise prana and make it flow through the chakra system.

On to explicit sexual techniques - WARNING : what follows is intended for an adult audience. 

Techniques :: part 2

Tips for reaching full-body orgasm

*Let arousal be slow and gradual. Avoid sexual acts which arouse you or your partner too quickly - focus instead on your breath, the subtle energies and feelings within yourself, and on adoring your partner. Yab-yum is perfect for this slow and calm exploration, allowing partners to open to each other in an affectionate and meditative manner.

*Slow and deep breathing. For both men and women, as orgasm approaches, breathing speeds up and becomes more shallow. A focused attempt to breathe deeply and slowly will often delay orgasm and encourage the accumulated energy to circulate. Once full-body orgasm is happening, breathing can then be freed again in order to accommodate the energy naturally.

*Focus on the heart. Bring your focus and center of consciousness up to your heart chakra. This will facilitate raising the sexual energy up the spine and sharing love with your partner. Surrender to love.

For men : 

*Transcending ejaculation and experiencing multiple, full-body orgasms

Ejaculation depletes the astral body, and shortens the lifespan. Essentially, all sex, when it comes from a place of self-gratification and physical performance, is self-defeating this way. Love-making should always be about love and a transcendental act - if nothing else, because it is much more intense and pleasurable as a divine and sacred act. On all levels, the pleasure only increases.

So? The key to no ejaculation and multiple, full body orgasms for men? Simply, and completely, allow yourself to be in the now, focusing fully on the love you feel, mind empty as taught in *the inner eye* tutorial.  For maximum mutual enjoyment, your partner should focus in this same manner.

*Simply relax all muscular tension.

For unlimited orgasms,  fully relax your lower belly and genital areas.

For the ladies : 

* Forget the g spot. Explore the deep spot.

While this applies to ladies, it is their partner who should apply the following advice. 

Gently massage, delicately and firmly, her deep spot. A bump at the back of her sex, slightly to your left - her right in general. Make the pleasure rise gradually. Guide her, love her, cheer her up, make her hear your voice.

Let her know how much you enjoy her. Emphasis on gradually - too fast gives bad results. Done properly, this will allow her to continuously orgasm.. Until she falls asleep. At this point, take her in your arms.

And watch her smile.

*Avoid orgasmic contractions, including clitoral orgasm. Any female orgasm which includes muscular contractions also drains prana, and should be bypassed in exchange for the much greater pleasure of the expanded, full-body orgasms. This is easily achieved via slow and gradual arousal, and proper focus on the exchange of love.

"In principle, the general difference between the two types of sexual act is the control of the flow of regenerative fluids. Tantric practitioners must have control over the flow of the fluids, and those who are highly experienced can even reverse the direction of the flow, even when it has reached the tip of the genitals. Less experienced practitioners have to reverse the direction of the flow from a higher point. If the fluids descend too far down, they are more difficult to control." - Dalai Lama

Tantra transcends any and all sexual or physical limitations, and can be used in almost any circumstance, regardless of health or mood. With tantric sex, partners do not need to worry about size, or physical "performance", or being "too tired", etc. Since tantra, in essence, utilizes an exchange of heart energy, full-body orgasm can be achieved with even the most limited physical contact, or no contact at all : love can travel across any distance, instantly and effortlessly. By allowing yourself to let go, to fully surrender and sink into the warmth of love, kundalini will awaken and bestow its many gifts.

 During a tantric exchange, any fears, pains, and insecurities can be freely expressed, and then healed, in a supportive embrace of safety and acceptance. This simple exchange of love and prana is also a wonderful way to end conflict and resolve tension, heal emotional scars, and re-affirm your bond in the most positive way possible.

When practiced on a regular basis, with proper intent, tantra enables partners to reach greater and greater heights of love and union, while avoiding any unnecessary conflict. It promotes true harmony, balance, communication and emotional expression, and as such, is the ultimate relationship healer.

With a little practice, as with any psy ability, this becomes a set of reflexes and a habit which, ultimately, allows infinite pleasures - over any distance. As long as partners are united in love, and wanting to evenly share the whole of their naked light.

Randomness

In the following tutorials, we will cover several tools which extend the medium's abilities, and how and why they do so. Recommended :: opening the inner eye

Divination allows us to obtain information or guidance from higher consciousness. Through this method, we can safely and effectively converse with God, our higher self, angels and guides, or other entities of our choice. It is a skill available to all, and can be performed in many different ways. Higher selves of other beings can also be contacted this way, such entities express love and are often available for guidance, it is part of their purpose. The main "ingredient" of divination is randomness.

On divination artifacts

It doesn't matter which vector is used to support divination, it only is a vector. The more randomness to the act, the more room for spirits to manifest by changing the outcome. The more creativity to the act, the more space for talent to ascertain precise information. Divination was used millenniums ago, for example to elaborate a therapeutic system acknowledged by the World Health Organization, acupuncture.

The basic idea here is : divination always is a creative act. Even better : it always is a co-creative act. In many forms, it consists of using an entity (such as God, or Universe, or higher self, etc.) as a relay, asking that particular spirit/consciousness to perform investigations and return feedback to us. Simply try this : think about a person you love, open up your inner eye (silence your mind), and draw something. You will probably get results, symbols, locations, elements tied to the person you were thinking about.

On randomness and the divine

Strangely, it is through maths that I observed the magick of Tarot. I got started using it because of my tantra mentor. He was fond of it and I wanted to check it too in order to gather archeological/historical data. But there was another reason. I've always wondered about randomness, does it truly exist, or is everything causal? Tarot was a great tool to explore that. It allowed me to test how many times the advice I received would be coherent, helpful. And it allowed me to question whether everything was causes leading to effects, or if our reality was more flexible than a domino play.

As It turns out the answer is : "both".

Statistically, from the perspective of maths and information science, randomness is too complex a phenomenon to be summed up. The part of interest to us here is that - truly random events are extremely rare. It is difficult to create a system to generate random number sequences. Science as we know it exists on the premise that most events are possible to control or comprehend, after all.

Then, we may ask, is there even a single event, in nature, which clearly exposes absolute randomness? The answer is yes - there are events we cannot predict, at quantum level. But the exact opposite also exists : natural sequences supposed to display a certain degree of randomness, which violate laws of statistics and demonstrate an unexpected order within an otherwise "chaotic" system. And with this, science confirms another ancient mystical truth : "chaos" or randomness contains creative potential, and a hidden order within itself.

And I found out that Tarot, typically, does not follow the statistical maths of randomness. It does not give a damn, as opposed to poker for example, about how many times it is "allowed" to feed you an answer repeatedly. Tarot delivers mostly based on who is asking, and how they are asking.

Unlike automats, slot machines, unlike gambling or gaming devices, tarot gives accurate answers consistently - you may ask the same question 100 times, and 80 percent of the time the result will be the same guidelines, same feedback, same cards. One has to test this in order to completely verify it for themselves (due to the amount of data to collect), and Princeton University is currently investigating the phenomenon of consciousness influencing randomness with the "Global Consciousness Project". Clearly, science now wonders if there is a consciousness behind randomness, divination will show you there is - there are many, even.

The Creative Process

So why do Tarot and divination work?

Tarot works because there are causes and effects, this is true. Basing the following on what we said about randomness and causality, the fundamental causes are : attention and intention. Focusing on an outcome and working actively toward that outcome. ...But the whole range of what, from our perspective, looks like "true randomness" - is not random.

It is also the result of attention and intention, and therefore, the effect of causes. And although these causes impact the physical world, the attention and intention given to them often does not come from physical "sources".

Randomness as we know it is the space where the consciousness of divine guides, angels, and other beings manifests to the physical world. It is where their observation can bend the quantum collapse of an event and make the future happen, with our help. It is where the "possible" is filtered to result in something tangible.

So when talking to those spirits, in this case with divination, the more randomness produced, the more room they have to co-create an interesting discussion. Then there is another major "component" of divination, other than understanding randomness, I call it the "creative process".

The Creative Process : art is divination

Any and all artworks contain, to a degree, transcendental truth corresponding to how they've been "impregnated" and marked by the creator's spirit and energy. Simply think about : "Jules Verne" or "Da Vinci", for example. This is also true of many other works, be it movies, paintings, comics, novels, music... The spectrum is broad, and all these may act as divination artifacts or devices - think about the way your favorite song touches your soul, or how a given movie changed the way you see the world. When art touches us, it becomes a doorway to the divine. And our own works of art, in any medium, offer us another opportunity to tap into transcendental truth and awareness.

Creating is part of unconditional love. Anytime we perform a creative act, it is an act of Love to the creation - the universe acknowledges it as a tribute. If we perform it with an empty mind (see - The Inner Eye) we invariably align all our levels of existence. Tantra and Buddhism believe that we always exist on all levels at once, from Buddha-form to physical form - and that an empty mind aligns all levels of consciousness. Other mystical schools share this belief. Thus, full abandonment to artistic creation (or ANY form of creation), when it comes from the heart, is a form of channeling, and recovers information from higher levels of existence. And not only this : drawing upon such resources from our inner world allows us to co-create our outer world, in partnership with the divine. And pulling Tarots to create a new layout is.. guess what? Tapping into the creative process.

Tarot

This tutotrial will explore the Tarot and related divination methods in greater detail. If you have not already read the Divination : Overview tutorial, please do so first. 

History and role of Tarot

But, where exactly does Tarot fit into that act of emptying one's mind and allowing, this way, a flow of information from a higher source to a given media? Well, they favor doing just this, Tarots are "helpers" coming from a long legacy of mystics, among which were the "Hermetic orders". One of the most influential of these orders was the "Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn", inventors of the classic Rider-Waite tarot deck.

Basing their researches on some of the most ancient religious texts and traditions known at the time, Hermeticists preserved and explored knowledge from the early Jewish Kabbalah and refined it through, among other things, regular practice of astral travel for over a thousand years.

But more importantly, the Hermeticists, who survived over time as "secret societies" or disguised as religious Catholic orders, and who founded most of what is today wicca and occultism, are named after "Hermes Trismegistus". Hermes the "Thrice-Great", also known as Thoth, and the alleged author of the Emerald Tablets - a very particular document translated by many bright minds throughout history (all the way to Isaac Newton).

I rarely recommend artifacts, and this is particularly important with Tarot, because I believe they create a dependency. However, I often do use Tarot, with respect and care. For it is meant as a tool to assist in getting in touch with one's higher self, and not primarily a "see-through-time" tool.

It is not there to help you "battle destiny", as I will cover in the best practices section. While tarot can be used to divine near-future possibilities and potential outcomes, it is in actuality a tool for co-creation, reminding us that we play a large role in creating reality. It is meant as a handy, safe, and subtle tool to communicate with the spirit world, among other things - and primarily, with your higher self : it is intended to help you raise your consciousness, not "fight the future". And as we will see, this impacts both usage and accuracy of results.

Structure of the Tarot

Most decks contain 78 cards. Each card represents a state of reality or quality of being, and, in and of itself, is defined by a central concept, while containing a collection of associated wisdom and correspondences. Each card is also associated with a definition which elaborates upon the state it represents, and/or a description of its meaning and symbolism, which helps one to expand their consciousness as well as to derive guidance or practical solutions.

The deck is ususally split into two groups: the Major Arcana and Minor Arcana. There are 22 Major Arcanas, representing the major transitions and emotions of life (death, catastrophe, hope, love...). For those with a knowledge of Kabbalah, each Major Arcana card represents a path between the Sephiroth on the Tree of Life. 

The Minor Arcana consists of 56 cards, divided into four Suits of 10, plus the associated Court Cards. Each suit is represented by an element and a "magickal weapon or tool" which symbolizes the power, qualities, and teachings of that element. The four suits are Wands (or Staves), Swords, Cups, and Pentacles (or Coins).

The court cards are represented by four archetypal figures - Page, Knight, Queen, King, or some variant thereof.  All of these Minor Arcana cards represent the elements in a particular state of manifestation.

Wands are Fire, Swords are Air, Cups are Water, and Pentacles are Earth. Kindly note that these terms refer here to spiritual concepts, not the immediate literal application of each word. Fire represents creation, passion, and divine inspiration; Air represents truth, mind, and intellect; Water represents purity, love, and compassion; Earth represents power and material manifestation.  

Tarot, in essence, is closely tied to personal evolution and transformation. There is a story, sometimes called the Fool's Journey, which relates the journey of the individual through each Major Arcana card in a successive progression. Each of these cards is numbered (thereby containing numerological significance as well), and represents the major "events" or rather, "states" of life (hope, death, transformation, catastrophe, etc.), and that story, also, is a very important metaphor of the spiritual progression of an individual. *Follow the fool's journey and find yourself contemplating the same world, with new eyes.*

Each tarot deck comes with its own specific book or booklet, which provides the texts, meanings, and symbolism corresponding to each card. Hermeticists wrote many of these texts and correspondences with the aid of Kabbalistic analysis, as well as through an astral travel technique known as Pathworking. They would explore the astral worlds and realms that corresponded to each card, and interacted with specific entities and energies that were associated with these parts of the universe, thereby deriving information and inspiration for the development and in-depth understanding of the Tarot. As a result of these inherent correspondences, when the deck is selected randomly, as is possible on http://www.facade.com, and certain entities are addressed by name, they will express their preference for the deck that best suits the expression of their personality.

How to use Tarot

First, there are two modes with which to draw cards : with or without reversals.  The former is accomplished by splitting the deck in half and then flipping one half of the deck, so that some cards come up reversed, which changes their meaning. Often to the opposite meaning, but not always. This is the procedure one shoudl follow :

1) Form the question in your head

2) Open the inner eye

3) Create randomness by mixing and shuffling

4) Lay the cards flat before you and pull out the ones which call to you, or feel "warm" or "different";  or, alternatively, cut the deck in the place(s) in which it wants to naturally divide, using the first card(s) that is uncovered by the cut.

5) Arrange the cards, in order, in a selected, predefined layout.

Different layouts serve communication and reveal information about different situations. For example, relationships, closed questions (yes/no), past, present, and near-future... Again, these can be tested using some decks at : http://www.facade.com

Additional tips

• When no entity is specifically addressed (God, Horus, the flying spaghetti monster...) it's first come, first serve. Generally, good entities, but not always. As such, addressing a specific entity of your choice within your query is highly recommended.
• Tarot can be used to communicate with any spirit entity, including one's higher self or other person's higher selves. Or other living beings' higher selves.
• Always be polite. Often times, if I am using Facade, I just say *Thank you*. They reply with a useful tip.
• When beginning, always try to ask for clarifications when a riddle is too hard.
• The more aware you are, the more complex the riddles get.
• Reading the cards itself is a learning experience.
• If you try to live too much in the future, Tarot will insist on bringing you back to the now

And probably the most important one : Tarot gives only a snapshot of what is likely to happen and how likely it is, given the present conditions... NOT an absolute truth or revelation set in stone, and only with 80% accuracy in my case - eight times out of ten when I pull them, the answer is usable, the rest is gibberish. (Higher accuracies may be possible through exploring the vast array of Kabbalistic and magickal correspondences which each card holds - the more you know about each card, the deeper and more complex the information it can speak to you). As always, remember that Tarot offers us an opportunity to co-create reality in partnership with the divine, to shape a future of beauty in accordance with the will of your Higher Self. The best answers come from truly listening to your heart, but Tarot can definitely be a great asset and is also beautiful and colorful. An art in and of itself.

Final word

Many other divination means exist, including, but not limited to : iPod random function (it gives me songs as advices of sorts, which fit a context) or any other media player set to random, such as Winamp; painting, music, I Ching (a classic Chinese text and divination system similar to Tarot); bibliomancy (randomly selected passages from sacred texts such as the Bible); Oracle (such as conventional playing cards used like Tarot), runes, and many others.... Some are usable in virtual form at Facade, and Facade is just as reliable as a real deck. It is US who create the divination act, never the support you use, so find what suits you best among all these possibilities. 

A last note about contacting some divine guides : A couple of them, like Maat or Thoth, should not be contacted directly - ever. They will let you know if you try, but to contact those, you should ask Anubis first, who bridges the worlds of matter and spirit, and will gladly assist you in contacting them if required.

Astral Travel Overview

Like anything else, astral travel is a natural ability that we can control with practice. A simple skill I had to learn because I once was incapable of remembering my dreams. All dreams are astral travel, the trick is to control this reflex we trigger every night. Every night, we naturally go to zones of the astral world known as "buffer zones", where we cast our inner challenges and subconscious concerns for us to explore (and resolve).

Visualization is the process, related to astral travel, of using buffer zones to cast, consciously, a scene we wish to explore or use as a training ground, for specific rituals (such as the ritual of the Shadow, which I will explain in another entry). Some also regard visualization as a means to reach any part of the universe at will.

As I said, I once was unable to travel consciously or remember my dreams, and that was only a few months ago. Everyone can learn to control the processes of astral projection and visualization; what helped me most was a daily 30-minute meditation routine, as follows.

1) Wear comfortable clothes, make sure the temperature is warm enough and you are in a comfortable context where noise, or physical sensations, won't disturb you.

2) Root.  Meaning : lay or sit with your spine as straight as possible. Head at the North or East is better, because it will help to automatically push the prana towards your 3rd eye. But this is not necessary - I can, now, astral travel while on the bus, or in any other setting (doing it while driving, though, is not advised).

3) Ground. : open up your chakras, and/or simply deeply relax your body.

So far, all steps are completely similar to a healing meditation.

4) Then, let your mind find silence through the inner eye tutorial and exercise (found here : http://www.lightworkers-federation.com/?q=node/9 )

That's it. There are a couple of extra tricks, but training this way will already lead you to sensations and visions from the astral. The next entry will be about training with visualization, e.g. the ability to remember dreams, and paint or change the astral (because thoughts are a creative act in the astral world - they instantly get a usable form).

Lucid Dreaming

In this tutorial we will discuss another form of astral travel, known as lucid dreaming – the art of being conscious and aware of the dream state. This skill brings many benefits,  including the enhancement of the astral “painting” process known as visualization.

Dream Recall

First, we should train ourselves to remember our dreams on a regular basis. This can be done with the following practices :

1) If possible, fall asleep gently, and wake up gently, without an alarm or other major disturbance. This will help greatly in building a bridge between dreaming and waking consciousness, which is necessary for dream recall.

2) Keep a dream journal, and write down everything you remember as soon as possible after awakening.

3) As you go to bed, say to yourself that you will remember your dreams, and hold this desire as strongly and firmly as possible as you fall asleep.

Once we can regularly remember our dreams, we can then train to become conscious during the dream state.

Lucid Dreaming

4) During the day, look at your hands and ask yourself if you are dreaming. With frequent practice, this will become a reflex or habit, which you will then do in your dreams as well. Once you realize that your hands look funny, or that something else within your perception is unusual, you will snap into lucid dreaming mode as you consciously realize you are dreaming.

Making this a habit can take a few days or weeks. Starting from ground  zero, with no trace of dream memory, it is possible within two weeks to remember your dreams with daily practice.

Other Helpful Tricks

The following are a few more tricks which can favor the development of dream recall, lucid dreaming, and visualization. These work for some people, but not all :

1) Learning to sleep in chunks of three hours at a time. This will give you more opportunity to practice entering and waking from a dream state.

2) Waking up at the magickal “peak time” of the night, 2:40 am : for some reason, occult forces are at their strongest during this time. Others find 3:30 - 4:30 am to be similarly helpful for increased psychic and astral abilities of all kinds.

3) Be alert for common astral sights and sounds which can indicate your successful transition into astral perception. These can include a blue light, the sound of a horn or other musical tone (similar to the song “Home” by Nine Inch Nails), voices and singing, or a clamor of seemingly random voices, sounds, or music, known as “astral noise” – much like listening to a radio that is not properly tuned to any station. Astral noise can be jolting at times, but do not be startled – it is simply a transitional noise which will pass quickly once you become more centered in the astral.

4) Practice psychic shielding and clearing your mind before sleeping, in order to avoid negative experiences.

While Dreaming

Once you can become lucid, conscious, while dreaming, you have the power and privilege of taking control of what unfolds. For maximum benefit and enjoyment of your dreamtime, try the following :

1) Practice flying. In the astral, you can fly by simply willing yourself up into the air, and then willing your astral body to go wherever you wish. This is a matter of gentle but firm intent, not hard effort or exertion.

2) Go underwater if you wish – there is no worry of drowning, since in the astral we are capable of breathing underwater.

3) Ask for a guide or teacher, to help you with a specific issue, or simply for the greatest good. You may also ask to speak to a specific God, archangel, etc.

4) Visit a lover, friend, or anyone else of your choosing. In the astral, with intent we can go anywhere in an instant, traveling practically anywhere in the world or the universe. You may also find sexuality to be enhanced in the astral.

5) Experiment with going backward or forward in time, or use portals to another location or parallel universe.

6) Practice your psychic abilities, such as pyrokenesis, telekenesis, pranic healing, etc.

7) Before dreaming, ask for a solution to a problem, inspiration for a creative project, or information that you have been seeking. All of these are available to you in the astral, where your subconscious can obtain it.

8) Objects which seem particularly unusual or out-of-place are often visitors from another realm. Pay attention to these, as they will launch you into exciting new experiences.

If at any point during your explorations you feel alarmed, trapped, or unable to use your abilities properly, do not fear - simply will yourself back into your body. As soon as you declare that you wish to go back to your body, you will instantly return to your sleeping location. If you encounter any difficulty in waking up, tell yourself that you will open your eyes immediately.

When you can decide what to do in your dreams, the possibilities become limitless. Use your imagination and try all the things you’ve always wished you could do. Be daring and embrace your powers : this is your opportunity to be fearless, open-minded, and adventuours, and to work through problems or difficulties from your daily life with a renewed enthusiasm and insight. Your sleeping hours will become a time of intense learning, experience, and of course, fun.  Ultimately, what you learn during lucid dreaming will be applicable to your waking meditations and daily tasks, and will enhance all areas of your life and spirituality.

See our next tutorial for a discussion on astral travel through visualization and guided meditation.

Visualization

This tutorial will describe the use and methodology of visualization as it pertains to astral projection.   

Visualization

Once you have familiarized yourself with the daily meditation practice found in our Astral Travel 101 Tutorial, it becomes relatively easy to utilize these astral “buffer zones” with a specific intent, and with increased precision. 

The astral plane is, in actuality, very malleable, and is directly influenced by thought. In the astral, thoughts create and paint your surroundings. A thought that is given enough focus and energy can even become like a living being unto itself. As such, it is important when doing astral work to be very aware of your thoughts and emotions, so that you can understand how they are affecting your experience. The more inner control you have over your own mind, the more effective and insightful your astral adventures can be.

In addition to dreaming, we are incessantly interacting with the astral via the thoughts and images which run through our minds. When we form an image in our minds, we are visualizing. These images that we see with our "inner eye" are the essence of visualization – when you are reading, listening to a story, or thinking about another person, you can observe yourself doing this. It is easy to harness this ability for conscious astral travel. 

Visualization is a tool which can 1) create something new in the astral, 2) change and modify what already exists, and 3) potentially give us access to any location or entity in the physical and non-physical worlds. 

To begin, enter the aforementioned Astral Projection 101 meditation. Once you have reached inner silence, form your intended image in your mind’s eye with as much detail as you can. It does not have to be perfect – just do your best, your visualization abilities will improve over time. See the forms, the colors, the details, the light and shadow. Now, engage all of your other psychic senses to the best of your ability : Do you hear anything? Reach out and touch something within your visualization. What does it feel like? What is its texture, its temperature? Can you smell anything? In certain contexts, can you taste anything? The more detailed these sense-perceptions become, the more fully and completely you are interacting with your astral environment or creation.

When you wish to create something new, simply visualize it coming into existence, wherever you wish it to be. (Whatever you create can, and often will, manifest in the material plane over time, so be sure to create with care, awareness, and right intent). To modify an existing place or condition, visualize it as it presently is, and then see it shift and change in accordance with your will. You can combine this with a specific thought or declared intent. For example, to psychically cleanse a room, visualize the room filled with negative energy at first (this could be in the form of a dark cloud or mist, sludge on the floor, or anything else that looks and feels “accurate” to you), then visualize a bright white light, full of positivity and power, flooding the room, filling every space and corner, while pushing out or transforming all the negative energy. To complete the cleansing, see the room in a pure state, filled with this light, and mentally or verbally declare the room and everything in it to be fully cleansed and protected by the light.   

To transport yourself to a certain location, or to visit a particular person or entity, visualize it and engage your psychic senses with as much detail as possible. You can then explore this location, or speak and interact with this entity on a telepathic basis. Some of you may be asking yourselves, “But isn’t this just imagination?” Imagination is the key to the astral, the key to the otherworld. As you practice and interact with your astral environment, you will begin to see (and hear) it taking on a life of its own. Events will take place, and words will be heard, that seem to emerge all on their own, outside of your original intent or “script”. As these anomalies unfold, you will know that you are tapping into something beyond simple imagination. This practice will help you to accomplish what many cultures have known as “shamanic journeying”.   

All of these astral activities can also be practiced with another person, or even a group of people. You will find that your experiences contain significant overlaps and will facilitate a telepathic exchange to some degree. Many energy and healing techniques can also be practiced and shared in this manner.

Guided Meditation

Through visualization, we can interact with and obtain help from animal totems and spirit guides, angels, gods, or another person’s higher self and/or astral body. This art is truly limitless. To derive the maximum benefit from your adventures in meditation, it is often helpful to decide in advance what you wish to explore. Before setting off on our journey of new discovery, we should first construct an Astral Temple.

The Astral Temple 

Creating a safe and secure “home base” on the astral is highly recommended before undertaking other explorations. Not only will this help you to ease any fears which may obstruct your progress, but it will help to gently orient you to the process of creating and exploring in the astral world.   

This home base is usually known as your personal “astral temple” and can be any location you perceive to be most safe and inviting. This will be personal sacred space which you can return to at any time. Here, you are always safe and close to the divine presence which permeates the universe. The temple can be within an astral building or structure, or it can simply be a peaceful natural setting which you feel at home in.

Dedicate a special meditation to creating your astral temple and the features within and around it. Again, elaborate and discover as much detail with your psychic senses as you are able to. You may see paths or doorways leading away from your central location – these will take you to other sacred locations which you can explore later for personal growth or healing.  Once you have created your Temple, you may wish to begin all astral activities there, and can revisit it whenever you feel the need or desire to.   

Guided Meditation

Similar types of astral journeying can be undertaken, either individually or as a group, through the use of pre-prepared meditation scripts which guide the traveler into a specific experience. These scripts can be either textual or audio. The traveler may wish to listen to this script being read aloud during their visualization session, or they can simply read and memorize it before meditating.

Again, you can expect the experience to take on a life of its own, diverging or expanding from the intended script. Take special note of these occurrences. You can create your own scripts, or find many already online in various text and audio formats. 

Pathworking

Pathworking 

Another, more advanced visualization technique is known as pathworking. Most often, this is used in a Kabbalistic and Hermetic context, but can be included within any system – such as that of the Norse runes and the nine realms of the Norse universe.   

Pathworking uses visualization in combination with Kabbalistic (or other) correspondences in order to visit various locations within the non-physical universe. One method of pathworking uses Tarot cards, most commonly the Rider-Waite deck, but any deck which you are very spiritually drawn to can work well. Tarot cards are usually chosen due to their inherent Kabbalistic correspondences. Each card of the Major Arcana represents a path between the Sephiroth on the Tree of Life. These are the cards we will be working with here.   

Select a Major Arcana card of your choice (you can do subsequent meditations with all the other cards) and meditate on it, observing every detail and nuance of the image on the card. Once you have examined it closely, close your eyes and reproduce this image in your mind. As you visualize, place yourself WITHIN the image. You are amidst the scenery, standing before the main character or object of the card. As in the previous meditation, observe as many details as possible with your psychic senses and begin to interact with the scene or the entity. It will begin to take on a life of its own, and within this experience you can learn and grow in many ways.   

Another method of pathworking is to choose a rune, letter of the Hebrew alphabet, or any other magickal or esoteric symbol of your choice, and visualize yourself standing before a mysterious doorway – this can look ancient, magickal, modern, whatever you are comfortable with. On or above the door, see the symbol emblazoned, in fire, or light, or ink, or carved into the material itself. Speak the name of the symbol and then open the door with the intent of visiting the realm and entities it corresponds to. Then walk through the door and proceed to explore.   

Before beginning a pathworking journey, it is often helpful to learn and study the correspondences which are associated with each card, rune, symbol, etc. The deeper your understanding of the path or realm you are visiting, the more insight you may gain.   

If at any time during your journeys you begin to feel too uncomfortable, simply will yourself back to your astral temple. When you are ready to return to your physical body, begin by gently moving your toes and fingers, and slowly opening your eyes. Sit quietly and meditate for a few moments on what you have just experienced. If you wish to write it down at this time, you can do so. Do not move your body too quickly, until you have readjusted yourself to the physical world. You may wish to repeat the grounding meditation, and if further grounding is needing, eating a small amount of food should bring you “back to earth”.

Psychic shielding

Psychic shields are constructions, made of prana/chi, and programmed for a specific purpose. Generally, they are used to prevent intrusion of chaotic or destructive elements within the shield builder's bodies. They are an important addition to healing techniques, as well as an extremely robust protection against all kinds of potential threats.

On how to deal with ghosts

Generally, ghosts are harmless and just want to discuss. Talking to them without fear is often enough to have them go. Asking them to leave should do the trick. And for some demons, the same procedure applies. In some cases, if the spirit is particularly persistent, you may inform them that they will only find peace and love if they go into the next world while focusing on reaching those. They will not find it here - they have died and will find a better place by moving on. This is reported to work in many situations.

Psychic shielding : how to deal with demons

A first good reflex when dealing with dark entities, is to create a psychic shield. In order to do this :

1. Visualize a sphere of light, white or blue, around you.
2. Ask your patron, an angel, a saint, a God, or simply God if you don't believe in anything else to let only what is meant for the highest purpose pass through that shield.

What this does is co-create a thoughtform and charge it with the combined energy of your patron and yourself. Thus, it does really cast a psychic shield around you. Which suffices for most cases.

Case studies and how to react

Worst cases are true telekinetic attacks, such as in the case of Incubi and Succubi, feeling them at night sitting on your chest. In any event, you can and should also create a psychic shield when you feel threatened this way, or simply demand a nightly protection in prayers.

The most important thing is to pray in a heartfelt way, to really believe in what you are asking and place your love and energy in it.

Milder cases include nightmares, manipulation of your shadow, or static on your phone line, difficulties with your computer. In any of these situations :

1. You are untouchable if emotionally neutral.
2. Demons are weakened when they receive Love, to the point they can turn to light.
3. Trying to befriend them can work in many cases, simple attacks.
4. If they try to bring out your shadow, you must pay attention to your reactions, and center - focus your energy on love, not fear. Fear is honey to demons : it feeds them. The less you fear them, the less power they have.

Last but not least : if you really, really, really feel like attacking them, which I do not recommend because it yields escalation and you have to be certain you can handle it, then cast all of your anger, your fury, into a "ball of energy/prana" which you will send at them. As I said, if this is extremely strong, it can damage them or push them away, else it is food again, and yields escalation.

In any event : trust the power of love and co-creation. Do not fall for despair. Do not fall for fear. These are illusions and feed the darkness. When you combine your intentions with those of a higher spirit, praying in a heartfelt way,  co-creation occurs - enabling you to easily achieve the desired outcome.

Using your chi

In this tutorial, we will refer to the breath of life using Taoist terminology, to describe a dual model composed of yin chi, dark, cold, female, and yang chi, warm, white or golden, and male. In general in nature, yin chi provides structure, yang chi provides impetus. Think "mother nature" and "father life", this is exactly what they are.

One tends to support (sometimes, useful) chaos, the other, to support order. They always are at balance within a healthy body. And circulate along our etheric channels, nadis, ideally, separately (they meet at several points though, including chakras, particularly, the heart and sacral chakras).

There is "internal chi" circulating within the body, and external chi, circulating - everywhere else, however, external chi as it pertains to "magick" is what emanates from our own bodies and still is in a usable range (inside our auric "fields" so to speak).

Chi can be cast out/in using several gateways, namely : the third eye, the left hand, and the right hand. The right hand is useful to cast chi out : whether yin or yang chi, it can be sent using the right hand. 

Simply visualize a black "ball" to cast out yin chi, a white ball to cast yang chi. One easy way to test this is if you have a "weak" neon tube. While it is warming up, if you cast yin chi, it will instantly lighten up (as if it had received a negative electric charge, electricity). With a white ball, one can prevent the initial spark from igniting neon gas.... 

Following the flow of yang chi, the right hand will nurture (bring "energies" which support order), and the left hand will tend to destroy (absorb constructive "energies").

One can cast or absorb both types of chi with each hand respectively, but the flow we just described gave their name to two "main esoteric pathways" : the so called left hand path (satanism and similar trends), and right hand path.Both paths are incomplete. On both paths, anyone who wants to reach mastery will ultimately reach...

The Middle Path. From which we can turn darkness to light - our purpose when it comes to "chi", and life as a whole. Making a little beauty out of a little chaos, in all situations. Finally, it is highly discouraged to absorb yin chi (unless wanting to weaken one's body and develop all sorts of ailments).