Breath, is energy. Our vital force, that which we take in to sustain our body. It is said the breath is a mantra, spoken fuck knows how many times a day (Fuck knows being something like 10,000). It is important for the beginning magus to learn this basic Technique, that he may learn the fundamentals of such systems as Yoga and Qi-Gong are based upon.
Breath has an important part of pretty much all of those systems and similar. As we Inhale, air flows through our lungs and body, into the bloodstream. Thus we see the view point that the element of air is both Sanguine in the Four humours of Hippocrates, and rules the mind in modern Ceremonial Magick. The brain takes in the most blood being the greedy bastard that it is, and so the breath is a guidance of thought. The very vibrations of Air, form the vibrations that become our thought.
Because of this, proper usage of breath is essential to both mental, Physical and spiritual well being. The Magician will use his breathing to slow and focus his mind, to enter another mental state, To increase his personal endurance, and even cause change in his aura and Augment an object or person with energies of an Elemental or Otherworldy nature.
Of course Breath isn't the only thing that gives us energy, Food and such are also processed through the bloodstream. However, not in the same automatic way.
In this short Essay, I will instruct on the basics of Pore breathing, or skin breathing that you may invoke within yourself the energies about you and gain awareness of the aura. The nature of this essay, is such that it doesn't matter if you work with Chakra's, Sephiroth or any other aspect of the self. This is probably the most flexible area of any magickal training and will serve the Neophyte, to the Adeptus.
Each time we breath, as I have said above, we take in energy. This breath is our thought and bread of the concious mind. Therefore, we may focus and place the will upon it, that the breath may become focused unto a specific goal and duty. When inhaling, take note that the thought held at that moment, is the energies of that specific mental idea. Such a thing is hardly an energetic imprint without focus or discipline, but it is still there to be registered and entered unto the body. This is why the mind and breath, and therefore the body are so closely linked.
This basic meditation will teach you the awareness of breath, and the awareness of your own energetic form. The second meditation, will teach you to invoke and comprehend the elemental energies, and the final one, something you may find difficult at first, is the manipulation of your own physical energies in the body and the outside world itself.
First, we shall focus on the body itself. Find your favoured meditation position, or if a yoga practitioner already, Asana. Ensure that it allows full accessability to your lungs, and that it does not cause air to be trapped. I also warn you, that this can be particularly un-pleasant if you have trapped wind ;) .
Sitting in this position, Begin to relax the body, Enter the state known as Shavashana, or the Corpse Pose. *THIS STAGE HAS to be done lying down on your back* The intent of this pose, is to completely relax the body and increase awareness of both physical, and Spiritual bodies. At this stage it is necassery to practice the four fold breath, breathing in for four seconds, holding four, then releasing four, to hold four again, then breath in again, the cycle repeating etc. Now beginning on the right foot, Focus upon it and visualise it, When you inhale, Tense the muscles and your toes as much as possible, then hold it for the few seconds. Finally on the exhale, feel the foot completely relax and become passive, all tension within banished. Repeat this on the next foot, then with your hands, then with your shoulders, then on your stomach and groin etc. It should end with your spine and upper back, Tense it up, and then on the exhale feel your entire back sink in to the floor with the release of all tension in the body.
The benefits of this, are total awareness of your physical body. You should after constant practice eventually become aware of nerve centers etc, that you didn't before. In the next parts of this small introduction, the benefits of this bodily awareness shall be worthwhile indeed.
Now that we have entered Shavashana, Begin focusing on the body and breath. Assume your favoured asana/pose and begin to breath with the Lower Lungs, then slowly fill the upper lungs with your breath. As you do this, focus on your ENTIRE body as a whole, and take note of what you feel. As you exhale, do so from the top lungs moving downward, and feel the breath leave your body. I suggest attempting to gain awareness of your aura as you do this, and note the connection between it and your Body. Once this practice has been maintained for roughly five minutes, it is time to take note of our skin itself breathing in.
Our skin also breaths, and this is something not known by many so called "Adepts" which to be honest shocks me. Repeat the above exercise, however this time become aware of each part of your body as you did with the Shavashana/Corpse pose. Do not maintain focus on anyone part of the body for more than seven breaths and attempt to maintain balance between left and right.
After practising the above for a week, you should begin to feel the breath itself within each limb, and the blood flowing underneath your skin, and the organs below. Focus on your chest for example, and you will be given awareness as your heart beats and the blood is pumped throughout your body. Notice, that as you focus here, you suddenly feel the entirety of your blood supply moving about you, as if the heart is a giant energy control centre ;) By meditation here, you will eventually learn to slow or increase your heart beats per second.
I recommend practising this for two weeks at least, before moving onto the next area.
The next meditation I am going to give you, will teach you how to invoke elemental energies, and also provide the basics of genuine energetic vampirism. A subject of which, I will not teach however, I hardly need to if your actually capable of thinking for yourself, as the fundamentals taught here should provide a clear enough example of energy invoking. (Note: By invoking I don't mean ritual possession, I mean the drawing into the self)
Begin by performing the above methods, no need to elaborate them however the usage of prayer and ritual etc may assist you. If you plan on doing anything other than daily ritual or energetic workings, such as the bringing of change in the world then I advise you perform this meditation beforehand to allow the building of magickal energies.
The usual methods are performed, and during the meditative state, you should begin to focus upon the specific Elemental energy you desire to invoke. Begin focusing on the OUTSIDE world, and the attributes of that Element you wish to invoke. It is to be noted, that whilst the physical aspects of these elements should be invoked, you also need to take the spiritual aspects of them in too. Begin by focusing upon Fire, this being the most blatant and obvious elemental powers.
The element of fire, is of heat and power. It should feel active and refreshing. It's Alchemical nature is hot, and dry, being of a pure nature. Focus upon the energies of Fire, and feel them in the world around you. The room and the very air you breath, should Ebb with this energy. Will this energy, as you inhale to move with your breath, feel the powers of fire that enter you and empower you. The vibrations of fire travel through your own vibrations, under the direction of the mind. Feel also, this power embedd itself within your aura and visualise yourself in flames and alight, yet suffering no harm. It is important to maintain visualisation, as this is what alerts the subconscious to your actions, rather than Words. The effects, if done correctly usually bring about a slight warmth of the senses and body. Eventually, with constant practice (As in years) one is supposedly able to walk naked in the freezing cold, in fact according to Franz bardon, with this holds the ability to walk upon water, or Dry Sheets merely by the heat of your skin. I myself am not that adept yet, and will not make such claims, of which I am sceptical. Of the capabilities and powers gifted by such meditation however, it is true that they are potent indeed. It is important to note the Psychological profile of each element as you invoke it, as you will be taking this into yourself as well.
Fire may leave one, especially one un-attuned to it (IE: Highly developed in that aspect of there being both spiritually and mentally), Angry and violent, Over active and also extremely strong and sexually appealing. *Fire rules sex*
The physical attributes unto fire are Heat first, Dryness second, and weightlessness third. It should also give on an intense energy boost, that unlike the other elements does not leave one Melancholic, Light headed or Relaxed completely but may cause agitation instead. It should leave one feeling with a sensation of power and strength, Total aggression and sexuality itself in a passionate way. Over all, fire rules the realm of energy that maintains alertness and conciousness. It is a Active an Expanding element, meaning it is usually growing, or getting bigger and moves TOWARDS objects.
When meditating upon fire, upon these aspects you focus upon.
The element of Air, follows the physical attributes of Weightlessness first, Moisture secondly, and Heat thirdly. It may make ones thoughts seem amazingly focused and processed, yet it may also leave one physically light headed and unbalanced. It may also cause ones physical body to weight less. Its mental and spiritual attributes are associated with the idea's of thought, focus, frivolity and playfulness, and new idea's should form with ease, it will also empower ones memory.
Overall, Air rules the process of thought and the mind, like fire it is both expanding and Active, however unlike fire who's primary nature is active, Air itself is Expanding primarily, hence some believe pore breathing with air can lead to levitation *Again of this I am sceptical*
Therefore, it is the positive nature of these things upon which one should meditate for Air.
Water, the opposite of fire has obvious physical attributions. The first of which being, Coldness, then Moisture, and then finally Weight, yet also associated with this weight is flexibility. It may if overly invoked, leave one with a drowning sensation of the lungs, that can actually feel quite pleasant due to the sheer amount of relaxation one may feel. (Overdosing on Air or water may even cause one to feel Drunk, Fire just makes you hyper and Earth will probably make you groggy though ;) ) Its primary aspects, are to do with the personality itself, both from an emotional point of view, and the way one reacts in subconscious self, seeing as the fire rules the active side of things, Water rules the Passive side.
The Element of Water, also reigns over emotions etc and also Shrinks into itself, and has an Attracting/Magnetic nature that draws things TOWARDS it.
Upon these are what you should meditate in order to attune to Water.
Finally, regarding the element of Earth, First of all, is the attribute of heavy Weight and unlike water, Rigidness. Also attributed is the factor of Cold, and also Dryness. The energies invoked in Earth, May not only ground you but may also make one feel groggy or melancholic, often lazy. The body itself will also begin to weigh a little more and become heavy. The element of earth, deals with the physical manifestation of things, and also rules the setting of ways and opinion, with ideas such as stubborn personality behaviour.
Ultimately, like Water we See earth primarily as a Passive and Contracting nature that shrinks and attracts things to itself. It also rules much of nature, mostly things such as plants and tree's and brick or stone. It is the shelter and home.
Upon these things you shall meditate for earth itself.
For example, if I wanted to make myself feel more awake in the morning, when I awoke I'd begin breathing fire energy into myself with the intent of it, while I'd be receiving ALL traits of fire, the specific trait upon which I focus upon should be the one I receive the most off. Hence we can see, that little we cannot do with these elements under our control.
I will state, that the negative effects, despite common belief, DO occur even when used in moderation, unless one is under balanced in this element. I will also mention, that it should be the goal of the magician NOT to focus on a single element, at least not unless he plans on doing so to attune him to that element. In which case he should focus on that element alone, and then move on to the next one. For example, one may focus entirely upon the element of Water for 6 months, then after such a period they should effectively initiated themselves into its nature through daily meditation. During this period, they should of become capable of holding masses of water energies, and learn to ignore the negative effects of water energies, that they become immune to them, while fully integrating the positive nature of it into themselves IE: Total Calmness at all times and the ability to enter the subconscious and engage intuition with ease. Then they would move on to the next element of Earth or what ever they choose.
Such a method is effective, but restricts one from the usage of other elemental powers if you are to maintain the full effectiveness of it.
I would advise, that you begin with small amounts of energy at first, Bardon says 7 breaths of Elemental energy in this, Personally I say stop at one minute or so of Elemental breathing, the reason for stopping being that I have put someone who was not used to such energy in a fever, where they lost half a stone in a matter of 3 days, before a sudden recovery when I drained the energy from them. *occult based fevers are 80% of the time due to an energy over-dose*. Did I mention I was trying to heal her? Eventually resistance is built up, and I advise adding 15 to 30 seconds each session that you may prepare yourself fully for more powerful energies.
Naturally,I don't adhere to my limits either ;) and I recommend breaking them to push yourself...erm, just don't kill yourself?
Now that we have learned Elemental invocation, and its traits regarding ourselves. It is necessary for us, to begin focusing upon another important aspect of things. What? you didn't think I'd forgotten about the actual Manipulation of energies did you?
We've actually already undergone a basic system of Energetic manifestation and manipulation, if you noticed we Moved the external elemental energies before, into an internal state within ourselves, by the usage of breathing.
Now I'm going to teach you something similar.
As usual begin basic techniques, however this time do not assume an Asana, or lay down. Sit down, back straight and hold your hands to the side. Focus on these hands, and press them together. Eventually a small amount of pressure will build up inside of them, and now, using visualisation imagine them moving slightly. What should result, is a physical reaction, the pressure should move in the direction you will, simply because it is willed too.
But an important part of this, is the observation of energy. One must focus unto this energy so that you can actually sense it. Remember before when I told you to focus on your heart, and consequently your entire bloodstream? Do this now, and concentrate upon your heart. Feel the blood pump through your body, and attain awareness of your ENTIRE form. Notice how easier this is with practice?. Find an area of energy within the body (NOT IN AN ORGAN), and note how it moves. Eg: Left leg, lower shin, I might feel the energy waves moving upwards, or downwards. Try, just for a few second moving it in another direction (Do not go against its original direction though, Eg: It goes up, I don't go down, I go left) Maintain for 5 seconds, and then Return it to its original flow.
If you desire to heal yourself or another, tap into this, and focus the connecting energy too that area and increase the flow there (Or decrease, if you have to much tension in the area). For example, my left hand hurts. The energy in my left arm, runs downwards, from shoulder/Spine to hand. Therefore, I shift these energies and INCREASE the speed of which they flow to the hand. This may be done with internal organs too...
I don't advise it, however. It is a risky practice, one I myself am not confident enough to engage upon. Simply because you are altering your energetic Cycle, consequences here may be lethal...
You may also, do it in a much safer manner. This is simple, This time, focus not on the heart, but instead in the object/Organ you wish to Augment or heal. This is also the method for augmenting objects with Magickal effects.
Become one with that object or organ, and as you inhale, know that you are invoking the energies you desire too take into it, along with the effect you will to occur within it. Eg: I meditate upon my damaged stomach, I imagine myself as my stomach, and focus on breathing with my stomach *Organs breath too!* I focus on earthly energy, to increase the speed of my metabolism so that the food poisoning gets out my system *maybe thats not how it works, but what is this? a fucking biology lesson?* and I'm fine, wallah. I can do the same with a Talisman, and focus on giving it the elemental attribute of water, being that of illusion, so that I can make my ugly mug look like something sexually attractive to people.
The problem being with this in healing situations, is that you may take to much energy in and this will cause tension to rise within the organ.
The methods here, are simple and easily practiced. I advise daily practice of such, and that it is NOT the best instructions on this out there, It is just a simplistic system, that gives the beginner who doesn't feel like learning yoga or Ki Gong, something to work with.
With Regards, Wartyg96/Jackal/Billy AW
