VioletFlame

Hmmm it's looking like perhaps we should pluralize this headline lol.

@d0ornokey Yay! Awesome I'm so glad.

Hey man, I just wanted to say I have nothing against you or anyone on the forum, I think it's awesome. I was just making a general observation off of what I experience way too often but I see you are a fellow practitioner of the craft and my intentions aren't to cause deliberate tension or have negative feelings toward you or anyone. No hard feelings! I hope we are cool. What I posted was simply something to reflect upon.

Carl Jung Terence Mckenna Alan Watts Patti Smith Joan of Arc Rumi Frida Kahlo Leo Gura Phil Hine Maya Angelou Ann Sexton George Carlin Edgar Cayce Björk And many more.

Sorry for my long rants! I hope this helps.

Okay so I'm no master but I've been practicing active imagination and the art of visualization for some time now and I absolutely love it and so I'm going to give you the best advice I can based on what I've learned from the experience so far and what's always worked for me. If I find myself with more than one goal in mind to manifest I will often contemplate which one is more practical and likely to happen first and maybe start with that. It's good to set a clear definite intention on what you want and start with one at a time. Gradually, I would begin adding other elements into the picture almost creating a movie or slideshow in the minds eye of all the things I'm aiming for, having everything sort of interconnected and working in harmony, this will come naturally for you. Honestly, one word. Outflowing. One of the main keys I've discovered through visualizing your desires and getting positive results is to pretty much always go in with a clear, positive frame of mind and imagine yourself feeling total love, joy & abundance over not only those desires, but in everything that is, in everything in your life, whether it be "good" or "bad." Connecting with gratitude in everything you have in the here & now and everything that's yet to come, in everything you're striving for. Also expressing gratitude in everything you have yet to learn along this journey, in everything you don't know and also in the very ambition you have to succeed in your beautiful dreams. Energy is magnetic. When you're doing this purely from the heart and really tapping into this feeling of intense appreciation for everything and not doing it to get anything in return or any sort of reward, but purely from the heart, it's incredibly fulfilling and powerful. And you just *feel* happy during and afterwards. It's like you're directly programming the mind to tap into that sensation of joy & love and the more you do, the easier it gets and the faster you'll be able to tap into it, whenever you want. Things like this can take a good amount of energy out of a person as well though because well, you're releasing a lot of energy, but that's in fact usually a good sign. So after exercises like this it's always a good idea to reconnect with things that ground you or ordinary things such as pleasure & relaxation, especially if it was for long period of time. It's definitely possible in 10 minutes, it's possible in 5 minutes! But if you start a min. 5-10 mins and you can train yourself to increase the time eventually, I've found that it's even more powerful and puts you in a deeper, prolonged trance. I also recommend not just imagining the objects and items of your desires but also seeing a mental image of yourself, and the whole landscape, experiencing them and viewing yourself and everything existing around you, as best as you can. Or you can imagine yourself in a third person perspective, like in a video game, however you prefer. If it's not in 100% vivid detail, don't stress. As long as you can sense and feel it, and tap into that feeling you will get when your goal will be manifested as if it's already happened, because it's already within you, then that's the main thing. Really diving into the intense energy and the sensations of it. I would do it until you intuitively feel it's time to close the practice, or when you simply feel worn out. When you feel it's time, you'll know. Also, consider lighting a candle or two beforehand and gaze into the flame.

@111111 You say sitting for longer than 30 minutes is bad for your health but what about meditation being so sedentary? Do all of the benefits & advantages of meditation outweigh any risk of sitting for long periods of time during the process? Thank you for mentioning taking breaks for 20-30 minutes in between work and practice. The thing with me personally is I have a hard time procrastinating!! Like if I'm NOT working on my projects or making progress day after day, that's when I start to self-sabotage. I forget how important it is to like take a break once in a while lol and recharge the mind. Let the mind & body breathe. I like what you said about the negative effects staring at a screen for long periods of time has on someone. This is one reason why I strongly feel children shouldn't be having abundant access to phones and computers so soon because I feel like it is hindering the natural development of their minds. Similar to the days when TV entertainment initialized, and kids sitting in front of the screen, vulnerably hypnotized, until their eyes practically hurt. One thing I am responsible of doing as a child though, if I wasn't outside awing at the stars, was gazing into TV static to receive symbolic messages and images. This is quite an interesting meditative technique and basically a form of scrying. It's quite useful and it always reminded me of staring into space. Most of the time even as a kid I would be more drawn to this and find it more entertaining than cable TV any day because it would unleash the scope of my imagination and it definitely kept me more focused and alert, rather than watching some meaningless noneducational program.

I hope this is decent advice. @Leo Gura Thoughts?

It sounds like you were having a direct organic, intuitive, SUPER-natural mind/body/soul reaction to the power of music. Music has the universal analgesic ability to shift our minds and tap into the sensation of empathy & emotion. It also raises our vibration. As a musician and practitioner of meditation, I find there is an immense close connection here. As Beethoven once said, "Music is the mediator between the life of the senses and the life of the spirit." It has also played a major role in countless spiritual and mystical traditions for millennia. When someone is listening to a song or even gazing at a painting, there is a sense of hyper-presence being activated. And I've come to find that you can visualize & manifest anything through the magic of art, music, or any form of creative energy, and sometimes for me things begin to manifest naturally and spontaneously when I least expect it, when I decide to just let everything go. I believe any "flow state" someone is in where they're completely lost in the moment, whether they're dancing, writing, acting, playing a musical instrument, or what have them, this is a massive form of active meditation and I don't think it's talked about enough. Sedentary styles of meditation and body awareness in yoga are all fun & games and highly significant methods of course, but I believe these are just as powerful because it also taps into understanding your true passion, self-expression, and mystical potential. I also believe being in the state and flow of creativity can directly lead you to nirvana. There has been numerous occasions in which I would spontaneously write something and later on contemplate where it even came from. I would feel convinced that "something else" musically possessed me, so to speak. And when I am in the otherworldly flow of creating, when the shivers & sparks come in, it feels totally out-of-body. It is an astral experience. But I'm not the only one who encounters this, this has been learned for centuries. Personally, by all means I am not underestimating your music addiction, but frankly, I do think it's one of the coolest addictions I've heard of so far. If it really is affecting your productivity, I wouldn't recommend completely eliminating music from you and the advantages it gives you, because I sense it would be eliminating an innate part of yourself and I would avoid the risk of life becoming banal and mundane. I would try listening to music while achieving certain tasks, or if that is too distracting, I would try incorporating musical elements into your meditation practices. Using music as a method can be very experimental which could be something to be excited about. One can acquire deep metaphysical insights just from listening to one song. If you could practice meditating to some instrumental music or whatever your heart desires, and become really good at it, not only does this feel incredibly powerful and breathtaking in the moment, but also essentially, you wouldn't really be using music as a crutch anymore, but more so you will be using it as a productive tool for spiritual development, while also exercising the mind and awareness of your emotions and Goddess energy.

@Serotoninluv Thank you so much!! I have been inspired by many diverse types of music throughout my lifetime so I do like experimenting with instrumentals and non-fluent ethereal vocals from time to time.

@Aquarius Hehe. I'm glad I'm not the only Aquarius who couldn't help but notice how much many people seem to crave having the answers to everything or claim the last word of intellect all the time. It seems gratifying for someone to elaborate or complicate something that grasps the beauty of simplicity, especially if it makes them come across as impressive or advanced. I believe it's rather inhumane for a person to always feel the need to "correct" or patronize other peoples' statements for their own credibility. Not everything requires deep analysis.

So without trying to sound like some whiny adolescent AH in their 20's who resents their family, I've been contemplating school a lot more lately and ever since I was a little girl and ever mentioned the idea of going to college to these people they would always say "College? Are you crazy? Do you have any idea how much that costs?", and would dismiss the entire visualization and act as though it's never going to be a possibility, like it's some pipe dream fantasy. I have too many ambitions to not succeed in life. It's not that they don't believe in me or think I'm incapable I don't think, it's just their whole Nihilistic approach on this, having so much despair, it was not necessarily a splendid boost to my path of self-actualization. Perhaps I'm naive and they're looking at things realistically? Or perhaps it's pure pessimism and ignorance? Or would they resent me for my mere desire to want to chase my dreams and learn as much as I can in life? I question the psychological hassle behind this a lot. I've always had this natural desire and intention to learn and gain knowledge, not in any pretentious or superior way, but solely because I was doing it out of pure passion. There was always a book in my hand growing up and I'll never forget this one incident where I was showing a friend what I was reading as a kid and my mother got intoxicated and just snatched it out of my hand and aggressively threw it across the room. It always freaked me out and bewildered me as to why some people around me didn't like to see me read or write or self-educate myself in anyway. Hence one reason why I need a fucking degree like in my hand, lol. Because unfortunately in consensus reality, it seems as though you need solid proof & certification that you love the things you love and read the things you read on a daily basis or else nobody will respect you, or take you seriously or believe in your knowledge & intelligence. (Classic ego; ID conundrum.) I mean, I'm at a time in my life now where I'm well off, and feeling more secure and independent than ever, after many years of hardship and battle. I couldn't do it without my spiritual practice and I'm blessed enough to have the opportunity to work in places that are spiritual and fulfilling for me and the career path I'm leaning towards and I have a valid plan so their doubts, most likely precipitated by their generation, shall not shatter my ambitions, but only increase my momentum. Can anyone here vibe with me on this?

@okulele Thank you!!

@GenuinePerspectiveXC Damn haha

@Be Yourself Thank you so much !

Tantra, tantra!

@Leo Gura I would love to hear your thoughts on this topic, since you were once on a similar journey. I'm struggling in a pickle here man. I am super passionate about becoming a spiritual counselor, helping people heal through the power & magic of art, music and writing and through the use of divination tools for personal development such as Tarot. What are my options? Where would I begin? Do I go get a degree in psychology or metaphysics or no degree at all? Metaphysics is not offered anywhere around where I am from, sadly. Neither is holistic healing or spiritual psychology, music psychology, nothing like that. There's some pretty stupid low-consciousness people in this area, I must say lol I wonder if that is a factor. I feel like there's no way I could commence this career without having that signature and certificate proving I know and understand these things? But maybe I'm just far behind the times and not aware of the possibilities? I know you studied metaphysics and epistemology and look where you are!

@d0ornokey Thank you so much for that information, it was inspiring to read. I believe in the value of self-education so much because it's the only thing that's ever worked for me, so reading that just now just confirmed so much and something really clicked. I was just saying that I feel as though without a degree in my hand I won't acquire the societal respect I would like to earn. Growing up in school I would have a hard time concentrating and focusing on what was being taught because of the other kids and emotionally unstable teachers around me and the environment alone was awfully distracting. As I got older, and my perception and awareness started growing, developing my own opinions and what not, I was fed up with the traditional curriculum being taught to us and how even in Art class there were these strict rules and the teachers would bitch & moan, complain and just have a total negative attitude and outlook on life. Large, noisy, obnoxious groups weren't my thing, I wanted to remain lost in wonderland, in my own little silent sacred space where imagination held the key. I can tell you right now if and when I have children someday, I am absolutely terrified of the day they begin school, mainly because of the teachers. "Don't talk to strangers kids!" but "Hey here's your lunch and have a grand day with 1,000+ other strange humans who have sketchy diverse mentalities & psychosis'!" I mean in retrospect, I can remember many of them being downright insane, and they had all of those kids to pick on too, locked in a classroom. There were times I would quietly cut school and actually go to the local library to find more interesting, fulfilling books to read and find locations with breathing nature and just read there, with the trees, for the majority of a school day. Because I figured, well fuck I love to learn but this place sucks so I might as well get an education somewhere, I wasn't going to slack off on LIFE. Simply just the educational system. And honestly that was the best bet for me so far. I learned so much more simply from cutting school and going on solo adventures with the intention of learning about what's happening around me and learning about things I was actually naturally passionate about. I'm not saying basic education and common knowledge aren't relevant, but I believe it can be much harder for people to comprehend or learn anything they're not naturally intrigued to learn. Teaches drilling bias ideas and opinions into our heads, especially related to religion & politics (that's where I really got miffed), it just is not appropriate so therefore it motivated me to want to go learn the things I naturally loved learning, for my own soul, as an autonomous individual. Astrology, biographies about psychopaths, Carl Jung, Alan Watts, Albert Camus, Buddha, Edgar Cayce, and many other topics and subjects that would not get taught, the list goes on and on. I wonder if home schooling and spiritual education is the far future. I wonder if this would be a good idea or a bad idea. Kids could either become more intellectually advanced and passionate about what they want out of life, or more isolated and introverted and not experiencing as much. It's a double-edged sword.

I live in little old Rhode Island currently but my friend and I will most certainly be hopping to NYC!

This is wicked cool! Thanks for sharing! I geek over anything related to Sound Healing and music therapy, I'm going to try this. I'm strongly passionate about this kind of stuff and incorporating it into my meditative practices. Humming, chanting, singing, speaking melodic mantras or poems, this is all sooo incredibly therapeutic and music and sound are so universally powerful and transcendent, musical frequency lies literally and spiritually within us. This reminded me of something..if you haven't tried this yet, one technique I love practicing is working with the musical frequencies associated with each chakra, so perhaps starting off using the standard major C scale. Humming the tones C D E F G A B C starting from the root to the crown chakra, and then you can eventually get creative with it too and start altering the key, tone, etc and harmoniously connect with your voice even more. I love using this technique before I sing or perform somewhere, for preparation, it not only exercises the diaphragm and vocal cords but also cleanses the mind & soul deeply and grounds me completely. There are some guided videos on YouTube where you can follow each tone to become familiar with it at first, and hum each tone in sync similar to the one you shared, but I definitely recommend giving it a shot! Also, I wonder since you dig gongs, have you ever used a singing bowl?

@Elysian Yes. Thank you. It was an experience though and I find any experience to be worthwhile and something to appreciate. I learned something from it man! Shadow Work and Jungian Psychology are some of my deepest passions but Shadow Work for me is a solitary, self-reflecting, self-investigating process. I wasn't going to a Shadow Work class, I was expecting a Reiki class. I can practice and work on my Shadow alone on a daily basis, autonomously, because that's my personal Shadow to meet & greet and study, not to be discussed to an entire class against my permission to psycho-analyze lol. I do practice these things on my own and with people I know whom I CAN trust, who has almost a whole life's experience of doing this, and that's all I need. I tend to work better on my own anyhow too but that's just me. Encountering people like this is one good reason as to why I do mainly practice solitary.

@Leo Gura YES. Thank you. Respecting someone's freewill is absolutely imperative in these practices. I was taking Reiki classes for a few months in this metaphysical shop I work in, and the instructor was actually intoxicated once! She had informed us that as much as she shouldn't be, she enjoys her alcohol. How unprofessional is that? She never even mentioned how vital it is to DRINK WATER before AND after one partakes in Reiki, that is so important for preparing and cleansing. Also basic things like shielding yourself first and washing your hands or smudging them, beepbidibop, nothing like that. I had this one experience with her at the beginning where she totally excluded me from the rest of the group from getting Reiki done because her "guides were telling her it wasn't my time to be healed." It was weird for me because everyone else in the class got to get it done BUT me, it made me feel like "Why?" She never even explained it to me. It was such a juvenile, low experience because it reminded me of that feeling of marginalization and rejection you experience in school as a child, feeling singled out. And as far as I'm concerned, I thought Reiki was supposed to be about healing, and releasing you from all the trauma and negative energies that have attached to you. I didn't know I needed any guides permission to heal except my own. She could have at least took me somewhere to speak to me about her feelings of me outside of the class, more one on one, eye to eye. That would have been the more considerate way to do it. When she finally did do Reiki on me, my body was trembling and shaking so much I could barely catch my breath and I began to see bubbles floating all around me. She started off by confirming that I was indeed viewing the spectrum of multiple universes and began asking me typical questions first such as "What colors are they?" or "How are they moving?", etc.. but then she proceeded to ask more personal questions about me out of nowhere, sharing her assumptions of me, in front of everyone that had nothing to do with what I was seeing or experiencing. It was creepy because she never even explained how it was going to be done or what kind of things she would be asking in the first place. It was invasive to me and my mental health. It was dangerous and risky to me as well because I was in another realm, a vortex, a separate state of consciousness. The things she was asking began to exit me from that realm, and it wasn't the proper way of guiding me out of it. I was seeing something extremely powerful and literally out of this world and then suddenly she wants my whole biography to be shared, I was trying to focus on that place, to stay in that flow you know not on my personal story, I wasn't expecting a psychobabble ceremony. She might as well have taken out a pad of paper and a pen and put the feathers and selenite wands down. I have a relative that has been doing Reiki for years, she's in her 50s now and she warned me about this kind of thing, about not trusting anyone, no matter what field they're in or whatever sort of "Godlike" or "cosmic", eerie fairy category they claim they fit under.

When I first started I was mainly focused on breath and body, so scanning the body from the feet to the crown of the head, using my breath to release the tension in my body withholding me from relaxation. Then I like to imagine white sparkling light resembling veins or roots of a tree, connecting me to the earth, grounding me. Then I focus on each individual chakra and the colors associated until a stream or river of white iridescent light is connecting me to Divine and washing down over me, cleansing and recharging my whole being. Sometimes if meditating inside, I imagine the light traveling outwardly from my room out the roof of my house, surrounding the whole house or neighborhood, it gets very powerful. Working with the chakras balances and sustains your natural energy, you're also focusing on something mindfully, other than the things monkey mind is trying to get you to focus on. And it also helps you practice working with the power of your own energy and the energy around you. I deeply enjoy Shamanic Drumming or any other type of slow and steady percussion that raises energy while meditating. Another helpful technique is visualizing holding orbs of radiating energy in between your hands, you can do with your eyes open or closed, and imagine growing it and expanding it and sending it to yourself and/or outwards to someone or something else, place, or circumstance.

I must say working in mysterious metaphysical shops and reading Tarot for a living was quite the liberating occupation to bring into their robotic consciousness.

Hehe thanks Leo.