A Secret Chief responds to Nick Farrell’s blog post.
How do I Start Lucid Dreaming?
This was originally published on Huffington Post… However, in updating my links I’ve found that Huffpost were redirecting straight to their main page instead of letting people actually read my article! Not being pleased at being used like clickbait, I have deleted the links to Huffpost and instead reproduce the original article here.
How do I start Lucid dreaming?
Many of the questions I get about Lucid Dreaming come from complete beginners to the subject, and by far the most popular is, simply: “How do I do it?”
In my experience, there is a five step process to becoming an intentional lucid dreamer. First, you have to be able to remember your dreams: you can do this by, e.g., keeping a regular dream diary. .
Emile Coué (1857 – 1926)
Secondly, you should learn how to control what you want to dream about. One method would be to decide, before going to sleep, the topic of your dream that night, and then, as you drift off to sleep, silently repeat to yourself at least twenty times: “I will dream about…” (inserting the topic of your dream). This, incidentally, is essentially Couéism, a form of self-hypnosis, so named after Emile Coué, 1857 – 1926, who created the affirmation “Every day in every way I am getting better and better.” By deliberately impressing a Suggestion upon your unconscious mind before going to sleep, your unconscious, which is the source of all dreams, responds by shaping the character of your nocturnal visions accordingly.
There are other ways you can use to program your unconscious to show you the dreams you want. For example:
The Picture or Symbol Method. Obtain a picture of your desired dream topic, or a symbol which represents your wish. Gaze at it intently for one to two minutes before you go to sleep, and leave it propped up on your night-stand. This appeals to the right-brain, and hence stimulates other parts of the mind that the preceding method cannot reach, since being primarily verbal this would be more left-brain.
The Visualisation Method. As you are lying in bed, about to go to sleep, close your eyes and visualise what you would like to dream about not as a static picture but as a movie – i.e. a live scene which you experience in the first person. Think about not just what you are seeing, but what emotions you would be feeling as well – e.g. joy, excitement, sexual desire, etc. After running through this visualisation, relax and allow your mind to drift. This is potentially very powerful, as not only does it reinforce your desire to dream about a given topic, you may find that you slip into an actual lucid dream whilst in the middle of your visualisation – without any consciousness of having fallen asleep.
The Sexual Method. Prudes look away now. Whereas the preceding methods take advantage of the natural Suggestibility of the mind at the point of drifting off into sleep, there is another method of impressing a desire on the unconscious, which is through a sudden burst of spontaneous emotion. To use a metaphor: if your desire is a nail, you can either hammer it home with a series of gentle taps (the preceding methods), or with one well-aimed almighty BANG. Now technically there are other ways of creating such bursts of emotion, but as we are talking about lucid dreaming here – an activity that takes place in bed – it makes sense to focus on the resources which come most readily. Simply put: before starting, reduce the subject of your dream to a single word, or a single symbol. Do not attempt to think about this before becoming becoming aroused; but concentrate on it only after you have started, so that at the moment of orgasm it dominates your mind completely. The discerning will notice that here are sown the seeds of the basic of Sexual Magic as well.
This – the ability to control the subject of your dreams – is probably the most important lesson to learn. The third, fourth and fifth steps to becoming a Lucid Dreamer – becoming lucid, taking control of your dreams, and using them for advanced dream-work – are essentially extensions of being able to decide the nature of your dream before you go to sleep at night. In other words, once you are confident in determining the content of your dreams, you can use the same methods to give you more control in the dreams themselves.
Filed under Supernatural
Interview With a Mesmerist
Lee Gerrard-Barlow
Recently I had the opportunity to talk to Lee Gerrard-Barlow, a practising Mesmerist living in England, about his art. Lee is an NLP Master, Hypnotherapist and Official Premier Trainer for “Magnetism” (i.e. Mesmerism). For those not aware “Mesmerism” pre-dates what is nowadays known as Hypnosis, and draws on rich heritage which is regarded with suspicion by skeptics, but is fascinating for students of the Mysteries.
First of all, what is the proper terminology for Mesmerism, and for people who practice it?
It was Franz Anton Mesmer who lived between (1734-1815 ) who popularised an Art that was actually known as ‘Animal Magnetism’ , thus his name became inextricably linked with it , passing into daily language right up to our times . The correct contemporary terminology is simply ‘Magnetism,’ or Magnetic therapy.
What are the main differences between Mesmerism and ordinary hypnosis?
There are fundamental differences between Hypnosis and Mesmerism , however , I should first mention that Hypnosis as we currently understand the term actually derives from studies of the methods of Magnetists who were active during the late 1800’s such as Charles la Fontaine , whom the Surgeon James Braid studied when Fontaine visited England from France . Braid then made a reductionist study of these methods and he was the one who named it Hypnosis, after ‘Hypnos’ the Greek god of sleep circa 1884. This of course started the common misperception of Hypnosis as actually inducing sleep, which is sometimes possible, but certainly not its aim. Braids methods were put into practice and gradually travelled to the U.S.A, where they very much became what we now commonly understand to be modern day Hypnosis. This gives us a bit of background…
But the essential difference between Hypnosis and Mesmerism is that Hypnosis nowadays predominantly relies upon the spoken word and effecting the ‘mental plane’ as a process. Mesmerism is a method that deals with energetic polarities and both the lunar plane of energies as well as the more spiritualised plane of energy, if one chooses to be open to such. In this way it may be said to be loosely related to various oriental energetic practices. Magnetism is mainly a non-Verbal art, which produces profound trance states.
Finally, due to its non-verbal nature, it is extremely effective on animals, such as dogs, horses, amphibians and so on. This certainly is not possible with ordinary Hypnosis!
What kind of things can be achieved by Mesmerism, that can’t be done by Hypnosis?
As a practitioner of both of the disciplines of Hypnosis and Magnetism, I am of the opinion that both have their specific merits but are used for different aims. Magnetism could be used to treat all the same issues as Hypnosis, however the approach would be through a completely different energetic and holistic approach. The opposite method however of attempting to achieve the same results with Hypnosis as with Magnetism is not a possibility. Arm levitation of course can and does occur with Hypnosis, but is done through a quite lengthy process of verbal suggestion. You will clearly see in some of my videos on you tube, or on my website, that this kind of thing happens without the use of words and without any suggestion whatsoever from the operator. The only active agent being the operators will to effect changes, which is done purely energetically. Mesmer believed that this was done via a kind of ‘magnetic fluid,’ which we could regard in a like manner to the concept of the ether.
The power to induce states is very, very swift with the combined use of Magnetism and Fascination , or the use of the power of direct eye contact through a kind of fixed magnetic or hypnotic ‘Gazing’ causing an immediate onset of trance state . This is a genuine hypnotic power that has been sadly lampooned and devalued in films and comedies. We teach many ways around these common misperceptions in actual practice. Experience of these realities on our courses will demonstrate its potent veracity.
The state produced during a magnetic session is actually a very lucid state, where the subject can be acutely aware and in a state of heightened ‘Presence,’ despite external appearances. Often an experience outside of the normal perception of time occurs, or a timeless state. A place where personal issues which often are the result of constant disordered thinking begin to collapse, and a feeling of freedom can kick-start the resolution of various inner conflicts, conflicts that have been the cause of imbalance in the individual.
Although magnetism is a therapy which appears to be applied externally, it is also actually a very important gateway for the practitioner themselves, for the production of internal states that can have even an initiatory value. These aspects of Magnetism are in fact of the utmost importance for the serious practitioner who is always ultimately a student of the mysteries.
What happened to the tradition of Mesmerism, after the rise of Hypnotism began in the mid-nineteenth century?
The Tradition of Mesmerism has always been alive, however, in its most interesting forms it became the province of a few very closed esoteric groups on the continent, where its practice was preserved, perpetuated and developed in the spirit of experimentation .
How different is contemporary Mesmerism to what Franz Mesmer himself would have practiced?
In our time, a few other practices have been added as the result of further research and development, some of which was due to the previously mentioned ‘secret magnetic schools.’ However in the school of Dr [Marco] Paret and myself (ISI-CNV – Arcana Therapies ) we teach fully all of the early methods , as well as new discoveries that have arisen through deep experimentation . It is here important to say , that even at an early period in Mesmerism when one of Mesmer’s students Puysegur was practicing , that there were some divergences in practice and philosophy, thus producing three distinct approaches , being the ‘Mesmerians,’ the Psychofluidists and the Spiritualists . We cover all of these approaches in our school.
How is Mesmerism used today?
Today many practitioners use Mesmerism as an addition to Hypnotherapeutic methods that they have already trained in, and producing greatly enhanced results. Also it has been used on the continent, particularly in Italy by stage Magicians, again with stunning results.
Here I must stress that Dr Paret, and I , have been the primary protagonists of the current resurgence of interest in this subject , and it is very easy to trace the majority of those who are currently practicing publicly to have been either directly trained by Dr Paret , or by one of his students.
Imagine a client comes to you to be Mesmerised. What might they expect during a Mesmerism session?
The Subject can easily experience any of the following :
A heightened state of Physical Presence and awareness. A sense of timelessness, inner guidance. A sense of harmony and well-being. An inner security that is able to place troubling issues into a harmonised perspective. The Ability to re-create the inner state reached in oneself at will subsequent to the session. Clarity. Rewards similar to deep meditation, in a fraction of the time.
How did you personally first get involved in Mesmerism?
I had been involved in a long term study of N.L.P and this led me into its origin in Hypnosis, this in turn led me to deeply study Hypnosis and its own origins which I discovered to be Mesmerism or magnetism, I was then very happy to find that magnetism was directly connected to my long term interest in the esoteric and Hermetic traditions of the continent. I truly felt that I had completed a circle and had reached a much deeper understanding and appreciation of traditions which had always been a source of inspiration for me. Synchronously at the same time as I was researching Mesmerism I met Dr Paret at a seminar in London in 2008 and have been studying deeply with him ever since then .
How would one go about learning Mesmerism?
Dr Paret runs courses at the main university ISI-CNV in Nice, in France and also in Italy where the full length teaching is given. I am the primary representative of these teachings for England and I teach the fundamentals of three vital aspects of the teaching over three days. The next course is held in a beautiful setting in Guildford close to Gatwick Airport and London on the 23rd , 24th and 25th October 2015 . Obviously if you are reading this after this date further courses will be listed on my website. http://arcanatherapies.com/courses/
Imagine someone who is already a trained hypnotherapist. How would they find trying to adjust to the practice of Mesmerism?
It is very easy to adjust to Mesmerism, as it is a very natural method. Mesmerism may be considered a stand-alone therapy as it can work very well as a self-contained practice. However, due to the fact that it is the very ‘root’ of the contemporary forms of hypnosis, the practitioners of hypnosis can easily find parallels that link to what they already do. A teacher I had in contemporary Hypnosis once told the whole class that , for some reason , if you use rhythmic ‘passes’ over the subjects body while doing verbal hypnosis that is results in a much deeper and more effective trance induction . Actually, this touches on the point I made earlier, that Braid actually threw out the baby with the bathwater when he made his reductionist system and dispensed with some of the more effective aspects of Magnetism. It’s funny… we need to put them back where they belong and get better results.
Finally : Can you recommend any resources ( books , websites, etc), that readers of my blog could use to find out more about the subject?
Yes of course. Here are a few that will be of immediate use for the beginner.
LINK FOR COURSES : http://arcanatherapies.com/courses/
Schopenhauer : “On The Will In Nature / Animal Magnetism and Magic” .
Interview podcast with Lee Gerrard-Barlow: http://occultofpersonality.net/lee-gerrard-barlow/
Dr MARCO PARET : http://www.marcoparet.com/
ARCANA THERAPIES YOU TUBE CHANNEL –https://www.youtube.com/user/ArcanaTherapies
MODERN DAY MESMERISM : http://www.trebuchet-magazine.com/modern-day-mesmerism/
The Zoist (Elliotson) : https://archive.org/details/zoistajournalce01goog
Oswald Wirth: “The Imposition of Hands.“
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Better Lucid Dreaming: Make Your Dreams Vivid! | Alex Sumner
This was originally published on Huffington Post… However, in updating my links I’ve found that Huffpost were redirecting straight to their main page instead of letting people actually read my article! Not being pleased at being used like clickbait, I have deleted the links to Huffpost and instead reproduce the original article here.
Make your Lucid Dreams vivid!
Lucid Dreaming is the art of becoming aware that you are dreaming, whilst dreaming. When you experience this you find your dream-life instantly becomes more exciting. For some it becomes a new resource of creativity; for others, it is the first step on a new path to Spiritual unfolding. Others yet again see it as an opportunity for wish-fulfillment: to indulge in epic adventures, exercise Matrix- or Inception-like superpowers or pursue limitless romantic and sexual pleasures.
A minority of people experience lucid dreaming spontaneously. What may not, however, be generally known is that you have the power to develop the ability to dream lucidly on a controlled repeatable basis. The first step in doing so is to remember your dreams when they occur.
Many people have difficulty remembering their dreams: some mistakenly believe they do not dream at all. In fact, remembering your dreams can be as simple as employing a few easy-to-learn strategies, which I outline below. Curiously, the act of wanting to remember your dreams serves to make your dreams more memorable, and ultimately more vivid.
Keep a Dream Journal
Get a new notepad and a pen, and keep them on your nightstand. Then, whenever you wake up either in the middle of the night, or to get up in the morning, note down whatever you can remember about what you were dreaming. Chances are that the first time you attempt this, you will not be able to write much. However, by persisting every night, after a week or less, you will find you are filling up whole pages at a time! By taking the trouble to keep a journal, you are reinforcing your unconscious desire to remember your dreams – to which your dreaming mind will then respond.
Practice Meditation Before Going to Sleep
This is based upon a Buddhist practice, although similar meditative techniques can be found in Christian mysticism (e.g. St Thomas A Kempis). Before lying down in bed, sit upright with your spine erect. Breathe slowly and evenly, and allow the events of the day to replay before your mind’s eye in reverse, i.e. starting with the present moment and going back in time, as far as you can go. Practice this every night. This leads to not only an improved dream-memory, but also an improved waking memory as well. It also leads to a curious effect: because the hold which the day’s events have on the mind is released during meditation, the dreaming-mind is then free to explore other more exotic realms of memory during the night.
Use Affirmations.
Emile Coue, who coined the phrase “Every day in every way I am getting better and better,” observed that the time immediately before going to sleep is the best time in which to implant an affirmation into one’s unconscious. The state in which one finds oneself whilst drifting off to sleep shares certain similarities with a hypnotic trance. Take advantage of this by repeating an appropriate affirmation to oneself as one drift’s off to sleep, such as “I can remember my dreams in detail” – repeat this at least twenty times in one go (the number twenty was determined by Coue himself, apparently arbitrarily).
Get Artistic!
Finally, I recommend that if you have the least trace of artistic talent, you can leverage this by drawing the contents of your dreams, instead of just writing them down. Writing your dreams is a left-brain skill: drawing them, however, is right-brain. By representing your dreams in pictorial form, you are therefore making use of parts of your brain which you might not otherwise use! Carl Jung made a point of not simply describing his active imaginations, but by illustrating them and turning them into an illuminated book for his own private use (see: The Red Book). More recently, the 17th Karmapa (Ogyen Trinley Dorje), the Tibetan spiritual leader, employs an artist to sketch his dreams for him. Great artistic skill, however, is not absolutely necessary – even simple sketches, line-drawings and diagrams will suffice to stimulate the visual capacity of your right-brain.
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The Magical Solution to the Syrian Refugee Crisis | Alex Sumner
ALEX SUMNER: NOW ON HUFFINGTON POST –
Religious leaders across the world have been calling on people to pray for the fate of refugees, whose plight has become a major issue in Europe, the Middle East and Africa recently. However, I decided not to resort to prayer, but take a different approach, to wit: Sorcery.
Source: The Magical Solution to the Syrian Refugee Crisis | Alex Sumner
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They Thought This was an Ordinary Kitten. But When They got it Home, it Saved Canada!
You will not believe the diplomatic incident this Kitten caused!
Want to find out the full story behind this picture? I explain everything further down the page! But first, please read the following:
I would like to invite you to send me your questions – and I will answer them via my blog. Hence, anything on
- Lucid Dreaming
- Astral Projection
- Astrology
- Tarot
- Ceremonial Magic
- Golden Dawn
- Rosicrucianism
- Alchemy
- Hermeticism
- Grimoires
- Freemasonry
- Secret Societies
- Psychic Powers
- Angels
- Demons
- Spirits
- The Paranormal
- Conspiracy Theories
- Paganism
- Etc
- And everything in between
is welcome as a potential topic.
Either reply as a comment to this post, or use the form on the Contact Alex page. When replying I will respect your privacy unless you authorise me to make your name public.
Please share this post.
Thanks!
Alex.
P.S. The kitten didn’t do anything, but thanks for making it to the bottom of this post. 🙂
September 3, 2015 · 3:09 pm
Doesn’t lucid dreaming take a little ’magic’ from the dreaming?
Answer by Alex Sumner:
Your question is based upon a false assumption: that a lucid dreamer, having control of his or her dreams, would consequently want to experience a boring, unremarkable, mundane world which is indistinguishable from real-life.
Technically, yes – lucid dreaming does take away some of the unpredictability of non-lucid dreams. However the trade off is that instead you get Matrix-like superpowers, go on epic adventures to anywhere imaginable, have sex with zillions of hot supermodels, and even experience actual psychic, magical and spiritual phenomena as you access the higher reaches of the astral plane.
Personally this is a sacrifice that I and I guess most lucid dreamers are willing to make.
Doesn’t lucid dreaming take a little ’magic’ from the dreaming?
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What’s the most sure-fire way of lucid dreaming?
Answer by Alex Sumner:
The method which I personally used to become a lucid dreamer started off by first learning to remember my dreams – by assiduously keeping a dream diary. I then moved on to attempting to influence the content of my dreams, by using a simple form of self-hypnosis whilst falling asleep, and also employing a number of memory tricks to make sure that my dreams were more likely to be about what I wanted, and not affected by memories of the past day. Once I found I was able to do this, I learnt to become lucid by telling myself to be on the look out for differences between what could happen in dreams and real-life, and that when I spotted one I would become lucid.
It took a couple of months practice to have my first lucid dream this way, but after I had the first, lucid dreams became easier after that. So this is a slow-but-steady route to success – but it does work.
I write more about this at my website: Articles
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What are the best resources on Enochian magic?
Answer by Alex Sumner:
A good all-round introduction to the subject is Enochian Vision Magick by Lon Milo Duquette, which is essentially how one would go from being a complete beginner to a practising magician in all aspects of Dee’s system. Once you have that out of the way, you are ready for Dee’s original materials. I recommend John Dee’s Five Books of Mystery, edited by Joseph H Peterson, and Meric Casaubon’s “A True and Faithful Relation…” now published as Dr. John Dee’s Spiritual Diaries: 1583-1608, edited by Stephen Skinner.
Some years ago themagickalreview.org even had high quality scans of Dee’s diaries online, but unfortunately their site seems to be down.
Filed under Supernatural
Sol Ascendans - The Website of Alex Sumner 
Syria: Christ, Angels, and the Occult | Alex Sumner
In my previous blog on the Syrian Refugee crisis, I proposed resorting to Sorcery to find out what the best solution ought to be. This naturally leads to the question: can Magic be used to put such a solution into effect?
Source: Syria: Christ, Angels, and the Occult | Alex Sumner
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