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The way it describes the world determines how we will value and experience it.

-Miriam Simos

I study tarot like I got final on it or something ..

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Tarot Initiation (Iniciación al Tarot)

Visualization in Witchcraft: The Basics

I’ve gotten many, many requests for more information for beginning witches or those who are just curious, and I’ve decided it’s time I start writing and posting such things more often. This article will be (one of) the first in a series where I’ll talk about common beginner issues an techniques for those just starting out, skills that I personally found useful early on, and anything else that comes up. My plan is mostly to write based on questions I receive, and address topics as needed. Here we go.

Today, I’ll be writing about visualization, and I’ll just be explaining the basics as I see them. I recently got a message from someone interested in studying witchcraft who was concerned about how to begin practicing without having to buy things. This is a common sentiment, and I get questions about it a lot. There’s not too many authors who address it, except in passing. The books that do talk about practicing witchcraft without tools often suggest learning to astrally project and creating a sort of sacred space in the astral realm containing all the tools you might need. This never seemed practical to me, as many people who are just starting out won’t necessarily be able to fully project, and heck, even many experienced witches never quite pick up the skill. 

A far better approach than trying to astrally project right away would be to study visualization and develop it as a skill. Visualization is the art of manipulating your own imagination in order to create vivid experiences within your own mind. This practice sharpens your intuition and magical acuity. Even many rituals and spells in books (with or without suggesting tools) will call for the witch to visualize, though they may not call it that, and sometimes say “imagine” instead. 

It’s perhaps best explained by way of examples, and can take many forms with varying levels of complexity. Sometimes, you might want to visualize something as existing within your physical space. In other words, you would want to strongly imagine it appearing to you as if it were physically in front of you. In one particular ritual I used to perform regularly (it was for banishing), part of it entailed my strongly imagining a pentagram in a particular color left in the wake of my ritual actions. That’s a form of visualization. This may sound like a simple thing, but it does take practice. 

After a while, though, I got to the point where yes, I could “see” the pentagrams surrounding me in the ritual, though I knew it was actually a visualization sprung from my imagination rather than a physical object hanging in the air. Techniques like that are pretty common, and they aren’t a new thing - books written in the Victorian era and earlier will often recommend doing this, though the word visualization itself wasn’t often used. 

Many witches and magicians incorporate visualization into simple symbol and sigil magick. In the image below, I’ve listed the planetary symbols and associated colors. While many people, when working with symbols, would assume they’d need to carve, draw, or sketch the symbol on a physical talisman or something similar, there are other ways.

One technique using visualization would be to trace the symbol in the air with your finger. You would visualize light in a particular color (of your choice, or relevant in some way) flowing from your fingertips and forming the symbol hanging in the air. The length of time you’ll be able to visualize will likely vary based on how long you’ve practiced, as well as whether there’s anything breaking your concentration. In some settings, I can only “hold” the symbol in my mind for a few seconds before it’s interrupted by something in my environment. Conversely, I can think of a ritual I recently did with a partner that involved visualizing symbols. We did this in a quiet room and with much mental preparation, so I was able to “see” the symbols for much longer than in other situations.

All of that, of course, is going to be done with your eyes open, visualizing objects in your physical space. Things can get pretty interesting if you close your eyes, though! Obviously, you wouldn’t be moving around doing a ritual with closed eyes, but it’s possible to work magick while sitting (or even lying down!) with your eyes closed performing an intense visualization. Some people find this easier than open eye visualization, but for others, it’s the reverse. It just depends on the person.

One mistake I made when learning this type of visualization was trying to make my visuals too complex too quickly, not realizing that these things take time, and complicated, immersive scenes are something that has to develop slowly. One way of beginning is to start with, again, symbols, visualizing them projected on the back of your eyelids. 

Simple shapes, like line drawings, are great to begin with, too. Slowly add color and depth, and eventually you’ll be able to build a proper scene inside your mind. This could consist of imagining the workspace you’ve always dreamed of with everything you would need for any kind of spell, but for many witches, the visualization is the spell itself. I find that method more productive than just imagining tools. Experimentation is key, and you’ll find something that works for you, but one common method of using visualization in spellwork would be to visualize the goal of the spell manifesting in an efficacious manner. For example, if I were visualizing as part of a spell to help a friend’s wedding go smoothly with no mishaps or delays, I would visualize exactly that happening.

There is, naturally, a strong connection between visualization and scrying, and usually improving your skills in one will improve your skills in the other. In the image below, I discuss how scrying can often be much more than just seeing images, and that is true of visualization as well - you can experience any sensation or impression via visualization, be it auditory, visual, olfactory, or really anything else.

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Underrated Hero:

Punk Mambo

A master of Voodoo rites, Punk Mambo commands many magical abilities and defense, including enhanced senses, astral projection, a cast of illusions and spells, and more; her powers also appear to have arrested her aging.

DKMU: Divine Forms: Ellis "And Upon This Mark He Unified The Worlds" deviantart: by Hespahaestus

Deviantart: Sam Schecter

Link: https://www.deviantart.com/herringbonnes/art/Live-Evil-622452702