People of today versus ancient times

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Shifa
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Did the entire human populace, regardless of religion, used to posses a spiritual sensitivity back in the day that we no longer have? I mean, where did all the myths and legends and folklore come from?
Did we suddenly lose it when "science and enlightenment" came along?
Can magick and science exist together? Isn't metaphysics sort of an extension of physics?
Did the gods and entities used to roam this realm but gradually leave because of humans' changing attitudes, and now it's harder for us to connect?
Or is there some kind of mass cult delusion that some people fall into for whatever reason?
Is there really a subset of people who can see ghosts and goblins and the rest of us can't?

Am I just not cut out for this? (Or am I just confused about the different styles ...)
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No one can tell you what you should or should not believe. There can be as much evidence possible provided to you but if you choose not to believe it and be a skeptic that is on you. I can't help but get the impression at this point of just impatience and expecting immediate results otherwise it's fake.

It's been said numerous times, myself included that if you go in with the mindset of just constantly questioning if what you're doing is real or not then you're doing nothing but holding yourself back from experiences. Just from the last time from the post where you blew up and came back, you're back to questioning if any of this is real and wondering if you're just not meant for it and it hasn't even been a month. Some people it takes years to develop certain abilities, other's not so much. Everyone is different. No one can tell you what YOURE going to experience because a spiritual journey, especially the LHP is a very personal journey and experience. There is no "guide" to if you do this and this you'll experience this in x amount of time.

A lot of of people have been on their spiritual journey for years upon years. This isn't just something they wake up one day and decide, "I am going to be spiritual" and then everything comes at them. It took a lot of work and dedication.


A spiritual journey is something that you make of it. No one can tell you anything it's a matter of figuring out what is right for you, not about who makes the most convincing story and is able to prove it to you the most to your liking. Go with what feels right to you and expound on that instead of trying to find the one that needs to be proven to you first before you bother following the path. As I said before, there is plenty of proof and evidence on not just this forum but everywhere. It's up to you whether you decide to believe it or not because it isn't anyone else's job to make you believe in something.
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Shifa
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Mkay. I think you might be misunderstanding me a little bit. But maybe I deserved some of that ... because yes I did go off in my usual ways. *ahem*

I thought I had posed some interesting questions though. And notice the area I put this in.

We know that crystals and metals do have a sort of power and can be used in electronics.
We know that healing modalities can use sounds, vibrations, energy and the like.
There are probably plenty of physics and other scientific area theories that we could think of that we know now which parallel magickal beliefs. Heck it's often said that magick is just advanced science to the uneducated.
There's also a big push now to encourage people to participate in things like tai chi, yoga, meditation, art therapy, getting back out in nature, etc., simple things that we have been cut off from for whatever reason (and even some of those because of extremely repressed religious reasons).
And of course, the big revival, since what, the 60s?, of going back to the old religious roots despite the Puritanical beginnings of this country. People back in the day DID have a different view about magick and spirituality than we do now, I mean it's been practically beaten out of us. So of course some of us really struggle to regain that back when we've been taught science and logic from childhood. Yet it's so funny, when at the same time we were taught about God and angels, and that "the devil was out to get us."
We all know that much of this went underground, was kept secret for safety, and hearing it explained now it's either like hearing a foreign language or people purposely don't put it in plain language because they are still hiding their secrets. Or there is the third option of people who like to be special snowflakes and talk out of their ass to feel special on the internet.
We've all met people like that, we've all read mis-information, we've all met frustrated newbs, we've all started somewhere.

I'm postulating the theory here, that there are people in this world who are just naturally ungifted. I wondered whether it was a modern thing, or whether it has always been the case (even in areas that were not religiously oppressed).
I'm ready to accept the idea that I'm not compatible with spirit technology. It's not a denial, it's not screaming scam, it's not passing judgement on anybody. It's being honest with myself.

I've tried and tried and tried to "feel" or "see" or "hear" or "smell" or "know" (does that cover them all?) to figure out where my strength might lie but I just suck all around. I've tried to talk to animals, I've tried to manipulate elements, I've tried telepathy, divination ... I mean I know this stuff takes practice and all that, but you guys, I've wanted to be a witch since I was a kid and I've studied different things, granted maybe I just don't do it enough but I figured I would've picked up on my natural leaning by now. I spent a bunch of money on "magickal boosts" and then practiced this stuff again with no luck, so it left me really confused.
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Loka, To me it seems like you are engaged in fighting yourself. This is apparently part of your path, and I know that in years to come, you will look back on it and know that it served a purpose. I know it is difficult for you, and all I can say is "Try to enjoy the journey!", which is probably unhelpful. 99% of any magick or learning to control a natural gift is patience and persistence. Talk OUT LOUD to your Demon/s, do it often. Relax and see yourself hearing them and understanding them. KNOW that they hear you. Anyone can have doubts, but say aloud "I KNOW I can hear you!", even if you think it could be untrue. Part of you knows the truth of your situation and is listening! It has taken me MONTHS to get the slightest visual image of my Demon companions, and I still fail...a lot! It is coming. My Satanic Orb is helping me retune my eyes and mind to another reality. This has to happen at just the right pace! I do not want to suddenly start having grand visions of things invisible to most folks, and wind up in the canvas jacket with long sleeves! :p My Spectral Demon Shimmer is most amused at this, LOL! He knows that a mind can easily tip over the edge into the new reality and have difficulties finding its way back. I am lucky he is there to guide me and assist. My human family already considers me, *ahem* eccentric.
“If you really want to do something, you'll find a way. If you don't, you'll find an excuse.” – Jim Rohn

"The Master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried."

Do not rely on ANYTHING, unexamined. If It does not seem to fit, ask about it. If it ultimately degrades or dishonors or holds you back, it is bad for you, so remove it from your life. If it takes from you and never gives back, it is a leech. Discard it. In magick rely only on your own work: What you have seen and done and used for your own self and in your own way. Only keep what in your own estimation is worth keeping. (Hellcat's Rules Of Satanic Magick)"

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Shifa
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Thank you, that is a good point.
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Heidi
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Ok, I actually have an answer on that, but if I tried to thoroughly explain it would get extremely long, so I will try to keep it short but offer a few things to look up that will help you understand my point of view.

Short answer is yes, people in ancient times used to be able to perceive metaphysical phenomena more easily than we can now. There are a few factors that contribute to this. One is the fact that nowadays there's too much electromagnetic pollution that is blocking people (look up Faraday cages to see what happens to non psychic people when something insulates them from elecromagnetic pollution, to see what I mean).

Another factor is the extreme number of stimuli and the speed of modern life compared to that of previous ages. It has been suggested that in modern times the long periods of isolation and devotion to prayer to reach the altered states needed for successful spirit contact during evocation can be shortened, because due to the stimuli in modern times being infinitely more, locking yourself in a cabin in the middle of nowhere for the weekend will get you to that state, whereas in the 15th century for example your normal state of life and the one you aimed for for the ritual weren't that far different, so you had to spend 40 days for example to get to that state gradually). What the isolation does is remove the stimuli to open the way for your other senses to kick in unobstructed, so it can happen much faster in our age, to the point that many people find themselves unable to cope with a weekend all alone in the woods without a phone, TV, radio, traffic noises etc because they start getting delusional (see the connection there? They start seeing things that weren't supposed to be there, so they automatically assume this must not be real, they are having psychological issues) or have panic attacks.

A third factor is a difference in our dominant model of interpreting the world. I have touched on that subject before, when I posted about how people tend to grad the beliefs and worldview of their old religion into the new one, because they don't realize that the model of interpreting the world isn't the only one that exists. Switching models gives you a whole different world essentially. I know it sounds crazy if you haven't personally experienced it, but it truly does. And this is important because your dominant model of how things work determine what is real and what is not for your brain. Whatever you perceive as reality goes through your brain and is interpreted in a way that makes sense. So if you are operating within a model that isn't conducive to spiritual activity, that stimuli will be automatically removed by your brain, in an attempt to maintain coherence. If you grow up believing that the tree on the hill and the river are non-human people, then you have far higher chances of hearing them talking to you than if you believe that they are not alive, or that they have no spirit that can talk to you. And if you can talk with the plants, then you can talk with demons and other spirits too. For an illustration of what I mean, try watching documentaries or reading anthropological studies on first contact nations and observe how their approach to the world around them is very different to what the western world's approach is. There's also an essay on Gordon White's (overall excellent book) Pieces of Eight on different models of interpreting the world, that might help.
Now this is a very important consideration, because even today you can compare different countries and notice that in some places, there are infinitely more reports of paranormal activity and miraculous magic than in others. And this always goes hand in hand with the dominant interpretation of the world the people there have, and how much this includes or prohibits the existence of such phenomena. If you notice, in most stories of someone who wasn't at all a believer experiencing something paranormal very directly, these people had the experience away from home, and often when visiting a place where people see the paranormal as something real, as part of their normal lives. Which also shows that if you haven't had such experiences in your life that would make you see them are truly real, and if you have grown up in a place where they aren't seen as real, or even acknowledged in any way, then you are far more likely to have such an experience away from your familiar environment (and preferably someplace your brain considers exotic) than at home, out of the blue, when it has never happened to you in your whole life. Cause if it happens at home, your brain is most likely to edit it out because it makes no sense to what it knows as real and normal (for the brain editing out stuff part, do a search for cars crashing on airplanes that had to perform an emergency landing on the highway. Drivers almost always report not seeing a plane or anything else for that matter, until after they crushed on it. That's cause a plane in the middle of your usual route to work is so unlikely, that your brain literally edits the image of the plane out. That's exactly how your brain would edit the visual of a spirit manifesting to you out).

Last point I wanted to make is that even in ancient times, not everybody could easily communicate with spirits. Shamans could. And they 1) went through a long initiation where they had to learn everything the spirits wanted of them or perish, and 2) they used drugs, and other extreme mind-altering methods to establish communication. Including ritual torture and poisoning themselves to half-cross over to the other side.

Regarding suggestions, beside shifting into a different model of seeing the world (which I'd highly recommend), I would recommend entheogens, with the best possible scenario being an ayahuasca retreat or something similar, performed with the help of an authentic shaman and not one of the mainstream retreats that are popular among tourists lately just for the kicks of it, and preferably going to the place where such ceremonies are perform (again, instead of a retreat just outside the city where you live, for the added benefit of the very different environment that allows your brain the leeway to perceive more things as real than it usually does). This is often what kickstarts people into being able to perceive spirits and converse with them. The other suggestion (probably easier and cheaper) would be mushrooms. I know many people who either had been trying for years without any results and one of these two things was what did it for them and a whole new world opened up to them, or they had some ability, but after the experience with one or both of these two, they had a significant increase in ability, describing it as something being unlocked in their brain that stayed open after the experience, allowing them to perceive more than they were able to.*

A more meditative-based suggestion is Inner Heat practice. Jason Miller's book Sex, Sorcery And Spirit has detailed instructions on Inner Heat practice and how to do it safely without initiation or teacher (it can be dangerous if performed the wrong way and without a teacher).

I think this covers most of what I had in mind. Believe it or not, this actually is the very short version, lol!!

*For the record, I am not suggesting that anyone engage in practices or use substances that may be dangerous to them, or that are illegal where they live. I don't personally use drugs of any kind, but I never had extreme difficulty interacting with the spirit world. My suggestions are based on the experiences of people I know, not on my own personal experience, and are should only be considered by adults who are fully responsible for their own decisions, and who can fully grasp the possible dangers and have knowledge of whether the use of such substances is legal where they live or not.
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Shifa
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Heidi, that makes absolute perfect sense and is the kind of information I was looking for. Thanks!

Maybe some of you have heard of I-Doser, there is a binaural track on there for ayahuasca in fact. Can't hurt for me to give that a go.

Some say that the Ancient Egyptians might have sniffed the blue water lily for the same purpose, though I don't think it is nearly as strong as traditional entheogens.
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Inanna
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There are psychedelic plants and seeds being sold legally in the US, google around and you'll find some good online stores if you want to go that route. I have tried one type of seeds and honestly it's not worth the physical distress, I was throwing up all day... And that was with a low dosage, if I had gone higher I'd probably gotten a stronger spiritual response, but no thanks. Also I found that the altered state I experienced was similar to what I would get from simple good old meditation, go figure...
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Shifa
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*nod nod* I have looked them up before but not ingested any.
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Inanna
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Loka, FYI binaural beats are not a substitute for entheogens. You could try smoking psychedelic plants, I read that they don't come with side effects like the seeds I tried. But since I found the smoke irritating for my throat, personally I won't be doing much work with it.
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