The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum

Okay, so I'm back, and again it's a visualization question. Because the more I get back into magick I finding the hardest part is the visualization for me. And it sucks, because I used to be so good at this part. *headdesk*

So the problem I have when I visualize people is that I only see like only vague impressions of them in my mind.  And when I'm visualizing inanimate objects some part of the object will be weird and out of place Instead of seeing like the full 3D version of them in my brain. I also I'm having a hard time envisioning things that are in a ball or bubble shape, instead I will see just a 2D circle. An it's messing with me. Like I can see things pencils, but the eraser part will be in a blob like shape.  I have no idea what's causing me this. But this kind of worries me because visualization is such a big part of magick as a whole. And if I'm not getting it right, I keep wondering if I can pull off magick effectively.

So any suggestions or advice?

What happens if you try other senses? (I am mostly not a visual person: it took me years to learn to get visuals in meditation - I have always got sounds and tactile sensations much more quickly.)

One other thing - weird but helpful - that really helped me with visuals was immersive video games (anything where you're moving through a complex environment. Something about it gave me a much better visual spatial sense over time, and there was something about the level of detail (good, but not the same as real life) that was a lot more manageble for me to build in my head.

 
I don't think my other senses other than the feeling of my energy come into play. But maybe, I just have a hard time visualizing something mentally like they should be in real life.  It's weird, and I would love some alternates to visualizing that might work.

There's a lot more suggestions on my website over at http://gleewood.org/seeking/practices/visualisation/ but basically, how I did it was to start with simple things in a single sense (the sound of a bell, the sensation of velvet or silk or tree bark, strong flavours) and then build more complicated ones up from that (a complete song or meal, or different kinds of textures together or the sensation of standing in a place - what it feels like, say, to be standing in a field with a breeze in the spring with slowly thawing ground under your feet.)

 
 I'll go check out the website. Thanks for all your help!

Okay, so I'm back, and again it's a visualization question. Because the more I get back into magick I finding the hardest part is the visualization for me. And it sucks, because I used to be so good at this part. *headdesk*

So the problem I have when I visualize people is that I only see like only vague impressions of them in my mind.  And when I'm visualizing inanimate objects some part of the object will be weird and out of place Instead of seeing like the full 3D version of them in my brain. I also I'm having a hard time envisioning things that are in a ball or bubble shape, instead I will see just a 2D circle. An it's messing with me. Like I can see things pencils, but the eraser part will be in a blob like shape.  I have no idea what's causing me this. But this kind of worries me because visualization is such a big part of magick as a whole. And if I'm not getting it right, I keep wondering if I can pull off magick effectively.

So any suggestions or advice?

I highly, highly suggest reading this article. Visualization can entwine closely enough with intention to have any effect, but that doesn't mean that it is intention itself. Even if you're excellent at visualizing, it might not be magic. The article writer is a big fan of qigong as a practice to access intention as isolated from more modern traditional practices such as visualization, but the point remains that it's separate.

I highly, highly suggest reading this article. Visualization can entwine closely enough with intention to have any effect, but that doesn't mean that it is intention itself. Even if you're excellent at visualizing, it might not be magic. The article writer is a big fan of qigong as a practice to access intention as isolated from more modern traditional practices such as visualization, but the point remains that it's separate.

Thank you, this helps a lot. I will diffidently take a look at the article.