meditating/journeying for the meditation/visualization challenged.

[spoOk]

let me explain my title.
I have tried repeatedly to do the following with no success:
meditation,basic versions.
dream quest visualization...again I get stuck in the meditation parts at the begining...I end up staring at the back of my eyelids trying not to scrunch my eyes up and still trying to look into the dark and visualize the glowing orb or what have you.
chant into a trance or as I fall asleep,with or without herb,incense,tea assistance to encourage dreams.
all this results in,is absolutely dreamless sleep and my fiancé having crazy dreams.(I've tried to pick his brain about them to see if he's got some of my dream requests invading his sleep)

what I have had success with is inadvertently dancing into an almost trance.
staring into incense smoke and seeing things,receiving strong intruding thoughts.
tarot cards sessions where I've asked the deity to be present or be listening and these are the current way I generally try to interact with diety,but it's not visual or dream interaction and these are what I desperately seek.

is there a way to do these that can have your eyes open?
or can anyone relate a sure fire way to have diety dream interactions?
other folks who have meditation issues...what do you do?
am I just s.o.l.?
:confused:

[SkySamuelle]

is there a way to do these that can have your eyes open?
or can anyone relate a sure fire way to have diety dream interactions?
other folks who have meditation issues...what do you do?
am I just s.o.l.?
:confused:

 
I have good results with shutting out the conscious mind through music and getting completely immersed into it as I walk around the house, falling in a daydreaming state. After awhile I am not so much aware of the music but of the feelings and images that iut evokes - I swim in it and this brought to a few spontaneous deity-contact/deity communcation experiences that tended to be more sensory than visual. It's different from journeying for me, but it can worked on to ritualize it - I see no reason a person might not use music and movement to release him/herself from the conscious mind and communicate.

You might try choosing a playlist for the appropriate theme/deity and then just lose yourself to it as walk/dance by keeping a certain visual 'mental meeting point' at mind - a place you imagine meeting your deity. As you get deeper into the 'daydreaming', see how it evolves from here.

And talking of dream interaction, I find a good way to trigger astral travel is awakening your chackra in sequence before you are falling asleep. I am working toward doing that with the goal to visit a specific astral place, but so far if I succeeded, I didn't remember it the morning after.

[dragonfaerie]

I end up staring at the back of my eyelids trying not to scrunch my eyes up and still trying to look into the dark and visualize the glowing orb or what have you.

I don't physically "see" anything when I meditate. For me, it's more like having a day dream and "seeing it in my mind's eye". So it's more like mental impressions than physical vision.

As far as dreams, I've never had much luck with directed dreaming. While I know I've had some where I've had contact with a deity, they weren't initiated consciously by me.

Karen

[veggiewolf]

let me explain my title.
I have tried repeatedly to do the following with no success:
meditation,basic versions.
dream quest visualization...again I get stuck in the meditation parts at the begining...I end up staring at the back of my eyelids trying not to scrunch my eyes up and still trying to look into the dark and visualize the glowing orb or what have you.
chant into a trance or as I fall asleep,with or without herb,incense,tea assistance to encourage dreams.
all this results in,is absolutely dreamless sleep and my fiancé having crazy dreams.(I've tried to pick his brain about them to see if he's got some of my dream requests invading his sleep)

what I have had success with is inadvertently dancing into an almost trance.
staring into incense smoke and seeing things,receiving strong intruding thoughts.
tarot cards sessions where I've asked the deity to be present or be listening and these are the current way I generally try to interact with diety,but it's not visual or dream interaction and these are what I desperately seek.

is there a way to do these that can have your eyes open?
or can anyone relate a sure fire way to have diety dream interactions?
other folks who have meditation issues...what do you do?
am I just s.o.l.?
:confused:

 
There's no surefire way to have deity interactions through dream.  At least, none that I've found.

As far as meditation/visualization goes, I have my best luck with moving meditations - walking, dancing, etc.

[Annie Roonie]

is there a way to do these that can have your eyes open?

I can help with this one. Your eyes should be open if your face is relaxed. Shutting them employs muscle exertion. That's why when bodies are found, their eyes are open. And completely exhausted little ones can often be observed sleeping with their eyes partially open. And at some level, there is part of the brain thinking about that and doing it. I think it is more prone to be noticed by people who have had eye issues.

If you can use gravity to get the lids to partially shut, enough to keep the eyes moist, keeping them open for long periods of time is possible.

Might be hard to not be distracted by sight though.

[Annie Roonie]

As far as meditation/visualization goes, I have my best luck with moving meditations - walking, dancing, etc.

THIS! When I was very frustrated that I could not get to a place that I envisioned I should be by not doing anything, I inquired all over about it. It came as a huge relief to know that I had gotten there with meditative tasks/activities.

Sheesh. So many times some preconception has blinded me to what was already in front of me.

[spoOk]

THIS! When I was very frustrated that I could not get to a place that I envisioned I should be by not doing anything, I inquired all over about it. It came as a huge relief to know that I had gotten there with meditative tasks/activities.

Sheesh. So many times some preconception has blinded me to what was already in front of me.

 
i keep coming up on that same thing too with so much.
thanks for your replies.

[Faemon]

what I have had success with is inadvertently dancing into an almost trance.
staring into incense smoke and seeing things,receiving strong intruding thoughts.
tarot cards sessions where I've asked the deity to be present or be listening and these are the current way I generally try to interact with diety,but it's not visual or dream interaction and these are what I desperately seek.

It sounds to me like direct cognitive might not cater to your personal learning style. You sound like a tactile, kinaesthetic learner to me.

Though, those meditations don't sound like they're basic to me. First, because I myself am biased with being primarily claircognizant, I would suggest achieving a know-nothing, blank-slate thoughtless state. Just be in it. You can wait until the thoughts that do come up stop trying, or... make the most predominant of those thoughts or emotions (for example, the desperation, rather than the deity) the focus of the meditation.

Now, for something that I hope will take what has already been working for you, further: yoga, or martial arts katas, or even just spinning around (careful not to crash into anything). These can become meditations in movement, instead of the more popular meditations that isolate the mind from the body rather than unite the mind with the body.

Finally, (or in any order, please do feel free to pick and choose or ignore everything in this post to whatever suits you) have you attempted lucid dreams? Ot, "reality checks" during waking, that will bring upon dream-initiated lucid dreams instead of wake-initiated lucid dreams? Once you know that you are dreaming, in a dream, then you can invite your deity into your space. It might only seem like they actually show up, but you can worry about that once you're awake.

Hope this helps!

[spoOk]

It sounds to me like direct cognitive might not cater to your personal learning style. You sound like a tactile, kinaesthetic learner to me.
Finally, (or in any order, please do feel free to pick and choose or ignore everything in this post to whatever suits you) have you attempted lucid dreams? Ot, "reality checks" during waking, that will bring upon dream-initiated lucid dreams instead of wake-initiated lucid dreams? Once you know that you are dreaming, in a dream, then you can invite your deity into your space. It might only seem like they actually show up, but you can worry about that once you're awake.

Hope this helps!

 
oh! I've had some instances of lucid dreaming when I've realized I'm repeat dreaming. I never thought to take that direction tho....now I can't wait to have that happen again!!!
thnx

[Waldhexe]

I've had some instances of lucid dreaming when I've realized I'm repeat dreaming. I never thought to take that direction tho....now I can't wait to have that happen again!!!

I've had a couple of dream and meditation situations with deities, animals and plants, but I find it most difficult to really interact with them in a controlled way like to ask them questions. Often they just show me something or tell me something and I'm not able to ask anything or do anything and just feel run over when I wake up.

What helps me is active imagination exercises/guided meditations. I can have a second talk with the deity/animal from the dream in a more controlled frame and any kind of active imagination also helps to train my brain to act more lucid/controlled in dream situations.

Building my own inner places of power, tree meditations, cleansing meditations, even meeting allies... there's a lot of stuff one can do in an awake state without having to dive in very deeply into trance. This stuff all helps also with dreams and trances.

[spoOk]

I've had a couple of dream and meditation situations with deities, animals and plants, but I find it most difficult to really interact with them in a controlled way like to ask them questions. Often they just show me something or tell me something and I'm not able to ask anything or do anything and just feel run over when I wake up.

What helps me is active imagination exercises/guided meditations. I can have a second talk with the deity/animal from the dream in a more controlled frame and any kind of active imagination also helps to train my brain to act more lucid/controlled in dream situations.

Building my own inner places of power, tree meditations, cleansing meditations, even meeting allies... there's a lot of stuff one can do in an awake state without having to dive in very deeply into trance. This stuff all helps also with dreams and trances.

 yeah that was part of my problem was trying to do controlled meditations.
I never got past the begining part where you had to begin the envisioning a door way or orb of light etc. part.
not because I have no imagination....just because it almost felt like with my eyes closed the harder I tried the more it slipped away from being more than just a vague shade. then I wouldnt be able to shut out the world etc.
but I'm going to try the open eye things and hearing the noises but letting them not bother me idea....previously suggested.