In the wisdom traditions of world Paganism and polytheism
the work of ritual worship and devotion is almost always accompanied by the
practice of mental training and meditation. Practices of ritual invocation and
devotion are perhaps more common in the religious life of regular people. The
work of training the mind, and using it in a focused way to support spiritual
practice is more often the work of priests, monks and those with a formal
dedication to their path. In modern practice it is my advice that all those who
seek the blessings of the Old Ways will practice at least a measure of these
traditional mental and spiritual skills.
There are many benefits to be gained from meditation and
mental training practices. Leaving aside the mythic and ritual considerations
that are the focus of this work, we can mention the psychological and emotional
benefits that modern science clearly says can be gained from meditation.
Relaxation, stress reduction and relief, and improved cognitive function are
all results well-supported by research. In the whole realm of religion, magic
and spiritual practice if you do nothing than to learn and practice meditation
regularly and skillfully you will have done yourself a great service.
In the practice of ritual worship and the building of
relationship with the Powers the ability to calm the emotions, focus attention
and clearly visualize is vital to the generation of personal spiritual
experience. It is common in modern thinking to dismiss religious ritual as ‘empty
gesture’. This, I think, is largely due to the loss of these mental skills in
western religious training. Literalist thinking is no more valuable to ritual
than it is to scripture, and the expectation that spiritual ritual will simply “work
like magic” can only result in disillusionment. Powerful, well-spoken words and
meaningful, well-performed actions must be accompanied by focused,
well-structured mental work for a ritual to be whole.
To be more metaphysical, it is the internal mental
structures of ritual – the visualized energies and presences that form the
bridge between the material symbols of the spiritual world that we use in
ritual, and the Inner realities of spiritual persons and powers. Through our well-structured mental
participation the gods and spirits can step through, closer to our common
lives. In the same way with our Inner Vision we can perceive and direct the ‘energies’
of Land and Sky, both in ourselves and in the outer world. Here we approach
what might be called the ‘magical’ or ‘occult’ (i.e. hidden) aspect of
spiritual practice. Even without such considerations the value of trance and
meditative work is undeniable, and vital to ritual practice.
Spiritual teaching is full of discussion of the ‘real’
meaning of meditation and the place of ‘altered states’ or ‘trance’ in spiritual
work. Sects have divided and many a scholastic duel been fought over the angels-on-pinhead
minutia of these topics. I will present simple descriptions or definitions of
several core terms, before we move on to practical method.
• Trance (or ‘altered states of awareness’) is the most
general term. It refers to any deliberate effort to focus the mind away from
the common stream of perception and mental chatter. It is characterized by the
withdrawal of attention from immediate sensory environment, relaxation of the
body, a strongly focused attention, and a sense of full and immediate
involvement that quiets self-criticism. That is, basic trance is relaxation + concentration
+ non-judgement. It is possible to practice this state as a goal in itself, but
basic trance is almost always the set-up for some further deliberate act of
will.
• Meditation is the deliberate and maintained withdrawal of
attention from the stream of chatter-thought. Meditation often employs basic
trance by making that calm, mentally-motionless state the focus of
concentration. Meditation of this type teaches us that our self-talk is
separate from our essential self-awareness, and contributes to discernment and perspective.
It helps us learn to step back from our immediate ‘programmed’ mental and
emotional responses, a skill which can be valuable in dealing with the Powers.
Many mystical systems have made variations of this kind of meditation one of
their central practices or sacraments. To me it is one useful technique among
many, but an important basis for further spiritual skills.
• Vision Pagan religion, mysticism and magic has almost always employed deliberately-constructed visualizations – the use of ‘imagination’ - to give access to deeper spiritual
realities. This often involves a deeper or tighter level of focus – a ‘deeper
trance’ in which envisioned scenes, images and forces mingle with sense
perception. In full visionary ‘journeying’ the body may be still while the mind
travels in vision. Such deeper trances are seldom part of ritual worship.
However the use of conscious vision to enhance invocation, energy-work and
ritual is an important part of effective practice.
• Energy-Work Modern Paganism has developed the “energy model” of magic to a
fairly high degree. To a degree this is a special adaptation of Vision work, in
that one is generating the sensory experiences of flowing energies, including
visual models. In this notion the spiritual Powers are understood as impersonal
‘forces’ or ‘energies’ that can be manipulated by will and imagination. Many
modern Pagans might describe their whole practice as about the ‘magical
energies’ of the cosmos, even describing the gods as energies. While these
ideas were never part of traditional ways there are several basic techniques
that fit well with traditional symbols and forms. Especially ‘Grounding and
Centering’, in which ‘spiritual energies’ are contacted and organized in the
self, has value both as a follow-up to basic trance and as a self-healing
technique.
It is sometimes argued that, in old times, community and
home ritual did not include the deliberate induction of altered states of
awareness. This true, and the use of scripted trance-induction in modern ritual
is certainly an innovation. I argue that it is an extremely valuable one, which
replaces a vital element that would otherwise be missing.
In a traditional society the rites, customs, sacred places
and symbols are a part of the cultural fabric of life. With an implicit
acceptance of the reality of spirit forces and human ritual the sacred things
become invested with an automatic ability to produce changes in consciousness.
Simply to come into the Ring of Stones, or before the Ancient Fire, or, later,
into the Grand Cathedral would have been to enter a new mental space, where
gods and spirits might find entry.
Moderns have no such mechanism available for our efforts to make religion in
our back-yards and living-rooms. We must, I think, replace that cultural
entrancement with deliberate efforts to alter awareness. The addition of
deliberate entrancement and mental focus exercises to ritual works can only
provide a deeper and more complete spiritual experience.
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