Ritual:Seeded automatic writing
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Seeded automatic writing is an automatic writing technique that can be used for all purposes more ordinary automatic writing is used. It's about writing a seed text in a trance state until it changes to something else.
I invented it myself because I didn't get the knack of communicating with spirits via automatic writing. With this technique, i still couldn't talk to spirits fluently, but i got texts that have meaning for me and told me something about myself.
It is somewhat related to Word Salad, which I didn't know when I invented this.
The technique
I am giving it in the form I do it. But of course everyone should tweak it in order to fit one's tastes and habbits to make it most effective. It can be easiely embedded into other magical workings.
- Required experience
- The practitioner should have had light trance/gnosis experiences bevore, and may be banishing skill and basic theoretical knowledge about working with spirits or other otherworldly entities. You don't want to be this your first experience with altered states of consciousness, but otherwise it's quite safe.
- required time
- Half an hour minimum (including banishing and all), maximum depends on your abillity to sustain an altered state of consciousness over prolonged times
- Required materials
- A candle or other altar props if you wish
- Writing material; i use a booklet and a pen that have been consecrated for the purpose, that's a help but not necessary
- A text that will serve as seed text; it can be related to the purpose of the working, but need not be. It should be short, learn it by heart bevore the ritual. 1-4 lines of a poem should be fine. I prefer something that rhymes or at least has rythm, but that's also no necessity; try some different texts until you find what works for you.
- the technique
- light a candle, decorate the altar to mark the beginning of the ritual
- banish (if you want to)
- do a short relaxation exercice, or do anything you wish to clear your mind and reach light trance/gnosis
- write down your seed text over and over again, until it happens nearly automatically, While you do that, you should slip deeper into an altered state of consciousness.
- If it comes to your mind to write something else do it, but don't think about what you write; if you loose grip and no longer know what you're doodling that's fine too, just let it happen
- if you feel that you no longer know what to write simply resume writing your seed text, don't worry about it
- banish, put away the candle or other altar props
- after the ritual
- Read your text to find meaning in it. It may help to highlight the places where you wrote (or drew) something else than the seed text
Most probably, you will fill a page or more with the seed text bevore you're deep enough in trance to let something else happen. For me it took a few sessions bevore it really worked. Once you've got a text that seems related to you and your situation in a meaningful way, or even seems to come from an external entity, you know the technique works for you. Now you can use it in more productive ways.
Uses
If you want to obtain defined results with this technique it should be embedded in other magical work.
The primary purpose of automatic writing is often to communicate with spirits or other non-material entities. If that's your objective, evoke, invoke or otherwise invite the entity you want to work with bevore you start writing. I suggest you don't do this with entities you fear to be dangerous because you let them into your mind to guide your hand.
Of course, the general safety advice on automatic writing and all work with entities applies.