How to be an occultist without losing your mind

[Desecrated]

This is a very open topic. I just want to see what you guys think, so just write whatever the hell you feel like on this subject. How do you work with the occult without completely losing touch with reality?

[CCoburn]

Stay busy. Be consistent with your daily activities. You know, the mundane stuff.

Also, there is the question, are you losing touch with reality? Or garnering a greater
understanding of it?

No one can exactly define reality, and say this is correct. And all other definitions of reality
are wrong. Of course I would say "within reason", but even that is subjective.

Dive off the deep end during Rituals or whatever, then return to the mundane.

A Mundane to Mystical dualism, then back again. Or back and forth.

An oscillating relative mindset with a wide spectrum. Or from Microcosm to Infinity.
Whatever, as long as you are making ends meet, and having fun; some of the experiences
are awesome!

Have to take GF to work, I think that's okay though.

Cheers

[Desecrated]

Also, there is the question, are you losing touch with reality? Or garnering a greater
understanding of it?

What we see on this forum is people just loosing their ability to communicate with others.
If you meet a doctor they have considerable more knowledge than most of us, but they still function in society. A lot of people who go "deep" into the occult usually come out the other side ranting about UFOs, government satanic conspiracy theories, flat earths and bodged quantumphysics.

[chowderpope]

My strategy is to exercise caution, really the same way I choose to live my mundane life. When I'm walking alone at night, I make sure I'm aware of my surroundings. I don't put myself in dangerous situations if I can help it. I plan on doing the same with regard to occult practice.

[blindwake]

Write down all your potentially volatile thoughts. Give the thoughts to someone in a sort of essay form. Ask the person you give your "knowledge" to to negatively critisize you and try to make you feel stupid.

Bam, suddenly your thoughts are purified, and you have been grounded by a layman's worldview.

Oh, and cold showers help.

And whenever you see anything happen in life, have a magickal explanation, a layman explanation, a scientific explanation, and a crazy explanation. It's hard to lose your mind on a tangent path (off of the reality circle) when you turn your worldview into a circle as well (instead of a line).

I also play video games as an outlet for exhausting my thoughts in a less punishing reality.

[LoneWolf]

Try not to separate one world from the other. That leads to madness.

Madness is but an overpowered ego not letting go. Smash Thor's Hammer against the prison's guard cranium. Ego suicide.

Know however when your ego still breathes, and smash again. Know when your ego is sleeping and spiritually grow. Know when your ego is finally your servant and spiritually grow constantly. HOWEVER, know that fighting your ego leads to further madness. Reconstruction must be made.

The whole process might be called "Integration" of all the parts of yourself.

The start of occult practices is rough, as you have wisely said, you can't open your mind without spilling its contents. Once your ego becomes what it must be, a vehicle and glasses from which to experience this physical reality, the life of the mystic becomes pleasant and effortless.

The people that end with UFO's and satanic circles in my opinion can't let go of their ego. Their ego is their master, and them, mere slaves following inertia of bad initial conditions as sheep or salmon swimming river up to find themselves on the mouth of a programmed, will-less bear.

Taking walks on nature and meditation helped me greatly to connect both worlds and make my ego what it should be.

No stupid lizzard can shake my will. For I am.


My regards

[Desecrated]

have a magickal explanation, a layman explanation, a scientific explanation, and a crazy explanation.

Doesn't that just lead to a split personality and confusion.
If everything is just a mater of interpretation, then anything can be true.

[Desecrated]

Madness is but an overpowered ego not letting go.

Or ego is the only thing holding us above the abyss of madness, and if we let go, we plummet down the rabbit hole.

[blindwake]

have a magickal explanation, a layman explanation, a scientific explanation, and a crazy explanation.

Doesn't that just lead to a split personality and confusion.
If everything is just a mater of interpretation, then anything can be true.

It's not a split. It's a stretch. It's like you widen your worldview so that you don't get tunnel vision down any one line of thought. It's like taking a step back to be more aware and less likely to jump to conclusions.

I don't mean to literally cycle over persectives, but instead widen your one perspective so you can "catch yourself" when you start going crazy. It's like keeping one foot in crazy land and one in normal land. As long as you stay like this, you can't get lost in chaos.

Indeed, anything can be true, but it might not be. I like to think that reality is subjectively objective. We are all staring at the same stuff, but we're all delusional because we never see the whole picture. It's like we are all in a collectively blind dream.

[Desecrated]

I don't mean to literally cycle over persectives, but instead widen your one perspective so you can "catch yourself" when you start going crazy.

So basically....
Self-discipline.

You can't lose your mind if you have a firm grip on it.

[blindwake]

I don't mean to literally cycle over persectives, but instead widen your one perspective so you can "catch yourself" when you start going crazy.

So basically....
Self-discipline.

You can't lose your mind if you have a firm grip on it.

That's an easy way of saying it I guess. But too firm of a grip and you end up self righteous (closed minded).

[Desecrated]

I like easy answers.

"
How to be an occultist without losing your mind?
-Strong will and self-discipline.

"

[TruthSeeker_]

Quite simply, people should learn more about philosophy and science in general. A real occultist is a very curious person and will try to learn as much as possible as part of his quest for knowledge. A good starting point would be to pick up a book on philosophy that teaches critical thinking, logical reasoning, argumentation ect. You need a toolbox before approaching very strange, possibly mind-altering stuff.

[blindwake]

Here's a better explanation of my perspective. If you treat human consciousness as a vector pointing in one direction, and also as an angle with a size of 180 degrees (like human vision, sort of, depending on how good you peripheral vision is), you can treat insanity and sanity as two sides of one path. Aim too far on the sane side and you're a skeptic. Aim too far on the insane side and you'll lose touch with reality.

If you aim perfectly down the middle, you get a balanced state where you are always open minded, always take everything with a grain of salt, but also are always willing to give magick the benefit of the doubt. If you aim too perfectly though, the upward arrow to ascension flips downward to the earth, and you stop trying to climb and start trying to dig; you start breaking life's parts into further parts and end up being an arm chair magickian; you get too comfortable with your current tools and stay safely at a desk writing stuff but never getting anywhere practically.

I personally like to aim a little bit on the sane side and just call myself stupid every once in a while when I make an assumption that something is impossible. Your mileage may vary.