Depending on the type of meditation you do, you can meet your spirit guide, astrally project, increase your psychic potential, meet the Goddess, regress to a past life or, at the very least, you will be in the correct mental and spiritual state in which to complete any magickal or spiritual work.

      The reason Witches perform meditation is to reach a mental state known as 'alpha'.  I leave the explanation of this state of mind to Laurie Cabot in 'Power of the Witch'.

"The science of Witchcraft is based on our ability to enter an altered state of conciousness we call 'alpha', where brain waves register at seven to fourteen cycles per second.  This is a state of consciousness associated with  relaxation, meditation and dreaming.  The faster fourteen to thirty cycles of the beta state occur when we are mentally alert, awaken and engaged in physical activity.  They also accompany excitement, fear, tension and anxiety. The slower theta waves, four to seven cycles per second, are associated with drowsiness, euphoria, and deep tranquility.  Delta waves of one to three occur in deep, dreamless sleep.

In alpha the mind opens up to non-ordinary forms of communication, such as telepathy, clairvoyance and pre-cognition.  Here we also may experience out-of-body sensations and psychokinesis, or receive mystical, visionary, information that does not come through the five senses.  In alpha the rational filters that process ordinary reality are weakened or removed, and the mind is receptive to non-ordinary realities......

It is my belief that all information and all non-ordinary experiences come to us in alpha because all information in the universe (and all phenomena in the universe) consists of light energy.  Light enters the pineal gland, or Third Eye, located in the centre of the head between the eyebrows, where many psychics say they experience physical sensations when they receive extra-sensory information.  In some trance states a person's eyes naturally roll upwards, gazing at this power spot above the eyes.

Situated in the centre of the head under the hardest and thickest bone in the skull, this master gland would seem to be too deeply buried to receive light.  For many years researchers knew that daylight affected the pineal glands of animals, regulating hibernation and oestrus, for example, but they doubted whether light had any effect upon the pineal glands of human beings.  But recent scientific research indicates that light does affect the human pineal gland, regulating on a daily basis its ability to secrete melatonin, a hormone that has an important effect on the production of other hormones.  In the autumn of 1985 the first international conference on the pineal gland was held in Vienna to draw attention to the importance of light on this master gland.

Furthermore, the term 'Third Eye' is not just a fanciful metaphor conjured up by Witches and psychics to sound mysterious.  Anatomists believe that the gland is indeed a remnant of a third eye that never developed in the course of evolution.  From the oldest times, sages, magicians and Witches have spoken of the Third Eye as the doorway to all knowledge."

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General Guidelines for Meditation

1.       Put your expectations aside, and don't worry about doing it right. There are infinite possibilities and no fixed criterion for determining right meditation. There are, however, a few things to avoid.
They are...

• Trying to force something to happen.

• Over-analysing the meditation.

• Trying to make your mind blank or chase thoughts away.

• Putting too much emphasis on doing it right.

2.       It's not necessary to meditate on a completely empty stomach. If you're hungry, eat a little something.

3.       Find a quiet, comfortable place to meditate. You can sit in a comfortable chair, on the bed, on the floor... anywhere that's comfortable.

4.       Eliminate as much noise and as many potential distractions as possible. Don't worry about those things that you can not control.

5.       When you sit to meditate, sit comfortably, with your spine reasonably straight. This allows the spiritual energy to flow freely up the spine, which is an important aspect of meditation. Leaning against a chair back, a wall, headboard, etc. is perfectly all right. If, for physical reasons, you can't sit up, lay flat on your back.

6.       Place your hands in any position that is comfortable.

7.       If it does not go against your beliefs, call on a "higher source" for assistance in your meditation. Any form is all right. This can be quite helpful, but is not absolutely necessary.

The goal of meditation is enlightenment or 'assension'.  This is basically another name for an Out of Body Experience - no, you don't have to be at Death's door in order to have an OBE!  In fact, long-distance runners have been known to have them too - because (probably without evening knowing it) they are meditating on the road ahead.  Many people have reported having OBE's during meditation, where they have risen from their physcial bodies and sped down the (now familiar) tunnel to the light ahead.  After having conversations with either an unknown but highly-evolved entity or their family members who have passed over, they have returned to their bodies - 'enlightened'.  To do this takes years of dedication to meditation and a very advanced state of alpha - as I said, it is the goal, and well-worth aiming for!

Meditation is not easy - don't let anyone fool you.  In order to get the full benefits in all areas of your life, meditation should be completed twice a day for 30 minutes each - this takes discipline.  (If you are far too busy to do two meditations, cut it down to one - or do 2 sessions of 15 minutes each - just do what you can).  It also takes courage - not everyone is ready to face the unknown and, if you've never meditated before then it is unknown.  When you decide to complete a specialised meditation for such things as meeting your spirit guide or past life regression - ensure that you're ready to do this. 

But you will soon start to reap the benefits of it.  In fact, many meditators become 'addicted' to the 'high' which is often experienced during meditation.  You feel like you're walking on air - and no feeling can beat this!

If you find it too difficult to try and concentrate for a meditation, there is absolutely no reason why you cannot use one of the myriad of meditation tapes on the market today.  They will teach you the principles of meditation and how it feels, so that you will eventually be able to progress on to working without the tape.

Good Luck!

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