technique into an astrological meditation inside your own body. In
order to become a proper astrologer or alchemist, planetary
energies should be intuitively comprehended and felt inside
yourself, not only understood intellectually.
People interested in star lore and its correspondences with the
human microcosm would be well inspired to add another phase to
their night practice. This consists of rotating around areas of the
body, following the traditional correspondence with the
constellations: Aries/head; Taurus/throat and neck;
Gemini/shoulders and shoulder blades; Cancer/breast; Leo/heart;
Virgo/intestines; Libra/kidneys; Scorpio/sexual organs;
Sagittarius/thighs; Capricorn/knees; Aquarius/ankles; Pisces/feet.
Mentally say the name of the constellation whilst being aware of
the corresponding body area.
15.5 Phase 3: awareness of the breath and countdowns
This is the part where everybody falls asleep. Even the worst
insomniacs seem to collapse in the middle of this phase! But falling
asleep is not necessarily wrong. Let us go back to an important
point of theory. One of the purposes of night practice is to allow
you to explore this razor's edge between sleeping and waking.
If you remain fully awake throughout the practice, it means that
you never cross the edge and this purpose is missed. On the other
hand, if you fall asleep immediately and keep snoring till the end,
the practice won't be so enlightening either.
The problem is that as soon as you reach the borderline between
waking and sleeping, you lose your awareness. You are familiar
with the waking state and you are familiar with the sleeping state,
but the separating space between the two is foreign to you. Each
time you come near it you miss it, and you are immediately
swallowed into the sleeping side.
That is why this part of the technique will be much more
powerful if you use a cassette, or if somebody reads or speaks the
instructions for you. You fall asleep, and very quickly the voice
calls you back: ‘Remain aware of your countdown’. A few minutes
later you fall asleep again, and the voice brings you back to the
waking state again. So that you keep oscillating around the razor's
edge, which is an excellent way to become more familiar with it.
Gradually, you learn to retain more awareness while on the edge.
With practice, practice, practice... you will reach an experience
where you are both asleep and awake, and aware at the same time.