Grimoire for the Apprentice Wizard

Course Five: Spectrum, Part 1 207

tation, these are opened and awakened in successive

order, from the bottom upwards. Meditation, however,

does not inherently open chakras; it can, and various

techniques increase the chances. As in the basic “Tree

of Life Grounding” in 4.IV.4, a powerful energy wave

is sent coursing upwards through your body from root

to crown. However, opening chakras in and of itself is

not necessarily a good thing, any more than opening

your front door is always a good thing.

Lesson 2: Basic Technique

Meditation allows you to learn to control the rest-

less, materially-oriented conscious mind and re-

program the subordinate subconsciousness, in

order that you may function from your spiritu-

ally-oriented higher consciousness. It opens up

the channel to your Higher Self.

—Raymond Buckland

Various techniques for meditation are taught by

different schools, and you may run into some of these

later on. None of these are wrong; anything is right

that works for you. Here is a good basic technique

that I have found to be very effective. Once you be-

come comfortable with this one, you may experiment

with others as you encounter them. (And if uncom-

fortable feelings or thoughts come up during medita-

tion, you should consult a reliable and knowledgeable

adult.)

Find a quiet place where no one will disturb you

for 20 minutes or so, and shut the door to keep out

noise. Make sure there are no ticking clocks or drip-

ping faucets. Set the temperature at a comfortable level,

and wear loose clothing, such as a robe. Place a cush-

ion on the floor against a wall (or use a yoga backjack).

Place a small table or other stand about three feet in

front of the cushion, and place a lighted candle (in a

candleholder that will catch any melting wax) on the

stand. Don’t use a candle in a jar for this, as you need

to be able to see the naked flame. Then turn out all the

other lights, and sit down cross-legged on the cush-

ion, with your back against the wall or backjack. Fold

your hands together in your lap, and sit up straight.

(Some people like to lie down flat on their backs to

meditate, but I don’t recommend this, as it is too easy

to fall asleep!)

Relax your body, stare into the candle flame, and

just let your thoughts fade away until your mind be-

comes clear and void. One way to do this is to count

slowly backwards in your head, starting with 100 (and

add “one thousand” with each number for timing). Let

your eyes become unfocused, but keep them open for

as long as possible, blinking very rarely (you don’t

want to go to sleep!). Breathe deeply, inhaling and

exhaling as you slowly count each number: (inhale)

“ninety-nine...” (exhale) “...one thousand.” (inhale)

“ninety-eight...” (exhale) “...one thousand.”

Allow your mind to become still. Eventually, all

thoughts will disappear (including the counting), as

will all objects in the room, until there is only the flame

and your breath.... You will be in a state of trance. But

don’t worry if you don’t succeed right away; this can

take a while to learn, and no one gets it right at first.

Just keep practicing—even a few minutes every day

can make a difference—and it will come to you. After a

while, you won’t even need the candle, and it won’t

matter if you close your eyes. Your awareness and

perceptions will awaken to new degrees of clarity in

which everything you know falls into place, and your

path lies clear before you.

Third Eye

After you have gotten

comfortable at candle medita-

tion, a more advanced tech-

nique that I find very effective

is to focus on your third eye.

This is a spot right in the center

of your forehead, between and

slightly above your eyebrows.

This is your 6th chakra, and

corresponds to your pineal

gland inside your skull.

When you are looking at a candle flame or other

focus of meditation, you are usually looking down-

wards or straight ahead. The position of your eyes af-

fects the orientation of your thoughts and mind as well,

so that downward-looking tends to connect to the sub-

conscious, with all its buried issues. Looking straight

ahead reflects your normal conscious state and your

relations with others—as we look at each other eye-

ball-to-eyeball when we communicate. But focusing

your eyes inward and upward towards your third eye

connects you to your Higher Self and the realms of

Spirit. Do this exactly the same way as with the candle,

except now close your eyes and visualize that flame

glowing right above the center of your eyebrows. You

may need to strain your eye muscles a bit to focus

your eyes inside your head—like going cross-eyed—

but that’s part of the exercise.

Other Approaches

Once you have learned the technique I have given

you, I would encourage you to experiment with dif-

ferent ways. As time goes on, and you get really good

at this, you might try meditating in special places and

“power spots.” One of my favorite places to meditate

is deep in a quiet woods, sitting with my back against

the trunk of a large tree (I live in Northern California,

among the giant Redwoods). But it can be wonderful

to meditate by a waterfall, or at the seashore, on top of

an enormous rock, or in a cave....

What I have described here is one method of medi-

tion

us

scious

nscious

aming

5. Spectrum 1.p65 207 1/15/2004, 9:15 AM