Greetings

[cadejoblanco]

Hi everyone,

 

I'm new here, as you can probably tell. My significant other has been a member for quite some time, and is quite active here, so I figured I'd give it a shot.

 

I'm quite interested in Alchemy, and I'm working on a few things at the moment. It'll be a few weeks before they're ready. Maybe, if all goes well, I could start some discussions about my projects. Heh, maybe if it doesn't, I could still talk about it and see if anyone has advice or something. I've read quite a few books on the subject, but I'm finally starting to actually walk the path. I'm one of those people who likes to know as much about something as they can before they actually approach it (I think it's my Rat nature, my Chinese Zodiac sign, lol). It's an odd topic, so I doubt here's the place to really go in depth on it.

 

I'm also interested in Yoga. Mostly the philosophical, devotional, and mystic side of it. Not so much into Hatha yoga, seeing as how I don't have money for classes and I've seen people injure themselves doing it on their own. I perform Bhakti yoga, being devoted to lord Shiva. Y'know, puja, mudra, mantra, japa, etc. I feel as though the Shiva Sutras have made a pretty big impact on my life. I also decided to practice brahmacharya, so I've deleted all my porn, stopped going to dating/sex sites, and am trying to be more conservative about the type of media I take in. Heh, I probably sound like a prudish weirdo now, but I've got to admit, this is a huge change for me.

 

I've also practiced witchcraft since I was about 13 or so. I was heavily into Wicca back then, but after many years I realized that it just didn't click with me. I didn't feel satisfied, fulfilled, or like I was making any personal/spiritual/psychological/whatever progress. Sure, I could cast some spells and get results, but it wasn't really making me "evolve", if you know what I'm getting at. I want to be a better person, bring good things to myself and those around me, and impact the world in a profoundly positive way. I feel like Wicca is a good way to feel good about yourself, and maybe get in tune with the natural cycles of the Earth, but I couldn't really find a way to get much deeper than that. Maybe it's just me, and if it is, that's totally fine. If the system works for you, I'm very happy for you! I'm not trying to negate anyone else's beliefs or systems, I'm just stating my own personal experience, that's all. I hope no one takes what I'm saying as an attack. All that said, I have found that some of the practices are pretty much the same regardless of what path you're on, and are quite effective for obtaining specific goals. So yeah, still in "witchcraft".

 

Aside from that, I also make herbal medicine. Really into tinctures, salves, teas, etc. I've been told that some of my medicines are pretty effective. It makes me really happy to be able to help people. If I had some way to make that my life's work, I'd do it. Sadly, I don't see it ever being more than just a simple hobby.

 

Anyway, I'm mostly here to see if I can get more insight into Alchemy and Yoga.

 

Thank you.

[Chang]

Hello and welcome to the forum. Glad to have you on the forum. With your wide range of interests you you are sure to find plenty of stuff to keep you going here.

 

Please take the time to read the two posts pinned at the top of this Welcome page and take a look at the forum terms and rules. This covers all you need to know when getting started.

 

For the first week you will be restricted to ten posts per day but after that you can post as much as you like. Also, until you’ve posted fifteen times in the forums, you’ll be a “Junior Bum” with somewhat restricted access and will be allowed only two private messages per day.

 

Good luck in your pursuits and best wishes to you,

 

Chang and the TTB team

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[cadejoblanco]

Thank you very much. Glad to be here. I've just read the three articles you directed me to. Pretty simple rules.

[the1gza]

What's up Cadejoblanco. It's good to have you here.

 

I would like to chime in since you talked about Yoga, and it's one of the things I am familiar with. First, Hatha Yoga is not something you would learn in a studio or gym, primarily because Hatha entails far more the the foolishly prioritized calisthenics that are offered in these classes. Mainly, Hatha is about preparing the body for intense exploration of the primordial, and this only has a small part to do with asanas. In fact, a great deal of Hatha Yoga hinges on purification activities that are not "exercises" as we know them. These shatkarmas are designed to clean out the system extremely thoroughly, and it also helps to note that mudras are part of this. Pranayama is also a huge part of it which, again, you will not find taught in a public class to any considerable degree.

 

The asanas themselves involve energetic associations that are rarely, if ever, addressed in a standard "Yoga" class. Surya Namaskar, for instance, can be described as a "complete yoga" in itself, because as you systematically work with it, you implement breath control (pranayama), concentration on certain chakras specific to each asana with mantras (dharana), which leads to moving meditation (dhyana). These aspects are very rarely introduced in classes, and as such, Surya Namaskar is considered a "warm up" for "hardcore" yoga. 

 

So if you are interested in invested Yoga, the last place you want to go is a class, at least in terms of Indian Yoga. Perhaps classes in Yantra Yoga, which is a Tibetan form, would make more sense, but since you seem to be looking at Indian Yoga, don't consider yourself missing out because you have no class. With that said, I do NOT recommend Yoga if you do not have a teacher who knows the inner workings of deeper yogas. This is not to say it is impossible to do on your own, but rather that trying to figure out the subtle nature of many yogic techniques can be pretty difficult and nerve-racking without someone who has gone through those ropes. This goes doubly for Hatha, because in Western culture, we have a tendency to think in terms of "no pain, no gain" when it comes to physical movements. Hatha asanas are supposed to be eased into, and I have personally found it hard to know what to do with them on my own. 

 

Let me ask, in your witchcraft days, did you ever learn to have tangible experiences with otherworldly entities? If so, you may want to consult that skill to learn from them about things like Yoga, and perhaps learn things that you could never find in a book, in a class, or perhaps anywhere on Earth. They can help you learn a Yoga that comes from your own inner being, and the origins of these practices really came from shamans who could access deep states of being and realize these knowledges from primordial intelligences. If you don't have that skill, you might want to take up something like lucid dreaming, that is if you trust that you can learn from entities that aren't within normative ranges of human perception. I know that in your Wiccan practices, you didn't really get that far in depth with where it could take you, but perhaps this was due to teachings prioritizing only certain things that did not give you an idea of the full potential of what you had available to you.

 

These are just thoughts, no gospel truth here. At any rate, welcome, and I hope you find something valuable here  .