The Magical Path. Marc Allen

World of Imagination

      Understanding the power of magic enough so that we can put it to use in our lives doesn’t have to be all that complex and difficult. We don’t have to join some kind of mystical group and work our way to the thirty-third level of something or other before we can gain a mastery of magic.

      It’s all very simple, when we think about it:

      Everything that has ever been created

      was first created in someone’s — or something’s — mind.

      All creation begins with a thought.

      That’s obvious, right? The act of creation starts with a thought, a vague idea, a dream. Where else can it start? It all begins in our imagination.

      We have a vibrant world within us. A world of shimmering light, the light of our Presence, our Being (thank you, Eckhart Tolle, for giving us those words). When we explore this world, we discover a world of magical creation. It is where all creation starts: in the inner worlds of spirit and mind.

      A lot has been written and said about this. But all those words — and these words — are not that important: It’s what you do with the words that affects your life. So let’s take a moment right here at the beginning of the course to awaken our imagination, to explore our inner mind, and see what happens. We can begin our journey with the little exercise that, for me, opened up the vistas of my inner imagination.

      Closing the Gates

      This little meditation exercise is purely optional. If you have done any amount of meditation, you probably don’t need to do it. I had done very little meditation the first time I did this, and it had a powerful effect on me.

      It’s good to start with what is sometimes called the Three-Breath Entry:

THREE-BREATH ENTRY

      Sit or lie down comfortably, relax….

      Take a deep breath; as you exhale, relax your body….

      Take a second deep breath, and as you exhale, relax

      your mind, let all thought go….

      Take a third deep breath, and as you exhale, let it all go….

      Deeply relax for a moment….

      Feel your Presence…your Being….

      Bathe in the light of the life energy within….

CLOSING THE GATES

      Lift up your hands and spread your fingers. Now, gently and carefully, put your thumbs in your ears, blocking out as much sound as you can….

      Then lay your index fingers over your eyes, lightly, without pressing….

      Then take a deep breath, and press your third finger into the side of your nose, blocking your breathing….

      Put your ring finger and little finger over your mouth, closing off your breathing there as well….

      Sit as long as comfortable, without straining. When you need to breathe, relax your third, fourth, and fifth fingers and breathe through your nose. Keep your eyes and ears closed for a while longer….

      There are inner worlds of light within you….

      Bathe in the vast shimmering light of the life energy within….

      That’s it. Maybe it’ll have no effect on you at all; maybe you already have access to inner worlds, and it comes as no surprise to look within. When I first did it, I had a stirring experience I’ll never forget. I became aware of whole worlds I never knew existed, only because I’d never thought of them before — worlds of pure light, worlds created at the speed of light within the great piece of work we call our mind, our imagination.

You Are a Pillar of Light

      The Middle Pillar Meditation is an essential part of my magician’s toolkit. It has been one of the few practices in this course that I do regularly, several times a week, even though I’m basically lazy. The great appeal of the meditation is that you can do it lying flat on your back, in my favorite yoga posture — the corpse posture, where you lie motionless, arms at your sides, out at a slight angle, palms up. You can also do it sitting comfortably, or standing, or even walking or running.

Three Versions of the Middle Pillar Meditation

      Over the years, I have adapted three versions of the Middle Pillar Meditation, two short and one longer. The first involves just relaxing and imagining that there is a radiant light energy — the energy of life — at the crown of your head, and it flows down through the center of your body, from head to feet….That’s it — short and simple and sweet.

      In the second version, you let the light fill your body while standing, walking, or even running. The third version is a longer meditation, with several options. You can change and adapt any of the versions as you see fit.

      Let’s look again at the opening words of The Art of True Healing:

      Within every man and woman is a force

      that directs and controls the entire course of life.

      Properly used, it can heal every affliction

      and ailment we may have.

      It can also help us create fulfilling, successful, wonderful, abundant lives. We are connected at the crown of our heads with the energy of the universe, and connected at the bottom of our feet with the earth and, beyond that, the whole universe as well. First, we just imagine a pillar of light energy shimmering through our body, then we circulate it through our body, then we direct it. That light, that energy, can be consciously directed anywhere, within and without, to heal ourselves and others.

      We can also consciously direct that light energy, the light of our imagination, into the inner worlds of magic, where we can do all kinds of good things. We can create inner sanctuaries and meet inner guides; we can imagine our highest, most expansive dreams, and then call forth the energy to create those dreams in full in our lives and in the world around us. This simple, relaxed meditation may be all you need to take from this entire course and apply in your life. I highly recommend doing the following exercises. The first two practices don’t take much time at all; you can do them in a single moment, with a single breath, any time of day or night.

SIMPLE MIDDLE PILLAR MEDITATION

      Take a deep breath, exhale, relax….

      Imagine there is a pillar of healing light radiating at the crown of your head….

      Feel that light move down through your body, from your head to the tips of your toes….

      Then feel it come back up to the crown of your head….Imagine your body is a single radiant pillar of light….

      Imagine you are a pillar of light.

      That’s the short version. Don’t underestimate it. It is a gateway, a portal, that shows us who and what we really are, for we’re all filled with the force of life, in every cell of our body. That life, that light, is who and what we are, on the deepest level of our being, now and forever.

WALKING MIDDLE PILLAR MEDITATION

      As you stand or walk (or even run), feel your Presence within….

      Feel your Being….

      Your body is a pillar of life energy, bathing you in its healing light….

      Yes!