From: lgt1@unix.york.ac.uk (Laurence Tyler)
Subject: Re: Alternatives to Drugs
Date: 7 Mar 1994 22:15:43 GMT

james.a.parker (jap@cbnews.cb.att.com) wrote:
> Someone I am working with does not know how to open herself to
> spiritual experiences without using psychoactive drugs.  She very
> much wishes to learn to do so without needing the drugs as a crutch.
> I would very much appreciate any practical advice I could pass on.

And also:

Alexander Walker (walkea@vccnorthd.its.rpi.edu) wrote:
> Lots of trappings tend to induce an altered state of conciousness
> proper for working magick (in my experience).

This sounds like good advice. Your friend may be finding things are
too 'flat' without chemical aid, and adding a lot of drama and
trappings might very well help there. Even more so, I would suggest,
if worked with other people there who are experienced in 'unassissted'
workings. They could take the lead and help provide your friend with a
higher level of external stimulus and so help energy to start
flowing. If your friend gets the well-known 'hair-raising' feeling
during the working it's probably going well.

Another suggestion might be to take themselves well away from their
day-to-day environment, such as finding a sunny wood and walking in it
for a few hours, preferably away from paths and other people, and just
BE-ing. I would suggest to your friend that in such a time/place it's
easier to tap into mindsets and ways of seeing things that have been a
profound part of their previous experiences and to pull them into the
present situation. The knowing, the seeing, and the magic are all
still there to be reclaimed - it's just that they are more subtle when
operating without special aids.

Maybe your friend could find something material to use as a trigger or
key to their previous experience, such as a smell of
incense/flowers/wood, particular music, special clothes, something
that they associate with their past experiences, and use it to help
foster the spiritual/magical atmosphere.

In time, of course, your friend should be able to discard these props
as well, and get straight to the heart of things. Good luck to them!

Laurence.

--
Laurence Tyler (Systems Group)
University of York Computing Service, UK
email: lgt1@unix.york.ac.uk