Clouds of Incense

In the book of Revelations, there's a section that talks about how the incense that the angels offer up to God in his throne room are the prayers of the saints. I think it's a neat analogy.

Jason Miller presents an offering technique in his books Sorcerer's Secrets and Protection and Reversal Magic that consists of visualizing clouds of "energy" expanding out on behalf of the spirits. He advises you to mentally multiply whatever offering you're making, visualizing it being a ton more stuff than it actually is. It's a cool concept.

As part of the development of the course for the Supernatural Assistant, I've been praying. A lot. I had sort of stopped praying sometime around February, which contributed to the overall troubles I faced this past summer. I've been making up for lost time, as it were, inflaming myself in prayer the way I intend to have the class participants do it, and man... I can't believe I stopped.

The power of prayer is incredible. Think of every moment you spend immersed in prayer as a moment of offering up some smoking incense to the source of your being, clouds of incense filling the Holy of Holies with the pure essence of worship, love, and the sanctifying power of Grace. As I finish the session, I've been magnifying the incense in my mind's eye, filling the Throne Room of God with huge thick thunderheads of clouds of incense, the way Jason advises. I even picture lightning flashing within the clouds.

I've also been incorporating the breathing techniques he provides in Sorcerer's Secrets. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Jason's book is a welcome addition to any magician's library. The techniques he provides are very cool to play with in practice. I've had my prayer sessions enriched and reinvigorated. It's definitely a highly recommended resource.

But the prayer has been like ... I want to say its like recharging the old batteries, but it's more than that. I haven't had the amount of "energy" I have now ... ever. Maybe the two months spent in fear of no-income, and the three months of not-praying and over-stressing are coloring my perception, but I really feel like the batteries were taken out, the whole system was redesigned to handle more power, and a whole new power pack was installed. And it doesn't seem to drain. My new job is totally stressful, I'm busy most of the day, and the deadlines are hilarious, if they're happening to someone else, but I have a steady reserve of mental alertness that other people on the project don't have. They get burned out quickly, it seems, while I'm feeling as fresh as I did in the morning after my first cup of coffee all day long.

I have noticed I'm sleeping a lot deeper than I used to. I've attributed that to not having the same level of stress I was living under for so long, but now I'm not sure. There's probably more to it than that. I'm on from the time I wake up until about 11:30 at night, and then I'm off, like someone flipped a switch.

I've resumed my regular daily regimen of Hermetic Merkavah before going to bed. I've been going through a spiritual metamorphosis that seems to pick up where I left off in my dreams. I wouldn't say I was lucidly dreaming, but there's definitely something going on.

I'm still digging out of the financial hole I made for myself over the last couple of months, but I keep thinking of new ways out, through, and I'm not freaking out over stuff that I can't control. I've taken steps to exert as much influence as I have access to over the things that are most pressing, and I have peace over those issues: they're in stronger hands than mine, and I have a sense of acceptance that it will be taken care of by those best suited to address the issues, leaving me free to pursue God in prayer and ritual.

I've been spending a lot more time with my HGA/Supernatural Assistant too, in preparation for the class. I'm going over the strategy I have planned with him, and we're cleaning up the things that I had penciled in. He's got some great ideas (as you can imagine) about making things easier for the students as a whole. I'm excited to see how things turn out.

I think the trick is to pursue God first, take whatever problems that interfere with your pursuit of Him (however you see him or her or it or whatever) to the appropriate celestial/terrestrial entity, and then get back to pursuing Him. Everything else just seems to take care of itself.