This is a really thorough thread and worth a read especially if you're at the beginning of your occult and magical journey, and even more if you have any mental health struggles. MAGIC IS NOT SELF-HELP OR (necessarily) HEALING. That is not a point to be confused about. 1/ https://twitter.com/liminal_warmth/status/1297639813726658560

Despite my sometimes cavalier attitude toward magic and spirit contact, I could not agree more with the premise - that one should be informed about the risks should you undertake study and practice seriously. If you're still at the "maybe it's real, but i'm not sure"... 2/

...this is the perfect time to back out if the risks seem too great, or you can identify particular risk factors that make this a much dicier proposition for you specifically. And in some ways, I would say it's potentially more dangerous than psychedelics. 3/

Psychedelics have a big dramatic effect, and for some, even after the effects wear off, it's an important gateway showing them what more is possible, and instigates deeper reflection about life and reality. For others, it's a strange experience that is eventually forgotten. 4/

For most folks, your neurophysiology returns to normal, and whatever insights you had can be difficult to retain, like trying to recall a dream. Default personality and worldview settles back in. You choose, go back and explore more after your "taste" - or don't. No judgement. 5/

What is relevant here is that the drama of early psychedelic experiences gives you a big sign whether to back out or continue. But a casual and not well thought out interest in magic over a longer period of time carries that sort of "frog coming to a slow boil" gradual danger. 6/

Possession, ghosts, demons, curses, these are notions that come with a lot of scary cultural baggage, but they're not just that. The mix of fear and opening up to terrible and miraculous possibilities can easily induce or exacerbate crippling anxiety, among worse things. 7/

There's a lot mocking of "love and light" new age types for their reactions to "negativity" in all of its forms. It's an understandable, but precarious strategy if you carry fearfulness in your nervous system, and you are newly introduced to the world of spirits and energy. 8/

And I agree with the OP, there does come a point where it might not be possible, or at least not very easily, to back out. So knowing the dangers ("if magic is real") and knowing your goals are for pursuing it (and asking if there's a better way) is pretty sensible. 9/

But some of us stumble in willy nilly and things turn out fine, or even better. There are no absolutes, and every person's fate is contoured differently. But this thread did also make me think about my own path, and I feel quite lucky it proceeded in the order it did. 10/

Step 1: Read a shit ton of fantasy and science fiction. Stories are safe way for kids to stretch their imaginal muscles, practice in dwelling in and leaving realities with different histories and rules. 11/

Step 2: Get curious about psychology. I grew up a child of hard working immigrants, so my socialization was...not optimal. I read self-help books because I didn't know how to make friends. Alienation and self-reflection opened up a theater of interiority. 12/

Be curious about your mind, your emotional reactions and patterns. If you are not aware of how you work, you are not calling the shots, really. And once magic comes into the picture, it is likely to amplify all those dynamics, both virtuous and destructive, alike. 13/

Step 3: Teach yourself mindfulness meditation. I got curious about eastern philosophy in high school. Taught myself to meditate, and found the exploration of consciousness fascinating, enjoyed a sense of inner mastery. Helped me cope with depression too. 14/

Zen flavored dharma practice in particular is quite good at teaching a certain kind "nothing special" attitude, that hold steady in your seat about bliss states and superpowers, as much as about facing demons and disturbing movements of energy. "The dude abides." 15/

Step 4: Take a monster dose of mushrooms. No idea how much I took that first time but the trip lasted all night lol. I experienced the malleability and multiplicity of my being, and the metaphorical atoms of all reality. w/o meditation, I might have lost my damn mind. 16/

Step 5: Get serious about embodiment. If you were raised in Western culture, you live somewhere just behind and above your eyes. True for me especially, since I run away into my mind for safety. But learning yoga, energy work, massage, acupuncture, qigong... 17/

...gave me the skills to ground into the earth and center into the core of my bodysoul, into the heart and hara (lower abdomen). So much magical protection comes from being able to access this somatic sense. You're actually quite vulnerable if you're only ever in your head. 18/

Feeling into your body and into all of your senses simultaneously also opens up the necessary avenues of perception of the unseen world that is the domain of magical practice and spiritual beings. Hard to track what's happening when you can't perceive. 19/

And what I learned about energy hygiene from studying reiki and pranic healing, as well as acupuncture and and qigong, is also a critical skill. You accumulate invisible shmutz, just going through a normal day, much more so if you're doing magic. Gotta know how to bathe. 20/

Step 6: I don't know what this step is really because I'm still figuring it out. This is me being still quite the neophyte in this occult stuff. I don't know who is in my spirit squad, only starting to connect with ancestors... 21/

have experimented with astrological timing, some small rituals on my own, and done a bit of shamanic journeying. Still finding my way, but pretty confident that everything I did before this chapter of my spiritual journey mitigates many of the risks of magical practice. 22/

And I'm incredibly grateful to the fates, and all my ancestors and helping spirits who were watching out for me, and guiding me along a sensible path. 23/