Oof. There are a lot of tangible and intangible benefits. I do it (almost) in a structured way. But would that translate the same benefits to others?
The same? I don’t know. Why? I’m not starting from 0.
A long time ago, before most reading this were probably born (literally, hehehe), I was trying to feel “The Force” all around me. Heard it in a Star Wars moving and it struck me so much I KNEW it was true. I went about try to feel it. Sometimes more regularly than other times. Unfortunately, I also was raised in environments where I wasn’t always sure of my surroundings nor the safety of myself and others.
I still remembered my half-baked (and somewhat half-assed) experiments here. Miraculously, this experience/skill/practice, was to become the basis for me sensing changes in my environment and through it, who/when/when/where (but not always WHY) an entity came into my sphere. The practice is dear to me now, full of nostalgia and remembering specific times of practice. There wasn’t home internet then. There was no YouTube.
Side note – would I be further along now if there had been? Sure, likely. But Magic and MORE IMPORTANTLY Cultivation requires a different mindset and discipline to excel at. My guess is “not much”, but I won’t really know and it doesn’t really matter. Why? Because people have all sorts of information at their fingertips and because of that, they aren’t doing much more real work than before, to be honest…
Cultivation. What is it? Means a lot of things. Some will tell you it involves the evolution of your Soul or (Higher) Self. Others will say it involves you relationship with some sort of ALL/God/Tao. Some will say it is a waste of time and you should pursue something along the lines of pleasure/power/etc…
So, what is it to me? Well, I’m not necessarily looking to re-purify myself to be absorbed in to the ALL/Tao – which, by it’s nature, will spit out parts that are unpurified and unpurify parts that are to maintain a balance. (Seems a bit counter-productive as a goal).
To become more pure and more like the Gods/Immortals? A fair goal and a worthy one of sorts. This would allow one to still act as a beneficial guide and protector, while not being SO pure that they get reabsorbed. Allows for flaws, which I have a hard time imagining mySelf without.
So..what then? I could continue to cultivate the Dark and stay there, having cultivated that aspect. I’ve cultivated less of the Light, but that’s what I grew up in and, not being tied to the Dark specifically, I tend both ways.
So, what does Cultivation do? Can depend on the specific practices. In those I’ve engaged in, it means, going both Dark and Light, pushing envelopes, but coming back to Center (Balance) between, as best I can. That doesn’t really answer the question, though.
Since cultivating a balanced path, specifically, deliberately, I’ve not felt meaningful attacks. Given that I spent YEARS defending others and myself, with similar counterstrokes (not the standard mirror spell middling stuff), this is significant.
I’ve been able to spend more time with the spiritual practices I WANT to do, not those needed to keep myself and loved ones safe. The easiest way to describe this is that my spiritual practices of daily work that focus on my personal development (spiritually, not some flimsy superficial method) has meant that I intuitively “know” methods XYZ (known methods or categories) aren’t likely to work as well as before and can be shrugged off, in a sense.
Spirits I’ve worked with have changed. Yeah, not Earth-shattering. But as I have done this development practice, the “need” of some entities isn’t there. They notice it before I do. Doesn’t mean there isn’t work to do or that they aren’t of value. Not at all, but the things they were going to teach you, to empower you (as they should be, with your work), is lessened or made shorter.
You become more like them, but more like ALL of them. That IS the goal, isn’t it? One of the most valuable and overlooked parts of the Bible is that humans are made in the image of (a) God. This should really be seen as a RESPONSIBILITY to become as such. And, by strengthening ALL sides/parts of our spirit, we do become as such.
I don’t really care about the methods of Cultivation. Some methods will appeal more than others. That’s just the way it is. But valuable ways involve methods of both being in Power and being not. Of Exerting power and of not. The Middle Path. It IS where the Goddesses, Gods, Demons, Angels, and all others of classification stay. And before you get all upset – remember this –
The times we KNOW they act are when WE call…
…who is the tipping point? To what?
