The Drift

[Drifter]

http://worldtree.tribe.net/thread/0f...a-0587869e0242

Recently I found this "Esoterica Link", and thought it might be a good 'topic for discussion', even if ever so briefly, the Will-o-the-Whisp:
Terminology;
The term will-o'-the-wisp comes from wisp, a bundle of sticks or paper sometimes used as a torch, and will-o' ("Will of").

I would like to discuss the Knowing connecting the seen and the unseen, the real and the unreal, that channel or connectivity, between the two.
The particulars of beginning. (maybe for those not familiar)
Is the "wanting -to- want, (desire) to grow along Spiritual lines".

"The mysteries of the crossroads are essential to the operation of this work."

The mechanics of the drift are simple. You are attempting to walk between worlds and bring something useful back with you. It is essentially a shamanic journey that takes place physically in real time, as opposed to an internal journey such as the drum-led trances of indigenous tribes like the Jivaro. The drift forces you out of your comfortable centrally heated temple space and puts you on the spot like few other occult practices. It gets your magic out into the world, in a very real and very physical sense.

A drift can begin in several different ways, depending on the situation and the intent. Sometimes drifts can be spontaneous. If you have sufficiently internalised the practice, it's not uncommon to find yourself kicked into a full-on shamanic drift at virtually any moment. Going out to buy a pint of milk, walking home from the pub, or visiting the shops can often be transformed into heavy magic without a minute's notice. The spontaneous drift can sharpen up your sensitivity and adaptability to a very high degree, but to get the best from it, you need to be able to receive and filter 'information' in an effective manner. The drift is a high-risk occult practice as far as your sanity goes, as it encourages a scary level of openness to spirit communication. Before you know it, you're the mad guy speaking with invisible beings on the high street and going through the bins looking for occult secrets. That kind of thing is pretty much par for the course with this kind of work, so to begin with, it's useful to learn a method of switching it on and off.

It's important to remember that what you are doing is attempting to 'walk between worlds' - with an emphasis on the word 'between'. It's relatively easy to go off into the deep end with this practice and become a paranoid lunatic remarkably quickly, but that's not the point of the exercise. It's your skill as a magician that allows you to safely navigate the wilder areas of consciousness and bring back something useful. To become accomplished at the drift, you have to develop sufficient skill at mediating between your normal day-to-day existence and the hyper-real shamanic experience.

In order to begin the drift, you should look for an appropriate starting place - a physical access point that will allow you to enter into shamanic reality and return again when your business is done.
The most immediate and accessible cross over point into shamanic reality is, of course, the crossroads. Every inhabited location will have a crossroads of one form or another within walking distance, and the crossroads is the supreme symbol of intercession between the worlds. However, any work involving the crossroads falls firmly within the territory of the various Gods, Goddesses, Saints, Spirits, and Mysteries associated with it. You need to ask their permission before you can go through the gate. This is easier to accomplish if you already have a working relationship with one of more of these entities. The general modus operandi would be to make appropriate offerings to them at their spot and ask if they will open the doorway for you, allowing you to go through and accomplish the intent of your drift. You should seek their blessing for your journey and ask them to ensure your safe return.

The mysteries of the crossroads are essential to the operation of this work. Although it's possible to begin a shamanic drift in a more freeform style, utilising a physical crossover point such as a gateway, railway arch, narrow alleyway, or similar symbolic route, these structures still fall under the domain of the crossroads at an esoteric level. Therefore if the entire operation is performed under the specific auspices of a crossroads entity, with both their permission and their involvement, you are likely to get far more effective results. Once offerings have been made and permission has been granted, you can begin the drift. Depart from your access point, either walking through the gateway/arch, or leaving the crossroads in a different direction to which you arrived. You are now entering shamanic reality.

[mkirkpatrick]

Excellent thread starter Drifter,will think on a reply soon,cheers mate.



regards michael.

[Drifter]

Thanks Michael,

Table Manners: A Gentyllman was Heere



Excersyse also your selfe in redyng
Off bokes enorned with eloquence,
ther shall ye fynde both pleyre & lernynge,
so that ye may in euery good presence
Some-what fynde as in sentence
that shall accorde the tyme to occupye,
That ye not nede to stonde ydellye. (309-15)

~Richard Hill

"Richard Hill may have, even subconsciously, been collecting literature that spoke to his reality as a man and a merchant in late medieval/early modern London. This collection process may have been determined by his multifarious use of the book, including using it as a text to read to, or have read by, his children–particularly his sons. This would allow the book not only to reflect the principles of his public and private life, but also to direct other readers towards those principles. The literature would therefore have a prescriptive, as well as descriptive, function. Caxton's Book of Curtesye, which Hill included in Balliol 354, tells us that reading assisted in the moral education of the young. Not all lessons came from immediate experience; some lessons were learned from the page:"

[mkirkpatrick]

Thanks Drifter,I have had many "drifts" in this lifetime,some
in meditation begin by going into a tunnel via a sort of archway.

These experiences had while fully awake and alert bring to
the fore realizations of a world previously unknown to us
and unimagined.

I have had many contacts with "guides" who assisted me on various journeyings,one becomes grateful for their kindly
assistence.


regards michael.

[Graybeard]

I would like to discuss the Knowing connecting the seen and the unseen, the real and the unreal, that channel or connectivity, between the two.

The mechanics of the drift are simple. You are attempting to walk between worlds and bring something useful back with you. In order to begin the drift, you should look for an appropriate starting place - a physical access point that will allow you to enter into shamanic reality and return again when your business is done.

I meandered in the high desert ridges and the surrounding mountains all day without knowing what to do or what to expect. I came back to the flat rock at dusk. I knew that if I spent the night there I would be safe. The next day I ventured further east into the high mountains. By late afternoon I came to another even higher plateau. I thought I had been there before. I looked around to orient myself but I could not recognise any of the surrounding peaks. The sun was a scorching disk in the sky. I sat down to rest at the edge of a barren rocky area. I drank some water, it was warm and stale.

I looked down at the ground and caught sight of a large black beetle. It came out from behind a small rock, pushing a ball of dung twice its size. I followed its movements for a long time. The insect seemed unconcerned with my presence and kept on pushing its load over rocks, roots, depressions, and protuberances on the ground. For all I knew the beetle was not aware that I was there. The thought occurred to me that I could not possibly be sure that the insect was not aware of me. That thought triggered a series of rational evaluations about the nature of the insects world as opposed to mine.

The beetle and I were in the same world and obviously the world was not the same for both of us.

I observed the insect for a long time and then I became aware of the silence around me. I looked up, turned to my left in a quick involuntary fashion, and caught a glimpse of a faint shadow or a flicker on a rock a few feet away. I paid no attention, but then I turned again suddenly and was able clearly to perceive a shadow on the rock. I had the weird sensation that the shadow instantly slid down to the ground and the soft soil absorbed it as desert sand absorbs water. A chill ran down my back. The thought crossed my mind that death was watching me and the beetle.

I looked for the insect again but could not find it. I thought it must have arrived at its destination and had dropped its load into a hole in the ground. I put my face against a smooth rock.

The beetle emerged from a deep hole and stopped a few centimetres from my face. It seemed to look at me and for a moment I felt that it became aware of my presence, perhaps as I was aware of the presence of my death. I experienced a shiver. The beetle and I were not that different after all. Death, like a shadow, was stalking both of us from behind a boulder. I had an extraordinary moment of elation. The beetle and I were on a par. Neither of us was better than the other. Our death made us equal.

My elation and joy were so overwhelming that I began to cry. My teacher was right. He had always been right. I was living in a most mysterious world and, like everyone else, I was a most mysterious being, and yet I was no more important than a beetle.

I wiped my eyes and as I rubbed them with the back of my hand I saw a man or something which had the shape of a man. It was to my right about 50 metres. I sat up straight and strained to see. The sun was on the horizon and its brilliant glow prevented me from getting a clear view. I heard a peculiar roar at that momment. It was like the sound of a distant jet plane. As I focused my attention on it the roar increased to a prolonged metallic whizzing, and then it softened until it was a mesmerizing melodious sound.

I again strained to see if I could distinguish the person that seemed to be hiding from me but I could only detect a dark shape against the bushes. I shielded my eyes, the brilliancy of the sun changed at that moment and then I realised that what I was seeing was only an optical illusion, a play of shadows and foliage. I moved my eyes away and saw a dog calmly trotting away from me. The dog was around the spot where I thought I had saw the man. It moved towards the south, stopped and turned ... and then began walking towards me. I shivered and threw a rock, but it kept coming towards me. I had a moment of extreme apprehension and started to throw rocks wildly. But the animal continued towards me and stopped a few metres away. It was not agitated in any way. We looked at each other and it came closer. Its eyes were friendly and clear. I sat down on the rock and the dog stood almost touching me. I talked to it like a friend.


cool bananas ... greg

[austintorn@aol.com]

Impartiality

The Great Equalizer stalks all creatures made,
Lying ever just ‘round the corner in the shade,
Taking both Graybeard and the beetle as one,
After their lives are spent from rolling some dung.

[Drifter]

Thanks Graybeard,
Very cool experience my friend.
Thank you for sharing.

Perhaps your Spirit was on a similar path of two earlier and one present, "questors" Spirits, and they came to comfort and guide or show you the message you intuited?

I'm most certain it is in those times of sensory deprivation we become more in tune with our meta-physical Infinite Awareness and less associated conscious relative physical awareness.
A kind of "gate", "door", or "plateau", a base to enter from, through, as spoken about in "the drift article" link.

I have read some Carlos Castanetta as well, awesome. I believe it's universal, e.g. "Suma-State-of-Being".

Namaste` Brother Self
"cool bananas",
Drift.

ps. many have discribed me as a "soap-box preacher".
To them I simply reply, There's a difference between the "righteous prostlyte" and the "gate prostelyte".
Perhaps like me, when-if they discover that difference, (it removed the sting of such lampoons) they will understand. Jesus himself was a gate prostelyte. As were all the messengers of god in every epoch, great and small alike. It's really not about "me", or any God or Saint or Religion, "it's about the message".

Everyone want's to kill the postman it seems? When he's only doing what has become his appointment.

[Graybeard]

I have read some Carlos Castanetta as well, awesome.

Actually Drift ...... your very, very sharp .... Casteneda it was ... lol

cool bananas ... greg

PS: In this thread prepare for some more ...lol

[Drifter]

Thanks Drifter,I have had many "drifts" in this lifetime,some
in meditation begin by going into a tunnel via a sort of archway.

These experiences had while fully awake and alert bring to
the fore realizations of a world previously unknown to us
and unimagined.

I have had many contacts with "guides" who assisted me on various journeyings,one becomes grateful for their kindly
assistence.


regards michael.

Thanks Michael
For the stimulus to this thread.
Meditation has been my own approach, as well.
It has sort of developed into a "walking meditation", going everywhere I go, and knowing everything I know. ? Do you know what I mean?

It's like Einstein's theory that: "Problems can't be solved by the same "consciousness that created them", type practice.Thinking becoming word then deed, it's the application of the creative process, at the practical level?imho Somehow the term "conjuring" seems appropriate here?

Onlt thinking come in application, after "Contemplation", which is the same as supplication, prayer, meditation.

Of and by which there can be many different "beginning points of entrance prayers or meditaions from which to begin that sojourn. The prayers and meds. are necessarily used segue's into that realm. imho

Altered states of Consciousness, without medicating in any Physical or mentally, harmful way.

As always Michael, thanks for your "contributions", they are always welcome.

"Grateful", YES INDEED.

"Here-to-before unknown", ABSOLUTELY.

Namaste`
D.

[Drifter]

Actually Drift ...... your very, very sharp .... Casteneda it was ... lol

cool bananas ... greg

PS: In this thread prepare for some more ...lol

Actually Greg,
I love the comraderie.

Thanks for that brother.

By the way Greg,

P.S. Don't threaten me with "a good time,
, ok? You heard! Lol

I'm gald this thread has finally opened some up!

cool bananas ... drift.