The Mentor's Guide To
Teaching Spiritual Techniques
Introduction
Lexicon
The Layman
Common Threads
Divinity
Karma
Reincarnation
The Tools
Body
Mind
The Realms of Influence
Physical—Layman
Conscious—Apprentice
Etheric—Journeyman
Compassion—Master
The Western Elements of the Physical Realm: More than forces of Nature
Earth—Stone to Body
Air—Twisters to Thoughts
Fire—Flames to Passion
Water—Waves to Tears
Spirit—Divine to Conscience
Influence of the Physical Realm—Bodies that sense ranges of multiple types of energies.
Earth—Grounding, Shielding, Centering
Air—Breath, thought
Fire—Physical Action; the Will to do something
Water—Divination, Emotions
Spirit—working with Deities/devas, Prayer, creativity
The Apprentice
The Elements of the Realm of Consciousness—From concrete to abstract.
Earth—Body to Strength
Air—Thoughts to Mind
Fire—Passion to Will
Water—Tears to Empathy
Spirit—Conscience to Higher Self
Realm of Consciousness—Where cohesion and understanding of sensory input is “formed”.
Earth—Yogic Practices, Martial Arts; teaches the connection between the mind and body.
Air—Meditation, Telepathy
Fire—Energy Manipulation, Chakras
Water—Lucid Dreaming, Empathy
Spirit—Inner Guide/True Self/Higher Self
Discovering The Seeker's Natural Aptitudes
Element Affinity
Families of Psychic Talents
The Journeyman
Learning Control of one's thoughts.
The Elements of the Etheric Realm—from Abstract to Archetypal concepts.
Strength to Force
Mind to Shadow
Will to Desire
Empathy to Avarice
Higher Self to Shadow Self
Etheric Realm—Trans-personal Consciousness
Earth—Physical sensations with no apparent cause
Air—Imagination
Fire—Creation of Energy Constructs
Water—Astral Travel
Spirit—Sight, Healing (uses Practitioner's energy)
Working with Groups
Basic Ritual Magick
Tools
Altar
Casting Circle
Raising Energy
Releasing Energy
Dispelling Circle
The Master
Acting through one's Conscience
The Elements of the Realm of Compassion—Archetype to Epitome
Force to Temperance
Shadow to Light
Desire to Detachment
Avarice to Enjoyment
Shadow Self to Universal Consciousness
Realm of Compassion-Conscience
Earth—Acting on one's Conscience.
Air—Being Aware of one's Mind.
Fire—Being Aware of one's Passions.
Water— Being Aware of one's Emotions.
Spirit—Awareness of Eternal Consciousness, Healing (uses energy in environment)
Introduction
This Mentor's Guide is written to be as universally applying as possible. To satisfy that restriction, the standard disclaimers will include the words: usually, often, and/or sometimes. Religions, Faiths and the myriad of Spiritual Paths share a common core, the belief in a Divine Force that is the basis of all of Existence. The different cultures of the world have different views on how the Divine represents Him/Her/Its Self. For purposes of this Guide, Divine Spirit will be the referring term. There are also many different ways of communing with or receiving messages from the Divine, these Spiritual Techniques are the focus of this guide.
There are four parts to this guide, they are: The Layman, The Apprentice, The Journeyman, and The Master. The Layman comes to realize the differences between Spirituality and Dogma. The Apprentice comes to realize that one must learn to control one's reactions to the information received by the body. The Journeyman realizes that one must learn to control one's thoughts. The Master is one who has learned to Act through their Conscience.
Mentors can come from any of these levels. Someone who has read three or four books on Paganism, for example, will have more knowledge than one who has never read or seen anything about it. No level is better or worse than any other for Mentoring purposes. It all depends on the needs of the Student. A Student wanting to learn a basic Spiritual Technique, like Grounding, need not search out anyone beyond an experienced Layman. On the other hand, one that wishes to form a Coven will probably want the assistance of a Master.
A Mentor's Guide to Teaching Spiritual Techniques is not an introduction to Paganism/Wicca book. This is a book on how to teach those who are just beginning their Spiritual Journey. People are converting over to Spirituality at an extremely high rate. So much so that there is a distinct lack of qualified, ethical Mentors.
This Guide is for those that have been walking their Path for a little while (or longer) and now find themselves being asked to share their knowledge. Having an understanding of a particular subject and being able to teach it are not the same thing. Not everyone learns in the same way. The book that was ideal for me won't do anything for someone that is a hands-on learner. What about teaching something that is traditionally described visually to someone who doesn't think visually? These little details are the source of much frustration, this guide will give you ideas on how to deal with them.
Lexicon
These are common terms that one will encounter while learning about different Spiritual Paths and their Techniques. Those that have an interest in the Occult or psychic phenomenon have doubtless encountered many of these terms before. Quite often these encounters were through movies, TV, fiction books and Spiritually oriented materials. The first thing one needs to do when teaching someone, whether the student is familiar with the subject or not, is to make sure they're talking about the same thing. Being on the same page, terminology wise, spares everyone headaches.
A friend of mine had a student that was amazed to find that clairvoyance and empathy are not even remotely the same thing. To spare other Teachers that particular level of pain, here is a little Spiritual Dictionary. Please note: Many words in the English language have multiple meanings. For the purpose of this book we are using the most universal definitions for the terms listed. This is, by no means, a complete dictionary. It is not necessary to go over each and every term with your student at the start. This is a reference tool, use the dictionary as new terms become necessary.
A
Angel—Celestial being, created through Divine Will.
Animism—The belief that a soul or spirit exists in all things.
Astral—The Realm of thought and imagination, an aspect of the Etheric Realm.
Astral Projection—Astral projection (or astral travel) is an out-of-body experience achieved either awake or via lucid dreaming or deep meditation.
Aura—Energy field around the body comprising the mental, emotional, and spiritual bodies.
Automatic Writing—Automatic writing is the process, or product, of writing material that does not come from the conscious thoughts of the writer.
Awakened—One who understands that we are more than our physical self.
Awareness—Full, undivided attention. At it's deepest level Awareness is conscious observation without judgment.
C
Centering—Balancing one's Energy through focus.
Chakra—Energy centers, or nodes, in and around the physical form that, effectively, anchor the soul to the body.
Channel—Allowing a specific energy or spirit to work through your body.
Chi—The natural energy of the universe. Also called Qi or Ki.
Cleansing—To purify someone, someplace, or some thing Spiritually.
Conscience—The soft voice in the “back of the mind” that tells us when we are doing something wrong or right. One's Higher or True Self.
Consciousness—Self Awareness—I AM.
Counselor—An advisor or guide.
Coven—A group of Witches that work together, sometimes exclusively.
D
Demon—Negative Other Planar entity (generic term).
Deity—Of Divine being or nature.
Discernment— The act or process of exhibiting keen insight and good judgment.
Divination—The art or practice of foretelling the future using different methods that the diviner may decide.
Dream Walking—Entering another's Dream through the Etheric Realm.
E
Eclectic—Deriving Spiritual Beliefs from a wide variety of sources.
Ego—This is our perceived self, it is the aspect of our Consciousness that is purely an experience r.
Element—Earth, Air, Fire, Water, and Spirit comprise the most common Western Elements.
Empathy—The ability to sense and/or influence the emotions of another.
Energy—The natural Force that sustains Existence.
Energy Constructs—Etheric “thought forms” that have been created for a specific purpose.
Enlightenment—The state in which One sees Existence through the highest level of Consciousness.
Etheric—Without physical form.
Evocation—Is the act of calling or summoning an etheric being to the Physical Realm.
F
Faerie—Astral entities that are often Element based; often called “Little People” also called Fey.
Filters—An energy barrier that allows certain types of energy to come through.
Focus—Complete attention to an activity one is performing.
G
Geomancy—literally means, “divining the Earth”. It is an art that analyses the subtle earth energies that ebb and flow throughout the landscape.
Grounding—The act of releasing excess or “negative” energy, usually to the Earth.
H
High priest/priestess—The spiritual leader of a coven or group of ritual workers.
Higher Self—The Higher Self is the awareness of our thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations.
Hubris—Arrogance that comes from the attainment of much Knowledge, but not necessarily Understanding or Wisdom.
Hypersensitive—Excessively sensitive to etheric energies.
I
Intent—One's Will to accomplish a goal.
Invocation—The act of calling upon a Divine Being for help or aid.
K
Karma—The Universal Law. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction or simply cause and effect.
L
Ley Line—Energy lines on/in the Earth that the planet's natural energy flows through.
Light Worker—An individual who seeks to spread Light, thus raising the energy vibration of the planet.
M
Magick—Conscious manipulation of Energy whether through Ritual or focus of Will.
Mantra—A mantra is a sound, syllable, word or group of words that are considered capable of "creating transformation", in a Spiritual sense.
Meditation—Mental training exercises used to reach deeper levels of awareness and focus.
Medium—One who can communicate with spirits, etheric entities.
Mentor—A Spiritually Aware individual that helps a Seeker to realize their own pre-existing nature, or True Self.
Monotheism—The belief that there is only one God.
N
Node—An energy center, or spot of Power, on the Earth.
Numerology—The practice of divining one's life path through the use of numbers.
O
Open—Susceptible to various energies but not enough of an understanding of the source of the energies or how to deal with them.
Ouija Board—Also called Spirit Boards. A device used to communicate with spirits or other formless beings.
P
Pagan—An umbrella term for any nature-based religion with an emphasis on Spiritual Development.
Palmistry—The practice of diving one's life path through the reading of the lines in the palms.
Pantheon—The gods of a particular mythology, considered collectively.
Paradigm—One's world view.
Pendulum—A weight at the end of a thin chain or string that is most useful for diving answers to simple “yes” or “no” questions.
Pentacle—Five pointed star within a circle, single point up.
Pentagram—Five pointed star within a circle, single point down.
Plane—One of the infinite levels of Existence.
Polytheism—The belief in many gods.
Portal—A doorway between planes or a doorway between ritual space and “normal” space.
Power Animal—Animal spirits which reside with each individual adding to their power and protecting them from illness, acting similarly to a guardian angel. Also called Totem Animal.
Priest—Spiritual specialist.
Purification—Spiritual cleansing; usually done before rituals.
Psychic Vampire—One who drains the energy of others whether consciously or unconsciously.
R
Reading—Diving information about a specific person using whatever means the Diviner chooses.
Reiki—A Japanese healing technique that allows one to channel Universal Life Force Energy.
Ritual—Prescribed, established, or ceremonial acts or features collectively, as in religious services.
S
Sabbats—The Pagan/Wiccan holidays.
Scotoma—A mental blind spot; inability to understand or perceive certain matters. Can occur due to a number of reasons, primarily Cultural.
Shaman—A Spiritual being with the ability to heal, work with energies and 'see' visions.
Shield—A barrier of energy that protects those within it.
Smudging—Smudging is the burning of certain herbs to create a cleansing smoke bath, which is used to purify people, ceremonial and ritual space, and ceremonial tools and objects.
Spirit—Divine Aspect of the Western Elements. 2. An etheric being that was once physical.
T
Tarot—A deck of cards used to clarify an issue or divine the possible outcome of one's actions.
Telekinesis—The ability to move objects with the mind through sheer force of will or through emotional outburst. Also called, psychokinesis.
Telepathy—The ability to read or influence the mind of another.
Tree of Life—One of many ways of conceptualizing the Path to the Divine/the Divine Itself.
Tulpa—Sentient energy construct (or thought form).
W
Warlock—Literally means Oath breaker. Commonly misused to refer to a male Witch.
Witch—Literally means Wise One. Witches are male or female.
PART I: The Layman
The term “Layman” is typically applied to those that do not specialize in a particular field, such as Medicine. Applied to the Spiritual, Layman refers to a person that is learning about different Spiritual Paths and their Techniques. In this realm of Spiritual development, one learns the basics about the tools and techniques used in different Traditions, the various ways in which Practitioners commune with the Divine and what forms the Divine may take.
The Layman gets a small taste of the effort required to advance Spiritually. This taste is centered around information gathering. Syncing up one's personal beliefs with an established Spiritual Path requires studying and perhaps walking the Path to see if it's the right one. Books, friends and the interwebz are all excellent sources for a Student to find out the nature of the Path in question. Is there one God or multiple gods? Does the Divine manifest as masculine, feminine, animal, humanoid, and/or formless consciousness? These questions are easy to answer. The harder question for new Seekers is “Does this speak to me?”.
To hear, one must listen. Listening, in this case, entails practicing Spiritual Techniques that teach us how to Listen.
Faith is the backbone of Spiritual Practices, the belief that some greater being is aware of our efforts and aids us. Keeping one's thoughts on the Divine Source leaves one available to “hear” and act on the Will of the Divine Source. It is one of the simplest, conceptually, of all of the Spiritual Techniques. See the Divine in everything from the heart warming to the heart wrenching. They are all aspects of the Divine Source.
Paths that endorse more interactive Spiritual Techniques and/or a strong Magickal background will generally begin teaching the basics of Meditation: consciousness, awareness, and focus at this point. In addition to meditation, divination techniques like the Pendulum and the Tarot are of the most common tools in Spiritual Paths used to 1). bring a student to realize their own consciousness 2). realize the awareness of that level of consciousness and 3). focus the Mind on a single task. This concentration of Will is necessary to perform more advanced Spiritual Techniques.
Maintaining one's Spiritual health through grounding, centering and shielding is taught as the student becomes more aware of spiritual, or etheric, energies. The more aware one is of these energies the more one “sees” and the more sensitive one can be to it's effects.
Common Threads
There are 3 beliefs commonly shared by those that walk a Spiritual Path. These are the belief in the Divine, the belief in Reincarnation and the belief in Karma. While these concepts are fairly constant, not mandatory, they are viewed in vastly different ways by the cultures that started the various Paths. The trick is figuring out where the Truth ends and the culture's paradigm begins. NOTE: The Student may not have the same beliefs as the Teacher. Be respectful of each others beliefs.
Mentor, “What do you believe in?”.
Student, “I was raised _____”.
Mentor, “That's not what I asked.”
Teaching a new Seeker about the various Pantheons and giving a brief blurb on the Spiritual Beliefs behind them is easy. Getting a new Seeker to actually analyze their own beliefs is much more difficult. It is also one of the first things they should be doing. Tell them about your Path, what you've practiced, what entities have come to visit you. Get your student to tell you about their Spiritual upbringing. Do they hail from a fundamentalist-knock-on-your-door at 6 am kind of family or the twice a year Catholic family? Were they raised in an Atheist household? Was it a “divided” household; Catholic/Protestant, Christian/Pagan? Get your student to think about why they felt disconnected from the Divine or from their church, as the case may be. These are, quite possibly, the qualities the student is looking for in their concept of the Divine. They are discovering new ways to experience the Divine with your help. Is your student monotheist or are they leaning towards polytheism? Do they feel there is a hierarchy to the Heavens and/or Hells? Is there a Hell?
Speaking of Hell, what about death? What does your student thinks happens after we die? Do we go to Heaven or Hell depending on our choices? Are we reborn on Earth in different bodies whose state is dependent on how we were in the previous life? Can we be reborn as animals? Can we be reborn on other planes of existence? Reincarnation is a rather popular belief and those questions just barely scratch the surface of the concept. It is intimately tied with the concept of Karma.
Karma is most beautifully explained in an old cliché: You reap what you sow. What ever you do comes back to you threefold, or even sevenfold, depending on the particulars of the Path. The most difficult part to get a student to understand is that, Karma is not some demon that's out to get you. It is the base ethical foundation of most Spiritual Practices. To put it simply, Karma is the energy you sent out into the world completing it's circuit by returning to it's source.
Divinity
We undertake a Spiritual Journey to find a Path that will let us take a more active role in our relationship with the Divine. The first step in being more spirituality active is to have a concept of the Divine to work with. Does the student know what they're looking for? It will probably help to describe your relationship with the Divine. Explain what your concept of the Divine is. The following, are the most common concepts of the Divine:
Divinity is believed to be Formless yet manifests as All Forms. The Divine is omnipresent (everywhere) and omniscient (Knows ALL). This is a pretty massive concept to try to relate to. Many break this concept down into smaller compartments. A formless Entity that manifests in Dualistic forms. Masculine and Feminine, Fire and Water, Earth and Air, Life and Death, etc. These forms are generally considered gods (lowercase denotes lesser than the Creator God). It depends on the individual if these are Gods in their own right or are Aspects of God. There are gods for everything, depending on the Pantheon you're exploring. Some Aspects or Gods are more social than others, some require that a human only pass messages along through an intermediary entity. Others require a ritual be done prior to receiving any aid, it just depends on the culture the Entity hails from.
Other beliefs are centered around the Masculine Spirit of the Divine, the Mother Earth and our siblings the Animals. This is more of a familial type relationship. The Father created us, Mother nurtures us and our siblings. Totems, animal Spirit Guides, are often the messengers of the masculine and feminine sides of the Great Spirit.
Karma
The thought of teaching Karma calls to mind, the image of a
3 ft. diameter 300 ft. deep puddle.
This is truly the simplest of concepts to grasp, on the surface. It's the depth that gets you. Karma is the reason Infinity, ∞, is balanced the way it is. It is THE Universal Law: For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. This is true in every aspect of existence from math, to the ecosystem, to interpersonal relationships.
One of the perks of human existence is Free Will. Often this is misunderstood to mean, “We can do whatever we want!!”. No, not quite. What Free Will really is, is the ability to choose if we want to serve our Purpose or do our own thing. This is an important concept to impart to a new student. If we have a purpose to serve, and the ability to find out what it is then we already have an innate connection to the Divine Source. The student's Spiritual exploration now has a personal focus.
Human existence is said to be the most coveted because we have Free Will. We can choose to serve our Divine Purpose or we can go our own way and totally ignore the Divine. That is not without it's consequences, however. Enter Karma.
Here's an example I like use. You have decided to hang on to “your” Energy instead of allowing it to flow like it should. (Insert “act of selfishness, greed, or ignorance” here) This causes an imbalance, sometimes quite severe, somewhere down the line. To rectify that imbalance you will suffer a loss of the equivalent amount of Energy that your actions pulled out of whack. On the other hand, if you follow your Conscience and do the Will of the Divine, there well be an overflow of Abundance.
Negative, or rather, self-serving efforts block the pathways that Energy runs on. Blocked pathways cause deficiencies in some areas and excesses in others. Life requires balance. The re-balancing of Universal Energies is the function of Karma. A person, like the one in the example above, will have multiple chances to rectify the imbalance they caused. If they ignore the “lesson” the first time then it will keep repeating. Depending on the severity of the imbalance each replay may become more drastic than the last. I call this process the Immaculate Clue By 4. If our little friend manages to remove his cranium from his rectal cavity he can rectify the situation and learn from it. If, by the end of their lifespan the lesson on “selfishness, greed, or ignorance” isn't learned they may get to try again in another life.
However, a person that was attentive to the Will of the Divine, despite the myriad of distractions on the physical plane, strengthens their connection to the Divine. This would be the point of practicing a Spiritual Path.
Reincarnation
This is one of those tricky topics that sounds really easy to pass along. It's usually summed up as “after the body dies the soul is put into another body.” There is a little more to it than that. The belief in Reincarnation is the belief that we are more than a physical being. We are Spiritual beings that are having a physical experience. Whether this physical experience is “real” and if we return in the same form or not, is a matter of some debate between Eastern and Western cultures. That, however, is a totally different topic.
What must be conveyed to the Student is the concept that we are Spiritual beings having a physical experience. The body is a tool used to pick up a very wide range of energetic vibrations, the body is not the Self. The Self is what controls the body. So, what do you think happens when we die?
Since we are beings of Spirit, when our bodies die we may go back to our plane of origin, Heaven, Hell, some other realm? Some believe that we immediately get a completely different body, some believe that we will have similar features, some believe that we can be reborn as animals. Others believe we have a limited number of incarnations. The new forms we take on are, sometimes, believed to be based on one's Karmic balance. As far as Spiritual Advancement goes, the human existence is the most coveted. In some Eastern Traditions it is often said that an Enlightened individual can “rejoin” the One and free themselves from the Wheel of Karma.
The Tools
The majority of religions/spiritual beliefs are based on the concept that before the Universe, as we know it, existed there was Void. So, let's start with that. Void, by my understanding, is pure Potential. ANYTHING can be done with this Energy. Let's say that this Energy is Conscious, or rather Self Aware: I AM. This Consciousness decided to use It's Potential to create a multi-level Existence. This “decision” sent out a shock wave of Energy. At the source, this Energy remains Pure Conscious Potential. A constantly vibrating Energy that resonates throughout All That Is. As the shock wave moves away from the Source it's vibratory rate slows down. The slower the Energy is vibrating the more solid it appears to be. These varying levels of vibrations are what make up light/dark, sky/land, fire/water and heat/cold etc. Life makes it possible for The Source to Experience and Manipulate the slower vibrating Energies without pulling anything out of balance.
All forms Life serve their Purpose. All of the creatures of the world, function on instinct. They know their place in the “Circle of Life” and act accordingly. They work within the limits set by their physical environment. If, through overpopulation for example, they manage to alter their environment Nature will correct itself. New predators may come on on the scene to handle an overpopulation problem, or the devastation of the food source will deplete the overpopulated species. Remember, it's all still the same Energy and it's all still Conscious.
Humans were given the ability to choose whether we wanted to serve our Purpose as the Source Wills us to, or to go our own way and do what we want. This is our Free Will, and it's what distinguishes us from the animals. As a whole, humanity has decided to ignore the Source and alter the physical realm as much as we could to suit us. Not that we don't know any better. We all have a conscience, that we may or may not pay attention to. The source of this conscience is our consciousness or self-awareness. All of us share the same Consciousness that fuels All of Existence. Note the similarities of the words Consciousness and Conscience. Ignoring one's Conscience limits one's experience of Consciousness.
Humans are in a most interesting position, we exist in 3 realms simultaneously. We have our Spirit or Conscience, also called the Inner Voice or Higher Self. This is the same Divine Consciousness that permeates All of Existence at the highest level of Being. The mid-level consists of the Etheric realm. Thoughts/emotions and the resonance of the physical realm. This is a realm we all respond to whether or not our responses are conscious. The sensation we feel when being stared at from afar, for example. This is the realm psychic phenomenon occurs on. The lowest realm is the physical, our bodies. This is the realm that most of humanity is taught to believe is the only one that is relevant. Realization of this fallacy requires Conscious use of our natural tools, the body and the mind.
Body
The body is a receptive and projective tool. It is our means of effecting the physical world. The body has five primary senses that we commonly experience that allows us to perceive sound, flavors, physical sensation, light, and scents. Each of these has a specific organ associated with it ears, tongue, skin, eyes, and nose. The “sixth sense”, physically speaking, is an awareness of the body's reaction to something that has not made itself known on the physical plane. This awareness is on the Etheric plane where the mind correlates and cross-references information given to it by the body. Scents become smells, sound becomes words, flavors becomes tastes, light becomes shapes and colors and physical sensation becomes smooth, rough, soft etc. In the case of the “sixth sense” a change in the Etheric realm causes a physical reaction based on the mind's previous encounters with that change. For example, being aware of the hairs on the back of your neck standing up, for no obvious reason, and knowing what that reaction means.
Mind
The mind is primarily a processor, it's where reasoning, inference, understanding and the awareness of these activities takes place. The mind has no physical location in the body. Science gives us the impression that the communication between neurons in the brain would be the mind. My working theory is: the communication between neurons in the brain would be how the mind manifests in the physical. The mind manifests in the etheric realm as thoughts/emotions and in the spiritual realm as awareness of consciousness.
The purpose of the mind is to present all of the sensory information received by the body into some kind of coherent fashion. Sensory information includes our senses of sensation, taste, smell, hearing, sight, understanding (mind), as well as a sense of pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral feelings that accompany each sensation. We become aware of the senses being received by the body one at a time, similarly to how special effects are added to a movie. The speed that all of this information is processed and played back at, makes it seem as seamless a scene in a movie. It's the same illusion, actually. Movies are just individual frames, snapshots of sound and light that have been edited for cohesion, and played back at a high speed. The mind is fed sensory information to process. How we perceive and feel about this information is based on the understanding of what has been previously experienced. Those perceptions are then applied to the current situation via inference and defended by rationalization. Inference is the reasoning involved in drawing a conclusion or making a logical judgment on the basis of circumstantial evidence and prior conclusions rather than on the basis of direct observation. Rationalization is to justify one's actions, especially discreditable actions or beliefs, with plausible reasons. The untrained mind uses rationalization, inference and understanding to pursue what is pleasing while avoiding the unpleasant.
Basic Spiritual Techniques tend to revolve around getting the Seeker to slow down and Listen, so we can witness how the mind functions normally. Prayer, Meditation, and Yoga being the most common means to pull one out of their normal mindset. Normally, the mind takes in information from the body and our self-image is the star of the movie it shows us. In this mindset, reactions are based purely on our perception of a situation, not necessarily the actuality of a situation. Seeing a situation for what it is requires us to realize that we have a very self-centered world view, and to change it to one centered in our conscience.
The Realms of Influence
There are four Realms that influence our very Being. They are the Realms of Physical, Conscious, Etheric, and Compassionate Existence. Consider each Realm to be the Epitome of the concept it embodies.
Physical
The Physical Realm encompasses more than living bodies. It includes non-living objects, anything that can be sensed with the physical form. The Physical Realm also includes things that effect those bodies like sound, light, gravity, and temperature. Weather falls under the domain of the Physical Plane as well.
The Spiritual Techniques of the Physical Realm are an excellent foundation for the Spiritual Practices. They are geared toward getting a Layman to be aware of their environment, their mind, and their Conscience.
Consciousness
The Realm of Consciousness embodies thoughts, emotions, dreams, ideas, concepts, logic, reason, rationale, and the Awareness of all of the above. Seekers generally realize this Realm's influence when they decide they want to Practice more interactive Techniques. Deciding to continue on the Spiritual Path to Apprentice level means opening one's self to receiving more information. Once opened these channels do not close. Often, psychic abilities will manifest depending on what the Seeker is prone to paying attention to. Those more attuned to the physical realm will be more aware of changes in their physical form and immediate vicinity. These Seekers would notice the hair standing up on the back of the neck for no reason, a sudden change in room temperature, or a person's body language. Consciousness oriented Seekers are more likely to be aware of the thoughts and/or emotions of themselves and others. They have tendencies to speak the thoughts of others, knowing when something is wrong and a strong affinity to animals.
Etheric
The Etheric Realm is the shadow of the Physical Realm. It is without form and manifests the abstract as opposed to the concrete found in the physical Realm. The Etheric Realm is the Training Ground of the Journeyman. The Layman learns what's what, and if they want to work with it. The Apprentice learns how their “tools” function in relation to this newly gained knowledge. The Journeyman puts those “tools” to use by developing any psychic talents they may have, learning how to manipulate energy for various purposes, and working in Rituals to interact with the Divine, among numerous other things.
Mindfulness is the key lesson of the Etheric Realm. When one Consciously works with etheric energies it becomes easier to effect them, particularly accidentally. A REALLY REALLY angry Layman walking into a room will get some looks and perhaps a clear path through, from those that are sensitive to emotions. An equally angry Journeyman, that happens to be an empath, can change the mood of a room from cheerful to spiteful or clear the room entirely. Negatively focused, or excess, energy can discharge in tune with emotional outbursts. The shout that causes the light bulb to explode, for example. Being aware of one's thoughts and emotions is vital to keeping a reign on one's energies.
Compassion
The Realm of Compassion is the foundation of Existence. It is the underlying constant that is the Divine Source present throughout All That Is. Unlike the Physical, Conscious, and Etheric Realms we don't exist in the Realm of Compassion. More precisely, we don't affect the Realm of Compassion, it affects us. This Realm takes conscious effort and focus to realize, and that is the goal of the Master.
The Master is one who has reflected on the understanding gained as a Journeyman and applies that level of understanding to advanced Spiritual Techniques. These Techniques often focus on directly experiencing some aspect of the Divine Source to determine and act on Divine Will.
Discovering The Seeker's Natural Aptitudes
Before we get to the good stuff, it is imperative that you find out why this Seeker wants to learn Magick. You know, with great power and all. These are Talents, gifted to us through the Divine Source. Tainting these energies by using them for selfish purposes has severe Karmic repercussions for Mentors and Seekers. Those that come for instruction in Magick purely for the power of it, the ego trip, are a severe threat to themselves, others and a Mentor's reputation.
Now for the fun part! How do you find out what your new student's Talents are? Asking, “What can you do?” is not going to work. At all. Don't even bother. Most new Seekers have no idea what they can do. Maybe they've ignored their Talents to the point of dormancy. Not realizing when a talent manifests, because it happens so often, is fairly common. Perhaps their energy is out of whack so no talents have truly emerged yet. It can also be as simple as your student not believing in their ability to use Magick. A lot of them will tell you all about what would be cool to do. Just make sure they understand that cool does not mean likely. Tossing fireballs down Main Street would be REALLY COOL, but that's not likely to happen.
Element Affinity
One of the easiest ways I've found to get an idea of a students natural Talents is to do their natal chart. Each Zodiac sign is attributed to an Element. On most natal charts, usually in a little box all by themselves, is how many signs of what Elements are present. Unless you or your student is into astrology there's no need to go into any more detail than that. The student's strongest elements will, generally, be the ones with the most corresponding signs. Pay attention to your student's behavior. Do they have a very vibrant, passionate personality? Is he/she an intellectual and aloof? Are they emotional and creative? Are they a grounded nature lover? Some combination of these types? More often than not, the Element distribution in their natal chart will accurately describe the personality.
Another useful thing to watch for in the student's behavior is extremities. For example, someone who is very strong in water being very closed off emotionally. Chances are, if there are no medical issues, they are Empathic. It's often a defense mechanism, closing themselves off emotionally allows them to keep their emotions to themselves and prevent the emotions of others from affecting them.
The qualities of the personality tend to match up with their respective Elements. Affinity to certain elements often correlates to particular Talents. I'm being very general, this is not always true; just more often than not.
Water and Fire people are both very creative and emotionally charged but Fire people tend to be more extroverted than Water folks. The talents of these two elements reflect that difference. Those who's affinity is to Water use that introverted mindset to see clearly. People strong in Water tend to be clairvoyant, lucid dreamers, and empaths most commonly. Interesting correlation: the 6th Chakra, the 3rd Eye, is Water as well. Fire people are batteries! Raw power contained in form. Constructive release is a common problem for Fire folks, particularly since Fire rules the Sacral or Sexus Chakra (the 2nd Chakra). Destruction and Chaos are potential roadblocks to watch out for. While Water is receptive, Fire is very projective. Energy Manipulation, divination and Projective Empathy are common abilities.
Air and Earth also have their similarities. They are both very logical but Air people tend to be more visionary or abstract in their thought process. Earth people are more practical. Air imagines, Earth creates. Those strong in Air have abilities like telepathy, discernment, and Insight. Those who's affinity runs to Earth can make anything grow. They are also talented Healers and strong Empaths. Air rules the Throat Chakra (5th Chakra) and Earth rules the Root Chakra (1st Chakra).