Chapter V - WATER MAGICK

26. Astral Guides, Oracleship, and Trance

You are never alone in this world. You may feel that you stand on some deserted island in the middle of the ocean, yet you should take comfort in the fact that all around you your Guides and Teachers are with you each and every moment of the day and night. In addition to discussing the Guides, you will also explore communication with the Astral Guides, or oracleship, and a special state of consciousness, the Trance. To begin with, let's take a close look at who your Guides and Teachers really are?

Your Guides and Teachers are actually two distinct groups of magickal helpers. The Guides are those who have remained on the Astral Realm and assist you from that dimension. They are composed of both relatives and friends of your past lives who are gaining valuable experience and magickal growth by assisting you on the physical plane. You should remember that their personalities are still very much akin to the ones they had in their last life. There are Specialist who come under this group of Guides. They assist you with special guidance if you are undertaking a special task and need their magickal expertise. They assist those in the process of transition from physical to Astral living. They are the Astral doctors and nurses. The other group is made up of those I term Teachers.

They are a magickally advanced group of Beings. They administer to you from a much higher realm of existence. The Realm of the Soul. They are usually with you from the beginning of time and follow you long into your magickal development. As you reach a special development in your magickal path, the rank of the Teacher continues to advance until you work with your Night Teacher. I will discuss the Night Teachers in a later topic.

Everyone on this planet has been led by inspiration at some time or another, but most have never taken the time to try and understand where that inspiration came from. Inspiration has its origins from two different sources. The first is your Oversoul and is of the highest form of inspiration. The second is guidance given to you through your Magickal Guides and Teachers. You can receive a closer rapport with your Guides and Teachers by learning to remain in a state of inner listening, by remaining in a state of inner awareness, knowing that they are always with you and that you can receive from them guidance in all that you do. You must begin by accepting their Presence and knowing that you can communicate with them. Whenever you can shut out the outer world and its problems, then can you hear them speak to you. You must always carefully weigh what they tell you and know that, ultimately, the decision is yours. They never compel you to do anything, but simply guide you as to what the probabilities are and then it's your decision. You may be able to hear the Astral message, but some are exceptionally good at hearing those from the Astral Realm. These individuals are Oracles. An Oracle is a person who through a difference in body and brain structure is able to receive messages from the Astral with an exceptional clarity. They are individuals with a delicate physical and nervous system upon which Astral Spirits may impress the message. The person enters an altered state of consciousness, whereby the Guide or Teacher is able to impress upon the nervous system the message to be given. The Highest Guide or Teacher also acts as a traffic controller regulating which Guide or Teacher will give a message and who will not, through the Oracle. The Oracle must remain in a very passive state of mind. The Oracle is only a link between this world and that of the Astral. There are degrees of passivity in consciousness for the Oracle. The Oracle may retain almost total consciousness while seeing and hearing the message, and then again, consciousness may be totally repressed by the Guide or Teacher. This total repression of consciousness, in the Oracle, is known as Trance.

Trance is an altered state of consciousness, whereby the Oracle's consciousness leaves the body and that of a Higher Entity enters into it. Thus, the Higher Entity has free reign to speak and act through the body instrument without misinterpretation by the Oracle. In the other form of oracleship, the Oracle hears and interprets what s/he sees and in this case s/he does not. Generally, for the Oracle in Trance, it seems as if s/he has been pleasantly sleeping. Depending on the Oracle's development, s/he can go into Trance on the physical plane and still remain conscious and active on the Astral plane, and so can control the type of entity who is giving the message through her/his body, to those on the physical plane who are listening. Even if the Oracle cannot remain awake in the Astral, there is nothing to fear. If her/his body, emotions, and thoughts are one with the Oversoul then nothing can happen to her/him while s/he is in a state of Trance. Here is a warning to those who would attempt to practice the state of Trance. If you are without fear and know that there is nothing to be afraid of, and live in the Night Pillar of the Oversoul, then no harm can befall you. Remember this, keep your thoughts at one with the Oversoul and nothing bad will ever happen to you. If you cannot live in this state of being then do not try to reach a state of Trance. Otherwise, you are subject to entry and hold by the lower mischievous entities. Most people have a safeguard against entering Trance and that is falling asleep, but entry and hold is still possible at just the point of falling asleep, and the point of awakening. This can only occur when you are attempting to reach the state of Trance. This cannot occur if you are just normally going to sleep. Have no fear, but live in the Oversoul and no wrong entry can occur to you during the state of Trance. There are several forms of Trance.

There is the kind, just mentioned above, whereby a Higher Entity uses your body to transmit a message to a group of listeners while the Oracle is in a soporific state. There is also what is called Night Trance. Here the Oracle can be fully conscious and by his own control deliberately enter the state of Trance rather than it being induced by the possessing Higher Entity. The next kind is called Magician's Trance.

Here, the body is very rigid, even to the point of having hard skin. You are still in your body, but what you see can be likened to sitting on the highest peak with a telescope. In other word wherever you look, you can see what is transpiring. There is no limit as to where or what you can see. Time, distance, and/or physical structures are no obstacles to your seeing. The final kind is called Trance Projection.

Here you leave the body. The flesh remains very limp and the breathing greatly reduced. The heart rate is also greatly reduced. Again, there are no limits to where you can see. Everyone, to one degree or another can receive messages from the Astral. It is important that everyone learn to take time to know and become close to their Guides and Teachers. Their messages of guidance and help can completely change the world that you live in. There is no limit to the aid that they can provide in your world. Take the time to still the mind and body so that you may hear the guidance that they have to offer you. It is not essential that you try the states of Trance. You should only induce the state of Trance under the guidance of your Magickal Teacher. Therefore, I have omitted the how-to instruction for the state of Trance. You should not try the different states of Trance unless you are sure of what you're doing and that you're entering them with the correct frame of mind and under the proper supervision. Above all learn this, "To be still and know the Oversoul." This is the key to Night Magick and Night Consciousness. We have been discussing the magickal influence of your Astral Guides and Teachers. Yet, they are only one magickal source, out of many, that influence your life. Another great source of magickal influence over your emotional and magickal life is the Goddess Diana. She is better known to you as the Presence of the Moon.