externalizing

[StSimon]

I like to view my environment as an externalization of internal mental processes.  Much the way a snail's DNA exudes its shell house, or a hermit crab locates and uses abandoned objects for protection, us humans find a cave home and fill it with stuph.  While outside of ourself, this stuph also represents something inside.  By focusing on this concept and consciously designing your space, aligning the external with the internal, we cantake command of how we want to be.

In Fight Club, Tyler Durden reminds us, "That which you own, ends up owning you."  Yes, which I would only modify by saying your possesions ARE you; an environmental body, which we have great power to alter according to needs.  Just as you need a physical body to move about in the world, feed yourself, etc.. you need an environment in which to operate and work your will.  Holistically, there is no distinction between outside and inside, even if we perceive it as such while inside our bodyshell.

Right now, my house feels cluttered; complete harmony with my state of mind -- busy, occupied with other things, full but purposeless.  Slowly, I have started to transform myself by putting my house into alignment.  Starting with my "office" I have cleared away my desk and my altar (funny how those things sit right next to each other, like twin spheres of my external brain).  When putting things away, I stop to think "where should this go?"  Where does it "feel" right?  Going over my life in memories, objects and photographs from past lives, stacked away in coffin boxes...  As a first-time homeowner, now seems the perfect time for such an indepth inventory of my life in objects, taking stock of who I AM, and who I want to become; then altering the space to suit that need physically, environmentally.


(please pardon my breaks from E-prime.  From my experience, I recognize the usefulness of is/am/be/was/were in world building.  "IS" is used to draw equivalences, a linguistic equals sign.  Most of the time, this is not appropriate, because something is not ever something else.  The map is not the territory.  Funny how non-equivalances, i.e. "is not" is still allowed in some formulations of E-prime.  In setting out a new metaphor, one needs to build maps, and draw the connections from the object to the symbol of the object.  I try to rarely use the "is-ness" of being, but when I do it is intentional as a rough isomorphism to what I write or talk about.)


Likely, Feng Shui operates on this principle of environmental ordering as well; I dunno, I have never studied it.  But the idea of allowing the proper flow of chi in a space seems harmonious to my intended meaning.

Ideally, when complete with this project every space in my house will have a specific intended purpose, and everything in that location will contain the objects most in tune with that purpose.  By moving physically, I could change my state of mind.  The idea of ordering things qabbalistically appeals on some level, even painting rooms accordingly.

[anosognosia]

I like to view my environment as an externalization of internal mental processes.  Much the way a snail's DNA exudes its shell house, or a hermit crab locates and uses abandoned objects for protection, us humans find a cave home and fill it with stuph.  While outside of ourself, this stuph also represents something inside.  By focusing on this concept and consciously designing your space, aligning the external with the internal, we cantake command of how we want to be.
...
Slowly, I have started to transform myself by putting my house into alignment.  Starting with my "office" I have cleared away my desk and my altar (funny how those things sit right next to each other, like twin spheres of my external brain).  When putting things away, I stop to think "where should this go?"  Where does it "feel" right?  Going over my life in memories, objects and photographs from past lives, stacked away in coffin boxes...  As a first-time homeowner, now seems the perfect time for such an indepth inventory of my life in objects, taking stock of who I AM, and who I want to become; then altering the space to suit that need physically, environmentally.

I have had this same experience recently, and I suspect it may be related to our illumination work, and reaching some important personal milestones at roughly the same time. The effect of cleaning, straightening and rethinking,  seems to be calming and reflective. I understand what you mean about reflecting over the imprint of the past in these things I move into storage or discard. On another note, have you read
Extended Phenotype by Richard Dawkins? You're analogy of a snail's shell and DNA has all sorts of amazing implications when we look at the role of "selfish genes" in determining phenotype.

[Isis]

Right now, my house feels cluttered; complete harmony with my state of mind -- busy, occupied with other things, full but purposeless.  Slowly, I have started to transform myself by putting my house into alignment. 

I have already done so with my studio as this represents  my external self.
My house however has suffered a lot through the last months.
It simply is cluttered and I feel so far in peace with it calling an interesting meditation
on how chaos moves.
But you are right all the way.
What do you use as main motivation? The idea that you  transform  yourself in this ritual? 


 

[StSimon]

On another note, have you read
Extended Phenotype by Richard Dawkins? You're analogy of a snail's shell and DNA has all sorts of amazing implications when we look at the role of "selfish genes" in determining phenotype.

I have not read 'Extended Phenotype,' but I have read 'Selfish Gene' and consciously used the snail analogy from that as it influenced my thoughts on the subject.  Tim Leary's 'Chaos and Cyberculture' first got me thinking in this direction, putting the contents of our brains on screens and other methods of designing reality.

What do you use as main motivation? The idea that you  transform  yourself in this ritual? 

An attempt to become someone else, and live another life.  Right now, my day to day life is not in accord with what I feel it should.  This transformative work represents steps toward deliberate change.  A variation of the third technique of Metamorphosis presented in Liber MMM (LN 18); but purposefully rather than randomly changing my environment.  Granted, I may need to experiment, if something does not work right I will need to keep changing.

[8 Wasps]

StSimon, I have already tried this on a lower scale (my room) and I can say it works both ways.
You can change your personality first and then your environment or vice-versa.
Also, if you use you pc quite enough, formatting it helps.

The bed deserves a special note: you should use it only to sleep and make love, for every other activity
you do in the bed can form some etheric pattens (just to stay in topic) or simple subconscious
associations that can prevent you from sleeping (well).

By the way, I love that quote in Fight Club too!
The whole Fight Club story seems to me quite near to the Transmogrification idea.

[Travis Anderson]

a change in environment is the surest catalyst for psychological change.

[anosognosia]

Dead Jellyfish has an interesting Fight Club rite:
http://www.chaosmagic.com/archives/invocation/the-great-red-gnosis.shtml

[Isis]

Dead Jellyfish has an interesting Fight Club rite:
http://www.chaosmagic.com/archives/invocation/the-great-red-gnosis.shtml

LOL... I just read it.
I used to play with pain a lot in the old days, but somehow I have lost that habit.


Something that was really new for me in chaosmagick was the discovery that you can use so many emotions
for gnosis.
I still can extreemly angry at times. I used it the last 3 times to empower my sigils.
Not only is the anger gone very quick, it doesn't feel like a drain anymore afterwards.

A variation of the third technique of Metamorphosis presented in Liber MMM (LN 18)

StSimon... Thanks for the inspiration. I will read that at once.
This area in my life really can use improvement.

[Telarus, KSC]

Touching on the OP a bit:

We just had a seriously mooching "roomate" move out. Now, I personally, have existed as 'the guy on the couch' and can understand the mindset, but this person had become a serious mental/emotional drain on the rest of my household. After a bit of drama, he moved out, and we found out his intention by reading his LiveJournal _that day_ (My GF kicked him into 1st circuit bio-survival, and from that point he could only interact with us as either 1st-circuit mind or 2nd-circuit emotional-territorial pre-imprinted child-parent roles...which basically ment NO communication). Having camped in our living room for over 2 months without even attempting to contribute ($ or otherwise), the area in front fo our kitchen still had some very negative aethers after he moved out (Quote my GF: "When you thought about that area, you just wanted to burn it out, didn''tcha?").

Manifesting as the brillant, creative, magickal person that she does, she intuited up a great solution (we brought this to our conscious attention after reading this thread). Walking home through the surrounding suburbia one day, she spotted a table at a garage sale, came home, and dragged me out to look at it. Best $15 I've spent in a while! (Very low, square table, perfect for relaxed eating while reclining on cushions, or Gaming^_^) Now that area in front of our kitchen we use for family meals, and our living room area has become much more pleasent to roam around in.

On a side note: Anyoone know any Forms worth Invoking regarding Hospitality and Respect, or Honoring of Obligations? I'd kind of like to re-claim the extra 25-40% said "entity-on-the-couch" jacked up our utility bills by.

[Travis Anderson]

Hestia, Goddess of the Hearth. Greek.

[anosognosia]

On a side note: Anyoone know any Forms worth Invoking regarding Hospitality and Respect, or Honoring of Obligations? I'd kind of like to re-claim the extra 25-40% said "entity-on-the-couch" jacked up our utility bills by.

A nice evocation of self-replicating harassment imps might be more fun.   

Make a single servitor that will go and haras this person with confusion, bad luck, practical jokes
For each week after the first,
   Each existing servitor doubles into two identical servitors feeding on the victim's annoyance
   The servitors continue to harass the victim with each servitor adding its own prank
Loop until the victim repays the debt.

Moral: do not meddle in the affairs of wizards...

... actually I think I just came up with my first handy service to sell in my practice...  Debt collection and recovery of stolen goods

I should acknowledge Phil Hine as originally suggesting a similar idea on page 117 of Condensed Chaos for recovery of  "property withheld from its owner."

[Vampigato]

I find a harassing servitor fun but I don't think it would work for recovering stolen goods. If you're an average Joe and your luck starts going sour and shit, all you're gonna think about (IMO) is "fucking world's against me." If you want the servitor to work that way, you should infrom the victim you're a magician so he'll know who's responsible for the shit in his life