‘How to’ Guide on Automatic Writing

To begin, I need to point out that I’ve never read any books on Automatic Writing.  Neither have I read any blogs, nor have I had any type of formal training regarding them.  So saying, what I call an Automatic Writing Reading (AWR) may be vastly different from those who have written books on the subject and/or who formally teach the subject.  So be it.

The only thing I do know for sure about my method is that it works.  Not only does this work for me, but for various clients, family and friends to whom I’ve given these instructions to over the years.  Some of the aforementioned were psychics with training, some were people who thought they might have some psychic ability (but didn’t know for sure), and then some were just people who were interested, but had no clue if trying my method would even work for them.  Regardless of where you fall in the spectrum, I can tell you that thus far, every single person I gave these instructions to has had success (not to mention some very bizarre and eye opening experiences, lol…).

Okay.  Let’s get started.
What exactly is an AWR?  To me, this is sitting before a blank piece of paper with pen in hand or before a blank word document on a computer.  You stare off into space, ask your deity a question you want answers about.  Then, whatever word, picture or feeling pops into your head–no matter how bizarre–you write/type the word, group of words, and/or description of the picture/feeling.
You continue to write words until no more words come to you.
When you are done writing/typing and read over what you wrote, you will be able to see that coherent sentences, thoughts, ideas, and pictures were formed.  Even more interesting, you will see these sentences have specific meaning to you!
Some people choose to ask specific questions while others just say, “What do you want me to know?”

Here are my steps:
1.  Find a quiet place; no distractions.  The less physical items you have to distract you (books, pictures, toys, knick-knacks) the better.
2.  Find a ‘focal point.’  A focal point is an object you can look at or ‘zone out on’ while you are writing or typing.  I tell people the easiest focal point is a candle flame.  So light one and set it at least 4-5 feet away from you.  (I’ll talk more on different focal points later).
3.  Open a blank word document on your computer.  If you can’t type, then use a piece of paper and a pen.  Typing is better for a variety of reasons.  So if you are able to type at all without having to look at the keys, I’d suggest typing.  Type as slowly as you need to and don’t worry over misspelling words; this isn’t a typing test.
4.  Type out the date at the top of the document, skip a line, and type out your question.  Simple questions are best.
*  For beginners, I always say to start simple; don’t ask any long, convoluted questions.  Also, beginners find that specific questions are better for them.  I’ve been doing this for twenty-plus years, so a lot of times, I’ll ask “What do you want me to know?”  And that will be my only question.  But that’s just me.  I have a very simplistic life with very few questions about what’s coming for me in the future.
5.  Position your body: Legs uncrossed.  Hands on ‘home row’ (if you’re using a computer keyboard).  Take 3 deep ‘meditative’ breaths while focusing your eyes on your chosen focal point.
6.  Verbally (out loud) ask the question you already typed out.
*  The reason for speaking out loud is that the spoken word is powerful.
7.  Start writing.  Whatever word, or group of words, come into your head, write it down.  It doesn’t matter what the word is, or what the group of words are, type it.  Don’t think about the word, don’t sit there marinating on it and go, “peanut?  Why’d I hear the word ‘peanut’??  If you stop and focus on the weird/bizarre words you heard, you’ll lose part of the reading!
*** With each word or group of words, you will feel a brief ‘pause.’  This is the time to go to the next line down for the next word/sentence you hear.  Don’t worry if you don’t hear or feel a pause.  If you find you end up with one big paragraph of what initially looks like gibberish-y words thrown together, that’s fine.
8.  Continue to write the words, groups of words, descriptions of pictures and feelings as long as you keep hearing words or seeing pictures.  Once you ‘feel’ a long pause–without any more specific words coming to you–that question has been answered.  If you have more questions, leave a line in between the last words you wrote and you new question.  Type in the next question, go back to step #5 and start again.
*** IMPORTANT:  IF you have more than one question, DO NOT go back and read what you typed out on the first question until you have completed your automatic writing on ALL of your questions!!!  Some people get so curious and excited, they want to go back and read what they wrote.  This is a no-no.  Why?  Because from the time you begin focusing on that candle and type your first word, you’re brain is switching gears.  You’re going from Beta waves (alert/working) to Alpha or Theta (relaxed/meditative).  You want your mind to stay in that ‘zoned out’ place because that is where the true automatic writing reading comes from.  If you take the conscious action of going back over what you typed for the first question, you ‘jerk’ your brain back into the Beta state which is a high alert state.  Once someone ‘jerks’ their mind from a relaxed, meditative state back into the real conscious world, it is more difficult to get back to the relaxed, meditative state you were lulled into while doing the automatic writing.
** This is also the reason why you should have prepared for your session by figuring out what questions you wanted to ask before you began doing your automatic writing for the first question!
9.  After typing out the complete answer to your last question, you’re done!  NOW feel free to look at what you wrote!  Not all that you write will make sense to you at that time.  Heck, most of what you write won’t make sense to you directly after you write it, but save the document so that you can refer back to it.  It is not uncommon for this reading to be the answer to situations that occur a month or more later (and then, if you look back at what you wrote, you’ll find you wrote out the answers a month or three months before it ever happened!)
10. Save your work.  If you lose the work, you may get answers again, but they won’t be the exact same answers.  They never are.  I’ll talk more about this later, b/c talking about it now would only confuse you.
** In saving your AWR’s–I always tell people to create a folder just for their automatic writing readings.  If you know you’re going to be doing this on an ongoing basis, this is an especially good idea!!  Title the folder anything you want, but when you save your reading, save it by the date (ie: 110911, 121711, etc).  This is so that when you go back to look at the readings, you can choose which reading to open by the date that’s listed as the file name–you won’t have to ‘hunt’ for a specific reading that was around a certain time frame you’re interested in, because all of the file names are the date the reading was conducted.    For anyone who is writing out their auto-writing readings via pen & paper, do it in a notebook that is used only for these readings so it will end up being like a diary.

Here is a link to an example of an old automatic writing reading that I did, so you can get a visual idea of what one will look like

Here is a link to an entry that lists just the steps with no explanation, so that you can see the steps without the long explanations in between.

I’m also going to do another entry on some extra tips about Automatic Writing Readings, but I’m too tired to do it tonight, so I’ll put it up later in the week.  The extra tips aren’t essential to you being able to do you test run on an AWR, they are just tips that people may want if they are going to be doing AWR’s on a regular basis.

Have Fun!!

Magical Herbs by Scott Cunningham

The correct title of this book is ‘Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs.’
I just shortened it for easier reading in the side tab of my blog.

This book is what I consider to be my ‘herb bible.’ Although Cunningham’s book is not the only book I use, it is by far the one I use most when determining which herbs I’ll use as I prepare for a ritual. This may be redundant information for some but if you did not know: different rituals require the use of different herbs or resins.

Some herbs are more powerful for one ritual, whereas that same herb may be detrimental to another ritual. Even if it is a love spell, the same herbs would not always be used. In choosing the best herbs/resins for a love spell, considerations would include: the astrological signs of the people involved, the depth of the relationship prior to casting, the mentality of the people involved, the availability of the people involved, external interferences or influences, and so on.

I consider this an excellent source on herbs for practitioners of magick. I would especially recommend this book for anyone who may be just beginning their magickal journey. Not only is this book a good source for the magical uses of herbs and resins, but it also contains valuable appendices–sort of like cheat sheets!

I have always liked Cunningham’s writing style. He tells you exactly what is, and is not, possible with magick. He gives it to you straight; no sugar coating, no mumbo-jumbo. I like that in a person and like it even better when I find it in an author.

The first couple of chapters of the book are spent explaining how to “charge” herbs for ritual use, basic procedures for rituals (the altar, visualization, preparation for the ritual) and how timing effects a ritual.
The main portion of the book is in an A to Z reference regarding the magickal uses of herbs and resins. After the explanations of the herbs are the appendices. The appendices include: when to use which herbs, planetary rulers and a list of herbs ruled by each planet, elemental rulers and a list of herbs ruled by each element, colors and the best colors to use in a ritual, and magickal properties of oils. There is even a cross reference for the Folk names of the herbs.

Here is an example of the detail given regarding herbs (this is taken word for word from Cunningham’s book):

CEDAR
(Cedrus libani or C. spp.) Leaf, berry: P
Gender: Masculine
Planet: Sun
Element: Fire
Powers: Healing, Purification, Money, Protection
Magical Uses: The smoke of the cedar is purifying, and also cures the predeliction of having bad dreams. Twigs of the cedar are burned and smouldered, or made into incense. To heal head colds, they are placed upon the hot rocks in sweat baths for purification by some American Indians.
Cedar hung in the home protects against lightning strikes. A cedar stick carved into three prongs is placed prongs up into the ground near the home to protect it against all evil. A piece of cedar kept in the wallet or purse draws money, and cedar is used in money incense. Cedar is added to love sachets and is burned to induce psychic powers.
(*Note: Juniperus verginiana is often used in place of cedar).
_____________________________________________________________

Each herb and resin found in this book contains the same wide range of information. Although it is not a complete book of herbs, it is pretty darn close! There have only been one or two times–that I can remember–where I have gone to this book to search for a particular herb’s uses and the herb wasn’t listed. Being that I have been performing rituals for around two decades, that’s pretty good!

If you can find it, buy it. You will not be disappointed!

Oh, one last thing–like other works by Cunningham, this book was published by Llewellyn Publications. You might be able to find it via their website. Here is a link to Llewellyn: Llewellyn
***If you do not mind a used copy, you could always try eBay, Amazon or another business where used books can be purchased.

Sacred Space by Denise Linn

I really like the flow of this book.  The author did an excellent job of explaining why it is important to cleanse your personal energy and the energy in your home. In easily understood terms, Linn details how the five elements (earth, air, fire, water, spirit) are all connected to one another and how you can put the Elements to work for you.

You do not have to be a Shaman or Reiki Master to use the knowledge you will find within the pages of this book.  Those who are just starting out in their magickal journey will find in depth explanations on energy–how it works, why cleansing energy is necessary, and what tools to use for a cleansing

.  Those who are well-versed in performing cleansings will find new ideas to incorporate into the cleansings they already perform.  This is just an all-around awesome book!

A little bit about Energy: ALL people create energy.  ALL people leave “traces” of energy wherever they have been.  Think of these invisible traces of energy as skin cells.  As CSI and any number of the many “Whodunit” shows on TV tell you, people slough off skin cells wherever they go without consciously being aware of it.  It is the same with energy.  Then, in turn, the traces of energy are left on furniture, in a room, in a car, etc.  When this happens–as it always does–the furniture, room, car, etc, take on the feel of the traces of energy left by the people who visited or who live in that space.

The traces of energy people leave behind build up.
* If you or someone you know lives in a home where there is a lot of chaos, arguing, upset or drama, the home will begin to “feel” like a negative place to be, even to those who do not experience the arguing or drama that occurs there.
* Walk into a building where boxing is held, or into a sports arena used for football, soccer, baseball, etc.  You begin to feel “pumped up” with excitement, aggression, etc.  Even if you are the first person there, you will feel it.
* Walk into a church, yoga center, New Age store –you’ll begin to feel calmer, more peaceful, relaxed.  Even if no one is there but you, the feelings roll over you.

Even though the energy of any living thing (animals, trees, flowers, etc) gives off energy, the emotion of humans is the most powerful energy.  It has a forceful vibration to it–kinda like the sonic wave you see in cartoons.  The energy-laden vibratory wave of emotion moves outward from a person. Whatever the feelings are, people inadvertently transfer that emotional vibration to any object or building they are around.
Likewise, people transfer energy onto other people.  Regardless of intent, if one person is around another, energy will be transferred between them.
* if someone is angry, frustrated, upset, and you are around them, you will begin to feel what they feel, even if you were not angry, frustrated, or upset by that person.  You only have to have some type of contact with them for the transference of energy to take place.
* if you’ve ever stood near someone who “gave you the creeps” even though they did not physically do anything–you just experienced the energy they gave off and the energy that they project out to the world.  (and yes, you took some of that creep-factor energy with you when you walked–or ran–away from them).
* when people argue, they transfer their energy onto one another.  Worse–the person you are arguing with directly projected their negative energy toward you.  So you received a larger dose of their negative energy to take with you after the argument is over (nice, huh?)
.
Once you understand the concept of how energy is transferred (and how easily it is transferred), you will begin to notice how you feel when you are around different people and how you feel when you enter different buildings or areas.  To my weird mind, it is all very interesting.  Not only am I very aware of the feeling and the energy of a place, I am very aware of people’s energy.  So when I’m near someone, I can feel what they feel.  But that is another topic in and of itself.

To a certain degree, everyone can feel the external energies they come into contact with.  They may not understand it, but they feel it.  People who have psychic abilities, especially Empaths and Clairsentients, are much more sensitive so they feel the energy more so than the average person.

All of the negative energy people leave behind in your home or on your person can effect your life.  Why?  Because like attracts like!  Meaning:  if the energy of your home has a negative feel, it will attract more negativity.  It will attract negative people and negative circumstances.

Ever notice that some people seem to have “bad luck!” tattooed to their forehead?  Bad things always seem to happen to them.  It is partially because of the energy attached to that person.  Yes, there are other reasons, but the negative energy they have soaked up, combined with the negative energy they project, creates bad luck to come their way!  Now.  Why would you care about Mr. Attracts-Bad-JuJu?  First, because you might just be that person–and you don’t have to be.  Second, because if you are not that person, when you are around someone who is that person, you receive some of their negative energy and will start to have bad luck, as well.  Let Mr. Bad Luck into your home, let him touch your belongings, rub his butt on your furniture, and–charitable guy that he is–he leaves some of his bad luck behind for you!

So the energy of your home and your person needs to be cleansed periodically.  The “cleansing” washes away the stagnant and negative energy.  Cleansings also wash away negative emotions.  Remember: negative emotions + negative energy = creation of negative circumstances (including negativity in relationships).

Extra Warning to the Gifted: People who have psychic gifts not only attract more negative energy than the average person, they have the ability to create negative situations and negative circumstances much faster.  So anyone who is Gifted, should cleanse their person and their space more often.

By reading and using the knowledge Ms. Linn shares in Sacred Space, you can learn to do “quick fixes” to your energy, in depth cleansings of your home and in depth cleansings of your person.  Oh, one more cool subject Linn’s writing touches on–how to cause positive energy to flow toward you so you can create the good things in life (money, happiness, love, peace, etc.).

You just cannot go wrong with this book.  Get it.  You’ll be glad you did.