Hands-On Chaos Magic: Reality Manipulation through the Ovayki Current - Andrieh Vitimus 2009

Body Positions

As you were doing the breathing exercises and developing your own breathing styles, you may have noticed that certain breathing styles tend to be easier in certain body positions. Different body positions can have a major impact on your mood and mindset. Let's try out some playful experiments.

Sitting Still

Try to simply sit still and relax. Begin to breathe deeply, as we talked about, while sitting upright in a chair. Pay attention to the effect. Try not to move. Does paying attention to just your position make it more difficult to hold that position? Hold the position for as long as possible while simply letting go of any thoughts that pop into your head. Try raising your hands and placing them in a prayerlike position. How does this change the effect the position has? Now shift your arms to a crossed position. How does this change how the sitting feels?

A very common meditative position is known as the lotus position. In yoga, this position is known as the padmasana. Wills and Gimbel explain the technique as follows:

"Sit on the floor with the legs straight out in front. Bend the right leg at the knee and, holding the foot, place it at the root of the left thigh so that the heel is near the navel. Now bend the left leg and, holding the left foot, place it over the root of the right thigh again bringing the heel near to the navel. The soles of the feet should be turned up. This posture should be worked at slowly."

In yoga, the hands are placed on the knees with the index finger and thumb forming a circle. In zazen, the hands form the cosmic mudra hand position. The cosmic mudra position is simple. Place both hands in the lap with the right hand on top of the left hand. Turn the palms upward and touch the thumbs together to form a circle. The lotus position is the classic "sitting meditation" position. For me personally, it is an uncomfortable position because my back will hurt. How does sitting in this position affect you personally?

On your own, take on different sitting positions. There are many different variants of sitting meditation positions that are reputed to cause certain effects. Don't limit yourself to other people's definitions of position. If it is painful to stay in a certain position, consider another one unless it has an effect you are looking for. For me, having fun with these games usually does not mean getting injured.

When you have tried a few different sitting positions, attempt to change your breathing. What effect does different breathing have on different positions?

Standing Still

Instead of sitting, merely try to stand still and breathe. Place your feet apart at shoulders' width, with your knees slightly bent. Just stand, relax, and breathe deeply. Let any thought just slide away. How does merely standing and breathing affect your thinking and mood? Now extend your arms and hold them out for as long as you can. How does this change the feeling? Now posture yourself like Superman ready to take off. How does this affect your mood and thinking? How does it feel to stand on one leg and lean against a building? Lean with your back against the wall, lean backward against a wall at an angle, or with one leg on a chair, try leaning against the back of the chair. Don't just try to mimic positions from martial arts and meditative displays-try to mimic your favorite fictional characters as well. How does keeping your shoulders back and your head up affect standing relaxation? How does letting your shoulders slide forward with your head down affect your mood and thinking? Try to hold a position for up to thirty minutes while simply breathing. If a standing position is painful, again switch to a different position.

Once you have experimented with a few standing positions, try changing the breaths. What is the effect if your breathing style is switched? Does it enhance the effect you found or change it? Have fun with the techniques. It is your body; look at all the wonderful effects it can produce.

Kneeling

Recovering Catholics like me are well acquainted with kneeling. One common position is to kneel on the ground with your hamstrings resting on your lower ankles. Personally, I need a pillow under my knees or this position can be very painful. The hands are placed in the cosmic mudra position described on the previous page. Remember to relax and breathe. Just let any thoughts float away. How does kneeling in this very common meditative position affect you? What happens to the effect if you sit in this position, outstretch your arms, and reach for the horizon? What if you cross your arms? Experiment and try as many combinations of different techniques as you can. As with the other positions, does changing your breathing have an effect? Now, try to kneel with your knees forming a 90-degree angle (i.e., the Catholic kneeling position). What effects does this have?

Lying Still

Of course, lying on your bed is a marvelous way to relax. There are several positions that you can lie in-see how they affect your body. Try placing your arms over your chest and your feet together as if you were a mummy. Simply breathe, relax, and let go of any thoughts that pop into your head. What is the effect of this? Any number of letters, runes, sigils, or shapes can be held in your mind while you are lying down. Experiment and have fun. Remember to stay relaxed, and if a position is painful, try a different position. For each one you attempt, try to stay in that position for at least twenty minutes and write down the effect you notice. Change your pattern of breath. How does that change the impact?

Mudras

Many systems of magic use hand positions as gestures of power. As with the other body positions, think outside the box and be creative. Now, we all know one extended-middle-finger gesture that corresponds to anger and the effect this gesture has on mood. Another common and calmer gesture is to place the hands together with all of the fingertips touching, but no other parts of the hand touching. I have seen people do this naturally when they are deep in thought. This is a simple gesture, but how does practicing it while sitting in a relaxed position and breathing deeply affect you? How does changing the breathing affect you?

From this position, it's easy to fold your fingers in randomly or interlock other fingers. How does changing the position by interlocking different fingers change the impact? If you find an impact you like, can it be changed or enhanced by altering your breathing?

Try to think outside the box. Be creative and try new hand positions while relaxing. You might discover a new position that produces an interesting state of mind. For a homework assignment, research five or more hand gestures from different sources. In your journal, write down your results and the impact they have.

Random Dance to Discover New Body Positions

Dancing around using random gestures is a way to discover personally powerful new gestures or postures. This works when you are not focusing on any one position. Relax and move your body in random ways. Stop and hold your body in random positions. Write down and describe any positions that seem intuitively important, produce an emotional reaction, bring memories forward, or just put you in a different state of mind (S. Wilson 2004). Try to figure out what impact those positions have on you when you try the positions outside of the random dance. Make sure to try random hand positions and different breathing patterns in the dance as much as possible.

Dancing around randomly is a great way to loosen yourself up and incorporate your whole body into the magic. It helps you to get into your skin, as well as have fun with magic and a type of exercise.

More Playing Around

Going through and finding out what the impact of any position iswhether it's from a book or from your own beautifully creative mindwill give you an intuitive and personal knowledge of how the position affects you. Why take my word or anyone else's word on the matter? Try it for yourself. Your intuition on what works and what doesn't work will be far more powerful. Later on in the book, you can use the positions and breathing that you discover in more complex rituals. That doesn't mean that your techniques will work for anyone else, since other people will develop their own toys. Only you will know what works for you and how you combine these techniques for the best results.