Liber Null & Psychonaut: An Introduction to Chaos Magic - Peter J. Carroll 1987
The Double
Liber NOX
The double is described in all magical traditions from ancient Shamanism, through the Egyptian “Ka” and the “Ki” of occult martial arts to ideas of the soul or ghost and in the modern occult concept of the astral body. It is most commonly seen or experienced when the physical body passes close to death.
It does not have a definite fixed shape, although there is a natural tendency for the life force to hold it in the same image as the physical body. Even when it is exteriorized in the body's image it is not necessarily visible to ordinary perception. Like all aetheric matter, its effects on ordinary reality are variable and depend on the ability of the life force to make a real effect coalesce at some point. Thus, the double is able to penetrate solid matter, but at other times it may have a degree of tangibility and be able to effect material happenings.
In the occult martial arts, it is projected just beyond the striking surfaces of the body by visualization and a sharp yell which accompany the physical blow. A portion of the aetheric force may even be left inside the opponent to cause what is called the delayed death touch. The force may also be projected beyond the body to inform one of the movement of enemies behind and projected to the body's surfaces toward off blows. In most forms of psychic healing, this same force is projected, commonly through the hands.
The double may also be made to take on various alternative forms, most commonly animal form. Theriomorphic (beast-like) manifestations of the double are often atavistic. They cause a form of possession by the behavior patterns of the animal concerned. These patterns may lie dormant in our memory, or it may be that we have access to aetheric memories. Whatever their source, these atavisms create terrifying effects. Even if the aetheric beast form is kept within the physical body, it may manifest as strange physical prowess, the ability to cower wild animals and confuse and frighten we humans. Projected beyond the body it can serve as a vehicle for the consciousness to experience the mode of travel and abilities of the animal. Skilled magicians may attempt bizarre composite forms like gryphons and basilisks as magical vehicles.
In the normal cycle of birth and death, the life force carries little or nothing from one incarnation to the next. The projection of the double is the basis of deliberately carrying things over into a new incarnation at death.
Of all the techniques of gaining access to the double, narcosis is the least controllable and most dangerous. Nevertheless, since time immemorial magicians have been smearing themselves with pastes compounded from the solanaceae alkaloids, thornapple, nightshade and henbane, and consuming various other hallucinogens and trance inducing drugs as well, just for this purpose. Visualization is the weakest technique used on its own, but it can act as a model on which to build that peculiar bodily sensation which comes from movements in the aether. Sometimes it is felt as heat, as a sort of itching, or as an ache. One can only persist with imagining something until a sensation develops. Sharp, high pitched yells and exhalations of breath are used to help project the force in martial arts and occult yogas.
Dreaming is the most challenging and complete method of freeing the double. Ordinary dreams are an ingenius jumble of half-forgotten events, hopes and worries. They are a more graphic form of the mental chattering, fantasizing, and daydreaming that the waking mind does. In the same way that the day mind learns to differentiate between real things and fantasy, so can the dream consciousness learn the difference between real and fantasy dreams.
Real dreams are the key to the double. The first step in creating the double is to establish it in a real dream. The hands are the most easily visible part of the body. Dream consciousness is particularily linked to the sense of sight. The magician strives to see the hands of his double in dream. The desire to do this is concentrated on intently before sleep every night for as long as it takes success to crown one's work. During this time the hands may feature in many ordinary, idle dreams which may become very complex and bizarre. This is not the desired result.
Success is an abrupt and discontinuous experience. The command to see one's hands is suddenly remembered as one realizes one is dreaming. Suddenly the hands are there in full clear view. The shock is like being rudely awakened from daydreaming or bursting through a membrane. To prevent the shock causing awakening, the experience should be repeated several times. Then the magician resolves that he will see a particular place that he visits in his waking hours also. Summoning his hands in dream, he looks at them, then moves them aside and tries to find the place he has willed to go to. If the vision begins to fade, he goes back to his hands and tries again. He must strive to get all the details of the place correct and to be there at the same time of day that the dream takes place. Eventually he will find that the double actually is at the desired location. When this much has been attained there is no limit to what he may eventually achieve. Yet one must be prepared to devote every night of the rest of one's life to developing these powers.