Skrying and Visualisation

The words Visualization and Skrying are seen beside each other with regularity in most tomes on or of magick. Rarely is an explanation provided as to how the prospective student goes about performing such specific techniques of mental prowess or gaining strength in their abilities. The usual cause for such lack of explanation is normally because the author of the aforesaid manual is either assuming that when you’re reading their work, you have an adept level of understanding or in the very least a working knowledge of the terms and techniques they’re taking the trouble to illuminate for you.

Though exhaustive and boring to most, an elementary look at such techniques is both informative and helpful to the adept, and the neophyte magician. I wouldn’t go as far as to say either is simple, but nor is it complex. Perspective always is more difficult to take when it is being presented to you, and not discovered by thy own merit. There is a whole level of philosophy I’m overlooking here and really should get into a deeper discussion before explaining further about Skrying and traveling in the astral plane. However the purpose of this essay is not to delve into this topic on a book length level. Over viewing the techniques, purposes, methods and advancements possible when choosing this technique for divination is my goal for now.

Imagination is the word described to children to explain dreams, visions and make-believe. However to an adult, or a student of magick, it is used to describe a word with similar connotations; that is visualization. To visualize is to project an idea in anthropomorphic and symbolic terms to have better clarity when studying anything from Yoga to Ceremonial Magick. Visualization is used by the student to mentally picture, and describes to themselves the complexities surrounding the colors, symbols, languages, and techniques when operating different aspects of meditation. The more one spends their time developing this technique, the more one opens their mind to receiving information from the akashic Record. This is the world of reflection, the astral plane said to contain all the memories and experiences of humanity over the course of history. Why, one might ask, would you work towards this level of attainment? In the words of Socrates from Plato’s The Apology: “The unexamined life is not worth living.”

Now, there exists in correlation to the above said technique, another word with as many different interpretations as the word “food.” This word has had more bullshit written on it than the words “magic” and “mysteries.” I’m speaking of the word: Skrying. Simply speaking, Skrying translates as being receptive to the influence and images of the universe when discovered in a meditative trance. To Skry is to look at the world with your inner eye, that is, to gaze into the astral world to gain insight of the material world. To do this, the student needs certain levels of adept hood; however in some cases it is not actually necessary.

With the introduction of the concept of Skrying do the concepts of intent, and manifest intentions begin interactions with each other. A student must understand that Skrying is not done for fun, or experimentation. It is used to find clarification when dealing with abstract or diverse concepts that transcend that degree of terrestrial normality. If a student needs to find answers in the universe, but these answers can not be found in books, then perhaps Skrying is the proper technique to be employed at this moment, just as you would use dowsing to find water if other methods weren’t at your disposal. Manifest intentions come into play when your universe is presenting to you interactions with other people or the like in which a deeper insight may or may not help you better understand your place therein. Not to be too “occult” but the topic of Skrying is a complex one.

In the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Skrying is used by the student to put their mind into a state of self-hypnosis in order to be receptive and be able to understand different changes in their consciousness. Another way of looking at it, and certainly not the last way, is to consider interaction with these images as a form of Jungian Psychology where the student is encountering arch-type images that represent different aspects of their mind.

Now from this perspective, one might ask what they would encounter if, they successfully did indeed Skry the Astral World. To explain this idea properly I must introduce the concept of Astral Projection. Skrying is made up of two major concepts. The first is the state of consciousness when you have successfully achieved a level of trance that allows a healthy and steady stream of words, ideas, and symbols that reflect whatever you were delving into to begin with. The second is to project your conscious mind outside your body when you have achieved the proper meditative state, i.e. astral projection. Then the student would using certain words, and visualization techniques travel onto or into the plane or dimension outside their own body where they will interact with the chosen entity, plane or perspective they want to understand better. You see, we’re dealing with a matter that’s philosophical, and interpretive, symbolic and transcendent. Thus bringing whoever is attempting the technique to have at their disposal conviction and faith, reason and understanding. As I’ve said previously, Skrying is usually undertaken by an adept who has previously studied similar techniques and found success therein, leading them towards the next level of training. Techniques like the methods of divination, tattvas, tarot, and ceremonial magick.

Properly Skrying is like making a sandwich; the student needs certain active and inactive ingredients to enjoy themselves properly, keeping themselves safe and secure while at the same time free to roam as they will. I would say in this order is what one needs to go about Skrying anything at all:

1. Purpose.
2. A safe temple.
3. The correct symbols and hierarchies pertaining to the purpose.
4. A safe level of adept hood regarding visualization.
5. The right rituals of banishing and invoking.
6. The proper medium.

Though some may disagree with me as to the order I’ve placed above, I would say if you do, then you can Skry my list, and thus feel free to investigate for yourselves whether I’ve chosen correctly or not. For the purpose of this essay however my order will suffice. I have spoken of purpose and visualization touched upon symbols and hierarchies and ignored the temple altogether. For the next few paragraphs I will briefly explain what I meant by these statements.

Your temple is a two-fold idea, for it pertains to the hermetic wisdom that you are both a reflection of the universe as it is a reflection of you. Both within your material universe you must enclose your body so it remains safe from interruption and intrusion, and you must reinforce your body with techniques and training so it serves you best when being employed for diverse purposes. The temple is both a place and perspective. It’s a created reflection of your universe that holds safety for you when working different methods of magic. Within it will be the tools of your craft, and the sanctity of holy ground keeping all negative and unwanted forces at bay so you can freely leave your physical body behind while roaming the vast multi-verse. This is a topic which is a book unto itself, and beyond saying you must have a safe place from which you can safely Skry, you must also have trained your mind to work for you, and not against you.

There are more symbols to be employed in the techniques of Skrying than there are books written over the course of human history. However to keep it simple, and again not delve to deeply for to list them would require more pages than I care to write at the moment, I will list a few which are very pertinent to what we’ve been discussing. All in all, there are symbols you speak, and symbols you visualize to aid you while traveling on the astral plane. The symbols you speak are usually words or incantations used to emphasize or illuminate your visualizations while they’re being employed. I say they’re symbols because for some of them, when you say the word, it’s also accompanied by its symbol. When you speak the language necessary for the technique being employed, for further effectiveness, you visualize the letters of the words to carry a double impacted meaning at the directed object of concentration. In the case of the Hebrew language, the letters of the language are both holy symbols and can be grouped to make words. Thus you can have incredibly stronger words if they’re properly emphasized.

The following table, and its corresponding lettering and numbers are used by the prospective student of Skrying to aid them in their works when traveling on the astral plane or another similar plane. Certain letters can be used to attain clarity when seeking meaning while Skrying. Now with each letter comes an appropriate name of God, which when vibrated along with visualizing the letter can alter whatever you happen to be dealing with at a given time while Skrying and assist you to have a more understandable sight. I will provide a chart of these God names following the chart on Hebrew.

God names are drawn out of a system of high magic commonly referred to as Enochian; this system was originally derived in the year 1583 and onwards from the meditations and illuminations of Dr. John Dee and his friend Sir Edward Kelly. Both men, over the course of many nights brought together a hierarchy and system of ceremonial magic used to obtain conversation and in some aspects travel with and to the abode of the angelic hosts who serve God above and below heaven. Traditionally speaking, a God name refers to exactly that which the title says; a name of God. When used in a meditative context however, the name usually proscribed is one which corresponds to the chosen element, planet, zodiac or angelic host that has been decided best suited for the current work. God names taken from the Enochian system are as follows with their appropriate corresponding element and attribute from the Tree of Life.

Element---/---God Name---/---Hebraic God Name ---/--- Zodiacal Attribution

AIR ----------ORO IBAH AZOPI -------YOD HE VAV HE -------------AQUARIUS

WATER -----EMPEH ARSL GAIOL --------EL --------------------------SCORPIO

EARTH -----EMOR DIAL HCTGA -------- ADONAI -------------------TAURUS

FIRE --------OIP TEAA PEDOCE ----------ELOHIM -------------------LEO

SPIRIT -----ACTIVE: EXARP, BITOM ----- EHEIEH
--------------PASSIVE: HCOMA, NANTA ----AGLA


Found below is a corresponding chart of Hebraic letters and their purposes when being employed while Skrying. Depending upon what is happening in the session the student can decide on whether they need to use one of these symbols or none at all. In some cases probably not, but again varying circumstances will give the student the best reasons to or not to use whatever tools they’ve learned for themselves to make use of at any given time. If the proper protocol is followed, then the best results will be found.

Letter --/-- Name --/-- Number --/-- Planet --/-- Application

ב ----------- Beth ---------- 2 ---------- Mercury ----- For imagination.

ג ----------- Gimel --------- 3--------- - Moon -------- For wandering thoughts.

ד ----------- Daleth--------- 4 ---------- Venus ------- For pleasure.

כ ----------- Kaph ---------20 --------- Jupiter ------- For construction.

פ ------------ Pe -----------80 ---------- Mars -------- For anger, impatience.

ר ------------ Resh --------200 --------- Sun ---------- For vanity.

ת ------------ Tav -------- 400 --------- Saturn ------- For memory.

The protocol I was referring to above is how you behave while on the astral plane, or another plane of a similar nature. There is a very distinctive etiquette when dealing with other beings like yourself that you may or may not encounter while on your various journeys. This behavioral protocol will depend greatly upon the purpose behind your Skrying, however in almost all cases its safe to assume that behaving badly will get you nowhere when meeting a stranger for the first time. It goes farther as well. The student should know the element which corresponds to the plane they’re currently on, as well as all other particulars so the best signs, words and measures are taken to ensure diplomatic etiquette is met. There’s a whole plethora of information concerning which signs, measures and words correspond to the correct element, planet, zodiac and heavenly body. I would recommend the student consult an appropriate chart found in various books such as Aleister Crowley’s 777 and Other Qabbalistic Writings, or Stephen Skinner’s The Complete Magicians Tables, before attempting a Skrying that will need such information so that it is used correctly. I will delve deeper into this topic at another time in another essay.

As I have now illuminated the various facets of the concept of Skrying, it follows that an overview and instruction of the technique itself should be covered. This is fairly complex, not from the technique itself being difficult, but because of so many aspects of perspective being employed at the same time. Normally a significant amount of training is needed before a student reaches a point when Skrying is employed for the first time, however for the sake of this essay I will safely assume if you’re reading it, you study yoga and have experimented with various visualization techniques. The technique of Skrying is broken into six parts, with five sub-categories and thousands of different applicatory techniques. I will illuminate and illustrate the six, five and one specific technique which has proven incredibly successful for the up and coming master or mistress of the astral plane. The six parts are as follows:

1. Relaxation.
2. Breathing regularity.
3. Mental concentration.
4. Dissolution of attachment.
5. Acceptance of possibility.
6. Maintaining a receptive equilibrium.

Now all six parts are put in the above order to emphasize their individual phases and acute necessity of obedience to follow that particular order. This is not a mismatch type of meditation, for if the student can follow this list in that order then they’re well on their way to exploring the unknown. This is not a list that is perfected over night, but should take the active student with diligence a couple of years to master. They’ll be Skrying in a matter of months, but patience and a continual attempts to bring harmony throughout the list will allow them to go from as session of thirty minutes or more to jumping from the terrestrial to astral in a matter of seconds. No matter the level of plane we Skry ourselves into or onto, there is always a basic hierarchy that corresponds to these planes. From highest to lowest: Heavenly, Zodiacally, Planetary, Elementally. Now as the elements are our basic and most available method to work with here on the terrestrial plane, our medium we choose to use as a concentration tool will naturally be long the same lines.

1. Air = Incense
2. Water = A silver basin filled with water
3. Earth = Crystal ball
4. Fire = Candle flame
5. Spirit = Looking inward.

With spirit the student should take direction from their own sense of reason. Take stock of what you’re trying to achieve, and then follow what feels most appropriate to you. Now the illustration of the breathing and mental techniques I’ll describe as acutely as possible. The Neophyte technique of the fourfold breath is the most appropriate beginning of the study of Pranayama (breath control).

1. Inhale for four seconds
2. Hold for four seconds
3. Exhale for four seconds
4. Pause for four seconds
5. Repeat.

When this method is flowing with a steady rhythm the student can then work on parts three through to five of the major parts of Skrying. Finding mental concentration, dissolving your concept and acceptance of attachment, then accepting possibility and maintain a healthy equilibrium of them all is best studied through an ancient Indian technique of meditation called Tattvas. The tattvas are symbols representing the five elements and allows a student of yoga to explore inwardly their own relationship with the elemental planes of existence.

1. Tejas = Fire = Red triangle
2. Vayu = Air = Blue circle
3. Prithivi = Earth = Yellow square
4. Apas = Water = Silver crescent, with points upwards.
5. Akasha = Spirit = Onyx egg shape

It is important to remember that though in previous paragraphs I’ve spoken of various entities, types of astral investigation, and different aspects of the universe that can be explored on a deeper level using Skrying techniques, the one common pattern among them all is the quest for a broader look at your own universe. The tattvas are an excellent way to learn to Skry, work on the techniques I’ve aforementioned and will allow you to start learning on a practical level the protocol and diplomacy of governing yourself in a strange new world. To Skry the tattvas the best route to go about doing so is to use a method that I have developed called The White Room Meditation. This is a simple, progressive form of meditation that allows a beginner or adept student to flow from the terrestrial plane to the astral plane and enter the elemental plane in a smooth ascendancy. When you pick the element you wish to investigate further, the student will choose the appropriate medium to aid in mental relaxation, i.e. a crystal ball for Prithivi, or a candle flame for Tejas or none at all if you wish. Enter your temple or place of personal safety, which I hope is not your bedroom, because on a side note, if something goes wrong, it’d be unwise to lead an unwanted presence back to your body and show it where you sleep at night, lest you have new and darker dreams than previously experienced. It is always advisable to not do any transcendental meditations in your own abode of sleeping. Use a living room, kitchen or basement if you must, but not your bedroom. When you have found yourself in a comfortable position to meditate in, follow these next steps as closely as possible with attention to every miniscule detail that you can muster. The details are important, and not being in a place where you may get distracted is important also.

I must mention now two extremely important notes that correspond with Skrying anything at all. These points are learning to vibrate both vocally and astrally, and secondly learning to verify that the vision you’re seeing is truly what you’re searching for. I haven’t mentioned these points previously for a couple reasons, mainly it’s an essay unto itself, without getting extremely detailed, and it becomes hard to properly explain either. I’ll briefly sketch however what I mean by both statements. Vibration is what the student does when he speaks the name of God or a corresponding word. It goes farther than merely saying the words though; the student must feel his aura pull together into a cohesive point behind his mouth, and when he says the word, it leaves his body with all the power they can muster traveling along with it. A student does not say a vibrated word. They intone it.

Astral investigation and clarification is simply done merely by adding some complex visualizations and knowing your protocol when dealing with spirits well. As I said, simply saying the student, when encountering entities such as astral spirits, and elemental beings, should take precaution when listening to their words, or following them places on the astral plane without first making positive that they are exactly who they either say they are, or appear to be. As follows there are a few ways to check. Visualize in your hands a pair of scrolls. On one scroll is the Banner of the East, the other the west. Tuck them into your garments, and salute the entity with the grade sign of the element you’re standing in. If the entity does not respond in kind, take out the banner of the west, and unroll it with the image facing the entity. If the being recoils, shies away or tries to get you to put it away, you’re definitely dealing with a mischievous astral being, and should call upon your pentagrams from the LBRP to aid you in driving it away. Otherwise intoning the God name for that element should suffice. Always be clear that the entity you’re currently dealing with on the astral or elemental or any plane for that matter is who they say they are. Grade saluting signs, questions with open answers concerning the nature of the plane, and the banners of the east and west, aid greatly in clarifying a vision.

The White Room Meditation

1. Close you eyes and breathe according to the four fold breath technique.
2. Grow steadily more relaxed with each breath and feel the thoughts of your mind winding down to a place of calm.
3. When you feel centered, relaxed and your breathing is even, at a harmony where you aren’t concentrating on it any longer, look inwards.
4. With your eyes closed visualize yourself sitting in a totally white room that has no doors, windows or furniture. The walls, ceiling, and floor are completely white, and the air around you is at peace with the atmosphere you find yourself sitting in.
5. Directly ahead of you is a white wall. Notice the corners where the joints of the room meet each other, and notice the texture of the rooms’ coloring. Don’t question where the light is coming from, just visualize the room itself.
6. Still looking straight ahead at the rooms’ walls, know to yourself that the walls behind you are also white, and remember them in your mind as if you’ve been studying them all day. Know the room is as you think it is.
7. As you sit in the room, looking around and feeling like it’s the same white room it always is, visualize a white door directly behind you, with a golden knobby door handle.
8. Don’t turn around to look at it, just keep looking forward at the white wall. Know to yourself as you look at the white wall in front of you, that there is a white door behind you with a golden handle.
9. As you gaze forward at the whiteness of the room, remember to yourself the shape of the door and the feel of the golden handle beneath your hand as you grasp it.
10. Remember the texture and coolness of the gold handle. Remember the lines of the white door as if you were just looking at it.
11. Look at the white wall ahead of you, the white ceiling above you, and the white floor beneath you. Feel yourself in this white room.
12. Now as slowly as you feel comfortable turn around and look at the door, repeating step 6 once again, but this time seeing the white door directly ahead with the golden handle instead of a blank white wall.
13. Look at the door. See it utterly. Note its proportions in comparison to the white wall around it, and white ceiling above it. Know this white door and golden handle as you know the white room behind you.
14. Stand up and walk towards the white door. Look down at the golden handle, and notice the whiteness of the door in contrast to the golden gleam of the handle.
15. When you feel comfortable and know the white room as well as you know yourself, reach out, and feeling the golden handle beneath your hand, turn it, and open the white door.
16. Beyond the door is utter darkness. Total and utter absence of light.
17. You see as you look out at the darkness beyond the door, the brightness of the white room behind you in your mind. As if your white room is floating in an abyss of black space.
18. Picture the white room in your mind occupying the space behind where you stand, on the threshold between the white door with the golden handle, and the darkness beyond.
19. As you look out into the darkness, visualize a red triangle appear in the darkness. As you breathe, you notice the red triangle is getting slowly larger, as if it’s hurtling through space towards you and the white room.
20. When you feel the red triangle is larger than the room itself, two dimensional, and hovering outside the door, see it there floating in the black darkness as real as you know the white room is that you’re standing in while looking out at the red triangle.
21. You are calm, and you are relaxed. The white room is the same as always, and the red triangle is floating in the blackness outside your white door as if it’s beckoning you to come closer, and take a more detailed look.
22. You are calm, and you’re relaxed.
23. As if you’ve made the motion thousands of times before, walk out into the darkness towards the red triangle, until you’re standing right in front of it. Looking at the texture of the red triangle, as if it’s a rippling red silk substance, see in your mind the blazing white rectangular doorway open behind you in the blackness as a refuge from where you are. Feel the white room as such.
24. Still admiring the silky red substance directly in front of you, reaching out with both hands, as if you’re parting a curtain in your home, part the red silky triangle in the middle, and walk through the triangle as if you’re entering a tent. In front of you will be inky black darkness once more however you’ll lose sight of the white room’s door behind you as the red silky curtains fall closed as you completely walk through them.
25. You are still calm and relaxed, feeling safe, and secure within this place you now find yourself in. Looking out into the darkness, you know that looming above you, behind you is the large red triangle you saw before. You know that on the other side of it is the white door to the white room.
26. Continue to Skry as follows:

Using the appropriate names of God: ORO IBAH AZOPI, YOD HE VAV HE, symbols of the element of fire, name of Michael archangel of the south, the Skrying magician will move throughout the element of fire occasionally using the correct Hebrew character accompanied by the vibrated god name to clarify his vision until they have accomplished what they feel is appropriate to themselves. When the moment has come to leave the element, it is of the utmost importance that the student does not open their eyes, and leave the elemental plane abruptly. To leave the elemental plane the student is Skrying the following steps must be done correctly.

27. The time to leave the plane will come when the moment presents itself. The student need not worry when this is, for they will know it when it happens. When it does, visualize the large red triangle in front of you as if it was there already.
28. The student will see the imagery behind themselves, or wherever they happen to be standing at this time, and look at the red triangle in front of them.
29. As explained above in step 24, repeat the process of parting the curtains or the red triangle, and thus stepping out of the plane and into the black gulf between the red triangle and the door to the white room that you can now see in front of you.
30. Know the red silky curtains have closed behind you and walk forward through the white door. Close the white door as you pass over the threshold onto the white floor into the white room beyond, and sit down facing the white wall you were originally looking at to begin with.
31. As you look forward at the white wall, see the white door with the golden handle disappear behind you and be replaced with another white wall identical to the white wall in front of you.
32. Feel the white room around you and know you’re safe there. When you can feel and see the white room around you, visualize yourself sitting in your own body where you left it before entering the white room and open your eyes on the terrestrial plane.

That is the meditation of the white room. If the student reads it more carefully than a once over, they will understand that it’s a form of self-hypnosis which places themselves deeply into a trance which, while not knowing during the moment, brings them up and out of their own body without even realizing it, and crossing into the astral, then the elemental planes. The Skrying is when after entering the plane using the right words and visualizations they travel into and throughout the plane freely, discovering what they went to see to begin with. A deeper look at the various aspects of the universe to better understand our relationship and interaction with it, and come out afterwards more illuminated and better gartered to face the future when previously ignorant in the past.

Throughout this essay my purpose has been to enlighten as best possible the various perspectives, and paths surrounding the beautiful garden we call transcendental meditation. Skrying and visualization, its application and techniques, various symbols that correspond with it, their use and understanding have been as thoroughly covered as one can do so without spending the whole length of the essay on each individual part. This is totally within the realms of perhaps another few essays in the near future. For now, the in and outs of the techniques, types and purposes have been covered so the student reading this work should have a basic familiarity with the aforementioned concepts. I pray that proper study, in depth reading, and continuous practice of self- induced hypnosis via a comfortable method compels the student to prepare for the unfolding of the universe and paths of the future that lay before them. Purpose defines us, and compels us to take a broader perspective of our interactions with the universe. Purpose brings us to the gates of illumination and knowledge and it drives us through them hungering for more than we already have. Purpose sits on our shoulders like a mantle and forces us to take part in what we need to survive. There is nothing on this earth that doesn’t serve a purpose, if only to remind us of our own. Remember that there is much outside the realms of what we don’t know however, and your purpose will lead you there, if your will is to understand that purpose that guides you.

In love and the light,

Frater Malachiel