Magical interpretations

Sparkling and iridescent spots: "Astral garbage" or visual migraine aura?

"As a recent experimenter with magick, I have been trying to gleen as much info as possible. Maybe you adepts out there can help me shed some light as a recent experience. I have been practicing the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram for the last few weeks as set out in Modern Magick by Donald [Michael] Kraig... Recently, while walking to class, I saw a number of sparkling and iridescent spots jumping around. This seems to coincide with the description of 'Astral garbage' or 'little nasties' that appears in the book. (He states that this indicates an awakening of astral senses.) The Skeptic inside me is considering the cause of hypervenilation, because I was trying to teach myself to whistle at the time. But my immediate reaction was 'Astral garbage!' Have any of you had a similar experience? Or is the Skeptic correct and the Dreamer just jumping for another fantasy?"

(Blade, Newsgroups: alt.magick, Subject: "Astral Garbage", September 8, 1993; addition in square brackets by Klaus Podoll)

"IMO it's premature to think its anything 'supernatural,' although that would be very exciting. Such quick results too. When that happens to me it means I'm going to get a migraine and puke my guts out. What causes my spots and zigzag lines I don't know. I'd always figured it was some sort of brain disturbance... At the same time, it doesn't matter what it IS, what matters is what it corresponds to. Did it correspond to any unusual thoughts or events? - Peggy - PS: What exactly is an 'astral nasty' or 'piece of astral garbage'?"

(Peggy Brown, Newsgroups: alt.magick, Subject: "Astral Garbage", September 9, 1993)

Migraine attack caused by spirits – or induced by fancy-design wallpaper?

"From the notes I've read, it's hard to tell what this thread has to do with ghosts, but... Several years ago, my family and I were visiting the 'Winchester Mystery House' as it's called. It's that huge mansion built by the widow of the Winchester gun guy. Supposedly the lady kept adding to the house to appease the spirits of people killed by her husband's guns. Well anyways, while visiting the house we went into a room that had fancy-design wallpaper. After looking at it a little while, my dad came down with a migraine. Was it wallpaper that caused it... or spirits?! Probably the wallpaper."

(John Vanalstine, Newsgroups: alt.folklore.ghost-stories, Subject: Ghostly Smells/migraines, June 7, 1997)

"Highly diagnostic of migraine is the patient's statement that certain wallpapers or designs will seem to pull her eyes and threaten to bring on a migraine."

(Walter Clement Alvarez, 1965, p. 37)

Blue flashes of light: Visitations by occult presences - or scintillating scotoma?

"I've little more than studied the occult realm for 5 years, and lately I've been happening upon unexplained flashes of blue light, they appear at the most inopportune times, sometimes in broad daylight. Since I was small I've had a certain trait of empathy that allows me to feel the emotions of rooms and places, and this being means not to frighten me, but to let me know, that he/she/it is there. I was wondering if anyone knew a somewhat safe (and practical, kids I'm a college student) way that I could contact this one, I've called to it many times, but it refuses to show itself."

(Orphan, Newsgroups: alt.magick, Subject: Blue flashes of light, July 25, 1997)

"Could be scintillating scotoma NOT followed by migraine headache (not uncommon by any means). See the works of Hildegard von Bingen. See the book "Migraine" by Oliver Sacks. Etc."

(Catherine Yronwode, Newsgroups: alt.magick, Subject: Blue flashes of light, July 31, 1997)

Witch sight – or corona phenomenon heralding migraine headaches?

"It can as a shock to me when I started to develop psychic skills as I practiced Wicca [Witchcraft, or Wicca Craeft, or The Craft, a neopagan, earth-centered religion]. I am now able to channel healing energy through my hands - when it first started I had no idea what it was or what was happening to me. It felt like my life force was bleeding away from my wrists (that's where I feel the energy come through, the palm side of my wrists). Dreams have also become more important. I remember them more, and some of them have been of great importance. Additionally, I developed something which I call, for lack of a better term (please do not be offended) 'witch sight,' which is where I can SEE the energy surrounding people, animals, even telephone and electrical wires. When that first started happening I thought I was going into my migraine headaches! Now that I know what's going on with the energy and the sight skills, the gifts do not come unbidden, but it sure did surprise me. After all, I became Wiccan to worship the Goddess, not to develop psychic skills. I believe everyone has latent psychic abilities of some sort. So I now look upon these skills as gifts from the Lady; they were always there, but now I get to use them."

(Dianne McKinzie, Newsgroups: alt.religion.wicca.moderated, Subject: Psychic ability, October 30, 1999; additions in square brackets by Klaus Podoll)

Migraine attacks linked to training in magick?

"Oddly, I Never got them [migraines] before training in magick and found a book by Ramsey Campbell (The Parasite) that seemed to link migraines to OOBEs."

(David Cantu, Newsgroups: alt.magick.tyagi, alt.magick, Subject: Usenet 'Zen Teaching' Battery (was Gnome: An Answer ...), October 3, 2001; addition in square brackets by Klaus Podoll)

Vision of golden light: Produced by sexual magic used to relieve migraine pain – or visual migraine aura accompanying the headache of a killer migraine?

"A couple of days ago, I found myself plagued with a killer migraine lodged behind my right eye. I tried several methods to dispel the pain, I remember at one time in my life, these headaches would incapacitate me for days.

I was determined that would not happen, and decided finally to dispel the pain with sex magic, and so climbed into the shower. I enjoyed the sensations, using the intensity of pleasure to distract me from the pain in my head. Focusing on the energy flowing through and building up in my body, and visions of self love and healing, and of my pleasure being of service to the Goddess.

When the energy released, I was astonished and transfixed by a vision/sensation of golden light shooting out in every direction from my feet, wrapping around the planet in a golden grid of fire, before being absorbed.

It was very intense, and beautiful. I had a couple more for fun, but the vision was not repeated exactly. I lay down to rest, and my headache was gone."

(Mystress Angelique Serpent, Solo Sex Magick, November 20, 2004)

A magical adept's breakthrough - or mental fatigue due to migraine aura?

"I've been studying part 1 of Book IV [of Aleister Crowley's Magick in theory and practice] word-for-word for several months now with admirable success, and I've just had the following terrifying experience:

I was programming my computer, not having done any mystical training that day aside from a few morning breathing exercises. I started to see the shapes that one sees with one's eyes closed; they took up much of my field of vision on the right side. This kept up so I took a break to play my cello, as I played I lost all faculty of concentration, playing terribly wrong notes on pieces that I'm more than familiar with. I gave up playing and stood up...I remembered who I was and what I was doing, but I found that I had absolutely no intellectual faculties...I tried to read and the words made no sense, I looked at my movie collection and nothing I saw rang any bells despite having many of the movies memorized...I couldn't even remember that it was called a cello. I recalled dimly that this experience is common among Zen practitioners successfully wrestling with a koan, and I also dimly remembered having read about it in Book 4. But it kept up, and I became terrified, I appealed to my indifference to quell the fear, and tried regulating my breathing. I put on a movie which I didn't understand, and tried to 'rest my brain'. I got an intense headache (which I never get) and took a few advil. Slowly, over the course of the hour, the feeling slowly passed and I could read again. A few hours later it was as if it had never happened.

This seems far more severe than what Crowley described as a 'wordless bewilderment', and it came from nowhere, rather than from regular meditation or other mental taxation. The physical pain can't be a good sign either. On the other hand, I did notice that during this time I was able to sooth and otherwise affect the mind with my breath which I've never been able to do with such efficiency. It was as if there were a raw nerve straight through my brain which I could sooth by an effort of will. Overall, I don't think the experience has helped me, as would a breakthrough with a koan. My question is: if this is normal, what should I do the next time it happens? I've found no answers to this in my reading. If it isn't normal, what can I do to keep pursuing mysticism but avoid this unpleasant occurance?

I should also mention that I've been smoking small amounts of marijuana fairly regularly to give me an object to my meditations (à la Leary's 5th brain circuit) as well as to 'limber up the mind', and with great success. I hadn't smoked at all that day or the day before, however. I have taken LSD several times, but not for at least 6 months, and I've never touched any other psychoactive drugs."

(SouledOut/Justin, Newsgroups: alt.magick, Subject: Breakthrough or mental fatigue?, August 31, 2002; additions in square brackets by Klaus Podoll)

This post from Souled Out elicited the following response from a fellow migraine sufferer:

"I am going to snip the religious and mystical and magical references out of this to show you the picture i see:

SouledOut wrote: I've just had the following terrifying experience: I started to see the shapes that one sees with one's eyes closed; they took up much of my field of vision on the right side.

Visual abnormalities on one side only.

This kept up so I took a break to play my cello, as I played I lost all faculty of concentration, playing terribly wrong notes on pieces that I'm more than familiar with. [...] I tried to read and the words made no sense [...] I looked at my movie collection and nothing I saw rang any bells despite having many of the movies memorized... I couldn't even remember that it was called a cello

Aphasia, loss of coordination, trouble recalling memorized information.

I got an intense headache (which I never get) and took a few advil.

CLUE! After the abnormalities of vision and cognition comes ... the HEAD PAIN!!! This sounds exactly like a Classic Migraine with Aura. Drop your magical contextualizing and go on over to alt.support.headaches.migraine."

(Catherine Yronwode, Newsgroups: alt.magick, Subject: Breakthrough or mental fatigue?, August 31, 2002)