Conclusion

development. It made me feel closer to my God and Goddess, and it gave me a connection to Spirit that I had completely lacked before.

It was years before I was able to resolve this cognitive dissidence within myself. As I studied the sutras and I learned more about the process of enlightenment within Hindu theology, it became easier to see the fine distinctions that Patanjali was making. He was not actually against psychic powers. By his own admission, psychic powers are a natural potential outcome of a regular yoga practice. That this is so can be seen in Patanjali’s description of the three transformations of the mind and the psychic powers that develop out of them.

All three of these mental transformations or shifts have their root in the harmonious integration of contemplation, meditation, and being absorbed in Spirit. Patanjali refers to this harmonious integration as samyama. 12 In witchcraft, this same process is often referred to as ecstasy. During the first mental shift, the attention turns inward.13 During the second shift, all distraction disappears and a single-pointed focus occurs.14 Finally, all thoughts cease entirely within the mind during the third transformation.15 When this final shift happens, the psychic powers begin to develop naturally.16

Rather than renouncing psychic powers, Patanjali merely argued against actively seeking to develop psychic powers. If you look at aphorism III, 38 again, Patanjali merely says that they are “impediments” or distractions from the ultimate goal, which is “being absorbed in Spirit.” It is actually the duality of consciousness between the Self and the mind that stands at the very heart of the sage’s criticism of psychic development, since psychic development strengthens the mind and binds the Self or Spirit to the material world.

When discussing the development of psychic powers, though, it is important to realize that Patanjali is not just talking about the development of things like telepathy, prophecy, or other magickal abilities. He warns against conscious association with all aspects of what he calls “the worldly mind” in aphorism III, 38. This includes things

12. Stiles, Yoga Sutras, 32 (III, 4). 13. Stiles, Yoga Sutras, 33 (III, 9). 14. Stiles, Yoga Sutras, 33 (III, 11). 15. Stiles, Yoga Sutras, 34 (III, 12). 16. Stiles, Yoga Sutras, 35 (III, 16).

that many of the other students who attacked my classmate in that yoga teacher training would prize as necessary to normal, everyday human interactions.

According to this philosophy, any ability the mind has to interact with the external world is suspect. That includes reason, logic, feeling, external perception, empathy, or any other faculty that may currently be studied by science. The rational mind and the Higher Self are absolutely distinct from each other. The Higher Self exists above the mundane experiences of daily existence. It is our illusory connection with the worldly ego that distracts us from recognizing our true selves.17

Patanjali hits this point home very early on in his Sutras. In the first chapter, he tells us that the Self gets wrapped up in the thoughts of the lucid mind and loses sight of the fact that it is actually the subject experiencing those thoughts.18 If you want to see a real-world example of this, look at method actors who struggle to regain their own identities after particularly intense roles, and you’ll understand Patanjali’s point.

He also points out that the obstacles to recognition of the Transcendental Self are qualities that we typically associate with the mental landscape of human consciousness. Even normal processes of the rational mind are viewed to be problematic for Patanjali. Things like perception, understanding, imagination, sleep, and memory all distract us from our true selves just as much as psychic abilities do.19

The witch, however, takes a more pragmatic view. Whereas yoga philosophy depicts the mind as just another layer of matter that is meant to be overcome on one’s path to enlightenment, the witch who approaches witchcraft as a spirituality sees the material nature of the mind as simply another tool to be utilized in pursuit of unification with Deity. The spiritual witch recognizes that there is an important metaphysical reason for “worldly minds.” There are karmic lessons through the process of reincarnation that simply cannot be learned without those minds.

A foundational concept within many branches of witchcraft is that the witch has one foot in the realm of the living and the other foot in the realm of Spirit. This philosophy insists that the witch straddle the hedge and navigate both the mundane and

17. Stiles, Yoga Sutras, 40 (III, 36). 18. Stiles, Yoga Sutras, 2–3 (I, 4). 19. Stiles, Yoga Sutras, 2 (I, 2).

spiritual worlds adeptly,20 learning to be a fully functional member of society and a spiritual adept at the same time. By maintaining this balance, the witch progresses lifetime after lifetime through the process of reincarnation toward an eventual and well-earned enlightenment.

Therefore, when witchcraft is treated as a religion, it is always a spirituality of the world. After all, that is part of what people mean when they say that witchcraft is a nature religion. Witches embrace the natural world and garner wisdom from that interaction. Being a rather practical approach to spirituality in that way, the practice of witchcraft encourages and prepares witches to meet their basic material needs before they approach the more esoteric elements of the Craft. From the witches’ perspective then, it is certainly understandable why people might look down on spending countless hours a day navel-gazing if meditators also struggle to pay their rent, put food on the table for their families, or meet life’s other necessities.

The witch’s answer?

Develop the psychic powers of the mind and use them effectively to cast spells or perform magick rituals to get ahead in this world. The psychic powers of the mind are essential to success in this endeavor. However, after comfort and success have been attained, the wise witch then turns to the Great Work of identifying the True Self, the Higher Self—or what Patanjali called the Transcendental Self—just as the yogi does.

In truth, the philosophical approaches of yoga and witchcraft are not that far apart on the topic of psychic powers. Patanjali encourages readers to live in accordance with nature’s cycles in order to be elevated from the cycle of reincarnation.21 The witch simply sees the material nature of the mind as a natural resource that must be tapped wisely in order to achieve the reunification with Spirit that Patanjali advocates. Franz Bardon probably said it best in the introduction to his book Initiation into Hermetics when he said, “there is no difference between magic and mysticism,”22 and the spiritual witch wholeheartedly agrees.

20. Arin Murphy-Hiscock, The Way of the Hedge Witch (Massachusetts: Provenance Press, 2009), vii–viii. 21. Stiles, Yoga Sutras, 47 (IV, 2). 22. Franz Bardon, Initiation into Hermetics (Salt Lake City, UT: Merkur Publishing, Inc.: 2001), 17.

Three Mental Shifts

If you would like to witness Patanjali’s description of the mental transitions from the Yoga Sutras for yourself, seat yourself comfortably on the floor or in a straight-backed chair. If you’re on the floor and it’s comfortable, cross your legs in the standard meditation position. In yoga, this is called lotus pose. If you’re seated in a straight-backed chair, place your feet on the floor and rest your palms on your thighs. Start with five minutes for each phase of the mental shift. Then progress from there. The progressions are enumerated in simple, easy-to-follow steps below:

1. In the beginning, it is important to merely observe your thoughts. Watch them.

Discern a pattern. Get to know your own thought process intimately instead of just taking it for granted. Refrain from judging your thoughts. Just observe your thoughts. Allow your mind to wander. Witness the distraction as a dispassionate observer. When you have succeeded at this endeavor for the predetermined time, add one minute to your next practice session. Do this until you have achieved a focused, concentrated thought for ten uninterrupted minutes. 2. After you have succeeded at focusing your attention on simply observing your thoughts, change strategy and begin to control them. During this phase of your meditation practice, try to focus your mind on one thought. For the sake of simplicity, start out by contemplating a piece of fruit. Take an apple, an orange, a lemon (whatever appeals to you). Study it with your eyes open. Then at the beginning of your meditation practice, close your eyes and re-create that piece of fruit in your mind’s eye. Hold your thoughts on that one agenda alone. Staunchly refuse to allow other thoughts to intrude upon your meditation. When you have succeeded at this endeavor for the predetermined time, add one minute to your next practice session. Do this until you have achieved a focused, concentrated thought for ten uninterrupted minutes. 3. Once you have mastered that exercise, start over at five minutes again, but this time empty your mind entirely. Think of absolutely nothing; just be present in the moment. Allow yourself to drift in this state of bliss and contentment without errant thoughts, feelings, or impulses influencing your mental, emo-